What Does Guitar Amp EQ Do? 2 Rules to Help You Sound Better NOW!

If you have been wondering what does guitar amp EQ do, I will give you an explanation and demonstration, and will give you 2 rules to help you sound better now!
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The Orange Crush 20 has two channels: Clean and Dirty, which can be footswitch controlled (footswitch not included). This 20 watt amp boasts a custom 8″ Voice of the World speaker and has 3 EQ controls (Treble, Middle, and Bass). The headphone output on the Crush 20 has a cabinet simulator feature (or CabSim) that emulates a 4x12 Orange Cab.
Topics discussed: What does guitar amp eq do? What is eq? What is eq in music? What is guitar amp eq? Sound Better NOW! What is guitar eq? What does eq do?
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[@5MinuteMusic]

Question of the Day: What else would you like to know about EQ?

[@patrickstewart7167]

If you get a cheaper amp will it effect the tone as much?

[@5MinuteMusic]

The tone probably won’t be as good overall. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@fajarwinata8633]

Does EQ in guitar amps do the same as EQ in mixing console or hifi? I've plugged my guitar to hifi, put all eq knob in flat, and it sound not as same as it played through guitar amp with flat position eq... Does a guitar amps has flat frequency response? Thanks....

[@sim0n17]

comparing amp tones that use presence vs amps that do not

[@StH00D]

Per my comment, like to hear about gain, distortion, or overdrive and tone (EQ) adjustments!

[@danmagee5]

I get sick of hearing these so-called teachers and people in forums saying use your ears to people that are just starting out. They don't know what to listen for they don't know what sounds good yet. A better thing to say is train your ears to know what sounds good then use your ears so basically use your trained ears.

[@5MinuteMusic]

That is a fair point! thank you for watching and commenting!

[@danmagee5]

@5MinuteMusic sorry didn't mean to come off that way

[@5MinuteMusic]

@@danmagee5i accept your apology. I do think you made a great point. You gave me something to think about!

[@erictan8711]

Wow probably the best Guitar EQ video that I have come across. Straight forward and easy to understand :) Well Done.

[@TheLithGH]

as a newbie, I've struggled with EQing, so appreciate the lesson!!

[@TheMoneyMakingMentor]

This is great advice. Thanks.

[@samsonadewunmi8242]

Good job, keep it up. I will be be working with the EQ that came with GT 8

[@TristanDesnos]

Thank you for posting 👍🏻

[@user-yz9pr9tr7o]

Great stuff! Thank you, sir.

[@Cdswjp]

really good video bro.. very good thx

[@VinnyelA]

actually the best tutorial for EQ....thank you

[@retiredguyadventures6211]

This is great information for me. I bought a Fender Player HSS strat about a year ago, and while the clean single coil sound is covered endlessly on KZbin the humbucker not so much. I have been struggling to get what I think is a good sound from the humbucker and will give this a try. Thank you!

[@kylevanbaalen6091]

Thanks Derik Love the videos!

[@5MinuteMusic]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@adamhoward2464]

brilliant explanation. So simple and easy to understand. Thanks for making the video.

[@5MinuteMusic]

Thank you for watching and commenting! I am glad it helped!

[@lorenzovalderrey4925]

You couldn't have explained it better!! Thx a lot

[@chilljackson577]

Great vid mate

[@KadokiPo]

Thanks a lot, its very helpful info!!

[@5MinuteMusic]

Thank you for watching and commenting! I am glad you found the video was helpful!

[@joelabraham6929]

Great tips! Thank you

[@5MinuteMusic]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@FrDavid-wy2qt]

Thanks, Derek! Just good common sense advice I would never have thought-of. God bless you. Fr. Dave

[@5MinuteMusic]

My pleasure Fr. Dave! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@kevinnielsen1356]

Your presentation is clear and logical. The best explanation of practical EQ practices I have yet learned. Explaining EQ in terms of amplifier headroom has made it all click for me. Thanks

[@5MinuteMusic]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@davidrice3337]

thank you - i hsve an Crush 12 and i thought i made a mistake buying it - the jury is still out but your tips give me encouragement - maybe this orange box and i will get along down the road when i figure it out - PS - I work with horses for a living - an old Cowboy told me a long time ago - " Sometimes - most of the time - less is more - " this has helped me with a young horse more times than i could ever count - and even more with one that has a little age - Have a Geat Day 🐴⚡🎸

[@Billkwando]

Helpful! This is stuff that a lot of folks don't even realize they're missing.

[@fanigallagher]

Thnks for info, cut before boost. I'll remember that for sure

[@5MinuteMusic]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@yegormosi8136]

Underated channel Good job!

[@henrytuton9403]

Thank u. Finally understand cut and boost

[@5MinuteMusic]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@TheTwangKings]

Well done! I agree: I cut everything and then start adding. Once I reach an unpleasant tone or frequency, I stop and cut back. My Orange Crush 20 is very bassy for some reason. I had to use an external eq to get it to behave.

[@donciseau]

Great advice!

[@5MinuteMusic]

My pleasure!

[@robbieaarongodoy6268]

Great video mate! I make music for a living and have always gone off the "if it sounds good, it is good" rule. I always struggled to understand EQing as a musician but this video definitely demystified this perpetual "random knobs situation" for me and helped me view this from a much clearer perspective. Also, (Cut before Boost) Brilliant method! and makes total sense! I'm learning new stuff about music everyday and I love it! Keep up the great work. -Robbie Aaron

[@5MinuteMusic]

I am so glad this video was helpful! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@donciseau]

Great video!

[@5MinuteMusic]

Thank you for watching!

[@drorguy3754]

Thanks, that was clear and to the point.

[@5MinuteMusic]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@troll8400]

great video man!

[@5MinuteMusic]

Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@stevestalock3200]

Nigel solved that mix challenge long ago, mate. I can still hear the sustain.

[@5MinuteMusic]

Just listen for a minute...the sustain, listen to it... I am not hearing anything. You would though, if it were playing.... ...you can go and have a bite and aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh you would still be hearing that one

[@5MinuteMusic]

Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@GuitarKobe86]

Hi, great video, whats the difference between mids and prescence??

[@jurytlongakit7706]

Thank you.

[@realbluemeanie]

The frequency adjustment hand gestures made this video for me.

[@acook213]

Good lesson. Also, I learned this from another youtube video and this is really helpful: if you start with a specific frequency turned all the way down, and then you start turning it up as you're playing (I usually just strum some chords), you'll hear that frequency set (i.e. lows, mids, highs) sort of start to come online at a certain point. Stopping there (i.e. not turning PAST that point) is great because it gives you those frequencies without over-saturating your sound. And then from there, you can always make adjustments if you want, of course. It's a good starting place though.

[@ZillaYT]

Cut before boost, cool advice.

[@williardpacarro7892]

Thats a cool tip....

[@StephaneBergeronPixelyzed]

Great video! First time I see your channel. I would add that you shouldn't be afraid to go to seemingly extreme settings. Some amps are really bassy and others very bright and you often need to compensate for that. Also, if you have a multi-effects or an additional EQ in the amp's FX loop, a good high pass bass cut around 100Hz or even higher really cuts the woolly muddy bass. And another low pass high cut at around 10K of lower helps with some fizz and harshness for gainier tones.

[@5MinuteMusic]

That is a great point about using high and low pass filters. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@StH00D]

Thanks for you tip on cut before boost! Interested in opinion on adjusting tone with gain. I've noticed that for best sound it's not the same. Link me your video if you have it, or if you make it. Most people don't realize there's a tone on you overdrive or distortion pedal and what it's for! God bless!

[@fallingfwd_]

I do the same on my Vox PF15R except the fact that it just has 2-band EQ (Vox-style). Thanks man, a good advice!

[@5MinuteMusic]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@oldmanandguitar]

I have had most basic small practice amps, Fender, Marshal, Orange. Now I have a Blackstar. The Blackstar single knob eq works ok but as with other amps I tend to use on bridge pickup for the extra treble but it's characteristics not always best for what I am playing. So I have just ordered a basic 7 band EQ pedal so I can get the tone I want out of each pickup.

[@robertwiegand9927]

As someone who is currently searching for 'my sound' on an orange crush 20 this is extremely helpful. Thanks! The whole cut before boost thing while simple, never crossed my mind. Gonna mess around with it now. And good spinal tap reference! Haha. In a perfect world they would all go up to 11! Lol

[@5MinuteMusic]

Glad you enjoyed the video and found it helpful! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@ubertwerpify]

This is a damn good point on EQ -i think it might also matter if your eq is passive or active cut/boost.. i have also found through my own experiments that small minor negative adjustments are a good place to start on an eq pedal

[@5MinuteMusic]

Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@marbananta]

This is just what I need. thank you! I played a gig yesterday and it didn't sound just like what I wanted. I tried to adjust every knob and it got harsh, ran out of time before the show started, a little bit dissapointed with the tone I created myself.

[@5MinuteMusic]

I hope this helps you next time around. Please let me know how it goes!

[@100truckyou]

Can you do a video on what it actually means to put instruments in their ideal frequency range when mixing. I don’t understand it.

[@jonnymac8113]

Great Video. How much to the tone controls on the guitar play into this? Im always trying to balance that out.

[@5MinuteMusic]

For this video I had the tone and volume knobs on 10 and I did not change them during the video. I just wanted to focus on the amp’s EQ. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@samrichards589]

I have an orange crush 20. This just proves I need to learn my amp

[@robertwiegand9927]

I have one as well and yes, I have alot to learn as well to get mine to sound as good as his. Ha, good luck with it!

[@aaronsmith2611]

A few questions about amp EQ. First, some amps have a presence knob in addition to bass, mid, and high. What is the best way to approach the presence knob? Second, with the four EQ knobs, do they generally affect a specific range of frequencies? If so, what are the frequencies? Does it vary by the specific amp?

[@castleanthrax1833]

Something that many people don't understand about eq'ing, is that you can't boost something that isn't there, which is why your advice about "cut b4 boost" is sound. You can't boost something that may not be there, so (as you said) you cut first.

[@garyfurman]

Outstanding vid. I am 73 years ancient and this makes so much sense to my generation. Something as simple as head room is so enlightening

[@5MinuteMusic]

Thank you! I am so glad the video was helpful! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@carter3101]

Can you do how to get the guitar tone for 1985 by bowling for soup on the fender champ 20??

[@BigBri550]

For your typical gigging situations, here the cardinal rules for great guitar tone: 1. Forget stacks! Use a combo amp. 12" speakers sound the best. 2. Don't aim it at your ass! You hear forward, not backward. Put it on the floor in front of you aimed up like a vocal monitor. Put a mic on it. You will _hear_ your tone even at lower wattage. 3. Don't dime out the guitar! Those volume/tone controls go up AND down. Learn to use them. 4. Corollary to #3: Turn your amp all the way up. That's right. Master volume all the way, but input volume at half (probably). Also all tone controls at half (definitely).

[@BigBri550]

@@IshredGuitar Thanks. I learned from my mistakes, and I made them all throughout my years of playing night after night.

[@chilljackson577]

5:25 HILARIOUS we love a great sense of humor man haha

[@5MinuteMusic]

Thanks! And thank you for watching and commenting!

[@soyebwasim773]

I want to have smooth distortion sound but my guitar is buzzing on playing any note. Please suggest

[@DomSchu]

The way I like to look at it is start the settings at zero and slowly increase until you hear that control just start to bloom. Some amps might only need a knob turned to 3 or 4 before they reach that threshold of sounding good without being too much. I find this especially true for bass and gain. You just want that purr and saturation, but not mud and too much compression.

[@5MinuteMusic]

Great point about listening for the tone to start blooming! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@goodpeopleoftheworldunite]

Is each EQ knob at 0 when it's all the way down, or at the 12 o'clock position? I tend to start at 12 o'clock and adjust, but I'm not sure if that's right.

[@j1channel991]

What setting is best for reggae?

[@fanigallagher]

What if i have a preamp pedal such as a marshall in a box or vox in a box type of pedals, like Joyo British or Joyo ac tone, & I put an eq pedal before or after the pedals. Does this rules still applied ?

[@5MinuteMusic]

I would still want to try cutting before boosting with an EQ pedal. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@bassicly4250]

Very simplistic but it's true.

[@terryterry1655]

wat amp required 15W,30W,40W ? wats the electricity consumption for such Amp/thx

[@Dougie.Douglas.]

Can you do a Jimi Hendrix sound (not voodoo Child) on the Fender Champion 20. Like a stereotypical Jimi Hendrix like a fuzz face Jimi Sound

[@sasan4040]

My blackstar core 10 amp doesn't have the bass and mid and treble nubs It just has an eq nub. how can i set something like 3/8/8 eq ? I don't have those three nubs to set this :|

[@Cdswjp]

is a dark sound the same thing as a muddy sound?

[@paulrusinko666]

I thought I understood most bass, mid and treb knobs are passive and only take away not turn up?

[@jnh73]

Not true across all amps. Depends on the manufacturer, or the amp design, or both.

[@cdatlas]

This is generally true, in the typical amp circuit the EQ knobs are passive and don’t boost anything but cut from 100% which would be the specific tone knob at 10. The reality of the circuit is a lot more complicated and the tone knobs function more like a filter. But the audible effect is pretty much like it’s described in the video. There are amps with active EQ circuits which actually do boost frequencies. For instance a parametric EQ will boost a frequency with a separate adjustment that shapes the curve at that frequency so that the frequencies adjacent either have a gradual or rapid roll off, it’s a much better tone shaping EQ than the standard passive EQ circuit which is on most amps.

[@oldtimer99]

What if the amp has just a Tone knob instead the BMT EQ?

[@markandrewdaley]

Unless it's a baxandall-style tone stack, amp EQ knobs are (most often) NOT volume knobs. They cannot ADD volume to a frequency range; they can only subtract.

[@woodyoulove-reynaldguibone6890]

But if your in a band context. No matter how you set your tone, you have to tweak it so it doesn't conflict with other instrument's freq. That's my problem. I can cut through the mix. As a solo, it's good. But with the band, I sound nowhere. You also consider the room.

[@paulallyngoff7472]

So, turning your bass, mids, and treble up actually increases your overall volume?

[@Williamk492]

Mids definitely increases volume.

[@jnh73]

Depending on where the EQ sits in the signal flow, yes. If its before the gain or volume, maybe not so much. Afterward gain or volume, definitely. Not twice as loud, though definitely louder. Though maybe "louder" isn't the correct way to think about it... maybe more "immediate"? "Present"?

[@5MinuteMusic]

To test your amp, turn all of your EQ knobs to 0. Then set your volume at whatever level you want (I did 5 on my amps). Then strum your guitar and turn all of the knobs up at once. On all of my amps, the sound got noticeably louder and more present. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@jeremygallant8116]

Boost before cut good tip thank you

[@5MinuteMusic]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@taab7]

A lot of amps have a presence control which you omitted to address.

[@ryanh4975]

I have trouble describing sounds.

[@J0HNJ0RDAN]

If you didn't make that Spinal Tap reference you know someone would... probably me 😅

[@5MinuteMusic]

HA! Absolutely! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@soundknight]

This isn't how EQ works in all occasions. It's a good explanation for 75% of the amps out of there but it isn't correct. Old designs like Fender and Marshall have passive EQ that is subtractive so as you say this is correct. The EQ knob is a volume control for that frequency. However for old amps with a presence control it isn't quite true as the presence is in the output section and uses a positive response to boost/cut frequencies. Modern design amp circuits have bandaxall EQ that boosts and cuts the frequency range through power control (boss katana). Therefore the best way to EQ an old amp is to run everything flat out and then reduce frequencies. The best way to EQ a modern design is to put everything in the goldilocks position and manipulate from there. One thing I find very important is to actually shut out most of the frequency range and then apply one of the portions only - so focus on the treble let's say, with the mid and bass and presence completely off. Have a listen to the timbre of the treble range and adjust so there is nothing annoying present. I remember the position of the knob and then apply the same system for the bass control making sure I play low notes a lot. Then I put the treble and bass back in together where I remember they were and I start manipulating mid and presence into the mix. With the mid and the presence I actually feed them in with a thought as to how much mid 'punch' and presence 'air' I need for the job in doing / room or space I'm in. Also, don't forget digital EQ is totally different and quite shit., the output stage of a digital bus equalisers a broad spectrum of the sound and doesnt really attack it at the source like a preamp on a tube amp (fender/marshall) or solid state (Roland jazz/blues or boss katana) does.

[@5MinuteMusic]

Thank you for taking the time with such a detailed explanation!

[@wayfarer13]

5 minute music. Looks at video length. Hey wait a second!

[@garethde-witt6433]

Guitar amps use subtractive Eq. Which means that with the bass, mid, and treble knobs at 10 the amps Eq is flat.

[@Quinceps]

I have the same guitar you're using there. Just over 10,000 miles away... 😔

[@5MinuteMusic]

Very cool! It is a fun guitar to play! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@morganalvarez5925]

It doesn't have Chorus or Reverb effects 😢

[@andrew_loura]

Hi Derik! Do you know if the Fender Champion 20 works well with acoustic-electric guitars?

[@5MinuteMusic]

I have heard that it does from other players, but I have never tried that. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@QuikdethDeviantart]

Just fyi, the headrush pedalboard and frfrs go to 11… (the company is eleven..😉)

[@5MinuteMusic]

That is fantastic!

[@alekxanderhernandez805]

Mine goes to 11 😂

[@jayteesgear]

Have to cut Bass ALWAYS on these modern gainy amps

[@ktl4539]

Tone knobs don't "boost" anything. They only short your signal to ground. Dime your guitar and amp a turn down what frequency is too loud.

[@craignesbitt7856]

Not all tone stacks work like that - check out amps that use a James or Bandaxall tone stack. At noon the Treble and Bass knobs attenuate the for a flat eq curve in the tone circuit. Back those knobs off from noon and they cut their respective frequencies and turn them past noon they boost their respective frequencies. A quirk with this tone stack is the lack of midrange knob but it is very easy to dial in a mid hump by dialing back the bass and treble knobs - mid scoop is the opposite (crank the bass and treble to 11) These are found in HiFi amplifiers but in guitar/bass amps old Ampegs, old Orange and Matamp amps used this tone circuit and it contributes to their versatility they have as "better tone control"

[@jnh73]

Not true across all amps. Depends on the manufacturer, or the amp design, or both.

[@sotirzvanidjubre4109]

Now i now even less...

[@morganalvarez5925]

Essentially not a amp for jazz guitar

[@juliantenney79]

This is not the right way to think about tone controls. Turning up a treble control does not turn the treble up. It turns it down less. You are not boosting anything ever. Tone controls are only subtractive.

[@kevinnielsen1356]

This doesn't make much sense mate. You may be on to something, but your explanations are unfathomable

[@grandmaxtarkin3567]

I think he’s describing it for the layperson

[@ricardogomezvasquez3291]

Thank you.