For electric guitars I like:

• Pre: GR NV
  Compression: Joe Meek or 1176 or Distressor (depending.)
  EQ: 1073 (When I just need a touch) or TLA (when I need to carve and shape a lot).
  Mic: 57 (sometimes a 421 or 606)

DEFINITELY not happening in digital! :-)

I like using API 560s for (all) guitars - not only because they shape the sound nicely, but also because graphic EQs have this visual thing to them. Plus on a ten band you have enough knobs to shape your sound the way you want it and keep your low end under control at the same time.
The other EQ I really like for distorted guitars is the Tube Tech ME something, you know, the mid EQ you hardly ever get to see anywhere. Very smooth and warm and gentle, especially if you have to record to digital.
Cheers,

Tom

Helios Olympics sound great on electric guitar. These are kind of unusual in that you can boost everything and it sounds great.
That being said the API 550B, 560's are easy to use and sound great.

I like to pass the signal through a Fatso with just a hint of the "warm" feature. If the sound needs help on the bottom end, 2 dB of 100 Hz with an API 550A usually does the trick.

I really prefer to go light on EQ with distorted guitar and move the mic around instead to get the sound right.

I've been experimenting with the "fat" feature on the Spider a bit for guitar, and the tape emulation feature as well. I'm still getting aquainted with those features though.

Agree with Brendan and Jay Kahrs about mic positioning ... plus amp head and cab, guitar pickup choice, mic & pre choice...

For e-gits at mixdown, I use the console EQ (SSL J series) more often than 1073s, Massive Passive, GML and Pultecs.

Cheers.

Can I just ditto myself since it's an old thread?

I'm doing something wrong 'cause when I track guitars I almost always hi-pass at 60hz and lo-pass at 10k.
Sometimes I need a little boost at 3/4k and that's it.
I almost use a SM 7 w/ the mid boost on or a 57 straight to the cone.

Waves REQ 6 band. stike

Bump for the good old 560!!!! I like a 1073 or similar Neve maybe boosting a couple db in the mids on the Neve (when I'm using a Royer R121) sent to the 560 for additional processing. I also like to set the gain one notch back from horrible sounding and back off on the output fader of the Neve rack prior to hitting the API. The Aurora GTQ2 eq is also good for this as it has a great mid band frequency (3.2k), which I would also then dump into a 560. Don't ask me what compressor I use, though. As always it depends on the guitar and cabinets used... But, this is what I ended up with when I tracked a Tele through a mystery amp mic'd with a 121...

Hey man, sounds almost exactly like what I do. Except I'll often cut 3-4 k a little (maybe 2 db), and usually hi-pass anywhere from 100 to 600 (although that's an extreme usually reserved for little lead parts).

Edit: Just realized you said TRACK guitars. What I described was what I do in mix. My bad.

i'm not a new verse old snob but i like the old 560's way better then the new ones.
the old ones had the iron core transformers in them.
i dont know what it is, but hell, its definitely different.

Why would anyone eq a distorted guitar before recording to tape etc? Move the mic, change the tone, change the amp or cab, change the guitar and maybe question the concept first. After you get the perfect sound it can only get better with those post recording tweaks.

No one thought of that?

Come on

In case you dont know....The guy who asked the question gets pretty good guitar sounds.

BTW...guys this is 3 year old thread. But I have to admit I've responded to threads even older not realizing it..haha

Oops

usually a bogner amp ecstasy"classic",Shiva,duende,engl580 w/mesa 2/90 power amp
sen 609's
tg2
tone control's
germ compressor if needed
fatso just for the warmth function set at 3 max no compression with tranny

Siemens 295b. I just love it, the high end never gets shrill. Great for vocals, acoustic guitars and OHs too.

The small black Telefunken W695 eq module from the 1970's is just awsome on distorted electric guitar tracks. The mid range presence control on these little German wonders is just killer for that application.

J. Mike Perkins myspace.com/jmikeperkins

It depends. For Coarse cahnges teh Germanium Tone Control.

Lately I've eben expereimented with using really narrow Qs, and I go for the Lil Freq for that.

In response to jeronimo's post, I usually do the same thing. I nearlly always track with a hpf at 80hz (I think thats one of the points on the ltd -1) and then almost always as a rule in my daw just shelf at around 10k to get rid of fizz. My chain is Maton mastersound with duncan sh4 > 5150mk2 > sm57> Ltd-1> ua1176 > ua2192 > daw.

I have found that using the fastest attack and slowest release at 4:1 with about 3-4 db of gain reduction on the 1176 sounds really smooth. But then again I am pretty new to recording and in reality it probably sounds bumbum.

Cheers mate!