How to EQ an acoustic guitar
To EQ an acoustic guitar, high pass around 80 to 100 Hz, cut 2 to 4 dB of boom between 100 and 250 Hz, and add 1 to 3 dB of clarity between 2 and 5 kHz. If the strings sound dull, add a shelf above 8 kHz, and cut any boxy ring only if you can hear it.
Acoustic guitars have 5 bands worth knowing, from low end (below 80 Hz) to sparkle (8 to 12 kHz).
The starting point on this page makes 1 cut, 2 boosts and uses 1 filter. The other 1 band stay flat until you hear a problem there.
Work through the bands in order from the bottom. Cuts come first because they clear space; boosts come last and stay small.
The 5 acoustic guitar bands
| Band | Range | When it's wrong | The move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low end | below 80 Hz | Thumps from handling and the floor | High pass at 80 to 100 Hz |
| Boom | 100 to 250 Hz | Boomy or woolly, from the sound hole | Cut of 2 to 4 dB |
| Box | 300 to 600 Hz | Boxy or papery | Narrow cut, only if it sticks out |
| Clarity | 2 to 5 kHz | Strums sound dull and blurred | Boost of 1 to 3 dB |
| Sparkle | 8 to 12 kHz | No shimmer on the strings | High shelf of 1 to 2 dB |
The moves, in order
Low end, below 80 Hz
Thumps from handling and the floor. It lives below 80 Hz. High pass at 80 to 100 Hz. The starting point is a high pass at 90 Hz. Raise it until the part starts to thin out in solo, then back it off a little.
Boom, 100 to 250 Hz
Boomy or woolly, from the sound hole. It lives between 100 and 250 Hz. Cut of 2 to 4 dB. The starting point is a 3 dB cut at 180 Hz with a Q of 1.0, narrow enough to leave the rest alone.
Box, 300 to 600 Hz
Boxy or papery. It lives between 300 and 600 Hz. Narrow cut, only if it sticks out. This band stays flat in the starting point; touch it only when you can hear the problem in an acoustic guitar.
Clarity, 2 to 5 kHz
Strums sound dull and blurred. It lives between 2 and 5 kHz. Boost of 1 to 3 dB. The starting point is a 2 dB boost at 3 kHz with a Q of 1.0, narrow enough to leave the rest alone.
Sparkle, 8 to 12 kHz
No shimmer on the strings. It lives between 8 and 12 kHz. High shelf of 1 to 2 dB. The starting point is a 1.5 dB boost at 10 kHz with a Q of 0.7, wide enough to sound natural.
The settings in Live 12
Channel EQLite, Intro
- Highpass On
- On
- Mid Freq
- 180 Hz
- Mid Gain
- -3.0 dB
- High Gain
- 1.5 dB
The fixed high pass near 80 Hz suits an acoustic in a band mix. Spend the mid band on the boom and let the high shelf add the sparkle.
EQ EightStandard, Suite
- 1 Filter Type A
- High Pass 12dB
- 1 Frequency A
- 90.0 Hz
- 2 Filter Type A
- Bell
- 2 Frequency A
- 180 Hz
- 2 Gain A
- -3.0 dB
- 2 Resonance A
- 1.00
- 3 Filter Type A
- Bell
- 3 Frequency A
- 3.00 kHz
- 3 Gain A
- 2.0 dB
- 3 Resonance A
- 1.00
- 4 Filter Type A
- High Shelf
- 4 Frequency A
- 10.0 kHz
- 4 Gain A
- 1.5 dB
To find the box, switch on band 5, which is unused here, boost it hard and sweep between 300 and 600 Hz until it sounds like cardboard, then turn that boost into a small cut.
In short: low cut at 90 Hz, 3 dB cut at 180 Hz, 2 dB boost at 3 kHz and 1.5 dB boost at 10 kHz. Then listen in the full mix, not in solo, and undo anything you can't hear.
Before you EQ an acoustic
Most acoustic guitar problems start at the mic, not the EQ. A mic pointed straight at the sound hole picks up a big, boomy low end, and a mic too far away picks up the room. Moving the mic toward the neck, where it meets the body, usually gives a more even tone. If you can record the part again, a few inches of mic movement will fix more than an hour of cutting.
Old strings sound dull and no EQ will bring them back. A high shelf can add some top, but on dead strings it mostly adds hiss and finger noise. If the part matters, put new strings on a day before you record so they settle in.
A guitar plugged in through its pickup sounds different from a miked one. Pickups often sound thin and quacky in the middle with a hard, plasticky top. If you have both a pickup track and a mic track, use the mic for tone and blend in only a little of the pickup for focus. Check the two together in mono, because they can cancel each other in the low end if they are out of time.
Listen to the whole part before you touch anything. An acoustic changes a lot between soft picked verses and loud strummed choruses, and a setting that works for one may not suit the other.
Strummed parts and picked parts
A strummed acoustic in a band mix is mostly there for rhythm and movement. It doesn't need much low end, because the bass and the kick already carry the bottom of the song. You can high pass it higher than you expect, then cut the boom firmly, and let the clarity and sparkle bands carry it. In the full mix, a strummed part that sounds thin in solo often sounds just right.
A picked or fingerstyle part usually carries melody, so it needs more body. Keep the high pass near the low end of the range, cut the boom more gently, and listen for each note to come through clearly. Fingerpicking also shows off finger squeaks and string noise, so be careful with the top shelf. Add only enough to hear the strings ring, and no more.
A solo acoustic, with just a voice or nothing else at all, is a different job again. Here the guitar is the whole low end of the track, so it needs its warmth. Use a gentle high pass only to clear thumps from handling and the floor, and make only small cuts. The aim is a guitar that sounds like itself in a room, not one that fits around a band.
Making room for the vocal
An acoustic and a voice often share the same space, because both have most of their energy in the low mids and the upper mids. When they fight, the words get harder to follow and the guitar sounds cluttered.
Start with the boom. Cutting the acoustic between 100 and 250 Hz takes out the woolly part of the sound that sits under the voice, and it often makes the vocal clearer without touching the vocal at all.
Then look at the clarity band. If the guitar strums cover the words, try a smaller boost on the guitar in the 2 to 5 kHz range instead of a bigger one, or move the guitar's boost a little away from the vocal's presence area. Two parts boosted at the same spot will fight. In Live you can put EQ Eight on both tracks, open them side by side, and keep their boosts apart.
Panning helps too. A strummed acoustic panned a little to one side, or two takes panned left and right, leaves the center open for the voice. That space often does more than any EQ move.
Mistakes that make an acoustic sound thin or boomy
Cutting too much low end in solo is the most common mistake on a solo guitar track. Every cut sounds clean on its own, and then the guitar has no body in the song. If the acoustic carries the track, bring the high pass back down and make the boom cut smaller.
Leaving the boom alone is the opposite mistake. An acoustic with its full low end sounds big in solo but muddies the bass and the kick in a band. If the low end of the song feels crowded, check the acoustic before you blame the bass.
Boosting the top to fix a dull recording often adds string noise and hiss instead of shimmer. If the strings were dead, a shelf won't save them.
Hunting for the box everywhere is another trap. Not every acoustic has a boxy ring between 300 and 600 Hz. Sweep for it, and cut it only if you can hear it sticking out. If you can't find it, leave that band flat.
Last, judging the guitar at one volume all the way through can fool you. A loud strum and a quiet pick need different amounts of top. Listen to the quietest and loudest parts of the song before you settle on your settings.
Questions people ask
What is the best EQ setting for an acoustic guitar?
A good starting point is a high pass at 80 to 100 Hz, a cut of 2 to 4 dB of boom between 100 and 250 Hz, and a boost of 1 to 3 dB between 2 and 5 kHz for clarity. Add a small high shelf above 8 kHz only if the strings sound dull.
How do I make my acoustic guitar sound better?
Start before the EQ. Fresh strings, a steady player and a well placed mic do more than any setting. Then clear the thumps with a high pass at 80 to 100 Hz and cut the boom between 100 and 250 Hz. Those two cuts alone often make an acoustic sound cleaner and closer to a finished record.
How do you EQ a guitar?
Cut first, with the rest of the song playing. Raise the high pass until the guitar starts to thin, then back it off a little. Sweep for the boomy or muddy spot and cut it, then add a small boost for clarity only if the part still gets lost. An electric part follows the same order with its own ranges, listed in our guitar EQ guide.