The Watering Hole

here is another, it is a bit more detailed, and may be easier for some to navigate, remember these are only guides, and starting points not hard fast rules.

Electric Guitar
       For bottom Boost 100 Hz
       For warmth Boost 250 Hz
       For body Boost 500 Hz
       For pick or percussion Boost 1-2 K
       For "Cut" (solos, lines, etc.) Boost 3-4 K
       For "presence"      Boost 5 K
       For "buzz" (distortion, etc.) Boost 7 K
       For clarity and string decay Boost 10 K and up
       To remove muddiness Cut 200 Hz
       To remove harshness Cut 1-3 K

Acoustic Guitar
       For warmth Boost 250 Hz
       For body Boost      500-700 Hz
       For pick Boost      1 K
       For lines Boost 3 K
       For brilliance Boost 5 K
       For sparkle Boost 10 K and up
       To remove rumble Cut 100 Hz and down
       To remove finger noise Cut 7 K

Bass EQ Guide
       For lows Boost      80-100 Hz
       For tonality Boost 800 Hz
       For rhythmic attack Boost 1 K
       For string sound Boost 3 K
       For clarity Boost 6 K
       To reduce muddiness Cut 200 Hz

Synth EQ Guide
       Bass sound Power 100 Hz
       Muddiness Cut 200 Hz
       Warmth Bottom for pads, strings 250 Hz
       Tone Horns, reeds, organ 500 Hz
       Transient Percussive or plucked sounds      1 K
       Upper midrange Leads 2-3 K
       Sibilance Distortion, buzz, string bow, esses 5-7 K
       Top end Phasing, flanging; cut for noise 10 K

Drum EQ Guide
Kick Drum
       For bottom Boost 80-100 Hz
       For transient Boost 3 K
       For top Boost 6 K
Snare Drum
       For boom (tone) Boost 125-250 Hz
       For bang (transient) Boost 1-2 K
       For buzz (snares)  Boost 5 K
Tom-toms
       For tone Boost 250-500 Hz
       For attack Boost 7 K
Cymbals
       For top Boost 10 K
       If muddy Cut 200 Hz
High-hat
       For heavy rock Boost 500 Hz
       Light Boost 5 K
       For top Boost 10 K

again its always better to cut than boost, and remember if you boost in the same area on multiple instruments you will negate those adjustments and what they bring to the mix.

Ligerborn — Aug 20, 2008
again its always better to cut than boost, and remember if you boost in the same area on multiple instruments your will negate those adjustments and what they bring to the mix.

I get the better to cut than boost. I don't get the last part??

In essence, "if you boost every instrument at a certain frequency, you are not really emphasizing any one instrument at that frequency."

ahhhhh. Thankyou.

Thanks for putting these up, Rich.  I'll mess around with it some to get a grip of it.

Cin,

Charger explained it.

the big thing is you have to notch out areas for each instrument in the eq spectrum as well as the stereo field.  and if you say make a global adjustment at a certain frequency it won't really help you other than to really build up the RMS and peak at that region of the eq spectrum.

It is also recommended to use wider band of eq if possible.