It's a situation we've all been in. The guitar player insists on setting his low end on 10 and mids on 0. This guitar player refuses to alter his tone at all because he has the “perfect” tone. Of course, the guitar player loves to sit at home and palm mute. What metal player doesn't like shaking the house with palm mutes. Unfortunately, this is may not sound good in a full band setting. This is why perfecting tone must be done in the full band setting. It also explains why you should resist the temptation to solo tracks too often while mixing.

Disclaimer: There is “something” to a person having a unique tone that has never been on a successful album before. Innovators are necessary to keep this whole music thing intereting. There is no objective rule that says a guitar can't have low end. However, there is a rule that says if the kick drum, bass guitar, and electric guitar are all fighting for 80-120Hz than you have a mud problem. I can't think of a single person, no matter how innovative their tone, who wants to have a mud problem.

If a person is really “picky” about the tone of the record (not just the guitars) he would have arranged the music around his robo low end tone. So, when palm mutes kick in with drastically overdone low end in the guitars, the bass guitar could go high, and the kick drum could play much more sparse. If a band hasn't arranged the music in such a fashion, you know the guitar player has no idea what is really going on. In this case, he is not an innovator, he's just conditioned himself to like something that sounds great in the bedroom but sounds like vomit in the full band situation and refuses to compromise.

The best solution to dealing with a guy who insists that his guitar should be muddying up the entire track, screwing up the bass guitar / kick drum, etc is...well there are a few..

First, let's not call these guitar players "picky". Call them stubborn. There is a huge difference. Picky people actually want the recording to sound better and are willing to work out the details. Stubborn people are set in their ways and don't mind causing problems for the rest of the group.

First, you've got to convince him that you know what you are talking about. If he doesn't believe that you have at least some authority on the subject of recording, nothing you say is going to make a difference. So, if this guitar player doesn't respect your recording abilities, forget about convincing him to change anything. If you have some recording authority, maybe just asking him to back off the low end a little bit is a great start.

Here are a few methods to dealing with stubborn guitar players:

a) Be honest. Just by listening in the room when the band is playing you can tell if they have total mud. (At least you will with experience). You could flat out say "Ok boys, you have a mud problem. If the guitars are going to have all the bass in them there is no room for the bass and the kick drum. Another option is to mic everyone up, hit recording, and say “Oh my god! This is the muddiest mix I've ever heard in here!!!!”. Be over the top and sensational if necessary. Then say “Dudes, there is NO WAY I can put my name on that!!”. Make it a big deal! ....because it is.

b) Don't tell the truth - Go with what the guitar player wants and force that into what you need in the mix. Roll off the mud, use multiband compression to keep his low end under control and boost frequencies to help the guitar cut. Note: This IS NOT the way to get great guitar sounds, but it is a way to get through a session.

You can use mic placement to knock the low end down as well. Use a 57 or equivalent dynamic mic. Use the proximity effect to your advantage and back off a good 3"-6". This will knock the low end down considerably, but may bring in a lot of room sound. Do what you have to. Just make sure the electric guitars don't totally mud things up. Anyone who has recorded before (or who has really “listened” to a great sounding recording) knows that electric guitars just don't have nearly as much low end as what the 16-50 year old amateur guitar player probably imagines.

These people that refuse to set their low end on anything under 10 probably don't know how to listen . So, when they palm mute on the recording and the low end is DRASTICALLY reduced, he probably won't even notice. These types are much easier to work with than with picky people who actually can listen.

c) Record Mr. Midscoop (with everything I've said above) and also run him through an amp that has midrange definition. Set the amp to sound more like what you need. Get the amp with midrange power to sound great on it's own. Make sure that the amps sound good together on their two recorded tracks. (Make sure they are in phase). Tell the guitar player that this is trick you read about or something and that you probably won't even use it. You just want to try a mixing trick. By combining low end overload with a real tone you may be able to save your ass in a mixing pinch.

d) Get through this session and NEVER work with the band again. If a person refuses to compromise when you know you are right and you have a little authority, don't associate with this type of person. There are “real” humans that are fun to work with. Do the best you can with the tools you have to work with, and get out. This session sucks. In my experience, the kind of clients that are a pain in the ass when it comes to instruments are also a pain in the ass with paying on time and every other facet of working with other human beings.