Jeff Hilligan
Well-known member
Have never used graphic eq to help with tone. Someone give me some insight please!
panhead
Well-known member
Boss GE-10
Smash
Hack
There are tons of things that you can do with it. A lot of people use subtractive EQing. I boosted regions i liked and had a lot of fun with mine. If yours is in the loop, you can do some crazy things. One thing that is pretty cool, though. Is plug in your guitar to all your pedals, then turn the volume on the amp up a lot, to where you can hear the static really loud. Make sure you don't strum the string or it may blow you into another room. Slide down the 4k and 6k a little til you hear the static go down, then turn the master back to where you normally play, and check out how clear your gain tone is.
Smash
Hack
i have a dbx 231 that i used in the loop when i played solid state amps. It was great.
Exo-metal
Well-known member
Old mxr 6 band with a furman pq-3 parametric is all I ever needed.
stratjacket
Well-known member
I don’t think it matters too much the number of bands.
I would highly recommend 2 EQ pedals:
I put an EQ first in my pedal line before any OD pedals with a big frown, meaning pushing the mids.
Then another EQ as first in the loop with a big smile, meaning pushing the bass and highs, cutting 750-1000k.
Couldn’t imagine playing without them, everything sounds lifeless without.
skoora
Well-known member
Everyone should have one. Instead of wasting time and money on tube rolling and agonizing over nuances in speakers, a few bumps on some EQ sliders will radically transform your amp. If you’ve ever struggled getting a high gainer to sit more forward in the mix, an EQ in the loop with just a little push in the mids can make it roar, without killing you with fizzy top end. It’s very effective in my Tremoverb when I want a more mid forward rock tone or want to make cuts to make the clean more blackface like.
blackba
Well-known member
For the lowest noise, don’t boost, but cut instead. Danelectro fish and chips is a nice cheap one to get started. For a nicer one check out the whirlwind perfect 10 or source audio programmable Eq.
MetalHeadMike
Well-known member
This for the win. I couldn't live without my MXR 10 band. That will truly transform an amp's tone IMO. Tubes to my ears are as skoora states "nuances" and to me offer extremely mild changes in tone.
I scratch my head when people say things like "these tubes made my amp come to life" or "these tubes made my amp sound like a completely different amp". I've tube rolled in about 40 amps and only one amp yielded significant change with a tube swap where I said wow (a Friedman JJ Jr). I even talked myself in to believing I was hearing a truly significant change with tube swaps once on a UL I owned, but after going back numerous times and revaluating the swaps, I realized there really wasn't any significant change worth noting.
Speakers I feel can have a significant impact on tone and feel, but still nothing like the power and significance of an EQ in the loop. I can pretty much get the tone in my head with most amps by using an EQ in the loop. Lifts the blanket off speakers, removes that narrow/boxyness, thickens, brightens, darkens, adds or removes thump, pushed mids...whatever I want for the most part.
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AmpliFIRE
Well-known member
Get a Furman PQ3/4 and thank me later.
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
Love this one
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
DanTravis62
Moderator
I never really have use for a full-on EQ anymore, but that's only because of the main high gain amp I use now.
EQs are useful with almost any rig. Need a solo boost? Kick it on with a crooked frown. Wanna sound like the high gain 90s? Give it a smiley face. With backline amps, they can be an absolute life-saver.
They're like the swiss army knife of guitar effects, and you should always have one laying around, just in case.
EQs are useful with almost any rig. Need a solo boost? Kick it on with a crooked frown. Wanna sound like the high gain 90s? Give it a smiley face. With backline amps, they can be an absolute life-saver.
They're like the swiss army knife of guitar effects, and you should always have one laying around, just in case.
rottingcorpse
Well-known member
I am a big fan of parametric eqs. But.....
The problem there is the learning/tweaking curve.
Parametric eqs can be frustrating to those who haven't really dealt with specific frequency layering.
Not to mention that you now have a single piece of rack gear to deal with.
A graphic eq pedal is easy to use.
Beyond Black
Well-known member
Years ago my band and many others played a benefit that was backlined. The guitar amp was a combo, and I don’t even remember what kind. Anyway, I slammed it with a clean boost and a Boss 7 band and every guitar player in the room said my tone destroyed everybodys. Don’t leave home without it!
R
Racerxrated
Well-known member
The GE 10 is great, but spendy and hard to find. Lots of great options but for little dough the Dano fish n chips is a bargain…very quiet/transparent and does the job well.
DanTravis62
Moderator
Same has happened to me. I had a HRD for backline once that was stuck on the clean channel.
and an mxr 10 band, a MIAB, and an 808 had me in business.
AmpliFIRE
Well-known member
I did have a hard time dialing mine in at first. However, I watched a few vids and read some articles which made things click. Now I couldn’t live without my PQ4
TheToneDig
Active member
6 if you do post-production EQ, 10 for live.
There is also nothing wrong with 3 dial EQ on your pedalboard either. Good enough for your amp.
There is also nothing wrong with 3 dial EQ on your pedalboard either. Good enough for your amp.
anomaly
Well-known member
I like the little MXR 6 band as a boost. Not sure about as a tone shaper in the loop??
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