Most Transparent EQ Pedal?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bad.Seed
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Bad.Seed

Bad.Seed

Well-known member
I'm not much of a pedal guy, but I picked up an EQ pedal for the loop of a couple of my amps that were almost there, but needed a bump or notch in certain frequencies.

I bought the cheap Donner 6 band mini eq pedal for experimentation's sake, and it actually works quite well. My only complaint is it seems to take away just a bit of clarity, whether out front or in the loop.

Since I accomplished what I want it to, I'm thinking of picking up a higher quality EQ, and hoping there is one that doesn't muddy things. Is the MXR 10 band still the go to? Or has another taken it's place as the best 10 band pedal out there?
 
From my experience, the black MXR 10 bands are unreliable. I have had two die. Maybe three years of light use, tops. I have not settled on an EQ since. The Boss GE-7 is too coloring for me.

I have not heard of the new MXR's failing, let's hope they fixed it. I need one too.
 
swamptrashstompboxes":993deqdl said:
From my experience, the black MXR 10 bands are unreliable. I have had two die. Maybe three years of light use, tops. I have not settled on an EQ since. The Boss GE-7 is too coloring for me.

I have not heard of the new MXR's failing, let's hope they fixed it. I need one too.
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I actually also had one fail on me about 8 years ago when I first started getting into gear. Haven't bought another since
 
The older Boss GE-10's are great... but they are huge.
 
Wayniac3":3pyamjjv said:
The older Boss GE-10's are great... but they are huge.
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Exactly I don't think anyone made one better, quiet and transparent. Makes most amps sound better but with the same tone.
 
I own the Danelectro Fish and Chips, MXR 10-band (version 2), and the Empress ParaEQ. The Fish and Chips is an awesome way to get into EQ pedals for sub $30, and has often been compared favorably to the Boss GE-7 (though I've never owned one of those).

The MXR 10-band is my go to for general EQ needs. Version 2 is super quiet, has 2 outputs (great if you need to split your signal for use with a Zuul or something) and is super versatile. A lot of players dismiss the extra bands here compared to the GE-7 since they are largely outside of traditional guitar frequencies, but trust me they are still very effective in tone shaping. Works great as a clean boost up front, and massive shaping capabilities in the loop. You can't go wrong with this one.

The Empress ParaEQ is like a secret weapon. It is ultra transparent, yet has this 3d thing going on that is hard to describe. It has a boost feature, but I think this pedal really shines in the effects loop. Combined with the MXR up front, it is an unstoppable pair. It makes me wonder how many amps I may have kept in the past if I had these tools to tweak with back then!
 
I've never experienced issues with the MXR's. I had one over 10 years with no problems, and have the newer one as well, not a hiccup.

Everybody turns out a dud at some point, but I totally disagree with any build quality/reliability issues.

I've owned at least 4 of the older black 10-bands, 3 or 4 of the older 6-band, and currently have both the newer 10-band and the 6-band. Never a hiccup.

I also have a boss GE-7. Noisy, and definitely not transparent.
 
I have an old blue mxr 10 band and an old boss ge-10 and am happy with both. The mxr is more subtle, transparent and warmer of the 2, but the boss has way more range in its eq and less noisy if you’re using more extreme eq settings. Those old mxr blue eq’s also aren’t too pricy (I think I paid about $60 for it). I sold my Mesa/Boogie 5-band since getting these

I sold my Empress ParaEQ recently. It had good things about it, but, like other Empress pedal I’ve tried, it sounded inherently cold and clinical. My old Furman PQ-3 that I got after blew away the Empress and sounded way more organic and warm, but I only like using that pedal as if it were an overdrive pedal to boost my amps, not as much as an eq shaping thing
 
The new silver 18v MXR 10 bands with the bright ass blue leds are great. My older black one had wierd pops and crackling so I'd avoid those. I know Boss has some new super duper programmable one coming out soon. For me I just barely accent the highs and lows, just barely a happy face shape wise and use it that way for all my amps. Always on.
 
I've had both old and new MXR 6 and 10 bands, the Fish & Chips, and old DOD one ala Adam Jones, and the GE-10 and GE-7. GE-10 is my fave, but for the traditional pedal size I love the GE-7. It does color things a bit but not overly so and I didn't think it was any more noisy than the MXRs.
you can easily pick up a modded one which cuts the noise significantly.
 
I use a GE-7 and it does color a little bit but I kind of like that particular colorization, (to a degree)
I started using one in front of my MT15 and I just started using it in front of my ENGL Gigmaster as a boost and tone shaper. On that amp's 1w setting, through my Mesa Trad 412, boosted with the GE-7... I get massive sounding low-volume tones.
I tried it in front of my JSX and XXX and it was great in front of those heads too although not necessarily needed... I haven't used it with my JVM, but I don't use any pedals with that amp.

Another pedal I have and use is the new Fender Engager Boost/EQ. It is both a clean boost with BMT controls and a H/L Midrange switch and an EQ pedal. It can operate both as buffered or true bypass. It's a very transparent pedal.
 
Bad.Seed":yub84to5 said:
. . . but I picked up an EQ pedal for the loop of a couple of my amps that were almost there, . . .

My only complaint is it seems to take away just a bit of clarity. I'm thinking of picking up a higher quality EQ, and hoping there is one that doesn't muddy things.
Click to expand...
Good to have both of these EQ pedals for testing a couple of amps that where almost there.

Please verify that the EQ pedal that muddies things doesn't take away just a bit of clarity, and please in include the rig(s) you used there.
 
braintheory":10hvcbo8 said:
I sold my Empress ParaEQ recently. It had good things about it, but, like other Empress pedal I’ve tried, it sounded inherently cold and clinical.
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I would agree with that.

I chalked it up to me being a noob. The Paraeq was quite powerful but....For me it was just too much. Seemed more of a studio tool IMO and was overkill.
 
The colour is what I like about the GE-7.. just a good ol fashioned subtle mid push that is great for those early 80's metal tones.

What about the Rockett Steve Stevens EQ pedal?
 
I've used a black 10 band MXR for the last 12 years with zero issue and it's dead quite. Love what it's done for numerous amps and couldn't be with it. I'm sure there's a lot of great EQs out there, but I've never had the desire to try any as long as this one keeps ticking.
 
I’ve got a Boss and a Fish n Chips. Fish n Chips sounds better.
 
I may have to get a fish and chips. I read so many good things, it's hard not to. I just worry about stepping on them hard though, but again if I have an EQ in the loop, it's an always on thing.
 
swamptrashstompboxes":1v2q6nj2 said:
I may have to get a fish and chips. I read so many good things, it's hard not to. I just worry about stepping on them hard though, but again if I have an EQ in the loop, it's an always on thing.
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They’re not super fragile. The issue really is, to me anyway, is the footswitch. It’s not super easy to engage. If you’re going to set it and forget it, it’s a no brainer to me. They sound great; very transparent, and they’re cheap. If you’re going to kick it on and off a lot, you might wanna look at something else. Heck though, for the price, just grab one anyway.

Come to think of it speaking of those Danelecto pedals...I have one their trem pedals that was only about 30 bucks or so. Sounded great. I let my buddy borrow it. I need to get that thing back from him.
 
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