People with multiple EQ pedals: why don't you just buy gear that sounds good?

[DanTravis62]

I don't generally use them, as I don't need them.

But they are a good swiss army knife to have around, to solve problems or to boost in a pinch.

What the fuck is this mindset?



My brother in christ, I have an idea, why don't you just buy pickups that sound right instead of the EQ pedal INTO the drive pedals?

Why don't you buy drive pedals that sound nice instead of the EQ pedal AFTER the drive pedals?

Why don't you buy an amp that sounds nice instead of the eq pedal at the end of the loop? Or use the fucking presence and resonance knobs that are on 90% of amps made nowadays?

I am trying really hard not to be a hater. I swear. BUT JESUS CHRIST MAN WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE LIKE THIS?

 

[nightlight]

I don't generally use them, as I don't need them.

But they are a good swiss army knife to have around, to solve problems or to boost in a pinch.

What the fuck is this mindset?



My brother in christ, I have an idea, why don't you just buy pickups that sound right instead of the EQ pedal INTO the drive pedals?

Why don't you buy drive pedals that sound nice instead of the EQ pedal AFTER the drive pedals?

Why don't you buy an amp that sounds nice instead of the eq pedal at the end of the loop? Or use the fucking presence and resonance knobs that are on 90% of amps made nowadays?

I am trying really hard not to be a hater. I swear. BUT JESUS CHRIST MAN WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE LIKE THIS?

Totally concur with @DanTravis62 . I suspect it's borrowed from the modeller world, especially older processors, where users had to find workarounds like multiple EQs to get them to sound good.

Waste of money if you ask me.

 

[DanTravis62]

Totally concur with @DanTravis62 . I suspect it's borrowed from the modeller world, especially older processors, where users had to find workarounds like multiple EQs to get them to sound good.

Waste of money if you ask me.

Dude I GET EQ pedals are great to have around in case of some kind of emergency, or to switch between SC and HBs on stage, or a million other applications

But if you need multiple eq pedals on your pedalboard, both in your loop and out front, my brother in christ I think the problem is that the rest of your gear doesn't sound very good

 

[nightlight]

Dude I GET EQ pedals are great to have around in case of some kind of emergency, or to switch between SC and HBs on stage, or a million other applications

But if you need multiple eq pedals on your pedalboard, both in your loop and out front, my brother in christ I think the problem is that the rest of your gear doesn't sound very good

I prefer just one in the loop, assuming it's really necessary. These days, I don't even do that. Too many great amps that can nail the sound you're looking for.

 

[DanTravis62]

I prefer just one in the loop, assuming it's really necessary. These days, I don't even do that. Too many great amps that can nail the sound you're looking for.

Not only that, but good sounding pickups, good sounding drive pedals, good sounding everything

if you need MULTIPLE eq pedals to "fix" your rig, im sorry but either your gear sucks or you suck lol

 

[nightlight]

Not only that, but good sounding pickups, good sounding drive pedals, good sounding everything

if you need MULTIPLE eq pedals to "fix" your rig, im sorry but either your gear sucks or you suck lol

Ain't that the unvarnished truth? You can only polish a turd so much.

 

[MadAsAHatter]

I have pedals, but rarely use them. I'm much more of a plug straight in person with the exception of a noise gate to knock down hum when not playing. Personally I'd much rather have the guitar-amp-cab that get's me what I want over putting EQ pedals everywhere trying to fix the sound.

I totally understand people strategically placing an EQ in the chain. Maybe you need a bump in a certain frequency for a solo. Or need to compensate a slightly knock back a mid hump in a OD pedal. I even see it being useful in the loop for that last 1% of fine tone shaping.

That all said, when you're like this dude in the video having an EQ at the start of your board, before & after OD pedals, in conjunction with other pedals, at the end of the board and in the loop; what the hell are you even doing? You're not doing minor tone sculpting at that point. Now you're just fighting the tone of everything in your chain. It's probably time to reevaluate your gear over having a dozen EQ pedals stuck everywhere.

 

[geetarmikey]

Thought you said you were kidding in the comments section of the video though?

 

[DanTravis62]

I have pedals, but rarely use them. I'm much more of a plug straight in person with the exception of a noise gate to knock down hum when not playing. Personally I'd much rather have the guitar-amp-cab that get's me what I want over putting EQ pedals everywhere trying to fix the sound.

I totally understand people strategically placing an EQ in the chain. Maybe you need a bump in a certain frequency for a solo. Or need to compensate a slightly knock back a mid hump in a OD pedal. I even see it being useful in the loop for that last 1% of fine tone shaping.

That all said, when you're like this dude in the video having an EQ at the start of your board, before & after OD pedals, in conjunction with other pedals, at the end of the board and in the loop; what the hell are you even doing? You're not doing minor tone sculpting at that point. Now you're just fighting the tone of everything in your chain. It's probably time to reevaluate your gear over having a dozen EQ pedals stuck everywhere.

I'm with you man. An eq is besides a tuner and a gate, probably the most useful pedal someone could buy... Lead volume boost? Heavy rhythm mid boost? Low end boost for strats? They have a million uses and that isn't in question

The problem is this isn't the first or even the 20th time I've seen this. I see this shit all the time with like 3-6 boss ge7s on a board, and it makes me wonder if they just suck ass at picking guitars and amps?

Because at that point it's either the gear or it's you

Ya know?

 

[DanTravis62]

Thought you said you were kidding in the comments section of the video though?

I don't know if HE is joking or this is serious at first, I didn't want to take the chance that there's a joke I didn't get

 

[GreatRedDragon]

More than one way to skin a cat I guess. It's a pretty common approach with pedal platform amps.

Stacking an EQ pedal with your dirt is pretty common. Randy, Eddie, Dime, and many others have done it. Having an EQ after your dirt is pretty common too. It's not uncommon to like the character of a distortion but want a different EQ curve. Stacking dirt pedals is pretty common too.

Before I switched to Fractal, my pedalboard had one of those EQ-200s on it. Great pedal. It's got a dual mono option, so I ran it at two points in my rig: last in line before my amp, and right out of the loadbox in front of my IR-200. One of the things I used it for was as a clean channel. My amp + load box were in one of the loops of my ES-8, so I would bypass that loop to go straight into the IR-200, and I made an EQ curve that sounded like the Jazz Chorus.

So I get what the dude is doing. He seems to have a reason for all of it. He's using three EQs for three pretty specific purposes. What's the problem exactly?

Look at Gilmour's rig to see that to the nth degree:

 

[geetarmikey]

I would have liked to hear how it sounded on the video really.

 

[ghosty999]

Probably for the same reason as why everything else in a mix is EQ'd. To give it space in the live mix, remove dominating frequencies that interfere with other instruments.

An amp might sound killer on it's own, but not work in the mix without some mild EQ.

 

[gritstogroats]

On my end.
I didnt understand why an engl lunchbox was lacking some low end. I read eq pedal might fix.

Then I had the ksr orion. I pulled the trigger on a 10 band. I felt weird putting presence knob on 3 o clock and some specific tweaks to get it "right" for me. Took time, visually felt weird to have the eq knobs all over. It was stupid.

For better or worse ksr orion was passed along to a young kid learning. I learned good set of scumbacks adds the higher end stuff I wanted to drag out of ksr easier. While eq was a quick fix certainly not a top tier option
The right speaker (and guitar) Much better than 10 band.

Have to assume any of us there is a similar story. Heard about it. Thought it would do the thing. Mesa mark has one! Lol.

I kept it to volume boost mainly. I also made the mistake of getting some wet effects. Mever been a huge fan thought maybe I just need to get acquainted better. Nope just more fucking wires to add to my wire clutter.

Glass half full. Getting the eq. Helped me know better what I expect from an amp and my preferences. I do think a mesa full throttle scooping the mids is a neat sound in other amps I cant quite get without that specific frequency adjustment. But thats a novelty not the same as "this 4k amp is great if I can just eq it the same way as my bugera!)

Edit: reread title. Just one shitty 10 band here. The eqs on my boosts are just fine. Love me ksr
And that lichtlaerm kiy. Dont need effects loop except mark as that is a feature not a... idk bandaid.

 

[Mike Oxhuge]

I actually love a Boss GE7 as a boost after other drives or on its own and particularly into Marshally amps. Sometimes I use my Boss GT1000 built in eq and PEQ for certain sounds or to enhance low volume tones, and I guess I don't give a fuck what anyone uses as long as it doesn't sound shitty. But I understand what you are saying as when I was poor and young, I used to try and crutch aome crap gear with either an eq or the old BBE sonic fucksimizer. Often with less than great results. Noobs gonna noob.

 

[gritstogroats]

I actually love a Boss GE7 as a boost after other drives or on its own and particularly into Marshally amps. Sometimes I use my Boss GT1000 built in eq and PEQ for certain sounds or to enhance low volume tones, and I guess I don't give a fuck what anyone uses as long as it doesn't sound shitty. But I understand what you are saying as when I was poor and young, I used to try and crutch aome crap gear with either an eq or the old BBE sonic fucksimizer. Often with less than great results. Noobs gonna noob.

I think there are some key words here.

Poor, young, crap gear.
Gotta do what you gotta do unless you got some scratch. If anything I sort of applaud them for knowing how to sound better. My punk demeanor when I was younger was me really being fucking lazy. A shrill midless sound through a line 6.

When you know better sure. But it is the easiest and cheapest fix for a decent chunk of stuff.

 

[MadAsAHatter]

More than one way to skin a cat I guess. It's a pretty common approach with pedal platform amps.

Stacking an EQ pedal with your dirt is pretty common. Randy, Eddie, Dime, and many others have done it. Having an EQ after your dirt is pretty common too. It's not uncommon to like the character of a distortion but want a different EQ curve. Stacking dirt pedals is pretty common too.

Before I switched to Fractal, my pedalboard had one of those EQ-200s on it. Great pedal. It's got a dual mono option, so I ran it at two points in my rig: last in line before my amp, and right out of the loadbox in front of my IR-200. One of the things I used it for was as a clean channel. My amp + load box were in one of the loops of my ES-8, so I would bypass that loop to go straight into the IR-200, and I made an EQ curve that sounded like the Jazz Chorus.

So I get what the dude is doing. He seems to have a reason for all of it. He's using three EQs for three pretty specific purposes. What's the problem exactly?

Look at Gilmour's rig to see that to the nth degree:

I think the underlying question of the OP is why EQ pedals are being used. Are they there to do some final tone shaping or are you trying to force your gear into a tone it wasn't really meant to do?

 

[Shask]

I like EQ pedals because they can change the tone in a way no amp does by itself.... for example, if I want a -10db scoop at 500hz. No normal tube amp circuit will do that.

That being said, I am not using 6 EQs at once.

 

[thegame]

This guy deserves his own signature pedal, the Room Temperature E.Q.

 

[GreatRedDragon]

I think the underlying question of the OP is why EQ pedals are being used. Are they there to do some final tone shaping or are you trying to force your gear into a tone it wasn't really meant to do?

I feel like he explained it pretty well though.

He's using a very transparent clean amp and he's got a couple dirt tones. He's got an EQ in front of the pedals to shape the input and an EQ after to shape the output. It's no different than running a boost into an amp and having an EQ in the loop. Nothing wrong with that IMO. Why run an SD-1 into a JCM800 instead of finding a high gain amp that doesn't need a pedal? Cause it sounds good!

And he explains why he has the EQ in the loop. The rotary pedal sounded better going through the amp's preamp, but he wanted to run it in stereo so he got a stereo EQ pedal to dial it in, with the added perk of being able to use it as a global EQ for the entire thing.

I don't really see anything too crazy here. It seems like a rack rig, just broken down into pedals. He's clearly hitting a wide spread of tones, not just looking for one key sound.

I feel like the bigger story here is switching and layout. Look at all those footswitches! That thing is begging for a bigger board with an ES-8 to handle it all.