The Furman PQ3 boost method- in REVERSE

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petejt

petejt

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I've read lately about how amplifiers were set clean and boosted with a Furman PQ3, rather than a dirt pedal.

I'm wondering if it's worth using a parametric equaliser/preamp such as the PQ3 but in REVERSE- ie you crank the amp up flat stick, and then "starve" the input signal by lowering the output level on the equaliser. I guess it would work similar to rolling down the guitar's volume control for a clean sound?


And when you want a crunchy high gain sound- just use a boost pedal in front to raise the level? You'd have to overcompensate by cranking it through the roof, or maybe adjust the lowering on the EQ or amp gain control a bit.

Plus too you can use the EQ controls to filter what frequency range is set to the amp (e.g. just the lows, or highs, or the upper mids etc.), so that way only part of the guitar's frequency spectrum gets amplified (and thus distorted).



Anyone done this?
Just wondering before I blow the walls down.... :confused: :D
 
I've had mixed results doing it. With the right amp, it's pretty badass.
 
We didn't set our amps clean and smack them with the Furman, we set them fairly dirty, like AC/DC type gain and used the Furman to make them high gain.
 
richardt4520":2s8k1iiq said:
I've had mixed results doing it. With the right amp, it's pretty badass.
Click to expand...

What about an old 50 watt Marshall JCM 800 2204? (no effects loop, two vertical inputs)
 
Chubtone":eargkszh said:
We didn't set our amps clean and smack them with the Furman, we set them fairly dirty, like AC/DC type gain and used the Furman to make them high gain.
Click to expand...

Oh. So basically you're using the Furman as an overdrive pedal?


Lately I've been running the Marshall on the low input and running both pre-gain and Master at 12 o'clock. It's quite clean but breaks up when I dig in. For crunchy high gain I've been hitting it with an overdrive pedal.

But honestly this thing grinds and growls more if you use the High input- but then you can barely raise the gain & Master above 2 without blowing the house down.

And I've had it with attenuators. They just squash the balls off it.


I'm want to use the EQ (I have an Alto rack EQ) to cut the signal, so it feeds a really weak signal to the cranked up Marshall (plugged into the High input).

And like I said in the opening post- for the high gain stuff I'll throw an overdrive pedal in front of it all with it cranked up as well.
The super high input will be attenuated by the EQ's output level control, but still be strong enough to send a crunchy signal to the Marshall.
 
petejt":21pa8a4r said:
richardt4520":21pa8a4r said:
I've had mixed results doing it. With the right amp, it's pretty badass.
Click to expand...

What about an old 50 watt Marshall JCM 800 2204? (no effects loop, two vertical inputs)
Click to expand...
Probably not enough gain to make me happy. When I've done it, it was always on something high gain that I really like the lead sound on and used the old PQ4 I had to pull down a lot of the gain for rhythm and then use the EQ to make it sound natural. You might use the 800 for crunch and the EQ for semi-clean, though.
 
petejt":1dch5y1q said:
Chubtone":1dch5y1q said:
We didn't set our amps clean and smack them with the Furman, we set them fairly dirty, like AC/DC type gain and used the Furman to make them high gain.
Click to expand...

Oh. So basically you're using the Furman as an overdrive pedal?


Lately I've been running the Marshall on the low input and running both pre-gain and Master at 12 o'clock. It's quite clean but breaks up when I dig in. For crunchy high gain I've been hitting it with an overdrive pedal.

But honestly this thing grinds and growls more if you use the High input- but then you can barely raise the gain & Master above 2 without blowing the house down.

And I've had it with attenuators. They just squash the balls off it.


I'm want to use the EQ (I have an Alto rack EQ) to cut the signal, so it feeds a really weak signal to the cranked up Marshall (plugged into the High input).

And like I said in the opening post- for the high gain stuff I'll throw an overdrive pedal in front of it all with it cranked up as well.
The super high input will be attenuated by the EQ's output level control, but still be strong enough to send a crunchy signal to the Marshall.
Click to expand...


The PQ3 was used exactly like Chub said and all the guys I knew used the low level i/p to hop up the gain by +20 db.

Some bands used it on a Stock Marshall and other bands like STryper used it on high gain amps to push them even further.

You also have to use a gate to tame the noise.

If you heard Ratts out of the cellar album then you heard it being used on a 2203 type marshall.

These guys also used the PQ3 for gain on their 2203's All the distortion is coming from the PQ3


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91i9XqVWNQ0

 
Yup, I used the PQ3 into a 2203's Low gain input. I set the preamp very low and the master way up...basically a very clean sound. I also placed an MXR MicroAmp after the PQ3 then a noise gate, then an MXR Dual 15 band(one side for clean and one side for dirty) then into a a pair of old Ibanez AD202 rack delays (one for chorus-doubling and one for delay). I was getting all my gain from the Furman and MicroAmp. I could switch from a clean to dirty with a loop box I built to get around the Furman and MXR and then into the 2nd side of the EQ. This was way back in 83.

I stole the idea for this setup from John Albani who played with Lee Aaron, his other guitarist George Bernhardt had the exact same setup. George plays with Rick Springfield now.

The tone was monstrous :)

Mark
 
Someone needs to give their head a shake and come back out with a furman PQ3 in a pedal like the rocket field guys were supposed to do before they scrapped the project. Make it that forest green with brown knobs. This is a winner guys come on! Someone here with the know how get on this.. I see tons of people chasing that same tone and it always comes back to furmans and plexis/JCM's

That 5th angel tone KILLS! Very Ratt Out of the Cellar.
 
Kapo_Polenton":1ii8af0s said:
Someone needs to give their head a shake and come back out with a furman PQ3 in a pedal like the rocket field guys were supposed to do before they scrapped the project. Make it that forest green with brown knobs. This is a winner guys come on! Someone here with the know how get on this.. I see tons of people chasing that same tone and it always comes back to furmans and plexis/JCM's

That 5th angel tone KILLS! Very Ratt Out of the Cellar.
Click to expand...

That pedal will need 10 knobs on it!
 
Well, with today's technology and the size of components, I am surprised nothing the size of a 10 band MXR EQ could be put out? Anybody with me on this or am I dreaming..
 
The Paul Gilbert Detox EQ pedal is designed for this purpose, it's a killer pedal
 
Which purpose? Cut gain and dump into clean at the step of a foot or to boost mids?
 
right.. which was the point of the original thread lol. My bad.. i got excited. That said, the detox pedal does serve that function from what i have seen and i would recommend it as well.
 
zz666":1a43ky6x said:
The Paul Gilbert Detox EQ pedal is designed for this purpose, it's a killer pedal
Click to expand...
I believe the Doug Aldrich rocket fuel was also voiced for his PQ3.
 
Which brings up a question for me. Why is Doug using a modded Marshall AND a Rocket Fuel Overdrive/Boost pedal that was designed to be used in conjunction with the PQ-3. How much gain does the guy need? You could plug a flamenco guitar with a pickup into that rig and it would sound heavier than Ola's huge metal tone.

I mean, a modded Marshall has enough gain for a Doug type tone. A stock Marshall with an overdrive has enough gain for that tone, AND the PQ-3 has enough gain into a stock Marshall for that tone. What happens when you combine all three?
 
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