EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

Closed Eye

Closed Eye

New member
Alright, now that we've had some education on Compressors I think we need some EQ EDUCATION!

I've already added an MXR Supercomp to the chain (and I love it!) and now I'm thinking of adding an EQ but I'd like to know all about 'em, when to use 'em, and who uses 'em!

Thanks in advance!
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

OK....As with comps, EQ's can be used in a number of ways. My personal faves:

After comp & Distortion to get the sound sound "right" before I send to ambience effects.

Also - excellent solo boost. Place in the same location, but either:
a) Increase the level and tweek the eq to punch it out a little
b) Just change the curve, such as adding a mid boost only for the solo.

Also handy for changing guitar sound from squeeky clean bass/treble boost to nasty mid boost for blues cut.

Another use is at the end of a signal chain. Since a lot of pedals have only general EQ knobs, you just can't tweek them perfectly. The EQ can put back/take away from the overall sound in just the spot you need (or closer to it than the 'tone' knob on a pedal).


A comp will keep the same sound and can give a boost. An EQ can change the sound and give a boost.
 
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Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

I was told an EQ is an EQ. Oh man, was that bad advice.

I picked up one of those cheap EQ700 pedals from a shop and could never find a tone from that thing. Boosting the trebs sounded like an 80 year old woman that smokes cigars. The bass end was not there and the mids muddied the whole thing.

Picked up a Boss GE-7 and its like night and day compared to the Behringer. I can find quite a few useful tones from this pedal.
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

What Aceman said.

I tend to use my GE-7 for a solo boost by pushing the mids and level slightly.

A good EQ pedal is a useful thing to have around.
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

There is a reason why David Gilmour has -what- foud GE-7s in his pedalboard?

Basically, if you really want to dial your sound in you need one EQ before and one after each stage that distorts/clips. Maybe not permanently, but temporarily to see what you are missing.

Wish they were cheaper, though. For the price of two of the GE-7 suckers you can get older 19" 2x31 band EQs...
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

In the past I used a GE 7 as a solo boost per what Simon F said.

At the time I was generally running a Duncan Invader in a Strat through an early model Marshall JCM 800. Once in a long time I'd switch to the mid or neck pup of the same strat, and I would use the GE 7 to give some snap to the stock single coils so that they would not sound so weak after using the Invader for most of the songs.
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

Great information! Thanks guys!

I'd be using it mostly as a flat solo boost but I'm intrigued in the "signal boost" in terms of bass.

I'm pushing a 1x12 Traynor YCV50Blue and I don't want "metal" mid cut chug but more of a modern rock type of chugga chugga every now and then. The Traynor is more of a classic marshall type with a great midrange sound which I don't want to change, but a little bit of flava every now and then is nice!

So is the signal boost thing a myth or is it for real? I can't imagine a pedal altering the tone of a signal so much that it adds so much bass, treble, mids to the signal.
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

mxr 10 band, way better then the crap thats out there! dont skimp on tone.:friday:
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

uOpt said:
T
Basically, if you really want to dial your sound in you need one EQ before and one after each stage that distorts/clips. Maybe not permanently, but temporarily to see what you are missing.
Click to expand...

Great point.

One CRITICAL thing to remember about EQ:
It cannot ADD sound that is NOT there in the first place. If you have a mega-dark mud guitar and pup that puts through no highs, using an EQ will do one thing - Make really loud LOUSY highs, and add some noise.

And Closed, a simple way to think about an EQ is that it is a volume knob for a specific frequency - which is what it is. It DOES add volume/output to that frequency. And the pedal can usually add additional volume overall.

That's why they have sliders plus an overall volume. When you boost a frequency, you make a louder signal. If you want to maintain an equal volume and just change the sound, usually you have to cut the volume on the pedal a touch.
 
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Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

If the loop in your amp is decent try putting an EQ pedal in it. I use my GE7 as a volume boost and the loop is the best place for it as I can add level without affecting the overdrive characteristics of my amp.
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

But sometimes you want to mess with what exactly your clipping stage is generating overtones of.

The clipping is done on the frequency mix that goes in. So an EQ before it will work as a normal EQ (what you hear doesn't follow the EQ settings), but you can influence what generates what extra overtones. Specifically you can make your clipping stage react strong on frequencies that you happen to have better playing control over. This is why Gilmour has several EQs before and after clipping pedals.
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

I use my GE7 in front of my amp - no FX loop on this one.

I boost the mids and volume and lower the highs a bit. Extra gain stage for solos.
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

In the loop is one possible location. But at that point you are shaping the total sound, which may be what you want to do.
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

"GE7 Sniper Mod" was all I needed to know. It's one of the few survivors in my post-AxeFX pedal purge.
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

Try out both graphic and parametric EQs. They both do about the same thing, and they are both fun. Parametric EQs seem are more precise if you are looking to filter out harsh frequencies, but graphic EQs do it sufficiently. Either way, EQs do awesome thingies. Try some speaker simulation settings, pickup sim settings and acoustic sim settings. It takes practice.
 
Re: EQ Pedal Education (I need it!)

ken361 said:
mxr 10 band, way better then the crap thats out there! dont skimp on tone.:friday:
Click to expand...

I had a GE-7, but took it out of my pedal board immediately, as it adds an annoying hiss even with everything flat. Could be just a bad one. If I get another I'll pick up a mxr eq.
 
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