guitarSQUIRELL
New member
Are EQ pedals necessary on a board? If so, which one would you recommend?
EQ pedals
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Dave Locher
New member
Re: EQ pedals
Necessary? No. Useful, yes. Great as a totally clean boost with total control over which frequencies get boosted and/or cut. And if you play with a fair amount of gain, boosting only the mids gives great sustain.
If more players used EQ pedals there would probably be fewer replacement pickups sold. They aren't magic, but they do let you tailor your sound like nothing else.
Necessary? No. Useful, yes. Great as a totally clean boost with total control over which frequencies get boosted and/or cut. And if you play with a fair amount of gain, boosting only the mids gives great sustain.
If more players used EQ pedals there would probably be fewer replacement pickups sold. They aren't magic, but they do let you tailor your sound like nothing else.
baritone
New member
Re: EQ pedals
I have a parametric EQ & a 10-band graphic EQ, both from Boss. You can live without an equalizer, but I think every guitarist should own one. It's a whole universe of tone-shaping: speaker sims, acoustic simulation, pickup simulation, feedback killer, noise reduction. Acoustic sim from an EQ pedal sounds better than a dedicated acoustic simulator.
I have a parametric EQ & a 10-band graphic EQ, both from Boss. You can live without an equalizer, but I think every guitarist should own one. It's a whole universe of tone-shaping: speaker sims, acoustic simulation, pickup simulation, feedback killer, noise reduction. Acoustic sim from an EQ pedal sounds better than a dedicated acoustic simulator.
Diego
New member
Re: EQ pedals
Absolutely mandatory to have one in my FX loop.
They can add/substract depth, cut, fizz (not always a bad thing to have a bit of it), and sculp the midrange to your taste, this last point being 100% critical for me.
I normally set my amp with all EQ at 6, then shape everything from the loop.
Never found much use for one of these in front of the amp.
Absolutely mandatory to have one in my FX loop.
They can add/substract depth, cut, fizz (not always a bad thing to have a bit of it), and sculp the midrange to your taste, this last point being 100% critical for me.
I normally set my amp with all EQ at 6, then shape everything from the loop.
Never found much use for one of these in front of the amp.
ThisDyingSoul76
New member
Re: EQ pedals
Not necessary but very useful. If some says they are useless or call it cheating, they are sorely mistaken.
There is no cheating when it comes to getting the tone you want and an EQ can do the same jobs as several other types of pedals. If you find yourself struggling to get the sound you want, consider trying one.
Not necessary but very useful. If some says they are useless or call it cheating, they are sorely mistaken.
There is no cheating when it comes to getting the tone you want and an EQ can do the same jobs as several other types of pedals. If you find yourself struggling to get the sound you want, consider trying one.
H
HiFiRebel
Guest
Re: EQ pedals
Not necessary by any means. I generally like to use them if the amp needs a little help.
Not necessary by any means. I generally like to use them if the amp needs a little help.
EDX
New member
Re: EQ pedals
there's nothing more useful than an eq pedal, if you put it in the loop you can sculpt the tone that goes in the power amp, if you put it in front of the amp you can sculpt the tone that will hit the preamp, for distortion tones there's nothing more useful than selecting which frequencies will hit the preamp and how hard will they, my chainsaw tone is really a combination of my gear (dimebucker, old square logo peavey envoy, graphic eq, strings, jazz iii carbon picks), but without the Eq pedal it won't be the same, that pedal in front of the amp is what directs and concentrates what comes from my guitar to create this wide huge low end strike with a searing top and a healthy amount of mids, no way i could duplicate this tone using an overdrive instead
there's nothing more useful than an eq pedal, if you put it in the loop you can sculpt the tone that goes in the power amp, if you put it in front of the amp you can sculpt the tone that will hit the preamp, for distortion tones there's nothing more useful than selecting which frequencies will hit the preamp and how hard will they, my chainsaw tone is really a combination of my gear (dimebucker, old square logo peavey envoy, graphic eq, strings, jazz iii carbon picks), but without the Eq pedal it won't be the same, that pedal in front of the amp is what directs and concentrates what comes from my guitar to create this wide huge low end strike with a searing top and a healthy amount of mids, no way i could duplicate this tone using an overdrive instead
Empty Pockets
BadHairDayologist
Re: EQ pedals
I like them, i use a StoneDeaf PDF-1 as an overdrive and it's basically just a parametric EQ with some optional grit, but I'm glad i like my amps enough that i don't feel like i need to add a 10-band EQ to make it sound right.
I like them, i use a StoneDeaf PDF-1 as an overdrive and it's basically just a parametric EQ with some optional grit, but I'm glad i like my amps enough that i don't feel like i need to add a 10-band EQ to make it sound right.
Obsessive Compulsive
New member
Re: EQ pedals
The more bands the better. I use a 30-band dbx EQ and this thing lets me shape crappy sound from crappy pickups to my liking. Normally amps come with only 3 bands and there's not much you can do with it. You should definitely get one.
The more bands the better. I use a 30-band dbx EQ and this thing lets me shape crappy sound from crappy pickups to my liking. Normally amps come with only 3 bands and there's not much you can do with it. You should definitely get one.
Re: EQ pedals
I have a 10 band MXR pedal. I see its usefulness, but have not fully explored capabilities. since Ive reconfigured my board, it will be running in the loop and be more productive there. Out front, its much more subtle. the volume and gain boost are more pronounced than the eq when running to the front..
I have a 10 band MXR pedal. I see its usefulness, but have not fully explored capabilities. since Ive reconfigured my board, it will be running in the loop and be more productive there. Out front, its much more subtle. the volume and gain boost are more pronounced than the eq when running to the front..
EDX
New member
Re: EQ pedals
using a eq with a lot of bands doesn't have to do with how much you like your amps, it has to do with the sounds it yelds, not overdrive will ever generate the same kind and complex saturation an eq on front of the amp can period.
i like my amp a lot, so much that if i would wanted i could have changed it long time ago instead of buying pedals, but i decided to buy and use pedals to add different textures to the sound of my amp, thanks to my eq i have 2 clean tones, one is the dry clean channel dialed dark and mids cranked for a warm clean, with the eq on it turns onto a wide open clean sound which retains the warmth and i can saturate (by using the vol at 10) to get a classic blues type saturation, the same eq setting does it's wonders on the dist channel, my base dist tone is an old school thrash chainsaw tone with more high end, by itself is relly brutal and yields well for thrash and death, as all the sliders on the eq are on the boost side, everyone of the 7 freqs saturates the input of the amp on a different degree adding a whole different texture to the tone, you can still tell it is the same amp but the saturation is very concentrated not wide flat even, making the thing sound more present
is it the kerry king one? or the standard one?
it's usefulness depends on what you want to do with it, if you want to create a whole new texture for the amp, a more precise and tweaked distortion sound or just sweeten up the amp
using a eq with a lot of bands doesn't have to do with how much you like your amps, it has to do with the sounds it yelds, not overdrive will ever generate the same kind and complex saturation an eq on front of the amp can period.
i like my amp a lot, so much that if i would wanted i could have changed it long time ago instead of buying pedals, but i decided to buy and use pedals to add different textures to the sound of my amp, thanks to my eq i have 2 clean tones, one is the dry clean channel dialed dark and mids cranked for a warm clean, with the eq on it turns onto a wide open clean sound which retains the warmth and i can saturate (by using the vol at 10) to get a classic blues type saturation, the same eq setting does it's wonders on the dist channel, my base dist tone is an old school thrash chainsaw tone with more high end, by itself is relly brutal and yields well for thrash and death, as all the sliders on the eq are on the boost side, everyone of the 7 freqs saturates the input of the amp on a different degree adding a whole different texture to the tone, you can still tell it is the same amp but the saturation is very concentrated not wide flat even, making the thing sound more present
is it the kerry king one? or the standard one?
it's usefulness depends on what you want to do with it, if you want to create a whole new texture for the amp, a more precise and tweaked distortion sound or just sweeten up the amp
Last edited:
Dave Locher
New member
Re: EQ pedals
I am with EDX on this one - I have been using a 7-band eq pedal to add something hard to define to my amp distortion sound for years and years. I love the sound of my amp, and hitting the input with a low/mid hump on the eq pedal just adds a bit more...something.
I did not recommend the pedal I use because it is a DOD I bought new around 1990 and they are out of production.
One word of warning: if your amp has a lot of hiss at high gain an eq will make it louder. Mine does not, so it is not a problem for me.
I am with EDX on this one - I have been using a 7-band eq pedal to add something hard to define to my amp distortion sound for years and years. I love the sound of my amp, and hitting the input with a low/mid hump on the eq pedal just adds a bit more...something.
I did not recommend the pedal I use because it is a DOD I bought new around 1990 and they are out of production.
One word of warning: if your amp has a lot of hiss at high gain an eq will make it louder. Mine does not, so it is not a problem for me.
ThisDyingSoul76
New member
Re: EQ pedals
I mostly use my EQ these days for a mid boost and a slight volume boost when playing leads. It's like having a 3rd channel on my amp.
My previous amp was very mid heavy and lacked bottom end. I used it then to add low end and roll back the mids in my rhythm sound with the volume slider backed off a bit. I turned it off for my solos.
I mostly use my EQ these days for a mid boost and a slight volume boost when playing leads. It's like having a 3rd channel on my amp.
My previous amp was very mid heavy and lacked bottom end. I used it then to add low end and roll back the mids in my rhythm sound with the volume slider backed off a bit. I turned it off for my solos.
