Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

[SpaceShipOne]

What's everyone's take on this? Using a 20-30 ect band eq with a guitar amp? My thought is using one flat and only messing with frequencies that are problems. I'm looking at trying one to turn the 5150 into more of a low growl machine.

 

[cream123]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

My Nomad is so much better with the graphic EQ. So much more controllable. It has a pretty versatile 5-band graphic eq.

 

[Low_fidelity2100]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

What's everyone's take on this? Using a 20-30 ect band eq with a guitar amp? My thought is using one flat and only messing with frequencies that are problems. I'm looking at trying one to turn the 5150 into more of a low growl machine.

Dude if thats what you want out of Your amp, a 5150 isn't the amp you should be useing. They're great amps, and They're Great at what they Do. Thats just not what they do. Rather than trying to get a Hammer to be a screw driver...Just buy a screw driver instead.

 

[SpaceShipOne]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

Dude if thats what you want out of Your amp, a 5150 isn't the amp you should be useing. They're great amps, and They're Great at what they Do. Thats just not what they do. Rather than trying to get a Hammer to be a screw driver...Just buy a screw driver instead.

Never ever said that's what I want out of my amp, said it's what I'd like to get out of it. NOTHING beats my 5150 especially for what I play, but sometimes I just want that low chug growl to satisfy my inner metalhead:naughty:

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

Never ever said that's what I want out of my amp, said it's what I'd like to get out of it.

Read that again and explain it.

Oh, I "get" it.

What you want out of your amp is different than what you want to "get" out of your amp.

Or is that wrong?

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

Yeah, that's wrong too...

Is it a difference between "like" and "want" and "get" is just in there for gigglez?

 

[Philcguitars]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

I have one on my list. Have a look at the Alesis range. Programmable and I think good value.

 

[SpaceShipOne]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

Yeah, that's wrong too...

Is it a difference between "like" and "want" and "get" is just in there for gigglez?

Yeah yeah, I'm confusing..I get the idea, shush.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

IMO, a graph EQ can be a very powerful tone shaping tool when used correctly. It gives you an extra level of tonal versatility and tweakability.

I really dig the BOSS GE-7 for pedal EQ's. I don't have much experience with rack EQ's unfortunately.

If you want to notch out a specific frequency, you should look at a parametric EQ instead of a graph.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

I would avoid any but the real good EQ's because the cheaper ones really do leave your tone sounding weak and sterile.

Re: the 5 band EQ on Mesa Boogie amps: Many of the Mesa/Boogie amps I've heard need it because they really don't sound that great without it.

The amps I really like are the ones that sound perfect without adding anything, and with EQ that won't give you a bad tone no matter where you set it. Unfortunately, you have to pay a lot to get that kind of magical tone.

 

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

I think they're awesome! I love the 5 band eq on the mark 4

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

I've never heard an eq that made an amp sound better. been down that path, and I learned that if you're after a different sound, get a different amp.

yes, that's it: buy more amps. Simple.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

As mentioned...extra eq on amps....not very great.
Get more amps!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

Years ago, I somehow aquired a DOD 31 band mono EQ, so I tried it in the FX loop of a 5150 as well as in a JMP-1/Mesa rack setup. It's not too bad at all, if you set it first to unison, then like you said, dial in only the frequencies you want to change.

It will make your amp sound bigger and fuller, if you bump up the lower mids and maybe some others. The trick is to only nudge the sliders up 1 or down 1. Don't go crazy with it....the EQ should look fairly flat, except for a few sliders bumped up a notch.

 

[metalspider]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

i used to use a boss ge7 as a mid boost in front of my amp,i really miss it.

 

[Mephis]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

Never ever said that's what I want out of my amp, said it's what I'd like to get out of it. NOTHING beats my 5150 especially for what I play, but sometimes I just want that low chug growl to satisfy my inner metalhead:naughty:

Get a pickup that's better at it.

Check into a dimarzio breed.

Set all the knobs to 5 and if you don't like how the amp sounds, time to start looking for a different amp. I leave all my knobs around 5 with just a minor mid and bass cut.

I don't know whether the normal 5150 responds well to different pickups, but my amp becomes a completely different beast depending on the pickup.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

i disagree about all the knobs on 5

on both my amps i have some knobs kept low, some in the middle, and some i crank the bejesus out of

basically if you can get a few sounds you like out of an amp, and it works well with your guitars, it's a good amp

but i agree if the sounds you're getting out of your amp are still not quite what you want, there are steps to be taken, whether its pickups, tubes, maybe a mod, etc.

to me, EQ's are more about REAL fine tuning than sound overhauling

or if you wanna do the neil young thing & have your amp sound different for different parts of songs

 

[James Rock]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

For distortion I always find an EQ is good as it can get rid of certain unpleasent bits but for cleans I find it less effective unless I want a scooped funky tone. I also use single coils so I find it good for beefing up the tone (mids and bass boost with a little change in which treble frequencies are prominent).

 

[wahwah]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

The idea of having 31 eq filters, 14 of which don't even apply to the frequency spectrum of the guitar, and then slightly notching a few here and there and leaving the rest at unity gain seems like overkill to me, like getting a Ferrari to pick up your groceries. Since it's only the bottom end that you want to affect, a 2 or 4 band parametric which enables you to adjust the frequency and Q (bandwidth) would be a much more useful item. The filters in a third octave graphic eq are by their nature narrow, unadjustable bandwidth, great for tuning a live monitoring or FOH system, but a white elephant for guitar amps.


Cheers....................wahwah

 

[baritone]

Re: Your take on graphic EQ's for amps

Equalizers are a great way to customize your sound. If you have an equalizer with massive range, try to stick to more subtle settings to avoid thinning out the sound.