EQ Pedal Question

So, I was curious. How do you giggers do the EQ pedal.? Do you have it on one setting that you've found to like and leave it, or do you fiddle with the settings in between songs?

:oops: This is a habit I didn't want to admit to :lol:

Seems like (almost) each song requires a different setting... I do that with the car stereo too! :roll:

I leave mine in the same setting all the time, though it's not always on. I have the sliders set like a "U" or a "smile" to get kind of a "scooped" sound. Works for me anyways. 8)

I saw an interview with Tom Morello a couple of months ago, and he sets his sliders all to "0", and the level all the way up, and stomps on it when he needs a boost for solos.

Dan

Usually I set the basic channel EQs for a general sound and use external EQ for specific moments, like boosting a solo. That, combined with the tone knob on the guitar and the overdrive pedal should be enough to have all sounds needed without changing it between songs.

I was playing around with different settings on my EQ this morning. I do have a setting I use for gigs, but I play with it all the time to listen to various tones I can get from it. You would be amazed the many different tones you can get.

To explain some of the settings, a pic is helpful. Here is the Danelectro Fish and Chips EQ. I use two of these on my pedalboard.

Now, I don't know how familiar you are with EQs, so forgive me if I talk like you do not understand these pedals. Someone else reading may not. :D

As you see on the far left there is a scale. This scale goes from -15 to +15 with 0 in the middle. These are decibels. 0 is "flat" meaning you are neither boosting or cutting (attenuating) a particular frequency. 10 decibels is considered a doubling of volume, so with the sliders you can more than double the volume of a particular frequency, or more than cut the volume of a frequency in half. That is all the sliders really are, volume controls.

Along the top you see the frequencies controlled by each slider. The first slider is 100 Hz (Hertz). Hertz simply means "one per second". So 100 Hertz is 100 cycles per second. This is your low bass frequencies. Then you have 200 Hz, 400 Hz, 800 Hz (your Mids), 1.6 kHz (kilohertz), 3.2 kHz (your Highs), and 6.4 kHz. I'm sure you know and understand all this. Human voice and guitar tones occur mostly in your Mids.

On the far right is a master volume control.

I use these pedals in two ways. First I shape my tone. It is all a matter of personal preference, there is no right or wrong. What I consider good tone you may hate. Anyway, for me I like to boost 100 Hz about 5 decibels. This gives some big low end. I have tried going higher but it usually sounds "boomy". The next frequency 200 Hz I cut or attentuate about 10 decibels. In my personal experience I have found this frequency will really muddy your tone up. I like chords to sound clearly, even with distortion. I am a big fan of the ole Marshall crunch tone like you hear from AC/DC. To me this frequency causes the most problems. 400 Hz I cut about 5 decibels. 800 Hz I like to boost about 5 decibels, and 1.6 kHz I boost about 7 1/2 decibles. This is your "Mids". This is really the center of guitar tone. Lots of folks like to cut or "scoop" their Mids. This can sound great with distortion for rhythm guitar, but it is horrible for lead guitar. Have you ever gone to see a band you liked and loved the killer rhythm guitar tone, but then when the guitarist plays a solo you cannot hear them? I have seen and heard this many times. This is because they have cut the frequency where guitar tone is centered. Scooping Mids sounds awesome on rhythm, but is terrible for lead guitar in live situations. If you want your lead guitar solos to be heard you need to boost your Mids. Most of your pros boost the Mids. As for 3.2 kHz, I leave that about flat or 0, and I cut 6.4 kHz about 5 decibels. I do this to take out harsh, piercing Highs. They hurt my ears.

This is my favorite setting, but as I said, everybody is different. If it sounds good to you, that is all that matters. I have my EQ adjusted to where my guitar can be heard in a mix with a bass guitar and drums. Those scooped Mids tones can get buried by bass and drums, no matter how loud you turn your amp you can't hear it. So I boost my Mids. I want a tone distinct from the bass guitar that can be heard at all times.

My other EQ I use as a solo boost. I pretty much leave the sliders flat but push up the Volume about 10 decibels. When it is time to solo I turn the pedal on. Gives you a nice volume boost that does not color or alter your tone. This works very well.

I experiment with different settings all the time. I have a favorite called "Up and Down" . I push the first slider up (100 Hz), the next all the way down. The next up, the next down... and so on. With a little overdrive this setting sounds amazingly like ZZ Top.

I try all sorts of settings, EQs are lots of fun to play with, and you can get an endless amount of tones. An EQ is really one of the very best pedals you can own to shape your personal tone.

Wes

Thank you rparker for asking the question.

Wes, thanks for your in depth reply. I just got an education and now I won't be so frustrated when fooling around with my EQ.

I'm going to go try that right now. It sounds like we like the same types of sounds, so it should get me really close to where I'd like it. Can't really do any tweaking until this weekend. My left ear went out again and ain't getting fixed until Friday. :evil: :evil: :evil:

For EQ, I wish I had 2 pedals, not just the one I have at the moment. This being so, I have to switch settings...

The first EQ pedal in the chain is set as a scooped mids response as standard, but is rarely turned on. I prefer to get a good guitar+amp settings sound, it makes other things easier.

However the changes I currently make to the first one (or if I had a second one) are peaking the mids every once in a while if I just randomly feel like playing a bit of sterdy lead, but now more commonly to muddy it up and give it a kind of cascade, like a waterfall (left/low + to right/high -), to prep it for lead soloing (basically the addition of strong distortion/fuzz for lead).

They're very useful if you're the all-in-one player (as I try hard to be)...

RParker, great thread and thanks for bringing it up because I've had similar questions about EQ pedals.
As far as different brands of EQ pedals, I'm curious what you're paying for when you spend more money. My next pedal purchase is going to be a Danelectro Fish & Chips, based on its small price ($30) and great reviews. But then I see these other EQ pedals that are upward of $100, and some even approaching $200. I can see why there might be a difference with other effect pedals: wah, chorus, distortion, etc. But if you're simply boosting or cutting frequencies, are you getting more by spending more?
Thanks for the detailed explanation, Wes. That isn't the first time I've learned a lot from something you've posted.

I use an EQ pedal also. I'd ideally like to have 2, but money and pedalboard space are both at a premium these days. :lol:

The way I use my single EQ is to first set my amps' EQ then any of my other pedals for a good clean and dirty rhythm sound. Then, I set the EQ pedal for a slight boost...just enough to come over the drums and bass a little, with a slight bump to the sliders to boost the mids/upper mids a bit to cut through. That way I don't need as much overall volume boost which makes the PA mix and EQ-ing a lot easier as well as keeping stage volume under control, while still cutting through on solos. If the room happens to be "hard"..lots of bounce-back with highs being very piercing..I roll off the EQ pedals' highest-frequency bands a few dB to compensate so that solos don't cause people to wince in pain.

Right now, I'm using a DOD FX-40B which is all I can afford at the moment, but I'm really not happy with it. I'd like more frequency bands and better-quality construction. The sliders on that FX-40B suck, as does the foot-switch. That's the main advantage to spending more on an EQ pedal. The better/more expensive pedals are generally built much better, with higher-quality sliders and housings, as well as more frequency bands available, and also input gain as well as output level controls.

My next EQ pedal purchase will be an MXR M-108 10-band EQ. I owned one of these many years ago, and it was a tank, as well as providing me excellent control. I wish I'd had sense enough to keep it (along with that '78 black/silverburst LP Deluxe and the vintage Plexi Marshall + matching cab!) but alas, I let pesky little things like being laid off and having rent & utilities & car payments due cause temporary insanity. :lol:

At any rate, if you'd like more info on why/how/where to use EQ in an effects chain, take a look at the section dealing with EQ at the amptone website:

http://www.amptone.com/#eqconcepts

Cheers!

Strat

Hmmm, I currently run a Boss OD to a Boss EQ... should I switch these two around? Should I then buy another eq (perhaps a less expensive behringer) and place it after the OD? This way I can shape my distortion from both sides?

So, let me clarify....

Current state: Boss OD => Boss EQ

Proposed option 1: Boss EQ => Boss OD

or

Option 2: Boss EQ => Boss OD => new EQ

Or should I stay the same.... Of course I'm going to go home now and play around with swapping the order of the two, but should I also get a new EQ?

Great and instructive thread. I didn't read it when Roy started it.

Thanks everybody.

OK, I have moved the EQ in front of the OD and I think I REALLY like it. I feel like I have more control over shaping my tone. It just sound smoother... I like it.

Now I'm thinking I need to get another EQ (maybe the danelectro?) and put it after the OD and before the Wah (Wah is not here yet, but has been shipped :D )?

What do you think?

Well, I place my wah first straight from the guitar. That amptone website link I posted earlier in the thread suggests EQ both pre- and post-OD, so I think you're on the right track there. That's what I'd like to have, is EQ both before and after the OD.

Currently my FX chain goes:

Guitar>Wah>Compressor>OD>Echo-Delay>EQ>Stereo Chorus>Amp(s).

I'd like it to be:

Guitar>Wah>Compressor>EQ>OD>Echo-Delay>EQ>Stereo Chorus>Amp(s).

Cheers!

Strat

Well, I place my wah first straight from the guitar. That amptone website link I posted earlier in the thread suggests EQ both pre- and post-OD, so I think you're on the right track there. That's what I'd like to have, is EQ both before and after the OD.

Currently my FX chain goes:

Guitar>Wah>Compressor>OD>Echo-Delay>EQ>Stereo Chorus>Amp(s).

I'd like it to be:

Guitar>Wah>Compressor>EQ>OD>Echo-Delay>EQ>Stereo Chorus>Amp(s).

Cheers!

Strat

Thanks for the response.... I'm seriously thinking about adding one of those Fish & Chips eq's (MF has em for $30)....

One question though, I was going to put the wah after the OD (and eq) and just before the amp at the end of the chain. Is your at the front due to personal preference, or dies it have an effect on tone to have it late in the chain?

Thanks!

Jim