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Equalizer?

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(@hoop71)
Trusted Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 35
Topic starter  

Do i really need one? If so how do i know how to set it up?

"my choice is what i choose to do
and if i'm causing no harm
it shouldn't bother you
your choice is who you choose to be
and if your causin' no harm
then you're alright with me"
~Ben Harper


   
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(@off-he-goes)
Noble Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 1259
 

Theres some information in here on EQ's.

http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?t=26255

Hopefully Wes or Joe will show up to help you out with them.

Vacate is the word...Vengance has no place on me or her...Cannot find a comfort in this world.


   
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 Mike
(@mike)
Famed Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 2892
 

Well, to start, no you don't need one but, once you get one you might end up with more.

The reason behind it is because it can “shape” your instrument and/or effects sound. How? You shape the sound by adjusting the different frequencies you have on hand, which can have a small or large impact on the over-all sound. By being able to tweak the frequencies/bands (increasing or decreasing the dB with-in a bandwidth) you have more control on how you want it to sound.

You can use it as a type of filter (which essentially is what it is anyway) through out your setup as well. By adding them in-between stages of your setup, you create even more control over your over-all sound. In the end, it all comes down to personal taste.

Personally, I like to muddy my axe into my EQ, tweak that and send it threw my TS9 with the drive around 2 o'clock and the tone around 10 o'clock and sending that to my HRD to take care of the rest. It creates a fuzzy lead with a lot of bite!

2 cents on the dollar :)

Mike


   
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(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

There's lots of things you can do with an EQ. As Mike said, you can shape your tone far better than you can with your guitar's or amp's tone controls. For instance, you may want a lot of bass in your tone, but you find when you turn up bass on your amp it becomes very muddy. You want a tight bass. The EQ allows you cut some bass frequencies and boost others to give you the tight, but big bass you want.

An EQ can be used as a boost for solos. You can set an EQ "flat" so that it really does not affect the tone you dialed in on your amp or guitar, but most EQs also have a volume control as well. You could turn this up high. When it comes time to solo, just step on the EQ for a big volume boost for the solo without changing the tone at all. Or, you could boost the mid frequencies along with the volume to make sure your lead tone really cuts through the mix.

And some do the opposite. They set the EQ to cut all frequencies while turning their amp up for tube saturation. When it comes time to solo they turn the EQ off for a big solo boost.

But most use the EQ to fine tune their tone much better than you can do with your amp's or guitar's controls.

They are not absolutely necessary, but once you use one you will probably never go without one again. :D

I use one after my Zoom GFX-1 multi-efx. I could never quite get a great EQ setting out of the Zoom alone, so I use the EQ after it to get closer to the tones I want.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@ignar-hillstrom)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 5349
 

EQs are like salt. Not spectacular, not expensive but darn usefull.


   
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(@sarton)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 95
 

I hadn't tried an equalizer until two days ago. One was given to me, so I decided to fool with it. I switched from my normal guitar->pod xtl->amp (power side) setup to guitar->eq->preamp->eq->poweramp (it's a stereo eq). Wow. I wouldn't have believed it until I tried it. Definitely cool stuff.

A sucking chest wound is Nature's way of telling you to slow down.

Godin Freeway Classic, PodXT Live, Seymour-Duncan 84-50.
(All this so I could learn 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little' Star for my youngest.)


   
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(@fluid)
Trusted Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 51
 

What are people's feelings on the Behringer EQ700? I'm looking to add an EQ to my setup on a Grad Student budget ;) For that matter, what's the prevailing opinions on Behringer effects in general? I've heard that they're not terribly durable but they get the job done at a fraction of the price of others, but I've never played with any so I really don't know. I've got a Zoom G2.1u that I've been playing with for a while. How would the Behringers compare to that? Thanks a lot guys!


   
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(@ignar-hillstrom)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 5349
 

I've got the Behringer wah, booster, compressor and EQ. In general: doesn't look durable, wouldn't use it if you play live a lot. The soundquality is pretty good, tonesucking is just as good/bad as some of the Boss units. The EQ is well worth it's money, the compressor as well. The booster (actually all their gain units) is usefull for a clean boost but stay clear of the drive button, that only gets you the usual buzzy crappy overdrive. The wah is greatly a matter of taste: Greybeard didn't like his at all for example whereas I like mine quite a lot.


   
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