EQ Pedal, treble booster, recommendations sought!

[ishouldbeking]

I'm thinking of adding some kind of EQ pedal to use on a few songs where I would otherwise switch basses. For the most part I get my main tone from either my P-bass or my Guild JS-2 (EB3 like bottom-rocker), but on a few songs I typically have to switch to either my Stingray or Jazz bass to get the added treble (and bass-cut) that I need. By experimenting with my amp's EQ I can get the tones I want out of my two main basses, but it's impractical to start twiddling knobs on stage.

For something like this would I be best off using a Bass EQ pedal or is there another kind of pedal that might work? I've seen "treble boosters" for guitar, but they look more like overdrive pedals... I did a search and saw some people recommending the MXR 10-band, but I'd rather not use an 18volt adapter since I currently keep everything running through my one-spot.

Are there any other worthy options besides the Boss Bass EQ? (And no, i don't hate Behringer, but i don't trust them to make a road-worthy stompbox, sorry.)

[assboglin]

Yes, what are commonly referred to as "Treble Boosters" are more like overdrive pedals. They can work on bass, if you're using a tube amp they can make it sound like your amp is going to blow up.

I think MXR makes a 6 band EQ that you might want to look into.

[ishouldbeking]

Originally Posted by assboglin

if you're using a tube amp they can make it sound like your amp is going to blow up.

I think MXR makes a 6 band EQ that you might want to look into.

Hmm... amp blowing up sounds awesome on its own, but i'd probably do best to look elsewhere for these baritone-guitar-esque tones.

I looked at the MXR 6 band and it goes down to 100Hz... is that low enough to work effectively for bass?

[assboglin]

Depends on where you want your bands of EQ. I personally would go with a Boss Bass EQ, but if I remember correctly there are bass playing endorsers of the MXR 6 band. Whether the Boss or the MXR 6 band makes a better choice for you depends heavily on which one has EQ control over the bands you want to enhance/cut.

[Swimming Bird]

I think low E on a regularly tuned 4-string is around 82 Hz. The MXR should have no effect until that G#. Of course bass has a lot of overtones, so it would still colour every note.

I use a GEB-7 and could not be happier. Then again, I mainly use it for feedback, so a lot of things would make me pretty happy.

[assboglin]

Actually the fundamental of the low E string is 41.2 Hz.

I know that's not what you meant, but it's not as if the EQ will have no effect below a certain note. Each frequency band will effect the harmonics of the note around where that band is located. Like I said, the question is, where do you want those bands to be? There's no rule saying you have to boost or cut the fundamental frequency of the low E string. Of course a bass EQ has EQ bands at frequencies that are useful for getting typical usable sounds out of a bass guitar, but if you're going for a more guitar oriented sound (which I assume the original poster is going for a baritone-guitar-esque tone from his last post) a guitar oriented EQ with bands at frequencies selected to be useful in creating typical useful guitar tones would be more appropriate. So again, it's a question of what frequencies you want to boost and cut.

[ishouldbeking]

hmm... that gives me something to think about. as always, i should probably just hit guitar center and try em both and see which works better for my desired tone. the boss would probably work just fine since part of what i need to do to achieve that "baritone-type" sound (at least the way I use it) is to actually cut the low end while slightly boosting the highs.

[dannybuoy]

You should be able to power an 18v pedal through your one spot using a voltage doubler. You can either get them in small boxes or built into leads such as the Godlyke Power Pump (whic can turn 9v into 12/18/24v):

http://www.godlyke.com/shopping/pgm-...age_num=1&=SID

I'm looking at getting one of these to run 12v from my 9v supply.

[ishouldbeking]

Whoa, neat. I didn't know they made those. Does that godlyke power pump work interchangeably with the one-spot? I know it says explicitly that it should only be used with the godlyke, but i was under the impression the two power supplies are virtually identical.

[scotch]

A Boss EQ will do what you want.


But for the ultimate in high fidelity and pure tone I'd suggest the Xotic Bass RC Booster. Bass & Treble shelving eq, true bypass, and it sounds really transparent when engaged!:
http://www.prosoundcommunications.co...fects/base_rc/