EQ pedals -why?

[slantedpanted]

I just inherited two EQ boxes, a Boss GE-10 and an old Ibanez Renometer model no.95.

- Anyone use an EQ pedal/box? and whats the point?
- bassamps have EQs onboard - why the extra unit?

Enlighten me!

[bongomania]

Some people might be playing a P bass into an amp with only bass-mid-treble knobs. For them, a 7-band graphic EQ or a parametric EQ could be a genuinely useful upgrade. Neither my main bass nor my main amp have any EQ at all. Some people like to set their amp EQ absolutely flat, and use stomp box EQ's for selecting different tones.

[TheMutt]

Simply put, they serve two purposes:
1. So you have two EQ settings to quickly switch between without having to go to the amp and dial everything in. (obviously the pedal would be working in tandem with the amp)

2. To cut/boost sections of the EQ frequency that the amp doesn't cover. If the amp has a fixed parametric eq centered at 40, 250, 500, and 2k (I'm just pulling these numbers out of nowhere here...) there are a lot of frequencies in between that wouldn't get as boosted as you might like without also boosting a lot of frequencies that you hate. The EQ pedal would allow you to hone in on these frequencies, or sections of frequencies and tailor them as you wished.

[lowfreq33]

I keep an eq pedal on my board for the odd occasion I need to slap. My normal tone is a thicker jamerson type of sound, heavier on the midrange, which doesn't work so well for slap.

[bassbrad]

My main use for an EQ is to balance my basses to each other and tone sculpting. My main bass has a certain tone and has massive output, my fretless bass needs some volume help from a GE7B to keep up and a tweak for tone when I switch. I use a power amp so i also use a preamp/eq to get the desired sound Submarine for rock and Barber Linden for jazz.

[audienceofone]

EQ is actually one of the reasons I am going with an M13 rather than the M9. I wanted to be able to have specific EQ settings and not use up one of the 3 affects.

[slantedpanted]

So - EQs are like preamps? - or perhaps a preamp without the "amp" ?

[takfar]

Originally Posted by slantedpanted

So - EQs are like preamps? - or perhaps a preamp without the "amp" ?

preamps don't have an amp (that's why they're preamps)... if they did, they'd be amps with preamps, not preamps with amps. makes sense?

[pedalguy1]

Originally Posted by slantedpanted

So - EQs are like preamps? - or perhaps a preamp without the "amp" ?

You could think of it like that. Preamps of an amp do its own thing too, but generally yes, the eq is located at the preamp. You get control over freqencies (tone).

[slantedpanted]

Originally Posted by pedalguy1

You could think of it like that. Preamps of an amp do its own thing too, but generally yes, the eq is located at the preamp. You get control over freqencies (tone).

Yes i see - but what is it that a preamp can do that EQs cant? Overdrive?

I have a few preamp pedals that i use for tone and punch, but never drive - isnt an EQ the same thing?

[bongomania]

Check out the FAQ linked in my sig for an article that explains what a preamp is. Essentially and generally, the difference between something called a "preamp" and something called an "EQ" is that one has the word preamp written on it.

[DerHoggz]

I use an 8 band with 3-4 dB of gain on a few bands up around ~1k Hz to liven up my P with flats and also to add some mids to my Big Muff or drive.

[Muaguana]

I use an MXR 10-band EQ pedal for compensating tone shortfalls in my bass before the signal hits the amp. I use the semi-parametric 3-band in my amp for broad changes in tone and the 10-band for finer tone crafting. If I wasn't broke, I'd get a 7-band parametric EQ pedal, since I love the Pro Tools plug-in so much.

[ninepoundjammer]

For a while I was using an EQ pedal to brighten up my tone and give a bit of a clean boost for solos. I have since added an Xotic Bass BB and Bass RC for overdriven and clean boosts, respectively, and they have enough EQ control to give me what I want.

Recently, though, I've been really trying to dial in my low and mid EQ to cut through and avoid boominess while still getting a big sound. I love my mirco amp, but the 3-band fixed EQ doesn't quite cut it. I now run an MXR 6-band EQ pedal and find that it gives me the perfect ability to tweak my low/mid EQ.

[warwick.hoy]

Although I've never done this I can see EQs getting use in more sophisticated pedalboard setups that employ loops or line switching. Say you like what a particular effect does but your not to keen with how it interacts with your amps clean EQ settings. Throw an EQ pedal in with that pedal in a loop; step on one switch and solve any EQ issues that you might have with that particular effect.

I could see this arrangement working with something like an Analog Octaver that gives you dirty looks when you throw all kinds of upper harmonics at it. Put an EQ in front of it in a loop, dial out all but the fundamental frequencies or whatever it takes to get the thing to track better.

[McSpunckle]

It just lets you EQ at a different stage (maybe before or after a certain effect) or you can use them to boost or cut whatever you want, and go right back to normal.

If you don't know how you'll use it, try it out anyways and see if you find something cool. If not, sell 'em.


They are preamps, but so is everything that isn't the amp itself. It just means it goes BEFORE the amp.

Preamps in basses are literally just EQs. They might be tuned a certain way. They might always boost the signal a little-- but they're still just EQs. Basically the same thing as the EQ in an amp (assuming it doesn't have a passive EQ-- which is still EQ, just a different type).