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Anyone miss Graphic EQs on amps?
- Thread starter MultiScaleMale
- Start date
Too many controls, I'd rather have a graphic.
Sure, I really miss them . . . . it was one of life's great mysteries how that 'smile' curve on most every one I saw, whether instrument amp, monitor or FOH, worked everywhere for everything.
Not.
Not.
With the new generation of transparent amps, and knowing how to set my amp flat, I don't miss them at all. And neither do various band mates
I do; for a couple of reasons:
EQ were necessity because active electronics on basses were not de rigueur, like they are, today. It's pretty much been established that I am not a huge fan of active electronics.
The other (slightly less important reason would be a concise representation of which bands one is adjusting and make more accurate adjustments.
The EQ being internal in the instrument is also a dual-edged sword.
The controls are literally right there at your finger tips for on-the-fly adjustments, but that's also part of the drawback. There's no indication of setting. It's a matter of "ear/hand" coordination.
EQ were necessity because active electronics on basses were not de rigueur, like they are, today. It's pretty much been established that I am not a huge fan of active electronics.
The other (slightly less important reason would be a concise representation of which bands one is adjusting and make more accurate adjustments.
The EQ being internal in the instrument is also a dual-edged sword.
The controls are literally right there at your finger tips for on-the-fly adjustments, but that's also part of the drawback. There's no indication of setting. It's a matter of "ear/hand" coordination.
JeezyMcNuggles
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- Feb 23, 2018
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I recently gigged with a MarkBass amp with graphic EQ, which merely served as a stage monitor - like most amps do these days. Didn't see any benefit of sliders - actually didn't use them either.
I bet there are all sorts of human factors... All tone controls do much the same thing in the end, but the various limitations must affect how we use them.
I look at a graphic eq and want to set a fair curve.
Give me 5 individual knobs and I don't feel the same need to relate one to the other.
Put me in front of a parametric or worse two parametric, and and although I know how it works and what it can do, I *personally* don't find it in any way intuitive even though I accept that the flexibility must give more capability to optimise the tone.
Then there's the decided weirdness of my Markbass which has a conventional 4 knob eq and then two other knobs that are there to argue with the main eq - or that's how it works in *my* head.
I think it would be an interesting exercise to stick people in front of different tone stacks and see how much the controls influence the end sound, but then if you cut my head off you'll find nerd written in my neck...
I look at a graphic eq and want to set a fair curve.
Give me 5 individual knobs and I don't feel the same need to relate one to the other.
Put me in front of a parametric or worse two parametric, and and although I know how it works and what it can do, I *personally* don't find it in any way intuitive even though I accept that the flexibility must give more capability to optimise the tone.
Then there's the decided weirdness of my Markbass which has a conventional 4 knob eq and then two other knobs that are there to argue with the main eq - or that's how it works in *my* head.
I think it would be an interesting exercise to stick people in front of different tone stacks and see how much the controls influence the end sound, but then if you cut my head off you'll find nerd written in my neck...
I miss the EQ controls of my Carvin BX500. It had excellent knob EQ as well as a multiband slider EQ that could be bypassed. Having more tone shaping options is great for when you often play multiple venues/spaces/stages with extremely differing shapes, sizes, and construction, and also for when you gig with two or more basses that sound very different from one another.
I just prefer 3 knobs, one for each of bass, mid and treble. I even do not prefer lo-mid and hi-mid controls separately. The simpler, the better for me (except my Jazz and Precision basses, none of my other basses even have controls on them).
I can see the fine-tuning possibilities with a parametric EQ or semi-parametric EQ with sliders, but I do not have much use of them except sometimes in my studio work...
I can see the fine-tuning possibilities with a parametric EQ or semi-parametric EQ with sliders, but I do not have much use of them except sometimes in my studio work...
Don't miss them at all. They are not precise enough to actually treat room problems and are impractical for sound shaping. I prefer a simple 3 band with selectable mids.
IMHO, the onboard EQs have too broad of a tuning to really tweak your sound. I've got a 32 band EQ through my effects loop, and it does whatever I need.
