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EQ pedal?

#2
I found the MXR 10 band quite good. Source audio have a new one coming out too that looks interesting. Link Removed

Before you upset anyone though you might want to read the sticky about these types of questions. ;)
 
#5
I have been using for the last couple of years Empress's ParaEQ.
Here a link: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I have found that a true Parametric EQ is more useful in finding the frequencies that you want to boost or attenuate. For me I have a Precision strung with flats and I like to boost the the upper mids to accentuate the initial attack of my fingers. I also like to cut some of the boomy low frequencies from my signal. This pedal has allowed my to fine tune the tone of my bass easily and helps me adjust my tone to a certain room in a live situation. I also use it as a clean boost in front of my tube amp. This pedal is quite transparent and is not going to warm up or fatten your tone. Your going to get the tone of your actual bass and hands.
 
#10
I've been using the Empress for well over a year now- its great! Very quiet, tons of headroom and easy to use. I use it primarily in the studio to 'fine tune' sounds before hitting the di. It's also the perfect pre for my high-impedance U-Bass. I can't recommend it enough as a simple & quiet parametric!

I like the parametric because its easier to 'sweep' into the frequency that you're looking for. Plus, with the narrow q option, you can zap problems without screwing with the overall curve too drastically. Knock down a narrow band of 1k & add a broad curve of low end? No problem! Notch out some high mids? Easy! Add some mids so my fuzz tone doesn't get lost? Done! And with the parametric frequency knob, you cam fine tune on the fly with one turn.
 
#11
EscapeNote said:
ccpbass - The Empress parametric looks really great to me. Especially cool that they've included some selectable Q points rather than the more commonly found semi-parametric controls.

Question: is it REALLY quiet, studio clean in bypass mode?
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, its quiet bypassed and turned on!
 
#12
Scotch - thanks for weighing in. If you're using it in studio and liking it then that's a good sign to me insofar as the bypass quality. I'm also one who prefers parametric EQ to graphic, both for tone shaping and problem solving. I've got a Radial BassBone on my current pedalboard and it's a fine piece of gear, however the fixed point EQ is more of a tease than anything. The mid band, fixed at 475 hz, works really well for my fretted bass but is no help at all for fretless. I'd like to have a more comprehensive, flexible EQ to work with, both for live and studio - the Empress is looking like it might do the trick...
 
#13
EscapeNote said:
ccpbass - The Empress parametric looks really great to me. Especially cool that they've included some selectable Q points rather than the more commonly found semi-parametric controls.

Question: is it REALLY quiet, studio clean in bypass mode?
Click to expand...

In bypass mode its dead quiet although I haven't heard it through headphones. I remember way back when there was a youtube video with guys using one in a studio application. You want to do a search on youtube. The only knock I can come up with is that the knob screening if really small and is black on a blue background making it difficult to see especially on a dark stage.

Scotch,
Have you tried running ParaEQ at a higher voltage. I think that there are dip switches inside so you can select 12v or 18v. I was curious if there was a noticeable difference in headroom at the high voltage settings.
 
#14

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#15
ccpbass said:
...

Scotch,
Have you tried running ParaEQ at a higher voltage. I think that there are dip switches inside so you can select 12v or 18v. I was curious if there was a noticeable difference in headroom at the high voltage settings.
Click to expand...

I am running mine at 18volts. I wasn't having any headroom issues at 9v, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it some insurance!

Honestly, I think it has plenty of headroom at 9volt operation. Of course, I subscribe to the 'subtractive eq' methodology - I suppose it would be possible to max it out with large amounts of bass boost, but unlikely in conventional usage.
 

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