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How effective would a 2-band Parametic EQ be in an onboard Pre?

S

svirfnebli

Mar 16, 2008
42
0
#1
I'm just throwing around some ideas for an electronics project. Im trying to design a Bass Preamp just for the hell of it. I see alot of bases have a basic Low, Mid, High set up.. I could see a couple of advantages to a parametric setup, but it would be a lot of knobs.. I think I can get my hands on a couple of triple concentric pots so I could put all three required knobs on one stack...

So ASSUMING its possible to implement.. Would a 2-Band be good? Or does it really need to be three band? Or would it be better to have a standard low/high and a single band parametric for the mids? Are parametric EQ's really useful on a bass?

Thoughts? Ideas?
 
#2
svirfnebli said:
I'm just throwing around some ideas for an electronics project. Im trying to design a Bass Preamp just for the hell of it. I see alot of bases have a basic Low, Mid, High set up.. I could see a couple of advantages to a parametric setup, but it would be a lot of knobs.. I think I can get my hands on a couple of triple concentric pots so I could put all three required knobs on one stack...

So ASSUMING its possible to implement.. Would a 2-Band be good? Or does it really need to be three band? Or would it be better to have a standard low/high and a single band parametric for the mids? Are parametric EQ's really useful on a bass?

Thoughts? Ideas?
Click to expand...

Well, Roger uses 2-band non-parametric on his basses, so I'd think a 2-band semi-para would be more versatile. I like having the semi-parametric mid on my JO5 with J-Retro electronics. I don't really think full parametric is necessary; it might even make it too complicated to adjust on the fly. The judicious selection of your Q for each band would probably suffice. Some preamps automatically change the Q with a change in frequency center.

Bottom line, I like the idea of two bands of parametric EQ, but maybe only semi. Maybe use frequency ranges of 30 - 1000hz and 500 - 10Khz. There should be some overlap.
 
#5
line6man said:
Keep in mind that a fully parametric EQ would have to have only peaking bands, and having shelving bands for the bass and treble would be a lot more useful.

I would suggest a two band semi-parametric with shelving bands for the bass and treble.
Click to expand...

+1

but again, I owned a Schack 5, back in the years, and it had 3semi para ctrls.
Loved it

M
 
#6
6 knobs for EQ ? nope, don't think that would be at all useful... not live - too much potential knob diddling, either inadvertant or cognizantly... not in the studio either - you gonna compete with a Pultec or Manley, etc audio qulity wise - with on board electronics ? doubtful... and how often do we track live anyway ...

IMO - on the front side of the bass - keep it simple. I find the Vol, Bass, Mid, Treble slider setup on my Godin's to be really useful. Particularly on the '94. Similar EQ but longer throw faders. The '08 does have a selectable mid freq on a switch - top side which IS useful I will say. The '94 is my #1 though and I don't miss the switch there

Now if that setup had adjustable freq points for the toe controls INSIDE the cavity - I could see that as an improvemnt.

Overall my philosophy is that your basic, fundamental sound comes form a combo of the rig & bass (Hello, Mr Obvious!) and we spend a lot of time dialing that in as a bass line. For the most part - I need that one good bass line sound with some adjustment around it. More often than not, I get that adjustment with picking hand placement rather than EQ didling ... As an ex-live sound guy, I am of the opinion that for many of us, once we arrive at that 1 basic sound in a given acoustical environment - we can't stray far away without tossing the overall mix out the window. It ain't like we're all running FOH systems that allow for 'scene changes' afterall ...

So that color's my thinking in what I want my ideal top side controls to be. My rig these days is Godin Acoustibass with TI Flats to Korg stomp Tuner To Sans Amp ParaDriver. Dry signal to EA Micro and a monitor cab. Affected signal from the ParaDriver to the house. Simple, effective... I'm not playing at levels where I can justify dragging the WT-800 and a couple of 15's along thought I woudn't mind once in a while ...
 
#7
So if you did a semi-parametric Would would be on the Top and would would be on the bottom?

Also, if the Concentrics that I had were push pull, you could add an extra function.. What would you use the push pull for?
 
#9
svirfnebli said:
So if you did a semi-parametric Would would be on the Top and would would be on the bottom?

Also, if the Concentrics that I had were push pull, you could add an extra function.. What would you use the push pull for?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what your asking?

I doubt that you could find a concentric pot with a push/pull switch, but if you did find one, you can use the push/pull for anything you want, it's just a DPDT switch.
 
#10
Ric5 said:
I hate 2 band preamps ... they always seem to scoop out mids and give you that unpleasant boomy and dinky sound. I like a 3 band preamp with sweepable mids or a 4 band preamp.
Click to expand...

I have a rather limited experience with using preamps, but I don't agree.

My Aguilar OBP-1 is great because you can take a fairly midrangey sound and fill in the top and bottom to give you a more balanced and full tone.
This is assuming a naturally midrange heavy instrument though, like a Jazz bass.
 

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