Is an EQ pedal absolutely necessary?

[moon-bass]

I use a parametric EQ pedal - either single or dual band, depending on the board - for switching instruments (fretless really likes a bump around 800), taming room dynamics, sculpt the tone, and to cut high end. I wouldn't say needed, but really, really nice to have.

Three pedal boards and all three have some sort of parametric EQ. It's as useful as an HPF, if not more so.

 

[SunByrne]

Necessary? No, of course not. No pedals are "absolutely necessary."

However, there are many people who find them useful. YMMV.

 

[coy garcia]

necessary? No
Overkill? Possibly

 

[M0ses]

EQ is not necessary. And it's easier to screw things up than to fix things while using one, if you're not careful. If in doubt, just don't bother.

But guys. I LOVE, I mean I really love, +6dB @180~200Hz. I can't help myself, I put it on every preset. I always have. Many amps have "low mid" knobs around there and go ahead, use them. It makes my bass sound big and powerful without the muddy, boomy mess you get when you boost an octave lower near 80~100Hz, which a lot of amps also feature as "low bass" controls.

With a lot of experience you can make treble adjustments that work on an amp or pedal EQ (which are essentially bandpass fiilters), but you're really way better off using the bass' tone knob which is a LPF.

 

[JRA]

it's easier to dial out the bloom and the boom with a rackmount Rane PE15 (5 band)

yeah, i'm sure of that --- the rane is a handy piece! thanks for the clarification.