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Need advice for preamp / tone shaping with graphic EQ

T

tyrael

May 6, 2020
10
3
#1
I recently acquired an Aguilar Tone Hammer 350 and I like it very much.
I usually leave everything flat, without the drive... For most situation, the default tone of the TH suits the things I do (mainly composing on my own / practicing)

Sometimes, however, I would like to change the color and tone (mostly different EQ / and maybe OD). I would like to do so on the fly and be able to revert to the default tone quickly without having to turn all the knobs on the TH...

With my amp, I own the following pedals :

- Empress ParaEQ (I use it for precise slicing in the frequency spectrum, at the end of the signal path)
- Darkglass b3k v2 (for OD, still experimenting with it...)


Is it worth investing in a preamp pedal for shaping the tone at the beginning of the signal path? I was thinking of a preamp a graphic EQ such as the b7k or maybe getting the Tone Hammer preamp in order to have a way to quickly switch the tone. Or maybe something else? Or maybe I'm talking nonsense...

I have read here that using both TH preamp and amp does not really make sense so I don't really know if it is worth investing in this solution...

Any advice or suggestion is welcome
 
#3
GMC said:
If you want the most featured EQ currently available in a pedal format...then look up the Source Audio EQ2. Currently, the State of the Art.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion! It seems quite powerful as an EQ, but I think I'm looking at something more like a OD+EQ+preamp type of thing, that could potentially be plugged directly in a mixer (in order to keep the tone i'm going to dial on it)
 
#7
tyrael said:
Interesting, thanks for the info I did not know that. So you suggest I avoid using a preamp behind the TH 350...

Can you give a little more details on why it should be avoided?
Click to expand...

The reason is gain staging. Your amp already features a preamp section.

Let me put this way: when you are cooking, you should not put too many spices in the pot. It might spoil the dish.

You already own two pedals which are capable to give you the ability to change tone and colour. You do not need to buy any new devices.
 
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#9
Zbysek said:
The reason is gain staging. Your amp already features a preamp section.

Let me put this way: when you are cooking, you should not put too many spices in the pot. It might spoil the dish.

You already own two pedals which are capable to give you the ability to change tone and colour. You do not need to buy any new devices.
Click to expand...

No first-hand experience but I thought the Darkglass was supposed to be the bees-knees!

Riis
 
#10
Zbysek said:
The reason is gain staging. Your amp already features a preamp section.

Let me put this way: when you are cooking, you should not put too many spices in the pot. It might spoil the dish.
Click to expand...

Ok I understand, and I think you're certainly right about this.

You already own two pedals which are capable to give you the ability to change tone and colour. You do not need to buy any new devices.
Click to expand...

That's true, and up until now I was using the Empress as a "room correction device". But I could easily switch as my main EQ for tone... Thank you for the advice!
 
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#13
Zbysek said:
I have no first-hand experience either...but from videos I saw online, it seems to me that it's possible to get some useable tones from B3K in lower settings...

I agree that there are other devices better suited for mild overdrive on the market though.
Click to expand...

I have a problem with the more heavily colored character pedals (...I'm a Tech 21 fan boy) which is that, once bypassed, the host amp sounds so anemic. Okay, now it becomes an "always on" device and now you have to stick a neutral / transparent boost pedal in front of that. We can keep this up forever and the pedal manufacturers know this...it's a conspiracy, I tell ya!

Riis
 
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#16
try something like this

MXR-M108S-Ten-Band-EQ-Pedal.jpg
 
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#18
I'd get a multi-effects unit like the Zoom B1 Four.

They'll have graphic and parametric EQs, multiple compressors, multiple distortion / OD / fuzz / preamps, and the usual suspects (chorus, flanger, delay, reverb, auto-wah, octaver etc).

The Zoom also has an HPF, a frequency splitter, an exciter and so on. Plus, it's ridiculously affordable.

They're not quite as easy to change on the fly as a graphic EQ pedal, but still pretty easy. Plus, the units are usually fully programmable.
 

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