Untangling EQ's

[lowregister]

Hi my name is lowregister and I'm a tone addict...

For all of my bass career (i.e. 2 years) I have used the Boss GEB-7, a 7-band graphic EQ to help me change up my tone. In conjunction with my Ampeg ba-115 I can dial in a lot of tones.

Naturally, I'm looking to move on to some more exotic tone altering devices.

What I'm wondering though is the ACTUAL difference if I were to buy something like the Sansamp VT Bass.

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It's EQ has +/-12dB at 125(low), 500(mid), and 3.2k (high)

Nearly all of those I can hit with the Boss EQ. My question though, is a 10dB boost at 500 Hz on the Boss the same as a 10dB boost at 500 Hz on the VT, or any other tone pedal out there?

Granted, the VT and others like it, offer other knobs which increase the variability of the tone itself greatly (such as the character, drive, attack knobs etc...)

Aside from a good EQ, what other effects could one benefit from if they're looking for clean tone alterations? Is it worth dropping $150 on something that I can already do?

 

[RickenBoogie]

Though the VT pedal has eq knobs, it's a "character" pedal, not an eq pedal. It's meant to color your sound with an Ampeg SVT type tones. You can adjust the eq of the pedal, as is the case with most overdrives, and similar devices.

 

[PBass101]

The SVT pedal will probably already be slightly "voiced" with a certain built-in EQ and won't be as versatile as a 7-band EQ with regards to frequency control.

 

[lowregister]

So you would say that a pedal such as the VT, although has a 500 Hz adjustable range like all others, will sound different because of the 'coloring' that the overall pedal itself introduces to the signal?

 

[bongomania]

Very much so.

 

[PBass101]

So you would say that a pedal such as the VT, although has a 500 Hz adjustable range like all others, will sound different because of the 'coloring' that the overall pedal itself introduces to the signal?

Yes, because instead of simply granting you equalization control over your bass's tone like the Boss, it is trying to deliberately emulate a specific tube amplifier.

You might like it, you might not. Only one way to find out.