using an EQ through the input jack

[pcake]

i have a question regarding a 7 or 10 band EQ. i want to lose a little bass, add a little presence and clarity and lose a little of the highest end. if you plug your bass into the EQ and the EQ into the front of your amp, can the EQ be pretty effective? i guess i'm wondering how much it will affect tone when your amp and its own flavor is in front of it...

 

[minddrain]

What type of amp do you have? Combo unit, are you using an amp head, what is your signal chain?

 

[pcake]

i'm not asking about my particular gear - i could get or play through other heads or combos in the future. i'd love to be able to tailor the sound.

i use no signal chain - i've always played amp to cab, i sometimes use a combo, sometimes use a head. my LH500 has an fx loop, my TC electronic BQ250 does not. i've owned and will own others in the future.

 

[minddrain]

My point was every pedal/piece of gear’s effectiveness depend on what comes before and after. It’s like compressing after drive. You can do that, but you lose drive. You can EQ before you distort, but depending on the tone for which you are looking, maybe you need to EQ the distorted signal. I found in my case that I need to noise surpress after my preamp in my effects loop.

 

[crguti]

It’s like compressing after drive. You can do that, but you lose drive.

In my experience, you lose drive when you compress before.

 

[pcake]

i don't use drive or any distortion. i play 100% clean 95% or better of the time. i rarely use compression or effects.

i'm just wondering if using an eq - in this case, a whirlwind bass ten - will let me shape the tone fairly well when used thus
bass --> eq--> input jack of head

 

[Wasnex]

i have a question regarding a 7 or 10 band EQ. i want to lose a little bass, add a little presence and clarity and lose a little of the highest end. if you plug your bass into the EQ and the EQ into the front of your amp, can the EQ be pretty effective? i guess i'm wondering how much it will affect tone when your amp and its own flavor is in front of it...

In general it will work fine. If your bass is passive, the different input impedance may change the sound slightly, but nothing major. For example, my MXR KFK EQ has an input impedance of 470Kohms and many amps have 1Mohm. I don't think this will be any sort of major problem considering the Radial J48 has an input impedance of 220Kohms.


The EQ itself may have it's own unique sonic signature as well.

 

[pcake]

most of my basses are passive.

 

[mapleglo]

I use a Tech 21 Q\Strip in front of the input of my amp and it definitely effects the tone significantly.

 

[blindrabbit]

i have a question regarding a 7 or 10 band EQ. i want to lose a little bass, add a little presence and clarity and lose a little of the highest end. if you plug your bass into the EQ and the EQ into the front of your amp, can the EQ be pretty effective? i guess i'm wondering how much it will affect tone when your amp and its own flavor is in front of it...

A Broughton HPF/LPF would probably accomplish what you are looking for, and will be totally neutral otherwise.

 

[And I]

I think you'll find it's quite effective. It won't undo the "sound" of your amp, and your amp won't defeat the changes you made with the eq. Usually the highest and lowest bands are too high and low for amps/speakers to faithfully reproduce anyway. So cutting them will definitely help. And adjustments in all of the other bands should be quite noticeable.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I use the mxr bass pre first, and depending on the settings it can affect the tone significantly. And I also use passive basses.

Edit: I guess the answer is it depends on the amp as well. If it's something with a flexible eq on it with hi gain boost/cut, then maybe wouldn't need such an eq pedal..

 

[BassGH]

The eq pedal I sometimes use (boss) can make gigantic changes in sound if you want it too. I mostly use it for problem basses (like my ubass) but I’m guessing it will do what you want.

 

[bobalu]

I have the Boss EQ pedal (the bass one) and its very effective in shaping my tone - Fender P and J into the pedal then to a Hartke LH500 with AK 410 cab. I don't use any effects and generally shape with the amp settings and use the pedal to fine tune for the room, but its way more capable than just fine tuning. Hope this helps you out.

 

[Andy Daventry]

I find it works if you use it for specific problems. You seem to have specific problems. It will work. I don't know about the MXR because I've never used it, but the Boss pedal works for me before the preamp, though it's a battery eater.

 

[BurtMacklinFBI]

I’ve used a couple different eq pedals (currently a Lone Wolf 8-Ball) in line between my bass and my amp and have always found them to work as expected. You should be just fine.

 

[mikewalker]

i don't use drive or any distortion. i play 100% clean 95% or better of the time. i rarely use compression or effects.

i'm just wondering if using an eq - in this case, a whirlwind bass ten - will let me shape the tone fairly well when used thus
bass --> eq--> input jack of head

Yep!

 

[SirMjac28]

A Broughton HPF/LPF would probably accomplish what you are looking for, and will be totally neutral otherwise.

I couldn't agree more +10000000

 

[Yango]

In the past I’ve used different BOSS EQ pedals both between my (passive) bass and amp and also in the effects loop, and both methods worked very well at either cutting or boosting desired frequencies. The main problem I found, was that these EQ pedals added a significant amount of hiss overall—but especially when boosting. Ultimately, I stopped using graphic EQ’s because of the noise.

Now the only EQ I use between my bass and amp is the Barber Linden (it’s extremely quiet), but it’s more of a tone “sweetner”, and wouldn’t be useful for your needs.

 

[SteveCS]

@Wasnex comment on impedance can be an important consideration, and it's impact can vary widely between instruments, especially passives. If it turns out that the EQ input is a 'tone sucker', try it in the amplifier's effects loop, if it has one.
YMMV.