Talk to me about equaliser pedals

HAL9000

Never used one, but watching some YouTube videos earlier it looks like could be a useful tone-shaping tool and solo boost. Not something I've even come across too often so I'm suspecting it's a largely ignored but surprisingly useful item.

So, do I need one? what's good? What's rubbish? What features should I be looking for? 

Budget would be up to £150 ish.

Thanks.

JohnPerry

Recommend the Source Audio, which you can get used for £90.

Powerful, and has four presets to cover lots of bases. Mine cuts or boosts bass and treble v effectively with various amps 

JezWynd

Empress ParaEQ is excellent (and it has a separate boost function) but may be overkill for most players needs.

Sassafras

I've got an old MXR one and a modded GE 7.
They're very useful for tone shaping and clean boosting.
You'll be surprised at how useful they are.

Beexter

The Empress ParaEQ is really effective and the Source Audio Programmable EQ
is good too with the advantage of presets. Another sleeper is the Zoom MS series - they have both Parametric and Graphic EQs and can also store presets.

ragingben

I can also recommend the Source Audio Programmable EQ, I sold mine and have often wished I hadn't! They are bringing out a Programmable EQ 2 this month, looks awesome so may be worth checking out!

Wazmeister

Top of the bunch at this price is the EQD Tone Job, imho.

Much warmer than the Source Audio - which did sound quite 'digital' to me, but I loved the presets.

WiresDreamDisasters

The Boss EQ200 is the best one I've used.

AntonHunter

Wazmeister said:

Top of the bunch at this price is the EQD Tone Job, imho.

Much warmer than the Source Audio - which did sound quite 'digital' to me, but I loved the presets.

Do you find the three bands flexible enough?

rawk100

The MXR 10 band eq is the best one that ive tried, just note that it needs an 18V power supply.

Wazmeister

AntonHunter said:

Wazmeister said:

Top of the bunch at this price is the EQD Tone Job, imho.

Much warmer than the Source Audio - which did sound quite 'digital' to me, but I loved the presets.

Do you find the three bands flexible enough?

Absolutely.

It is also one of those 'add a little bit of something' pedals.

HAL9000

I guess one of my questions, in fact the main one, is do I actually need one in the first place? In one sense I guess it's a bit like having a compressor - some people swear by them and wouldn't be without, while others have no use for them whatsoever.

So, for those that have them - essential bit of kit? Nice to have? Manage happily without? And how would you describe what it is they give you?

clarkefan

I'd say "great to have available" rather than essential, like the LS-2 Line Selector is. 

I use a GE-7 for shaping sound and also as a boost capable of 15db into the amp input, to push the preamp rather than use a drive pedal.  So yes, a boost with sound shaping options

dilbert

Another GE-7 user here and it's a useful addition to a pedal board but I had to fit a kit to it to make it quiet enough for practical use.  

HAL9000

Wazmeister said:

Top of the bunch at this price is the EQD Tone Job, imho.

Looks good. Are you running it on 9v or 18v. My PSU is a T Rex Jnr which only has 9v outs.

Wazmeister

HAL9000 said:

Wazmeister said:

Top of the bunch at this price is the EQD Tone Job, imho.

Looks good. Are you running it on 9v or 18v. My PSU is a T Rex Jnr which only has 9v outs.

I no long use an EQ, but I did run mine 9v.

The GE7 is a good cheap shout, and surprisingly good - although can add a bit of noise.

If you can get the Analogue boded ones, they are superb and silent. Id forgot about them !

Voxman

Make no mistake and don't be put off by any negative comments you might hear  - an EQ is the biggest secret weapon any guitarist can have and I speak as someone who's been playing and gigging for over 40 years but who only 'discovered' the benefits of an EQ around 15 years ago.  I always keep one on my pedal board and use a Boss GE7; I also have a cheap but very effective Behringer EQ700 that I use in the FX loop of my Valvetronix amp. 

Positioning choice is vital as it will work differently.  In front of the amp an EQ will add gain as well as tone shaping. In a serial effects loop it will be clean and you can use it purely for tone shaping and clean volume boost. Some folk even use one at each end to give them extra flexibility.  You don't need to spend a fortune and could start off with a cheap one just to get the feel of what an EQ does and experiment with slider shapes/settings.  If you have the budget, the latest 'silver' MXR 10-band is a great EQ and very quiet. 

A great many players struggle with their tone and spend absolute fortunes on changing pickups and speakers - sometimes they can be very happy with the results, but other times less so. An EQ is a really simple, fast and inexpensive way to add huge tone-shaping control that you simply can't get from your amp's on board EQ and is immensely versatile depending on how you use it and where you place it.  I would never be without one now and particularly when used in the FX loop it can be like taking a blanket off your amp that you never knew it had, to make your tone clearer and punchier.

You'll also see a lot of discussion re parametric vs graphic EQ - they are slightly different in how they work but fundamentally do very similar things but in a different way. I'd personally suggest starting with a conventional graphic EQ to begin with because these tend to be less expensive and you can more easily hear the tonal impact within each frequency range. 

There are also pedals that are a kind of EQ but work a little differently.  A BBE Sonic Stomp Maximiser is an example - you can see demos and hear explanations on youtube.  It's most effective when used in an FX loop and brilliant re 'taking off that blanket' I mentioned earlier.  It's a weird pedal in that you get used to the tonal change very quickly - it gives a more fuller '3D' clearer tone. After a few minutes you don't realise it's on - until you turn it off!  Hence, it's an always on pedal in the FX loop of eg my Valvetronix amp. And because it works differently to an EQ ythey work really well together - but just keep the BBESSM last in the signal chain for best results.

 

JMP220478

Source Audio user here - presets inc output level - hidden low frequency - midi which is brilliant with a decent switcher ;  I use a Behringer as quick guide n mimic on the SA as it’s interface is a little slower to navigate having no sliders.

Free the Tone do a nice 10 band unit room - analog circuit with digital programming .

This is worth a watch imho 

https://youtu.be/OxGftBt4Jrk

johnhe

I’ve owned a GE-7 on two occasions. Probably inspired by seeing it on Dave Gilmour’s board. But on both occasions, the stay on my board was short lived. The problem with typical slider type eq pedals for me is that I seem unable to adhere to the less-is-more approach and end up over tweaking. This then inevitable leads to the never-quite-satisfied syndrome. In my younger days, I did use a GE-7 for a long time as my solo boost. But looking back at those tones, again I can now see the artificially mid boosted nature to the sound that the GE-7 imparted.

unlike some other posters above, the thought of adding an eq pedal into an fx loop horrifies me. If I was unhappy with the overall eq of an amp, I’d look for another amp. There’s something about using a graphic eq that tends to make amps sound very solid state, or artificially eq-ed, rather than warm, beautiful tone imo.

this is not meant as a criticism of those players who find eq pedals crucial. It’s just to try to point out that there appear to be two types of players - those who love eq pedals, and those for whom eq pedals seem to actually end up subtracting from the sound quality - not enhancing it,

but I guess until you try one, you have no idea which camp you’re likely to fall into.

Wazmeister

Voxman said:

Make no mistake and don't be put off by any negative comments you might hear  - an EQ is the biggest secret weapon any guitarist can have and I speak as someone who's been playing and gigging for over 40 years but who only 'discovered' the benefits of an EQ around 15 years ago.  I always keep one on my pedal board and use a Boss GE7; I also have a cheap but very effective Behringer EQ700 that I use in the FX loop of my Valvetronix amp. 

Positioning choice is vital as it will work differently.  In front of the amp an EQ will add gain as well as tone shaping. In a serial effects loop it will be clean and you can use it purely for tone shaping and clean volume boost. Some folk even use one at each end to give them extra flexibility.  You don't need to spend a fortune and could start off with a cheap one just to get the feel of what an EQ does and experiment with slider shapes/settings.  If you have the budget, the latest 'silver' MXR 10-band is a great EQ and very quiet. 

A great many players struggle with their tone and spend absolute fortunes on changing pickups and speakers - sometimes they can be very happy with the results, but other times less so. An EQ is a really simple, fast and inexpensive way to add huge tone-shaping control that you simply can't get from your amp's on board EQ and is immensely versatile depending on how you use it and where you place it.  I would never be without one now and particularly when used in the FX loop it can be like taking a blanket off your amp that you never knew it had, to make your tone clearer and punchier.

You'll also see a lot of discussion re parametric vs graphic EQ - they are slightly different in how they work but fundamentally do very similar things but in a different way. I'd personally suggest starting with a conventional graphic EQ to begin with because these tend to be less expensive and you can more easily hear the tonal impact within each frequency range. 

There are also pedals that are a kind of EQ but work a little differently.  A BBE Sonic Stomp Maximiser is an example - you can see demos and hear explanations on youtube.  It's most effective when used in an FX loop and brilliant re 'taking off that blanket' I mentioned earlier.  It's a weird pedal in that you get used to the tonal change very quickly - it gives a more fuller '3D' clearer tone. After a few minutes you don't realise it's on - until you turn it off!  Hence, it's an always on pedal in the FX loop of eg my Valvetronix amp. And because it works differently to an EQ ythey work really well together - but just keep the BBESSM last in the signal chain for best results.

 

Awesome post !

Voxman

johnhe said:

unlike some other posters above, the thought of adding an eq pedal into an fx loop horrifies me. If I was unhappy with the overall eq of an amp, I’d look for another amp. There’s something about using a graphic eq that tends to make amps sound very solid state, or artificially eq-ed, rather than warm, beautiful tone imo.

That depends on the EQ. If you are using an analogue unit that simply doesn't happen provided you use the EQ sensibly and dont try to mac out every slider! But I absolutely agree with you if you use a digital EQ. Some years back I bought a Boss EQ20 that was then state of the art, dual switching, LCD screen, 10 band and programmable. It sounded great in front of the amp but absolutely sterile and solid-state in the fx loop.  I was bitterly disappointed, sold it and went straight back to my Boss GE7. 

The other caveat is that you really need a serial not parallel fx loop as the latter won't let the full signal through. My amps that sound great with the EQ in the fx loop include my Laney Cub 12R, Marshall DSL401, and Vox Valvetronix AD120VTX.  Not so effective in the fx loop of my Laney VC30-210 and Marshall Valvestate 8080 as both of these have parallel loops.