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My apologies if this question has been asked before, but while I have read posts regarding the use of effects and pedals before, I haven't seen too much about using pedals to enhance the clean tone a guitar. Plus, I don't want to have to scroll through a ton of old posts to find what I'm looking for.
My primary guitar these days is a Telecaster through an old Polytone amp. Although the various settings on the amp and guitar can give me a wide range of very acceptable sounds, there are times when I'd like to tweak things a bit more. Some days I'd like a more "chime-like" tone like Ted Greene or Tim Lerch and other times I'd like a darker, fatter sound but without loosing any articulation.
So, is there a pedal that:
1. Will keep a relatively clean tone
2. Allow me to tweak my tone - i.e. roll off highs without any muddy bottom end and clear articulation
3. Relatively inexpensive - under $200.00
I'm thinking a good EQ pedal will give me all the options I'm looking for, but I don't know for sure. Any suggestions?
P.S. As much as I'd like to simply go buy a new guitar to give me more tonal options, unfortunately that's simply not in the works in the near future.
Thank you.
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11-21-2014 11:29 AM
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People seem to like the MXR EQs. Also, the BarbEQ. The only one I've owned the the Boss GE-7 which I would NOT recommend. Hissy and it sucks your tone even when off.
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The Biyang EQ is extremely good. When you look at the price it is insane.
P.S. If you never used an eq with a polytone, you have to give it a try. Ironically, for the opposite of what you use it for. It gives the polytone some "air". Great alternative to the Fender sound.
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I have a 10 band MXR which is a good little box. I like it a lot. I use it in the amp fx loop. If I were buying now I would get a two channel rack unit. One channel in line as straight EQ, the other on a side chain insert for my compressor rack. Rack EQs can be bought for little more than a pedal EQ.
EQ is so overlooked by guitarists.
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Empress paraeq
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i haven't ever used an EQ pedal per se but i like the Ethos Clean pre amp it has a very flexible tone stack. Also I would suggest that you can get a great deal of "EQ" variations just be moving your right (picking) hand forward or back in relation to the bridge.
all the best
Tim
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I've been looking at one those. They appear to be what I'm looking for. Do you have any first hand experience with one?
Originally Posted by FrankLearns
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Thanks Tim. I do move my right hand forward and back in relation to the bridge and, yes, I can get quite a range of sounds. Originally Posted by TLerch
One of the tones I'm trying to get is the sound you get from your Nocaster with the Lollar Charlie Christian pickup. Not being a finger style player like yourself, I'll never quite get there, but I really love the sound you get from that guitar.
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Zoom ms50g. Parametric and graphic and tuner and delay reverb modulation and small and cheap and decent blackface preamp emulation.
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Shadow ECP-2 guitar cable with preamp.
I use it with my Tele style guitar.
The pre amp is on battery.
You can get really nice sounds with it.
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I also recommend the Empress ParaEQ, though it's over $200 for a new one. It has amazing tone shaping functions and a boost switch. I own it and love it.
b_goat
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+1. I have one of those. It's an EQ pedal which doensn't color or compress the tone (besides the EQ of course). It's is a parametric EQ and has a bit of a learning curve - not so intuitive as a graphic equalizer pedal. Originally Posted by b_goat
The BarbEQ is intended to add some Fender vibe to amps which hasn't got it, but one can also use it as a straight EQ pedal with the right settings. The ParaEQ is more flexible (and more tricky to use).
Then there's the Samsamp Paradriver DI which can be used for coloring/distorting the sound heavily (or lightly for that matter) or as an ordinary EQ pedal (with a esmiprametric midrange control). If one just wants the EQ, it may be overkill. Some like it a lot, other hate it. I happen to like it because of its immense flexability. It's something like a Swiss knife of sound.
I also have an old Boss GE pedal. I can confirm what has been said in another post - it's hissy (but mine is a very old sample, and the new ones may be better in that repsect).Last edited by oldane; 11-22-2014 at 07:15 AM.
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there's been a long standing mod for the boss eq that is supposed to fix the hiss, amongst other things .
other things to consider: if you're just a dumb guitarist, something like the xotic rc booster or eqd tone job might be a little more straightforward.
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yes I do. Oldane nailed it in his response - it is small footprint, sturdy build, super clean, ultra low noise, completely transparent pedal. When you set everything to noon you don't hear a difference whether the pedal is on or off. You have three bands and can set the center frequency and width of the band individually and then boost or attenuate the band. There also is a superclean boost for up to 20db boost. It is a convincing pedal if you search for an eq that does not co,or your sound. For example one can eliminate boomy bass, push the mids a bit and dial back on the highs for a nice jazz tone. It works, of course, best, if it doesn't have to fight your amps tonestack. Originally Posted by jakeyboy1216
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The empress is great, the zoom will do exactly the same for a 3rd of the price.
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I have the paraEQ. It does everything in term of eq but its quite hard to go back and forth between sounds you like unless you want to write your presets down or makes marks on the pedals ( tape maybe).
It seems a lot of jazz guitarist have the following story with eq pedals: They spend a long time shopping for one, they get one, then after a few weeks they find that the tone button on their guitar and the eq of their amp can get them 98% close to what they get with the eq. Then the eq collect dust in a box.
This said I think the itch need to be scratched
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I don't think the idea is to change presets or to memorize settings. The idea is to learn how to use one and adjust to all rooms (at least for me). Originally Posted by Takemitsu
I have the paraEQ. It does everything in term of eq but its quite hard to go back and forth between sounds you like unless you want to write your presets down or makes marks on the pedals ( tape maybe).
It seems a lot of jazz guitarist have the following story with eq pedals: They spend a long time shopping for one, they get one, then after a few weeks they find that the tone button on their guitar and the eq of their amp can get them 98% close to what they get with the eq. Then the eq collect dust in a box.
This said I think the itch need to be scratched
All guitar players I know that started using eq pedals never went back. The control you have is miles beyond what most amp preamps and a tone control can do.
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heh, i use them as an "instant jazz/whatever" sound or as a sort of boost/overdrive, knocking off/adding a little bass or treble here and there, or possibly to salvage of fluff up a lame amp. i prefer the simplified, tonestack-ish approach to the graphic or parametric way simply because its easier and faster. i know how to use the other ones, but its sort of overkill. they are nice piece of studio grade kit, but that just isn't what i need. if i really needed that much tone shaping on the fly, its probably because i'm using the wrong amp/guitar/strings/pick/settings, etc. as takemitsu noted, i try to find a more... organic solution. i see the value, but i try not to put myself in that position.
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Ha ha, well done Takemitsu! That describes me of course ... I have multiple eq pedals and currently use none of them
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Amp in a box pedals or eqs are very different things. I use both but they serve very different purposes.
Do you play live? If you do you can quickly learn to love a parametric, that kind of power can be very useful even with a great guitar and a great amp.
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Needs repeating. Originally Posted by Takemitsu
It seems a lot of jazz guitarist have the following story with eq pedals: They spend a long time shopping for one, they get one, then after a few weeks they find that the tone button on their guitar and the eq of their amp can get them 98% close to what they get with the eq. Then the eq collect dust in a box.
This said I think the itch need to be scratched
I think they realize the EQ pedals don't sound natural and usually add noise.
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I have played hundreds of gigs with almost all eq pedals one can buy and had zero noise. Why would you say that? Can you mention an eq pedal that, properly fed, has given you noise? (exception to this is a stock boss ge-7 but with monte allums mods no noise. Of course extreme treble boosting will yeld noise but that will ALSO happen with the amp's eq). Originally Posted by docbop
Last edited by jorgemg1984; 11-22-2014 at 08:31 PM.
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i suppose my thinking and approach is informed by my bygone studio days and engineering training. i know how to work the fancier eqs, but in the field, i don't feel the need. if i really need to adjust the q of cut at 9000 hertz at a show, i probably have bigger problems than the wrong eq. it is neat to have infinite solutions right at your feet, but i'm just, in all ways, simple, i guess. truth be told, i came *this* close to buying an empress eq at one point. i think i decided on a compressor instead, which i quickly sold off for more boosts. i'm just simple. :/ a slightly more alive/perturbed amp with a little cutting/boosting is generally all i need for this sort of thing. a great base clean tone, anyway. if such a thing is being used, i use the pedal for 80-90% of the (further) tone shaping, and the rest will come from the guitar knobs (once the amp is set where i like it).
as i recall, any eq can cut frequencies, but only a good one can add frequencies well, be it analog, digital, a pedal, a plug in or a piece of hardware. assuming the circuit is good (and most are these days) and it is powered properly, as jorge points out, you should be good, noisewise.
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Interesting how there are such varying experiences among some of the knowledgeable players on this thread. Possibly it's because some of us are using EQ's for electric guitars (laminate archtops, solid bodies, et al) and some of us use them with what are primarily acoustic instruments.
I use an Empress ParaEQ. While it's quite possible my ears are hopeless, I don't perceive noise being introduced or tone being modified beyond what I'm asking the pedal to do. I use it to dial in a pleasant sound when going between various guitars with very different sounding pickups (K&K pure archtop, K&K definity, KA handwound, piezo's). I also go back and forth between a Henriksen w/ a 10" Redstone attached and a DTAR Solstice preamp driving a SR Jam 150. Rarely I've used it to seek out and destroy resonate frequencies causing feedback. I find I use the Empress quite a bit and I'm happy I acquired a quality pedal for this application.
Of course, if I were playing an electric (or equivalent) I don't think I would need it. This likely applies to many professionals rather than those of us sitting in our home studios obsessing over the last inch of tone.
Jorge.. surprised by your comments on the Zoom. Every lower end processor I've tried has been a fail. Do you think this one is different?
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If I have good guitar and good amp I I do not need to use any pedal EQ.
I played a lot of gigs this way.
f.ex. Ibanez As-200 with good tube amp sounds great for jazz gigs.
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