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ovrdrv123
Bronze Member
USA
143 Posts |
 Posted - 02/05/2010 : 02:20:12
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Lately, i've been playing without an amp. i've simpliflied my rig as so:
DI Box>FRV-1>DD-3>WH-4>OD-3>KH95>Guitar
my guitar's tone sounds bland pluging straight in. will a graphic EQ pedal help? and what graphic EQ is best??
thanks |
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Pedal Dan
Silver Member
USA
419 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 02:55:53
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Yo ovedrv123, EQ's are Boss! Some pun intended! Seriously, I use em all the tiime and I'm surprised more guitar players don't. Right now I'm running a Boss SP-1 first before distortion, and after it's the Coron DC-846 Spectrum. They really help sculp the tone of different guitars, amps, and cabs. If your looking for a 7 band you can't do wrong with a Boss GE-7, get the MIT and save some coin! With EQ you can create your own Tone! |
Edited by - Pedal Dan on 02/05/2010 02:57:17 |
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aaronharmon
Silver Member
USA
271 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 03:45:29
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quote:
Originally posted by ovrdrv123
Lately, i've been playing without an amp. i've simpliflied my rig as so:
DI Box>FRV-1>DD-3>WH-4>OD-3>KH95>Guitar
my guitar's tone sounds bland pluging straight in. will a graphic EQ pedal help? and what graphic EQ is best??
thanks
I have an EQ-20 and it is a pretty nice pedal. They can make a very big difference in terms of your tone. For example the EQ-20 is +/- 15 decibels across the ten bands really you have 30 dB to with. That's a heck of a big range. |
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Blackrash
Bronze Member
USA
72 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 07:52:15
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I have been wondering that very same thing...
I have yet to experiment with an EQ, just cause i didn't want to spend money on something not needed...
But i seems as though they are worth it, eh?
Are they mostly to shape distortion, do they really add that special something?
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natthu
Gold Member
Australia
756 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 07:56:40
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An EQ will definitely help, but it may not fix your problem of 'bland' tone. If you can get yourself a small tube pre-amp, it should do wonders for your tone... It should make it a bit more "full". Unfortunately I'm not an expert on pre-amps so I can't recommend one  An amp simulator might help you aswell...
If you're looking for an EQ though, I'd definitely go with a parametric instead of a Graphic - if you can afford it. I use the PQ-4B with bass quite a lot. With a little careful tweaking it is very good at bringing out specific frequencies for more punch without ruining your tone. A graphic EQ will give you less control over frequency choice because they are generally already preset. |
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aaronharmon
Silver Member
USA
271 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 08:30:30
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| The only bad thing about parametric EQs is that it is difficult to visualize and conceptualize what what the adjustments are going to make to your tone. You either have to have a good understanding of how they work to dial in the tone you want, or just blindly turn dials and find it by luck. They are not really difficult to learn, but they are not anywhere near as straightforward as a graphic EQ. |
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MullyFX
Gold Member
Germany
753 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 09:04:07
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quote:
Originally posted by aaronharmon
The only bad thing about parametric EQs is that it is difficult to visualize and conceptualize what what the adjustments are going to make to your tone. You either have to have a good understanding of how they work to dial in the tone you want, or just blindly turn dials and find it by luck. They are not really difficult to learn, but they are not anywhere near as straightforward as a graphic EQ.
then again you could use a freeware VST EQ with interal EQ graph that will show you what's going on... just to get the idea.... I wouldn't know what to do with a parametric if I wouldn't have studied graphs while turning knobs. |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 09:37:32
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Sorry if i'm taking this OT a bit but from reading the OP he seems to be running his pedal chain into a DI box then to a PA etc..without any sort of amp simulator,i don't think a EQ will do this job to brighten up his tone the way he wants...Paul H runs a similar setup but uses a Tech 21 sansamp as his 'amp'....i think using a something like this or maybe trying one of the boss fender amp pedals at the end might be a better move.....just my 2 cents.. |
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MullyFX
Gold Member
Germany
753 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 10:02:37
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| the fender stuff lacks speaker simulation so it won't do him any good either |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 11:00:54
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quote:
Originally posted by MullyFX
the fender stuff lacks speaker simulation so it won't do him any good either
A pod or a sansamp might be a better way to go so..personally from my own experiences with the pod i would try the sansamp first.... |
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zerksies
Double Platinum Member
USA
3406 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 12:51:58
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| AMP SIMS are ok. but i wouldn't really rel on them for my tone,they are not that great or that bad.BUt if you have bad tone to begin with an eq will not do that MUCH of an improvement |
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Dirk
Platinum Member
Netherlands
1309 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 17:08:57
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What you need is a full Marshall stack, then you'll never complain about blandness again.
Seriously, why don't you use an amp? Maybe you can't because of too small stages, in ear monitors, waking up the neighbours, etc.
Cause from you describe you'd want that speaker coloration.
And this is basically a theory of mine, even when playing clean, or with a bass guitar I'd still like that feedback response between the pickup and the speaker.
I was in a recording session 2 years ago and when tracking drums I'd play along and just plug in through a DI or a preamp and hear myself through headphones, but I got the feeling something was missing.
And it was, I was missing that feedback kind of like response between the pickup and the speaker that makes any guitar or bass sound come alive a little more.
This is just my crazy theory, but this could also explain why I don't like the sound of a bass through a DI or a guitar player with just a POD into the PA.
IMO, an amp makes the other half of the sound and a good amp can make a cheap guitar sound better, given you're a good guitar player in the first place. |
Edited by - Dirk on 02/05/2010 17:10:18 |
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Pedal Dan
Silver Member
USA
419 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 17:24:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Dirk
What you need is a full Marshall stack, then you'll never complain about blandness again. [:D
Amem on that!  |
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aaronharmon
Silver Member
USA
271 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 19:17:22
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quote:
Originally posted by MullyFX
quote:
Originally posted by aaronharmon
The only bad thing about parametric EQs is that it is difficult to visualize and conceptualize what what the adjustments are going to make to your tone. You either have to have a good understanding of how they work to dial in the tone you want, or just blindly turn dials and find it by luck. They are not really difficult to learn, but they are not anywhere near as straightforward as a graphic EQ.
then again you could use a freeware VST EQ with interal EQ graph that will show you what's going on... just to get the idea.... I wouldn't know what to do with a parametric if I wouldn't have studied graphs while turning knobs.
That's how I learned what was going on with them. Without seeing the graph, I never would have understood it. |
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aaronharmon
Silver Member
USA
271 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 19:22:21
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quote:
Originally posted by FRANZONI
Sorry if i'm taking this OT a bit but from reading the OP he seems to be running his pedal chain into a DI box then to a PA etc..without any sort of amp simulator,i don't think a EQ will do this job to brighten up his tone the way he wants...Paul H runs a similar setup but uses a Tech 21 sansamp as his 'amp'....i think using a something like this or maybe trying one of the boss fender amp pedals at the end might be a better move.....just my 2 cents..
He is running an Amp Sim. He is using the FRV-1 which simulates the 63 Fender Reverb. |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2010 : 22:58:40
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quote:
Originally posted by aaronharmon
quote:
Originally posted by FRANZONI
Sorry if i'm taking this OT a bit but from reading the OP he seems to be running his pedal chain into a DI box then to a PA etc..without any sort of amp simulator,i don't think a EQ will do this job to brighten up his tone the way he wants...Paul H runs a similar setup but uses a Tech 21 sansamp as his 'amp'....i think using a something like this or maybe trying one of the boss fender amp pedals at the end might be a better move.....just my 2 cents..
He is running an Amp Sim. He is using the FRV-1 which simulates the 63 Fender Reverb.
AFAIK the '63 reverb wasn't an amp but a large amp shaped reverb unit with no EQ and thats what the FRV-1 is based on so basically it's only a reverb pedal......are you getting it mixed up with the Boss FDR-1 pedal thats based on a '65 Fender deluxe reverb amp..? the boss version mimics the fender with bass and treble controls...i wasn't sure but Mully says that the boss pedals don't have speaker simulation....i know behringer have a cheap DI box that has a 4 X 12 cab simulation that was designed by the famous german amp designer Jurgen Rath...if i was going to go direct and didn't have a lot of readys to splash i would get that and maybe the boss FDR or the FBM -1 and run them at the end of the pedal chain like a real amp... personally i agree with Dirk..you can't beat a real amp and the interaction with a good speaker with a decent mic on it to the PA....but that isn't the question that was asked by the OP....i still don't think a EQ will sort out his tone problem if he's going direct...and i'm assuming he is with the DI box at the end of his pedalboard.... |
Edited by - FRANZONI on 02/05/2010 23:00:10 |
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Are EQ's worth buying?
