Personally I'd say that everyone should have a EQ pedal in there rig regardless of amp, the tonal tweaking it gives you far surpasses your standard Bass, Treble and mids on amps.
@@bluwng If I understand your question correctly, when you pull EQ slides through to negative your cutting that frequency out of the end sound. That in effect makes other frequencies "pop" more to our ears and leaves room for other instruments.
That's a good point about using one as a booster. I could see someone using it to kick on for a solo, but giving a different tone, not just more volume.
I use an eq pedal as a 'boost'. I raise the mids and the highs, to a lesser extent. This allows me my solo boosts to be more targeted into certain frequencies.
I'm of an opposing opinion. I personally consider an EQ to be the single-most important pedal to have, but something that the majority of guitarists sadly overlook. Even with a fantastic sounding amp, an EQ will allow those minor frequency adjustments that'll turn a good tone into a nailed-it tone. (I put mine in the effects loop, I prefer it immediately in front of the power amp.) But also a good pedal to have for other applications. I originally got one as a poor man's boost pedal for the passive pickup in my acoustic, lol. Did(does) an awesome job of upping the output, with the added bonus of sound sculpting. Another use for which it's come in handy - when the amp's too big (eg, using a half stack for practice or a quiet jam), it's much easier to control the volume with an EQ pedal than trying to fine tune the master on a 100W head. I set the master to a reasonable upper limit, and use the EQ to bring it down to the level I want. I know, maybe not the ideal way to do it. But for a non-critical-tone situation where you just need a usable volume, it does the job nicely.
100% agree I leed into a mxr 108. First thing in the chain to sculpt or boost my pickup signal. I would even go as far as buying an e.q. before changing pups.
Yep, my beloved POD x3 Live is like that too, a Swiss army knife of bells and whistles. It was actually mucking about with the POD that opened up my eyes to the importance good EQ'ing. Generally speaking though, can't go wrong when you've got a standalone EQ pedal too, it's a super handy tool to have.
I have found an EQ pedal to be essential on a Vox AC 15. While the 2 band EQ on the amp can get a lot of changes in the high/low tones, it really doesn't have much effect on the mids. The EQ pedal has made a world of difference in the sounds I can get.
Useful vid, thanks. I find EQ pedals are useful to modify your sound when playing in different bands, different rooms etc. When I play in 6 or 7 piece bands, multiple instruments in the mix start cancelling the guitar frequencies out (cymbals and keys are usually the culprit). I ask the drummer to go light on the cymbals (basically every time we play - takes a few years to sink in). I ask the bass player to lower his mids, I ask the keyboard player to up his lower or higher mids and then I shape my sound to fit in-between. Takes a bit of nagging and tweaking but we usually can figure out our how our instruments fit in the frequency range so we mesh nicely instead of cancelling each other's sound out. Occasionally I may play a room that has a heavy 'boom' with some lower frequencies (a hollow wooden stage perhaps). The EQ is nice to have to cut that particular frequency instead of really messing with your amp set up. Also, a parametric EQ is pretty useful for fixing funky room frequency issues - really dealing into that one small frequency that is feeding back. Thanks again for the vid.
I actually have 2 on my board, one in the loop to tune to the room and another one as a boost. I'd say no guitarist should ever get out of the house without one!
Great video. We do tend to be too quick to think another pedal is the best way to solve our problems. I use my EQ pedal when I'm playing intros/quiet parts of a song by myself. Typically I cut the bottom end via the amp's EQ so it cuts through the mix. But when I am quietly picking an intro, I want it to be thick and warm. So I boost the lows for that and then kick the EQ off once others come into the song.
I have 2 more uses. I use my eq pedal for 'mixing' when i save stuff in my loop station And if you don't like the sweep on the amp eq, you can pinpoint which frequencies you want (For example, pretty high highs and medium mid, but very low high mid can not be acheeved by just a 3band eq)
Another good use is to tune the guitar/amp to the room you're in. When gigging I've found some rooms my guitar sounds nice and clear and warm, but some rooms it's too dark/muddy or too bright/thin. Different rooms have different resonant frequencies that can get in the way of your guitars frequencies or accentuate ones you may not want. Another thing is playing outdoors vs indoors, just in how the sound disperses it can change how your tone is perceived. Another use would be to cut out certain frequencies when the singer is singing or another instrument is playing lead. If you scoop out the mids a bit it can help the vocals or lead guitar to cut through and sit in the mix better. Or you can set your amp more scooped and then boost the mids with the eq pedal when you want to take a lead.
best way to get a huge overdrive with valve amps: lower the lows with the eq pedal and puch the mids. This avoid ugly blocking distortion in valves because of too much bass ! Simple trick, huge results specialy with old valves amps.
EQ pedals are really good for dialing out good tones from not so good pedals, like a Boss DS-1 for instance - I'll use a 10 band MXR and either push it or after it with a mid-hump dialed in - and you'd never know that awesome tone was coming from a DS-1. They're also really good for dialing in a 'room'. Have it as the last effect in your chain - bring your amps and pedal board to a gig - and suddenly you realize it sounds absolutely nothing like it did in your practice space, that's because you dialed in your gear to interact with the room you play in. The EQ pedal last in the chain will afford you the ability to not have to change any dials on any pedals or the amp(s) and just tweak that eq pedal to interact with the 'room' until you have your tone back. And the list is limitless what you can with one of those pedals - it's so much that most guitarists think of it as option paralysis. They're a wonderful way of creating a two channel amp from a single channel amp - just set one to boost the front end of your amp with the frequencies dialed in exactly to counteract some of the clean settings which make the amp sound crappy when overdriven. And further fine tune the tone with another equalizer set in the effects loop. I know Joe Perry does this trick to enhance 125 Hz harmonics on his Marshall Plexi stacks, because he dials the volumes back and it loses some of that magic marshall tone - and by enhancing certain frequencies he can get some of that tone back at a lower volume - preserve your hearing and then throw in a riteous Klon for some smooth overdrive.
Of all distortions, the ds-1 needs the least eq. Keep the tone knob at about 10 o’clock and gain at about 1 o’clock and you have super creamy distortion that just works.
@@davidlewis7363 this is so weird, I have a DS-1 going into my Vox AC4 right now, and my settings are nearly identical! Only minor difference is my tone is set somewhere between 9:00 o’clock and 9:30 o’clock - call it quarter past 9:00! Identical distortion. And my level is actually backed off from unity ie noon. Like 11:30. And it’s still quite a punch when I turn it on. Exceptionally creamy, really vibrant tones, even with cheap guitar. But I plug in this tele I got used put together by a luthier with Allparts body and baseball bat neck, treble bleed, Russian capacitor on the tone pot. Fender custom shop ‘51 nocaster pickups. It just screams! I have to turn back the volume some to get more of the highs back in, ie treble bleed. But I just change the level to get the overall crunch I want into the amp , and master volume to get overall volume. But agreed , it sounds as good as any professional tone I have ever heard! But it took years of getting away from the stock settings that I heard over the years. Probably because most players are everything on 10 on their guitars these days.
It sounded better without the eq imo I've always favoured a darker, cleaner tone on guitar, but you make some good points. I found eq useful on bass to put before a single band compressor, in a DAW I use multi band eqs to scoop out freqs to gain clarity in other instruments.
My pedal board is my sound and I never quite know what amp I might end up with. I have two eq pedals on my board; one boss ge-7 for the main channel, and another mini pedal ammoon eq-7 for the solo channel. Highly recommended to have at least one on your pedal board. If you need a boost pedal, use an eq instead to get the additional tone shaping as a bonus!
I like to have two EQ pedals on my otherwise fairly minimal board, mainly because I have a lot of guitars and take whichever guitar(s) I feel like playing on any given night Quite a few of them have out of the ordinary wirings I've done and pickups are quite varied, humbuckers, dual humbuckers, hotrail humbuckers, single coils, dual single coils, filtertrons, lipsticks, goldfoils so their sound can vary considerably For that reason I like to have one EQ set to warm up the sound and the other set to brighten it, often don't need to use either but when the tone does need a little colouring it's a lot easier and quicker to kick on an EQ than fool with amp/pedal settings, especially if I've just switched guitar for a particular song
I got an MXR 10 band mainly because it's what Kerry King uses (aside from his has 2 outputs), though he apparently uses it more to push his JCMs in a reverse scoop formation
Hey Shane, loving these vids. Just an idea for a new vid (if not done already), discussing general guitar care. Maybe go into detail about what you do to your guitars before and after gigging to ensure they sound as good as they can? Thanks again mate :)
Hey Shane, hope you are safe and well and everything is ok down under. I love your videos and first of all I want to thank you, as you have helped me a lot to find the right pedals for the tone I had in mind. I disagree with your advice in this video though ;-) - I actually bought the exact same IQ pedal you demoed and it just changed my life! I think that every guitarist should own an IQ pedal; it is just an essential piece of kit! It literally changed my overall tone for the better, and it made pedals I thought I didn't like come to life! Now I even use an IQ pedal to further fine tune my Two Rock amps! A big caveat here: I am one of those condemned to play only late at night at very low volumes - I can attest to the fact that at whispering low volumes an IQ pedal makes a HUGE difference; not sure if that is the same at gig/loud levels.
i have this amp (previous version though not the infinium one but still same issue with the dark tone) and there are some mods that can be done to brighten the tone a lot. But still an eq pedal sounds a very good option for tone tweak no matter the amp you use. Will get one for my board..
Useful video. I have recently bought an Ibanez guitar with ceramic pickups which have a darker quality and I can't be bothered getting them swapped out for alnico's. Getting an eq pedal should work nicely. Thanks for the video !
A good EQ pedal can also give many different levels of sound frequency, pretty much no matter what amp used. I use the Mxr 10 band w/volume and gain boost...oh yea... On another note: Fender is a good company I have had deals with them for years, and I hope they correct the price gouging as you stated in another video. Hell, if I were a dealer I would give you one heck of a deal on one. USA Gibson/Fender lover
Awesome tip! I wish I knew about the removing instead of adding freq. years ago. After many years of playing live I eventually discovered that aspect but by then I had retired from bands. However I can use it now for recording.
Hey, thanks for the video. My question is should I get myself an EQ pedal if I want my clean Epiphone Dot to sound flatter. I hope you understand what I mean. The thing is we play on two Epiphone guitars and we want one to sound richer and natural and the other one - duller, let's call it mono.
If you have a couple of different amps in your collection then I think it's totally worth having at least one EQ pedal. I use one in the FX loop of my Victory V40 which is a really dark sounding amp to begin with. It helps to brighten it up to a point that couldn't be reached otherwise. If you decide to use one, try it in the FX loop where possible. That approach seems to yield the best results for me.
Thank you! I am a beginner and wow! I could hear the difference on every tweak! However, I could not see where the eq levers are in the video. Could have helped more if I can visualize what I hear. But still very helpful!
Tone Fingerz I agree . Most important pedal in my opinion . EQ in the loop changed my life . Use it for a clean boost , and you will never look back . It's crazy that I have been playing guitar for 30 years and never could get my leads to cut through the mix . I tried it in front of my amp and it never really did what I thought it could do . Then finally I put it in my loop and OMG , it's insane how much your leads can pop out .
@@landonjackson3064 this is true. Tried so many "clean boost" pedals in the front and in the loop and they all suck tone. Tried an EQ in the loop, and I can use the Level as the volume boost and sculpt the tone a bit to limit the highs so it's not so ear-piercing, but boost mids so they cut through. I bought a Danelectro Fish n Chips for $27...all I need is this and a tuner.
Hi Guys! This is my problem: I have a joyo bluejay from the bantamp series. Great little amp. However, as I like my guitars with humbuckers I’m not able to dial in the amp a smooth clear bluesy tone, will an EQ pedal in the fx loop help me? -I’d appreciate guidance here.
I use the graphic eq on the line 6 m13 at the end of my chain, -0.5db at 80 and 440, boosting 0.5db at 1.1k and 2.2k, just to add clarity and remove mud
Made the mistake of not turning down the volume when you upped the 4k there - hence more drive on the amp so not comparing like with like. Just after you'd been explaining the volume thing too.
the Bugera doesn't have any 'fatal flaws', or even flaws. A tone control act in a range of frequencies, and the Bugera simply has a tone control centered on a different range than your other amp. It's not a flaw, anymore than the blue colour is more flawed than green.
Great video! I have a Bugera V5 and it’s too dark for me even with a strat. I was going to try a new speaker and do some tube swaps but I’m gonna grab an EQ pedal instead.
Nice one Shane. Was thinking about different pick ups for my Les Paul or even upgrading to a custom shop reissue. I’m going this route first to add a bit of clarity on the woofy neck pick up. There’s an annoying slightly muddy overtone that still lingers even when the bass is virtually at zero, on any amp. Hopefully I can ID it and fix with an eq pedal. It strikes me a lot of the boutique amp in a box pedals are just fancy eq pedals. Have to say I didn’t have the issue with my PRS single cut, which I sold, sob.
i use MXR M108. i love it, but it does have an issue in it by default.. it's kinda noisy on the front end, fortunately it's on the front end of it; just set -6dB in the front, and boost it back up on the back. 10 band EQ gives you more fine detail to the tone. especially handy if you're driving a tube amp hard. the way things happen in the tubes is kinda hard to explain, basically you have the signal volume, and lower harmonies have more volume than the higher ones, so you end up pushing the low end harmonies more than the highend and you're left with kind of muddy distortion with bad note definition. which is why i use like -12 dB cut on the 31 Hz area. gives a really nice full distortion. and yeah, what 10 band eq does is.... like the eq in the video, lowest frequency is 100 Hz, everything below that is controlled by the 100 hz control (that's WAY too high for base cutting), and the highest frequency is 4k and it also controls everything above 4k on the same button. where as i have a cut in 8kHz and 16kHz to cut out the unpleasant highs... so yeah, more bands gives you advantages, especially if you're looking for high gain tube distortion (the sort that melts tubes, i love that.)
I have the Caline copy of the MXR M108 (Caline CP-24 10 band EQ), and it seems quite quiet to me, so maybe they also copied one of the mods, or just used different chips. It does have an issue though, and I wonder if the MXR has the same one - there's very little cut or boost at 5kHz, and as far as I can tell, the 4kHz band is centred on about 3kHz. I used a spectrum analyzer app on an android tablet to check this stuff (with a white noise sample played through it). From the schematic I've seen of the MXR, it's quite possible that mistake is on the original too, though there may have been more than one version. It means if you have some noise going on with a component around 5kHz, it can't be taken away with the EQ. Maybe it's more of a problem with single coils, so maybe not everyone notices it though. I obsess about these things :) Most people would probably just get on with using it as it is. I'll probably take a soldering iron to mine soon - it seems to me it needs a capacitor or two changing for a different value.
People say it's stupid to buy an eq pedal to boost your signal. "there are better applications for an eq pedal. if you want to boost your signal volume, buy a clean boost or a nice overdrive." I don't think any clean boost or od do it as good as a eq. So I use two eq pedals. That easy!
Rory's Stuff yes it's magic . I never knew how much an EQ would boost leads in the effects loop . Crazy how you can boost leads , or even shape tone of a amp that say might have to much highs of lows . Shape your tone . I need one more
So I have a bassbreaker 30 love it with all my guitars but one and you have to get your volume up enough or you loose your highs so that's 2 situations I needed one for when I needed to turn way down or I wanna switch to that 1 guitars without having to re adjust my amp
Thanks, This is just the video i needed I just got a Bugera V5 and was wondering about adding an EQ pedal. Where do you put the EQ in your pedal chain ?
I just got a tone king falcon grande. It rules, but it is just a LITTLE dark. I bought a joyo 6 band eq for 30 bux. It will come next week. Do you think it will help?
I never ever thought about an eq pedal until today. I saw a video on Tim Pierces channel and he and Phil from know your gear talked about the boss g7 and how great it works on tone shaping. I honestly thought Tim played so well it didn't matter if he used the eq or not. Then I wondered what Shane thought about it. Then I saw this video. Now I am sure I need an eq, but I don't want to drop $100 on one. Does anyone know if Joyo or any of the less expensive ones are just as good?
Hey mr Shane i had an eq once tried it what it did to my sound on and off and came to a conclusion that my sound is alright, i use Zoom G2 and it has so many eq parallels ( is that a word) that i think im allright...plus with the heavier noisier solo sounds from zoom i use my other pedals to tone them down ... and when i move to next zooms the noise gets lesser cause they have the effects order option... THANKS SHANE for a very good argumentation with demonstration, a Behringer eq pedal costs 19,90€ new so if a fellow member of my future band convinces me that my sound would be aawwssummaly enhanced(not boosted) by getting one ... Then ill start saving for the best eq ever...Hey, wouldnt that be a mixing board...!?I think were all equal...Lingonheimo out
Fenrir He probably does, but with a screamer you're adding even more gain/compression to your chain. The ts and the muff stack didn't work for me. I find that the EQ pedal gives you a lot more control, what amp are you using?
Glad to hear you making mention of it with other pedals, just what I was wondering about. would an EQ before an overdrive be useful in thickening up an overdrive when using single coils such as with a strat? I'd love to try myself but my only EQ pedal was stolen years ago.
My thought was before a distortion it could provide a boost from a single coils. Just not sure how to test it as mines long gone. I have tried with a compressor / sustainer to give some clean boost which helps a bit but still not quite what I'm looking for. Though could be the sound I want is stuck in humbuckerville.
Pro Junior with a redcoat speaker. would you recommend an EQ with that amp? I find that amp to be quite dark sounding. Have not used it in a band situation though. Have combined it with other amps and it sounds great that way. really cuts through. I think that it is hard to judge an amp in a room by itself. Have to hear how it sounds with other instruments
![5 Ways To Use EQ Pedals | Too Afraid To Ask [Boss EQ-200]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rA17mta5kq4/mqdefault.jpg)
![5 Ways To Use EQ Pedals | Too Afraid To Ask [Boss EQ-200]](/img/tr.png)
Shane, you're killing it with these new practical videos!
Keep it up :)
Thanks Tiago, cheers! :-)
Personally I'd say that everyone should have a EQ pedal in there rig regardless of amp, the tonal tweaking it gives you far surpasses your standard Bass, Treble and mids on amps.
Agree 👍👍🎵🎵
100% agree. I like using an EQ pedal before my modulation, delay and reverb pedals.
If you have an EQ with a level control (like the Boss and copies) , you can also add some clean boost as well.
What exactly happens when you are in negative frequencies, hard to discern what happens below zero?
@@bluwng If I understand your question correctly, when you pull EQ slides through to negative your cutting that frequency out of the end sound. That in effect makes other frequencies "pop" more to our ears and leaves room for other instruments.
In a bllsht saturated environment like guitar videos on youtube is a pleasure to find people who knows what is talking about like you.
Thanks so much del! :-)
That's a good point about using one as a booster. I could see someone using it to kick on for a solo, but giving a different tone, not just more volume.
I use an eq pedal as a 'boost'. I raise the mids and the highs, to a lesser extent. This allows me my solo boosts to be more targeted into certain frequencies.
I'm of an opposing opinion. I personally consider an EQ to be the single-most important pedal to have, but something that the majority of guitarists sadly overlook. Even with a fantastic sounding amp, an EQ will allow those minor frequency adjustments that'll turn a good tone into a nailed-it tone. (I put mine in the effects loop, I prefer it immediately in front of the power amp.)
But also a good pedal to have for other applications. I originally got one as a poor man's boost pedal for the passive pickup in my acoustic, lol. Did(does) an awesome job of upping the output, with the added bonus of sound sculpting.
Another use for which it's come in handy - when the amp's too big (eg, using a half stack for practice or a quiet jam), it's much easier to control the volume with an EQ pedal than trying to fine tune the master on a 100W head. I set the master to a reasonable upper limit, and use the EQ to bring it down to the level I want.
I know, maybe not the ideal way to do it. But for a non-critical-tone situation where you just need a usable volume, it does the job nicely.
Totally agree with you. An EQ pedal in the fx loop can make super precise corrections to the tone and really nail the sound you need.
Mikee you ROCK. Your comment was super informative man thanx!
100% agree
I leed into a mxr 108.
First thing in the chain to sculpt or boost my pickup signal.
I would even go as far as buying an e.q. before changing pups.
my trusty Zoom G2s do all that: detailed eq, volume attenuation ( ive got a really loud Peavey Bandit 112 even at low vol1-2) and so much more...
Yep, my beloved POD x3 Live is like that too, a Swiss army knife of bells and whistles. It was actually mucking about with the POD that opened up my eyes to the importance good EQ'ing. Generally speaking though, can't go wrong when you've got a standalone EQ pedal too, it's a super handy tool to have.
I have found an EQ pedal to be essential on a Vox AC 15. While the 2 band EQ on the amp can get a lot of changes in the high/low tones, it really doesn't have much effect on the mids. The EQ pedal has made a world of difference in the sounds I can get.
that pedal is huge!!! bigger than the amp!!!! haha
dammit you beat me to it....a year ago.
im also here to say i was about to say the same thing and lucas you beat me to saying that... 2 weeks ago
lol!!
Bigger than him haha
great info! I've never even thought about an EQ pedal, but this was a great reference to keep in mind in case I ever come across the need for one.
Cheers mate.
E.Q. pedal is my most esential pedal.
Mxr 108 10 band.
You can completely sculpt your guitar tone.
I use an eq pedal as a lead boost after my overdrive. I boost the mid and high frequencies. Works well for me.
That's useful info with or without a pedal, gotta love videos like this, thanks man!
Useful vid, thanks. I find EQ pedals are useful to modify your sound when playing in different bands, different rooms etc. When I play in 6 or 7 piece bands, multiple instruments in the mix start cancelling the guitar frequencies out (cymbals and keys are usually the culprit). I ask the drummer to go light on the cymbals (basically every time we play - takes a few years to sink in). I ask the bass player to lower his mids, I ask the keyboard player to up his lower or higher mids and then I shape my sound to fit in-between. Takes a bit of nagging and tweaking but we usually can figure out our how our instruments fit in the frequency range so we mesh nicely instead of cancelling each other's sound out. Occasionally I may play a room that has a heavy 'boom' with some lower frequencies (a hollow wooden stage perhaps). The EQ is nice to have to cut that particular frequency instead of really messing with your amp set up. Also, a parametric EQ is pretty useful for fixing funky room frequency issues - really dealing into that one small frequency that is feeding back. Thanks again for the vid.
I keep an eq pedal in my gig bag as insurance…it comes in handy when gigging in in a bad sounding venue. It has saved my tone on many occasions.
I actually have 2 on my board, one in the loop to tune to the room and another one as a boost. I'd say no guitarist should ever get out of the house without one!
Sames
Great video. We do tend to be too quick to think another pedal is the best way to solve our problems. I use my EQ pedal when I'm playing intros/quiet parts of a song by myself. Typically I cut the bottom end via the amp's EQ so it cuts through the mix. But when I am quietly picking an intro, I want it to be thick and warm. So I boost the lows for that and then kick the EQ off once others come into the song.
I have 2 more uses.
I use my eq pedal for 'mixing' when i save stuff in my loop station
And if you don't like the sweep on the amp eq, you can pinpoint which frequencies you want
(For example, pretty high highs and medium mid, but very low high mid can not be acheeved by just a 3band eq)
Another good use is to tune the guitar/amp to the room you're in. When gigging I've found some rooms my guitar sounds nice and clear and warm, but some rooms it's too dark/muddy or too bright/thin. Different rooms have different resonant frequencies that can get in the way of your guitars frequencies or accentuate ones you may not want. Another thing is playing outdoors vs indoors, just in how the sound disperses it can change how your tone is perceived.
Another use would be to cut out certain frequencies when the singer is singing or another instrument is playing lead. If you scoop out the mids a bit it can help the vocals or lead guitar to cut through and sit in the mix better. Or you can set your amp more scooped and then boost the mids with the eq pedal when you want to take a lead.
I never even thought about the need for an EQ pedal but you have done a great job showing how it can improve the sound.
I run an mxr 10 band eq through the fx loop of my fender HRD to cut volume and some of the low end. An EQ pedal is a must have.
Thanks for explaining how the EQ can be used. I thought it was for super-tone nerds, but it seems to have very practical application as well.
best way to get a huge overdrive with valve amps: lower the lows with the eq pedal and puch the mids. This avoid ugly blocking distortion in valves because of too much bass ! Simple trick, huge results specialy with old valves amps.
EQ pedals are really good for dialing out good tones from not so good pedals, like a Boss DS-1 for instance - I'll use a 10 band MXR and either push it or after it with a mid-hump dialed in - and you'd never know that awesome tone was coming from a DS-1. They're also really good for dialing in a 'room'. Have it as the last effect in your chain - bring your amps and pedal board to a gig - and suddenly you realize it sounds absolutely nothing like it did in your practice space, that's because you dialed in your gear to interact with the room you play in. The EQ pedal last in the chain will afford you the ability to not have to change any dials on any pedals or the amp(s) and just tweak that eq pedal to interact with the 'room' until you have your tone back. And the list is limitless what you can with one of those pedals - it's so much that most guitarists think of it as option paralysis. They're a wonderful way of creating a two channel amp from a single channel amp - just set one to boost the front end of your amp with the frequencies dialed in exactly to counteract some of the clean settings which make the amp sound crappy when overdriven. And further fine tune the tone with another equalizer set in the effects loop. I know Joe Perry does this trick to enhance 125 Hz harmonics on his Marshall Plexi stacks, because he dials the volumes back and it loses some of that magic marshall tone - and by enhancing certain frequencies he can get some of that tone back at a lower volume - preserve your hearing and then throw in a riteous Klon for some smooth overdrive.
No, no, no. Rarely if Ever use EQ to raise. Lower and you’ll be happiest. TY Shane. Brilliant my man.
You nailed it man. That's the way I'm using it too. 😎
Of all distortions, the ds-1 needs the least eq. Keep the tone knob at about 10 o’clock and gain at about 1 o’clock and you have super creamy distortion that just works.
@@davidlewis7363 this is so weird, I have a DS-1 going into my Vox AC4 right now, and my settings are nearly identical! Only minor difference is my tone is set somewhere between 9:00 o’clock and 9:30 o’clock - call it quarter past 9:00! Identical distortion. And my level is actually backed off from unity ie noon. Like 11:30. And it’s still quite a punch when I turn it on. Exceptionally creamy, really vibrant tones, even with cheap guitar. But I plug in this tele I got used put together by a luthier with Allparts body and baseball bat neck, treble bleed, Russian capacitor on the tone pot. Fender custom shop ‘51 nocaster pickups. It just screams! I have to turn back the volume some to get more of the highs back in, ie treble bleed. But I just change the level to get the overall crunch I want into the amp , and master volume to get overall volume. But agreed , it sounds as good as any professional tone I have ever heard! But it took years of getting away from the stock settings that I heard over the years. Probably because most players are everything on 10 on their guitars these days.
@@voxpathfinder15r isn’t it great how things just work sometimes? Never be scared to investigate.
It sounded better without the eq imo I've always favoured a darker, cleaner tone on guitar, but you make some good points. I found eq useful on bass to put before a single band compressor, in a DAW I use multi band eqs to scoop out freqs to gain clarity in other instruments.
You have a great sound , I have an Old Les Paul Custom and I am getting a 10 band EQ to go with it . I will watch all of your videos !
Sometimes eq pedals can be used to mix out frequencies that give feedback with hollow body guitars.
My pedal board is my sound and I never quite know what amp I might end up with. I have two eq pedals on my board; one boss ge-7 for the main channel, and another mini pedal ammoon eq-7 for the solo channel. Highly recommended to have at least one on your pedal board. If you need a boost pedal, use an eq instead to get the additional tone shaping as a bonus!
How's the Ammoon compared to Boss? I know Boss has a lot of noise, is the Ammoon quieter? Thanks
I like to have two EQ pedals on my otherwise fairly minimal board, mainly because I have a lot of guitars and take whichever guitar(s) I feel like playing on any given night
Quite a few of them have out of the ordinary wirings I've done and pickups are quite varied, humbuckers, dual humbuckers, hotrail humbuckers, single coils, dual single coils, filtertrons, lipsticks, goldfoils so their sound can vary considerably
For that reason I like to have one EQ set to warm up the sound and the other set to brighten it, often don't need to use either but when the tone does need a little colouring it's a lot easier and quicker to kick on an EQ than fool with amp/pedal settings, especially if I've just switched guitar for a particular song
A must pedal in my opinion to have on the board cool stuff Shane
I absolutely love your channel man! greetings from Mexico :)
Thanks for this series, Shane.
This is what tutorial videos should be like. Well done!
I got an MXR 10 band mainly because it's what Kerry King uses (aside from his has 2 outputs), though he apparently uses it more to push his JCMs in a reverse scoop formation
This was super helpful!! Thanx Shane.
Hey Shane, loving these vids. Just an idea for a new vid (if not done already), discussing general guitar care. Maybe go into detail about what you do to your guitars before and after gigging to ensure they sound as good as they can? Thanks again mate :)
Thanks a lot for the suggestion David. I will add it to the list of videos to shoot. :-)
At 5:25 is Shane demonstrating an EQ pedal into an OD pedal, or an OD pedal into an EQ pedal?
People, I use PTP amp, Gibson Junior and boss bass eq as gain pedal. Amp volume all the way up and,....killer ton for allmost everything!
I just used to use it for solo volume boost.
Hey Shane, hope you are safe and well and everything is ok down under. I love your videos and first of all I want to thank you, as you have helped me a lot to find the right pedals for the tone I had in mind. I disagree with your advice in this video though ;-) - I actually bought the exact same IQ pedal you demoed and it just changed my life! I think that every guitarist should own an IQ pedal; it is just an essential piece of kit! It literally changed my overall tone for the better, and it made pedals I thought I didn't like come to life! Now I even use an IQ pedal to further fine tune my Two Rock amps! A big caveat here: I am one of those condemned to play only late at night at very low volumes - I can attest to the fact that at whispering low volumes an IQ pedal makes a HUGE difference; not sure if that is the same at gig/loud levels.
i have this amp (previous version though not the infinium one but still same issue with the dark tone) and there are some mods that can be done to brighten the tone a lot. But still an eq pedal sounds a very good option for tone tweak no matter the amp you use. Will get one for my board..
Shane, you've convinced me that I need a EQ for a boost. Thanks
Useful video. I have recently bought an Ibanez guitar with ceramic pickups which have a darker quality and I can't be bothered getting them swapped out for alnico's. Getting an eq pedal should work nicely. Thanks for the video !
My most used pedal a Boss eq. Dropped into the fx loop to use the volume level feature.
I'm a Johnny come lately to EQ and Compression, but I'm catching up in a hurry. Learning how to use your pedals can only make you a better player.
Had one years ago,but now see its worth better,it is tone central
wow -diggin this - thats sweet tone adjustment ,
A good EQ pedal can also give many different levels of sound frequency, pretty much no matter what amp used. I use the Mxr 10 band w/volume and gain boost...oh yea... On another note: Fender is a good company I have had deals with them for years, and I hope they correct the price gouging as you stated in another video. Hell, if I were a dealer I would give you one heck of a deal on one. USA Gibson/Fender lover
I just picked up a Bugera and it is a little muddy, and just ordered an eq pedal, thank you
Awesome tip! I wish I knew about the removing instead of adding freq. years ago. After many years of playing live I eventually discovered that aspect but by then I had retired from bands. However I can use it now for recording.
That is a really convincing demo. Awesome sound.
I have an eq velcro'd to the top of my vox ac4c1, it sounds fuller an is great help when plugging in different sounding guitars..
great vid!
Equalizer is a must for my bass guitar
Excellent video, and demonstration.
Thank you.
I have Bugera V5 Infinium and your right it would help cause I find it a little on the dark muddy side. Thanks for you informative videos.
Hey, thanks for the video.
My question is should I get myself an EQ pedal if I want my clean Epiphone Dot to sound flatter. I hope you understand what I mean. The thing is we play on two Epiphone guitars and we want one to sound richer and natural and the other one - duller, let's call it mono.
I do not understand English well.But I understood this video!thanks!
Jesus that eq pedal is HUGE!!
I saw that you have a "silver face" Bandit. I had one for years and loved it. I think they sound better than the newer ones.
The one on the video its a red line, actually.
Just got my Boss GE-7 in the mail. Been playing guitar for 10 years. How have I sliced this long without it ?
If you have a couple of different amps in your collection then I think it's totally worth having at least one EQ pedal. I use one in the FX loop of my Victory V40 which is a really dark sounding amp to begin with. It helps to brighten it up to a point that couldn't be reached otherwise. If you decide to use one, try it in the FX loop where possible. That approach seems to yield the best results for me.
Helpful vidoe, Shane. Do you have one explaining preamp pedals?
Thank you! I am a beginner and wow! I could hear the difference on every tweak! However, I could not see where the eq levers are in the video. Could have helped more if I can visualize what I hear. But still very helpful!
no . i promise an eq in the loop is priceless
Tone Fingerz I agree . Most important pedal in my opinion . EQ in the loop changed my life . Use it for a clean boost , and you will never look back . It's crazy that I have been playing guitar for 30 years and never could get my leads to cut through the mix . I tried it in front of my amp and it never really did what I thought it could do . Then finally I put it in my loop and OMG , it's insane how much your leads can pop out .
@@landonjackson3064 this is true. Tried so many "clean boost" pedals in the front and in the loop and they all suck tone. Tried an EQ in the loop, and I can use the Level as the volume boost and sculpt the tone a bit to limit the highs so it's not so ear-piercing, but boost mids so they cut through. I bought a Danelectro Fish n Chips for $27...all I need is this and a tuner.
@@MikeAndersonvinyloldies yep it's really a game changer . Can't believe I just found this out
Hi Guys! This is my problem: I have a joyo bluejay from the bantamp series. Great little amp. However, as I like my guitars with humbuckers I’m not able to dial in the amp a smooth clear bluesy tone, will an EQ pedal in the fx loop help me? -I’d appreciate guidance here.
I will try it
I use the graphic eq on the line 6 m13 at the end of my chain, -0.5db at 80 and 440, boosting 0.5db at 1.1k and 2.2k, just to add clarity and remove mud
Made the mistake of not turning down the volume when you upped the 4k there - hence more drive on the amp so not comparing like with like. Just after you'd been explaining the volume thing too.
the Bugera doesn't have any 'fatal flaws', or even flaws. A tone control act in a range of frequencies, and the Bugera simply has a tone control centered on a different range than your other amp. It's not a flaw, anymore than the blue colour is more flawed than green.
Question: eq7 behringuer or this one? Which one sounds better?
Great video! I have a Bugera V5 and it’s too dark for me even with a strat. I was going to try a new speaker and do some tube swaps but I’m gonna grab an EQ pedal instead.
Just made me love EQs
Nice one Shane. Was thinking about different pick ups for my Les Paul or even upgrading to a custom shop reissue. I’m going this route first to add a bit of clarity on the woofy neck pick up. There’s an annoying slightly muddy overtone that still lingers even when the bass is virtually at zero, on any amp. Hopefully I can ID it and fix with an eq pedal. It strikes me a lot of the boutique amp in a box pedals are just fancy eq pedals. Have to say I didn’t have the issue with my PRS single cut, which I sold, sob.
Is there a dramatic difference between different eq pedals?
Nyles Forsyth no not really. They all do the same thing. This is a cheap pedal and is pretty cool 😊👍
Nyles Forsyth if you wanna go a step further mxr has a 10 band one that is surprisingly affordable
i use MXR M108. i love it, but it does have an issue in it by default.. it's kinda noisy on the front end, fortunately it's on the front end of it; just set -6dB in the front, and boost it back up on the back.
10 band EQ gives you more fine detail to the tone. especially handy if you're driving a tube amp hard. the way things happen in the tubes is kinda hard to explain, basically you have the signal volume, and lower harmonies have more volume than the higher ones, so you end up pushing the low end harmonies more than the highend and you're left with kind of muddy distortion with bad note definition. which is why i use like -12 dB cut on the 31 Hz area. gives a really nice full distortion.
and yeah, what 10 band eq does is.... like the eq in the video, lowest frequency is 100 Hz, everything below that is controlled by the 100 hz control (that's WAY too high for base cutting), and the highest frequency is 4k and it also controls everything above 4k on the same button. where as i have a cut in 8kHz and 16kHz to cut out the unpleasant highs... so yeah, more bands gives you advantages, especially if you're looking for high gain tube distortion (the sort that melts tubes, i love that.)
I have the Caline copy of the MXR M108 (Caline CP-24 10 band EQ), and it seems quite quiet to me, so maybe they also copied one of the mods, or just used different chips.
It does have an issue though, and I wonder if the MXR has the same one - there's very little cut or boost at 5kHz, and as far as I can tell, the 4kHz band is centred on about 3kHz. I used a spectrum analyzer app on an android tablet to check this stuff (with a white noise sample played through it).
From the schematic I've seen of the MXR, it's quite possible that mistake is on the original too, though there may have been more than one version.
It means if you have some noise going on with a component around 5kHz, it can't be taken away with the EQ. Maybe it's more of a problem with single coils, so maybe not everyone notices it though.
I obsess about these things :) Most people would probably just get on with using it as it is. I'll probably take a soldering iron to mine soon - it seems to me it needs a capacitor or two changing for a different value.
Nyles Forsyth some add unwanted extra noise. try to get one that is quiet. also, some have more faders than others. it depends on your taste.
Where do you set the amp tones when adding the eq? Do you set it with the best tone then eq, or just leave them all at equal levels?
Greg i would like to know the answer to this
Yes it makes a world of different sculpting you tone.
GREAT video! Learned a lot - thanks so much!
People say it's stupid to buy an eq pedal to boost your signal. "there are better applications for an eq pedal. if you want to boost your signal volume, buy a clean boost or a nice overdrive." I don't think any clean boost or od do it as good as a eq. So I use two eq pedals. That easy!
Rory's Stuff I agree 100%!
Rory's Stuff yes it's magic . I never knew how much an EQ would boost leads in the effects loop . Crazy how you can boost leads , or even shape tone of a amp that say might have to much highs of lows . Shape your tone . I need one more
So I have a bassbreaker 30 love it with all my guitars but one and you have to get your volume up enough or you loose your highs so that's 2 situations I needed one for when I needed to turn way down or I wanna switch to that 1 guitars without having to re adjust my amp
A lot of tube amps don't have a decent EQ section so they are useful for rock and metal.
KI lIke the way you teach. Ok is this inexpensive pedal a bit noisy or not ? Thanks
Thanks, This is just the video i needed I just got a Bugera V5 and was wondering about adding an EQ pedal. Where do you put the EQ in your pedal chain ?
Good question. I'm trying to work this out too
I've been watching your videos since 2008-2009, can't remember it's been a long time though. Cheers
Thanks for the continued support duran! :-)
I use an eq pedal with my Peavey Windsor head
I just got a tone king falcon grande. It rules, but it is just a LITTLE dark. I bought a joyo 6 band eq for 30 bux. It will come next week. Do you think it will help?
EVERY1 needs 1! It's good for fine tuning the tone stack!
Do. You like it before the od or after? Have you ever used a compressor as a boost for your od
In front of the amp or in fx loop?...
i have one in my setup first in the chain to mimic the boost in the eric clapton strat.
Almost my exact set up!
Thank you!
Is this the first pedal you go into in the whole signal chain?
I never ever thought about an eq pedal until today. I saw a video on Tim Pierces channel and he and Phil from know your gear talked about the boss g7 and how great it works on tone shaping. I honestly thought Tim played so well it didn't matter if he used the eq or not. Then I wondered what Shane thought about it. Then I saw this video. Now I am sure I need an eq, but I don't want to drop $100 on one. Does anyone know if Joyo or any of the less expensive ones are just as good?
The behringer one OSS about $25
I have no tone control on my squire supersonic...would a eq pedal help?
are you using a tortex white picks? 1.5mm?
Great video, very helpful thanks for sharing
Hey mr Shane i had an eq once tried it what it did to my sound on and off and came to a conclusion that my sound is alright, i use Zoom G2 and it has so many eq parallels ( is that a word) that i think im allright...plus with the heavier noisier solo sounds from zoom i use my other pedals to tone them down ... and when i move to next zooms the noise gets lesser cause they have the effects order option... THANKS SHANE for a very good argumentation with demonstration, a Behringer eq pedal costs 19,90€ new so if a fellow member of my future band convinces me that my sound would be aawwssummaly enhanced(not boosted) by getting one ... Then ill start saving for the best eq ever...Hey, wouldnt that be a mixing board...!?I think were all equal...Lingonheimo out
2:01 I literally thought that's how big the pedal was
Hi Shane, do u still gig with a Fender Mustang v2? I can't see none behind you... Thanx for the tutorials, great stuff.
Can you use an EQ pedal to prevent the mid scoop of the big muff pi?
Fenrir Yes! I heard that that's how Gilmore keeps his Muff under control.
Ugly Nola I also heard he uses a tube screamer as a mid hump overdrive and boost
Fenrir He probably does, but with a screamer you're adding even more gain/compression to your chain. The ts and the muff stack didn't work for me. I find that the EQ pedal gives you a lot more control, what amp are you using?
Ugly Nola Right now, I use a solid state Orange CR60 but once I get my first few paychecks, I'm going to treat myself to a nice combo tube amp.
Fenrir Check out the Peavey Classic 30, you won't be disappointed.
Hi Shane. My question is an EQ pedal gonna up the volume of a Octave pedal being used for bass as no level control on my Boss OC5?
Glad to hear you making mention of it with other pedals, just what I was wondering about. would an EQ before an overdrive be useful in thickening up an overdrive when using single coils such as with a strat? I'd love to try myself but my only EQ pedal was stolen years ago.
You can try the EQ in either position and see which one sounds best for you. :-) Neither is wrong.
My thought was before a distortion it could provide a boost from a single coils. Just not sure how to test it as mines long gone. I have tried with a compressor / sustainer to give some clean boost which helps a bit but still not quite what I'm looking for. Though could be the sound I want is stuck in humbuckerville.
@@intheblues ]
Shane, is it normal for an EQ pedal to hum when it's turned on? The hum is quite loud, and it's kinda annoying.
mcreez16 yes
Pro Junior with a redcoat speaker. would you recommend an EQ with that amp? I find that amp to be quite dark sounding. Have not used it in a band situation though. Have combined it with other amps and it sounds great that way. really cuts through. I think that it is hard to judge an amp in a room by itself. Have to hear how it sounds with other instruments
Would an Eq work to mime a single coil if using a humbucker, bringing in the benefit of less hum but with bite of the single coil ?
Absolutely. It won't be spot-on, but in a musical context it works great. Just cut some low/lo-mids en boost some highs. Tweak to taste.