one of the most valuable mixing tips we've ever been told is that this is the rough area that gives a bass guitar 'beef'. By carefully changing the EQ of bass and guitars around this point, you can alter the balance of the two instruments so that they gel together better in a mix. this is where you might find the fundamental of the snare. Sounds here go from 'rumble' to 'growl' and 'bloom'. You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. Multiple band EQs differ in that they all give you different aspects of control. The fewer the bands, the wider the spectrum they control. This means, a ten-band EQ will give you laser precision whereas a 3-band EQ is more of a general sound. Both have their pros and cons but beginners would probably prefer the simplicity of a 3-band EQ.

I guess only downside to the EQ2 would be the requirement of connecting it to a computer and using an app to set it up and take full advantage at all these incredible features. He was also known to run this amp with a dummy box to take half the amps load. This means he could run one cabinet with the amps full power without the need for a second cabinet attached. This is actually what makes sound engineering such an art. They need to ensure that all of the different instruments occupy different space in the EQ spectrum so that they can be heard and don’t overpower each other or sound like mush. So for example, if a Les Paul is the only guitar you want to use live, you can utilise an EQ pedal to imitate the tonal qualities of a Stratocaster. In this instance, raising the upper mid-range frequencies (around 800Hz-1kHz) and highs (2kHz – 5kHz) will get you close to achieving the cut that a Strat is famous for. Decreasing the lows will also help in securing that well-known snap, and it’s fair to say that the majority of your audience will be easy to fool! 3. To Create Unique Effects Eric Valentine's Electric Guitars — Queens Of The Stone Age In this episode, LA-based producer Eric Valentine (Queens Of The Stone Age, Slash) recreates the guitar sound from QOTSA's unique 2002 album, Songs for the Deaf.You could also use the EQ pedal to boost or subtract certain frequencies which is how you mould your sound. Apart from removing mid frequencies at 400Hz and 800Hz, Darrell would also boost at around 150Hz-200Hz to give his signature down-tuned riffs a fat and chunky quality. He was also notorious for raising the upper frequencies, to offer his solos lots of crisp articulation. Keep your eyes peeled for two more episodes coming soon where we examine the sounds of Slash and an emotive surf guitar sound. This Marshall amp was used for the first six Van Halen albums. There are many rumours and myths surrounding this amp and it’s famous “Brown sound”. The amp was bought second hand and imported to the US from England. UK amps run at 230v whereas US amps run at 110v. When he plugged it in for the first time, it was very quiet because of the voltage differences. Eddie fitted a variac transformer that allowed to him set the voltage entering the amp. He chose to set this around 140v and run the amp with all the dials set to 10. This allowed to him to get maximum volume but save the tubes from wear and tear. However, you can also find ‘parametric’ EQ stompboxes on the market too, which derive more closely from traditional mixing desks. Featuring knobs as opposed to sliders, a parametric EQ is more suitable for the fastidious tone-chasers. Letting you sweep the centre frequency to find particular sweet spots, parametric EQs offer greater control and aren’t quite as limited as their graphic counterparts can sometimes be. The Empress ParaEQ is a favoured choice, with multiple controls that allow for excellent signal manipulation.

This preamp design is then married to an EQ based on the semi-parametric design found on Chase Bliss' Condor pedal. Consequently there's three different mids resonance options and a variable Q control. Not only that, but the mid frequency itself is fully variable, controlled by a dedicated slider. The majority of examples will sport a number of filtering sliders, with each one providing you with direct control of a certain set frequency. Sliders between 80Hz-250Hz will affect the lows, while 250Hz-800Hz is considered the mid-range, arguably the most vital area of your guitar sound. You’ll reach top-end territory beyond 800Hz, with 5kHz -10kHz the most present part of your tone. Essentially, an EQ pedal is employed as a tone-shaping tool to improve the sound of your rig. But as you’ll find out later in this article, the functionality of an EQ stompbox is broader than you might expect, and it can be used in creative and unconventional ways too. How does an EQ pedal work? Starting with the basics, ‘EQ’ is an abbreviation of ‘equalizer’. Representing the universal spectrum of sound, an equalizer defines where certain frequencies sit on this spectrum and is used to boost or cut them via linear filters. This process allows you to therefore manipulate the audible qualities of a sound or instrument, and in this case – a guitar.Read more about our rating system, how we choose the gear we feature, and exactly how we testeach product. Related buyer's guides Depending on how dramatically you move these sliders, the input signal running into an EQ pedal is subject to significant manipulation. There aren’t many other types of guitar pedals that can change your sound quite as drastically as an EQ can, making it a very powerful device. Graphic vs. Parametric EQ For example, the Les Paul and Stratocaster pairing is capable of attaining most common guitar sounds. However, sometimes taking even two guitars to a gig can be cumbersome, especially if you’re using public transport.

In the previous section, we looked at the benefits of an EQ when it comes to shaping new sounds. However, in that part we had more of a focus on recording, when in fact an EQ can also be incredibly practical for live performance too.The Zenith combines a boost, EQ and compression into a full-featured preamp option. The boost has up to 20dB of transparent gain on tap, but the EQ is a bit more subtle. The amp-like 3-band EQ controls are active, but have a relatively restrained boost and cut range. The middle control has additional controls to help it gel with other pedals. There's a three-way switch for Q, and a frequency selector that spans from low mids (500Hz) to more conventional mid frequencies (800Hz and 1.2kHz). Pantera - Walk (Official Music Video) [4K] Official music video remastered in 4K for Pantera - "Walk" from 'Vulgar Display of Power' (1992) Also I can warmly recommend the Artec SE-EQ8 Graphic Eq, 8 band graphic equalizer, which is dirt cheap but non the less works great and is actually also build really well and sturdily. Both a parametric EQ with 3 bands, or a graphic EQ with 5 or more are going to give you radically more control over your tone than almost any guitar amp. How we choose the best EQ pedals In 1978, a young band burst into the mainstream with a guitar player that defied all the odds. This guitar player was a young Dutch man named Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, but you may know him better as Eddie Van Halen.

Okay, so those are the glossary terms, but what can we hear in the actual mix at which frequency, and why is it important? If you are using the pedal as a boost in front of the amp? get the MXR. They sound better than any other EQ pedal for that purpose and I have tried them all. The MXR 6 band in particular sounds really good, it has all the right frequencies... 100, 200, 400, 800, 1.6k, 3.2k... In the loop.... the Danelectro 7 band fish & chips is the quietest EQ pedal I have used, and it sounds good for that purpose, just making minor adjustments from the loop. Sounds good, quiet and cheap. Only problem is it goes through batteries faster than anything I have used, so a 9v adaptor is a must. As mentioned before, any sound (whether isolated or made by a number of sources like in a band) will form a sonic footprint. This sonic footprint is registered by our ears as one thing. How those different sources are put together will determine how it sounds to us.

What is an EQ pedal?

The EQ pedal should be used sparingly if you want it to be a utility pedal. It can be used to create certain ‘effects’ such as the AM radio tone like you might hear from The Strokes or for heavily scooped mids that might be heard on old Pantera records. Bite: a rule of thumb for bite is around 2-10kHz, but crucially, you'll know it when you hear it. Get a distorted Peavey 6505+ in a mix, and remove all the bass and low mids - all that will be left is the bite. Tbh seems to have the same as the boss bar the tuner……..but a cool choice as it is smaller than the boss