Which EQ Pedal?

fulltone1989 · January 25, 2012, 11:43:49 AM

Hey everybody, sorry if this has been covered before but I am looking into an EQ pedal to shape the tone I get from my DRRI. Something that'll be always on that I can leave on my amp. What would you recommend? Not looking to break the bank though.

ColForbin · January 25, 2012, 01:12:55 PM

What are we looking at in terms of "breaking the bank"? Anything over $200.00? Anything over $100.00??

fulltone1989 · January 25, 2012, 01:54:05 PM

Quote from: ColForbin on January 25, 2012, 01:12:55 PM
What are we looking at in terms of "breaking the bank"? Anything over $200.00? Anything over $100.00??

My bad, forgot that detail. I'm not looking to spend more than $100, if I had more I'd check out the fromel shape ASAP, but in the meantime the fish n chips by dank has gotten good reviews so that's on my radar as well.

manicstarseed · January 25, 2012, 04:11:44 PM

My MXR 10-band is a fantastic piece of gear. Powerful and transparent on bypass.

Heady Jam Fan · January 25, 2012, 09:33:45 PM

What don't you like about your amps tone? I have always been in the camp that say if you don't like the tone of your guitar into your amp, one of those has to change.

If it is a small change, one thing I always suggest on a Fender, which is very counterintuitive, is to turn the bass all the way down, turn the treble all the way up, then roll off your guitars tone knob until the treble isn't too harsh. You get more upper midrange and really makes your notes pop out.

Also, if it is a stock DRRI, I tend to like a new speaker - as this is a Trey forum, it isn't too sacrilegious to suggest a British speaker.?. I have an Eminence Red Fang and Weber is sending me a Blue Dog to test out.

On the other hand, an EQ can be very helpful as an effect - the Fromel Shape is great though, but kinda pricey. I also have a Boss PQ4 that I am probably gonna sell, still a little expensive (I am trying to figure out the value, maybe a little over $100). The PQ4 can be more extreme, but still easier to dial in than a graphic EQ.

I have heard great things about the MXR, as long as you don't overdo each slider. The only two negatives are the 10 band needs 12v IIRC and a couple people complained about it being noisy.

fulltone1989 · January 26, 2012, 10:26:32 AM

Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on January 25, 2012, 09:33:45 PM
What don't you like about your amps tone? I have always been in the camp that say if you don't like the tone of your guitar into your amp, one of those has to change.

If it is a small change, one thing I always suggest on a Fender, which is very counterintuitive, is to turn the bass all the way down, turn the treble all the way up, then roll off your guitars tone knob until the treble isn't too harsh. You get more upper midrange and really makes your notes pop out.

Also, if it is a stock DRRI, I tend to like a new speaker - as this is a Trey forum, it isn't too sacrilegious to suggest a British speaker.?. I have an Eminence Red Fang and Weber is sending me a Blue Dog to test out.

On the other hand, an EQ can be very helpful as an effect - the Fromel Shape is great though, but kinda pricey. I also have a Boss PQ4 that I am probably gonna sell, still a little expensive (I am trying to figure out the value, maybe a little over $100). The PQ4 can be more extreme, but still easier to dial in than a graphic EQ.

I have heard great things about the MXR, as long as you don't overdo each slider. The only two negatives are the 10 band needs 12v IIRC and a couple people complained about it being noisy.

It's not that I don't like the tone of my guitar or amp, I do, but I'm curious about an EQ pedal for "testing the waters" so to say. I have the Jensen C12K in my DRRI, which is a pretty efficient/reliable speaker. Being at school and my amp at the practice space, it'd be a pain in the ass to break one in, so a swap may have to wait until summer, and with graduation coming around I'm hoping for a new amp to play when I get home from working at a Dunkin Donuts after I get my degree.

Is a 6 band or 10 band better? I heard that two of the sliders on the 10 don't really apply to the guitar.

manicstarseed · January 26, 2012, 11:27:42 AM

The MXR 10-band runs on 18V but comes with its own PS.
The two lowest bands are typically not useful on guitar (unless you have an octave pedal engaged). Tht still gives you 8 bands of useful EQ... better than 7 IMO. Also the quality is top notch, I think its one of the best out there for under $125.

picture_of_nectar · January 26, 2012, 02:02:52 PM

I've never understood the need for an EQ pedal.

I use my amps EQ, my Timmy, and if that isn't enough, I switch my guitar.

Heady Jam Fan · January 26, 2012, 04:50:02 PM

Yea, I hear you about testing the waters - you won't know till you try. With that being said, it seems the more bands you have, the more you can test and try - if you buy a used 10 band, I suspect you will only lose the shipping cost if you decide to sell it.

That being said, I forgot to mention in my above post (though I made a thread on it), I don't use EQ as an always on, but rather as an effect - mid-boost, specifically. I was trying to emulate Trey's EQ change when he switches channels on his DRRI.

manicstarseed · January 26, 2012, 07:24:17 PM

PON has a point... I have no real "Need" for the EQ. Id be using it as a boost at this point. I saw the 6-band MXR for $80 at my local shop. Pretty good deal for a quality EQ. I think the bands on the 6-band is different from the 10-band.

fulltone1989 · January 27, 2012, 04:08:40 PM

Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on January 26, 2012, 04:50:02 PM
Yea, I hear you about testing the waters - you won't know till you try. With that being said, it seems the more bands you have, the more you can test and try - if you buy a used 10 band, I suspect you will only lose the shipping cost if you decide to sell it.

That being said, I forgot to mention in my above post (though I made a thread on it), I don't use EQ as an always on, but rather as an effect - mid-boost, specifically. I was trying to emulate Trey's EQ change when he switches channels on his DRRI.

That's a good point too, I forgot Trey had that mod for his DRRI's. That would be another cool reason to check out an EQ pedal...

$80? That sound's like a good deal. I saw an Arion EQ pedal at my local shop but I dunno how much it was/quality of Arion. I think it had 7 or 8 bands? Weird?

Happyorange27 · January 27, 2012, 09:35:15 PM

Trey uses DRRIs?

the_great_lemon · January 27, 2012, 10:35:08 PM

I'm pretty sure Trey used an original, heavily modified Deluxe Reverb from late 97-2004 (in certain videos from 12-29-97 you can see it leaning up against his rack). His DRs had Mid eq controls in place of one of the inputs on both channels. I think that is the goal of the eq pedal, to simulate the mid boosted DR tones?

But to answer your question, I don't think trey has used a DR Reissue. A couple guys have posted a similarly modified DR in the classified section. That'll give you a pretty good idea of how trey is modded.

Heady Jam Fan · January 28, 2012, 01:04:35 AM

Yea, sorry, I didn't mean DRRI, it was a '65 DR. And yea, that is what my idea was using an EQ, it definitely helps get the lead tone.

Happyorange27 · January 28, 2012, 08:58:20 AM

Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on January 28, 2012, 01:04:35 AM
Yea, sorry, I didn't mean DRRI, it was a '65 DR. And yea, that is what my idea was using an EQ, it definitely helps get the lead tone.

Yeah I was just bustin your chops a bit. It's cool. I would agree it would help to have eq pedal for that mod sound.