NPD: '81 Ibanez PQ9

[Heady Jam Fan]

Love my old Ibanez pedals!

Kinda makes me want to swap out my old MXR pedals for Ibanez, but the Phase 45 is so classic and Envelope Filter is kind of a 'novelty' effect - I don't use either often anyway.

A few years ago I had a Boss PQ4 that I loved as a lead boost. Not sure why I sold it. I used it with a Blackface Bassman IIRC and it imparted a smoothness - a side effect or artifact - that didn't occur with the other EQ pedals I owned at the time (Fromel Shape and MXR 6-Band). I wasn't sure if I liked the smoothness at the time because I thought of it as an artifact and felt it diminished my clarity to some degree. However, I eventually sold the Bassman to fund a Mesa Boogie MKIII. Rather than using an EQ as a lead boost, I used the lead channel set fairly clean. The lead channel, as many of you know, is very smooth and reminded me of the PQ4.

Fast forward to last week, I found an incredible Silverface Deluxe locally and bought it. I immediately started looking for a PQ4 or PQ9 EQ pedal to use as a lead boost and used my MXR 6-Band for the mean time. I saw a PQ9 at a reasonable price, ordered it and got it today!

The PQ9 has some of the smoothness I remember from my PQ4, yet remaining very clear sounding, while my MXR 6-Band sounds cold and clinical. The MXR 6-Band is a very powerful tool that can surgically shape your tone while the PQ's are musical instruments.

The PQ9 was also very familiar to use after having owned a PQ4. It has fewer parameter's, but thus far, I don't miss the tiny, sensitive knobs of the PQ4. The PQ9 is the easiest EQ pedal to dial in that I have ever used! I left the Midrange Frequency knob at 12 o'clock, which turns out to be the perfect balance of warmth, but cutting through, left the Bass slider at 0, and bumped the Midrange and Treble sliders up several decibels. Simple!

The sliders on the PQ9 are powerful, but not overwhelmingly so: 3-bands, +/- 15db. I find the sliders on the MXR 6-Band almost unmanageable; I literally nudge them a millimeter at a time and notice huge tonal changes. I know graphic EQ's are trickier and easy to mess up your tone - I can get good sounds out of it, its just too powerful to be very accurate or precise IMO.

In the end, the PQ9 is a winner in my book! I was certain it would kick my MXR 6-Band off my board and it did the second I turned it on. I think I also prefer it over the PQ4 because it does have a bit more clarity and is easier to use (plus I'm biased toward Ibanez pedals). The Fromel Shape is an excellent pedal, especially if you need an excellent buffer, but is unity gain and thus proves a better tone shaper than boost, though I could muster enough of a mid-boost for a lead when playing at home, probably not enough in a live situation.

[Down_With_Sco]

Nice, I can see why that's the EQ pedal to have.

[CaptainPeyote]

nice!  nothing works like a parametric eq...  except a PEQ, of course

[Heady Jam Fan]

nice!  nothing works like a parametric eq...  except a PEQ, of course

Yep, loving this thing! Still using it as a clean boost in place of a TS9 with my volume rolled back. I can get some very 80's dead tones on my SFDR along with Trey-like tones.

[Helping Friendly]

Love my old Ibanez pedals!

Kinda makes me want to swap out my old MXR pedals for Ibanez, but the Phase 45 is so classic and Envelope Filter is kind of a 'novelty' effect - I don't use either often anyway.

A few years ago I had a Boss PQ4 that I loved as a lead boost. Not sure why I sold it. I used it with a Blackface Bassman IIRC and it imparted a smoothness - a side effect or artifact - that didn't occur with the other EQ pedals I owned at the time (Fromel Shape and MXR 6-Band). I wasn't sure if I liked the smoothness at the time because I thought of it as an artifact and felt it diminished my clarity to some degree. However, I eventually sold the Bassman to fund a Mesa Boogie MKIII. Rather than using an EQ as a lead boost, I used the lead channel set fairly clean. The lead channel, as many of you know, is very smooth and reminded me of the PQ4.

Fast forward to last week, I found an incredible Silverface Deluxe locally and bought it. I immediately started looking for a PQ4 or PQ9 EQ pedal to use as a lead boost and used my MXR 6-Band for the mean time. I saw a PQ9 at a reasonable price, ordered it and got it today!

The PQ9 has some of the smoothness I remember from my PQ4, yet remaining very clear sounding, while my MXR 6-Band sounds cold and clinical. The MXR 6-Band is a very powerful tool that can surgically shape your tone while the PQ's are musical instruments.

The PQ9 was also very familiar to use after having owned a PQ4. It has fewer parameter's, but thus far, I don't miss the tiny, sensitive knobs of the PQ4. The PQ9 is the easiest EQ pedal to dial in that I have ever used! I left the Midrange Frequency knob at 12 o'clock, which turns out to be the perfect balance of warmth, but cutting through, left the Bass slider at 0, and bumped the Midrange and Treble sliders up several decibels. Simple!

The sliders on the PQ9 are powerful, but not overwhelmingly so: 3-bands, +/- 15db. I find the sliders on the MXR 6-Band almost unmanageable; I literally nudge them a millimeter at a time and notice huge tonal changes. I know graphic EQ's are trickier and easy to mess up your tone - I can get good sounds out of it, its just too powerful to be very accurate or precise IMO.

In the end, the PQ9 is a winner in my book! I was certain it would kick my MXR 6-Band off my board and it did the second I turned it on. I think I also prefer it over the PQ4 because it does have a bit more clarity and is easier to use (plus I'm biased toward Ibanez pedals). The Fromel Shape is an excellent pedal, especially if you need an excellent buffer, but is unity gain and thus proves a better tone shaper than boost, though I could muster enough of a mid-boost for a lead when playing at home, probably not enough in a live situation.

Very kool! Would you say either of these pedals would be good to smooth out grit on my amps lead channel and also give it a thick mid boost? I could actually benefit from such outcomes. I was thinking of putting it in my effects loop with the microverb for a lead mid boost / smooth grit tamer. Is this wishful thinking or would you think it's possible after you experiences? Hmm...

[Heady Jam Fan]

Love my old Ibanez pedals!

Kinda makes me want to swap out my old MXR pedals for Ibanez, but the Phase 45 is so classic and Envelope Filter is kind of a 'novelty' effect - I don't use either often anyway.

A few years ago I had a Boss PQ4 that I loved as a lead boost. Not sure why I sold it. I used it with a Blackface Bassman IIRC and it imparted a smoothness - a side effect or artifact - that didn't occur with the other EQ pedals I owned at the time (Fromel Shape and MXR 6-Band). I wasn't sure if I liked the smoothness at the time because I thought of it as an artifact and felt it diminished my clarity to some degree. However, I eventually sold the Bassman to fund a Mesa Boogie MKIII. Rather than using an EQ as a lead boost, I used the lead channel set fairly clean. The lead channel, as many of you know, is very smooth and reminded me of the PQ4.

Fast forward to last week, I found an incredible Silverface Deluxe locally and bought it. I immediately started looking for a PQ4 or PQ9 EQ pedal to use as a lead boost and used my MXR 6-Band for the mean time. I saw a PQ9 at a reasonable price, ordered it and got it today!

The PQ9 has some of the smoothness I remember from my PQ4, yet remaining very clear sounding, while my MXR 6-Band sounds cold and clinical. The MXR 6-Band is a very powerful tool that can surgically shape your tone while the PQ's are musical instruments.

The PQ9 was also very familiar to use after having owned a PQ4. It has fewer parameter's, but thus far, I don't miss the tiny, sensitive knobs of the PQ4. The PQ9 is the easiest EQ pedal to dial in that I have ever used! I left the Midrange Frequency knob at 12 o'clock, which turns out to be the perfect balance of warmth, but cutting through, left the Bass slider at 0, and bumped the Midrange and Treble sliders up several decibels. Simple!

The sliders on the PQ9 are powerful, but not overwhelmingly so: 3-bands, +/- 15db. I find the sliders on the MXR 6-Band almost unmanageable; I literally nudge them a millimeter at a time and notice huge tonal changes. I know graphic EQ's are trickier and easy to mess up your tone - I can get good sounds out of it, its just too powerful to be very accurate or precise IMO.

In the end, the PQ9 is a winner in my book! I was certain it would kick my MXR 6-Band off my board and it did the second I turned it on. I think I also prefer it over the PQ4 because it does have a bit more clarity and is easier to use (plus I'm biased toward Ibanez pedals). The Fromel Shape is an excellent pedal, especially if you need an excellent buffer, but is unity gain and thus proves a better tone shaper than boost, though I could muster enough of a mid-boost for a lead when playing at home, probably not enough in a live situation.

Very kool! Would you say either of these pedals would be good to smooth out grit on my amps lead channel and also give it a thick mid boost? I could actually benefit from such outcomes. I was thinking of putting it in my effects loop with the microverb for a lead mid boost / smooth grit tamer. Is this wishful thinking or would you think it's possible after you experiences? Hmm...

I'd be hesitant to say for certain, but I think it is likely. EQ can really shape, and alter the texture of, overdrive.

Since making this thread, I also got an Ibanez GE9 which is also awesome! And cheap! A little noisier, but I expected that with a graphic EQ.

[Helping Friendly]

Was there a reason for getting another EQ? (GE9) In my thinking, I was wondering if I boosted the low mids with the parametric would I need another eq to add in more highs for added clarity if the single eq could not do it? It really got me thinking EQ!!! whoa

[Heady Jam Fan]

Was there a reason for getting another EQ? (GE9) In my thinking, I was wondering if I boosted the low mids with the parametric would I need another eq to add in more highs for added clarity if the single eq could not do it? It really got me thinking EQ!!! whoa

I use the PQ9 earlier in my chain with a boost around 700hz like a TS9 (instead of using my volume knob to clean up a TS9 for my clean tone). The GE9 is my lead boost - I basically boost all the frequencies except the bass and its in the same loop was my TB Loop Switcher as my delay so I can turn them both on quickly.

In the Audio/Video section, the tune I just posted has the clean guitar with the PQ9>Ross on the left side (plus tremolo from my amp), dirty guitar with TS9>Ross on the right, and dirty lead in the center with TS9>Ross>GE9>AD9. For the clean tone on the left, I had my pickup selector in the middle position and I was using the coil tap (single coils), so its brighter and twangier than the typical Trey clean. http://strangedesign.org/forums/index.php?topic=2262.msg14057#new

[Helping Friendly]

Dude I just bought a PQ-4.. Is $112 a good price?

[Heady Jam Fan]

Dude I just bought a PQ-4.. Is $112 a good price?

I think I remember paying $120 when I had one a couple years ago, so yeah, I think so! Great pedal, but they are rare so the price is basically whatever you can find it for.