Parametric EQ?

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mathias
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Parametric EQ?

Post by mathias » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:20 am

Is anyone using a parametric EQ pedal? (Presumably, with an offset, which is why I'm asking here.) I'm kind of wondering if I can dial in more different tones from the same Jazzmaster, if I go with a parametric EQ pedal (thinking 3-band.) Also, I haven't been happy with the Boss graphic EQ in the past, so most of my EQ comes from dirt pedals' tone knobs and amp tone knobs.

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Re: Parametric EQ?

Post by øøøøøøø » Mon Jun 19, 2017 10:52 am

What are you trying to accomplish with the EQ?

Parametric equalizers are, for me, usually "problem solving" devices. Mostly employed when mixing recordings.

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Re: Parametric EQ?

Post by mathias » Mon Jun 19, 2017 11:11 am

Whoops, I missed the point. Sorry about that.

Two sounds in mind, both on a clean amp:

1. Thicken up the bass end so I get a real fat sound, without rolling off the tone knob too much. My real goal here is to keep the harsh treble frequencies at bay without "putting a blanket on" the sound. (My amp already has a lot of treble, to where I roll it off at the amp with the Jazzmaster.)

2. Thin out the entire guitar sound while not dropping out out of the mix.

I have sounds in my head, just no tools for getting there. Do these sound like the job for a parametric EQ pedal?

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Re: Parametric EQ?

Post by øøøøøøø » Mon Jun 19, 2017 1:35 pm

I don't think I'd reach for a parametric EQ for that task.

Working backward--

Your second objective is something probably most elegantly accomplished with a simple high-pass filter (think "tone control, but in reverse... rolls off bass instead of treble.") The "strangle switch" in a Jaguar or Bass VI is a simple fixed high-pass filter that's switchable in- or out. A high-pass is something that's very easy to make yourself with one pot and a capacitor. You could modify your guitar and re-purpose one of the rollers in the rhythm circuit, perhaps, or you could just build one into a pedal, or you could research a pedal that has a high-pass filter built in (I think Moog makes one).

Honestly-- my course would PROBABLY be to just switch to the JM's bridge pickup (pretty thin-sounding anyway) and pick closer to the bridge. But my M.O. tends to be "do as much with my hands as possible, and keep my rig as simple as I can get away with."

Your first objective is a little trickier. The answer you probably want me to give is "find something with a gentle low shelving boost." And there are some rare occasions where that might get you where you want to go. But the answer I want to give is "I know why you think you want to do that, but you actually probably don't want to do that-- particularly if you're playing in a group with a bassist, drummer, keyboardist, etc." I'm on my way out the door right now, but I could expound upon that at length later. Suffice to say-- "big low end" and "fat sound" is often just as much to do with what the OTHER instruments in the group are doing as what your own is. And very often adding more low end to your sound makes it worse, rather than better-- the way the ear parses sounds in the context of an ensemble blend is a very different matter from how we parse them individually.

Gotta run now, good luck!!

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Re: Parametric EQ?

Post by mathias » Mon Jun 19, 2017 4:44 pm

I should've mentioned, I'm playing solo and not as part of a band. I understand the "low gets muddy and steps on the other instruments" but for my playing, that doesn't seem to be an issue. I'm layering parts on a looper, and sticking to a rather minimal board and one Hiwatt-ish amp for all the pedals to have some headroom on. (Rather than running multiple amps for cleans and distortion, or a big pedalboard, or a PA, etc.)

I can get a decent range of sounds out of the current setup, and recently it got much wider with the addition of a Dr Scientist Bitquest -- which has a nice pitch shifter to drop me into bass sound territory. The Bitquest does have a filter mode with high pass and low pass, but I hadn't really dialed in a thin sound that I like with it on the clean side of the Bitquest. There are pedals that I can think of that do the thin sound -- the Cooper FX Generation Loss and the Zvex Instant Lofi Junky. But I thought an EQ might be more useful on the small board than one of those (and I don't know that I need the noise and such that the Generation Loss can do.)

So I guess with my setup now, I have my overdriven Tele-twang sound, I've got a warm JM rhythm sound, I've got a fuzz sound, and I've got the pitch shifted to drop down an octave.

The bridge pickup on my Squier JM seems to be perpetually too trebly. It makes me wonder if the volume knob has a treble bleed on it. My amp setup also suffers from too much treble (working on getting neutral-to-darker speakers for it right now) so it hasn't felt like the bridge pickup is particularly thin.

What I'd really like to get is just a thick, clean jazz sound without a lot of treble content. It could be that my Squier just doesn't have the pickups for that. But given sticking with the same guitar and amp (and not being able to EQ the amp individually for each layer of looping), what would you use to get that fat sound?

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Re: Parametric EQ?

Post by bubba899 » Wed Jun 21, 2017 2:03 pm

Stone Deaf PDF springs to mind. It can add a lot of low mids which should get you the meatier sound without adding too much unnecessary bass frequencies which will just get lost in the mix and end up sounding flabby. As for the thinner sound, I'm not so sure it'll do what you want, but it'll certainly help you cut through the mix with thinner sounding pickups.

It's got a great distortion channel in it too, but I've mainly used it to thicken up my sound and for recording. Certainly worth a look.

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Re: Parametric EQ?

Post by Harmoncj » Wed Jun 21, 2017 2:47 pm

mathias wrote:2. Thin out the entire guitar sound while not dropping out out of the mix.
this! I use a boss pq-3b for this basically I mostly use this to cut out the lowest of lows, having a sweepable frequency helps you really locate and trim off only the fat you don't want. it is especially useful for neck pickup and rhythm circuit.

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Re: Parametric EQ?

Post by mathias » Wed Jun 21, 2017 4:27 pm

bubba899 wrote:Stone Deaf PDF springs to mind.
Thanks! This may be what I'd had in mind but couldn't consciously remember. I saw a demo with the clean side, the bandwidth was towards thin and the frequency was up around 1 or 2 o'clock -- and that's close to the kind of "thin" sound I've had in my head. I'd tweak it for my rig, obviously, so may not be that exact setting, but seems to get there.

The fat sounds with dirty side and the frequency knob adjustments sounds really good, too!

I guess I'll have to add it to the GAS list.

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