Anyone using an EQ pedal with their Express?

[richpjr]

I've been toying with the idea of picking one up and was wondering what your EQ of choice was. I've been looking at the MXR 6 band or the Barber E.Q. Anything else I should look at?

 

[Newysurfer]

I've been toying with the idea of picking one up and was wondering what your EQ of choice was. I've been looking at the MXR 6 band or the Barber E.Q. Anything else I should look at?

Yeah the MRX 6-band EQ has a permanent place on my board.
The only one slightly better is the MXR 10-band IMO. :mrgreen:

 

[MusicManJP6]

Friend of mine used one and got some mean tones out of his Express (while he had it). It was essential to get a high gain rock tone.

 

[soundchaser59]

Ya know, I've been using an Allums modded Boss GE7, tried it up front and in the fx loop.

But recently I moved the EQ pedal to another amp, and when I went messing around with my Express I found that I did not miss the EQ pedal at all. I started using a Barber Tone Press and Barber Direct Drive, and found I really do not need the EQ pedal any more. I also noticed that I have gradually started liking the sound better with the EQ pedal off. I guess I'm sure the EQ has its place, but I'm finding mine to be less and less helpful with this amp.

I did try the MXR 10 band, nice sound but the noise was intolerable, although an expensive mod did help a lot. I tried an EHX variety also, but it was not very helpful and was also very noisy. The unmodded GE7 is noisy as well.

 

[wizard333]

BYOC has a nice 10 band eq that is true bypass. I've recommended it to friends for use in Mesa effects loops and they've been pretty pleased. If you dont want to build it yourself, there is a company linked on their website that sells them pre-built.

 

[Newysurfer]

Ya know, I've been using an Allums modded Boss GE7, tried it up front and in the fx loop.

But recently I moved the EQ pedal to another amp, and when I went messing around with my Express I found that I did not miss the EQ pedal at all. I started using a Barber Tone Press and Barber Direct Drive, and found I really do not need the EQ pedal any more. I also noticed that I have gradually started liking the sound better with the EQ pedal off. I guess I'm sure the EQ has its place, but I'm finding mine to be less and less helpful with this amp.

I did try the MXR 10 band, nice sound but the noise was intolerable, although an expensive mod did help a lot. I tried an EHX variety also, but it was not very helpful and was also very noisy. The unmodded GE7 is noisy as well.

that surprises me Soundchaser.
You're the only user of the MXR EQ pedals whose reported they're noisy (used correctly of course). I've used both the 6 and 10-band in the loop with 3 different tube amps with excellent results on all.

 

[soundchaser59]

You're the only user of the MXR EQ pedals whose reported they're noisy (used correctly of course).

I'm not the only user whose ever said that. Quit playing that silly guitar and spend more time surfing the web and you would know.... :lol:

Seems fairly idiot proof.....in one hole.....out the other......move the sliders up and down..... I must have used it incorrectly...... :shock:

It was never a quiet pedal until after the Sniper mod, but I still did not like it as much as the Allums modded GE7. So I sold it, haven't missed it. In fact, my second thoughts about using EQ pedals at all have brought me closer to understanding the purists who claim they dont need any stinkin pedals..... The changes I made with pickups, amps, and speakers have probably been partly to blame for my decreasing fondness for the EQ pedal, along with getting better pedals in the other slots like the Barber stuff and the CMatMods stuff.....

 

[VCuomo]

...I did try the MXR 10 band, nice sound but the noise was intolerable, although an expensive mod did help a lot. I tried an EHX variety also, but it was not very helpful and was also very noisy. The unmodded GE7 is noisy as well.

that surprises me Soundchaser.
You're the only user of the MXR EQ pedals whose reported they're noisy (used correctly of course). I've used both the 6 and 10-band in the loop with 3 different tube amps with excellent results on all.

I agree - I've used the 10-band MXR on my Express 5:50 and my VHT with no problems at all.

 

[Newysurfer]

You're the only user of the MXR EQ pedals whose reported they're noisy (used correctly of course).

I'm not the only user whose ever said that. Quit playing that silly guitar and spend more time surfing the web and you would know.... :lol:

Seems fairly idiot proof.....in one hole.....out the other......move the sliders up and down..... I must have used it incorrectly...... :shock:

It was never a quiet pedal until after the Sniper mod, but I still did not like it as much as the Allums modded GE7. So I sold it, haven't missed it. In fact, my second thoughts about using EQ pedals at all have brought me closer to understanding the purists who claim they dont need any stinkin pedals..... The changes I made with pickups, amps, and speakers have probably been partly to blame for my decreasing fondness for the EQ pedal, along with getting better pedals in the other slots like the Barber stuff and the CMatMods stuff.....

Not sure what you used Soundchaser but my new MXR EQ pedal don't need any mod's.
I'm not suggesting you did this mind ... but lot's of people have trouble with EQ pedals producing noise when they start over boosting the high freqs that produce white noise. I use all the freq sliders very conservatively :mrgreen:

 

[soundchaser59]

I would typically boost the low mids and cut the highs and lows, although I did tend to give the gain a boost. It was much much quieter after the mods. The Sniper mod was excellent, dont get me wrong. It was a good pedal after that, but it just seemed like the tones I wanted control over were in between or something. For the peculiar sound I was after, the modded GE7 was more useful, and it was almost completely quiet even at full boost. Of all the Allums mods I installed, I think the GE7 mod was the most effective one.

I dont know what the deal was with my stock MXR. I bought it new and bought the Dunlop power supply to go with it. But it had a fair amount of hiss out of the box, with even just a small amount of boosting. It was enough that I felt compelled to gamble on the Sniper mod, and that gamble paid off as far as getting rid of noise. However, I knew a lot less about pedal chains and amp gain than I know now, and I still feel like I dont know much.

You're probably right, it had to be pilot error. No other possible explanation..... 8) Doesn't matter now, I'm at a point where I just dont use the EQ pedal any more. I'm selling the one I have. It got to where I could not get my guitar to sound better with the EQ pedal on, it just keeps sounding better with the EQ pedal off. Besides, this Damage Control pedal completely blows my existing pedal philosophy out the window, and the first victim was the EQ pedal.

 

[UKBoogieboy]

I am using 2 Danelectro Fish and Chips, E.Q.s.

BETTER than the BOSS GE-7, I have tried the Boss and found it to have hiss.

The Danelectro is 100 per cent silent, does it tone suck? No!! using a true bypass box and giving it a good test going through the pedal and instantly bypassing it there is NO difference in volume, tone or dynamics, none at all, some pedal buffers compress the signal, remove bottom and top giving you more middly quieter sound, but the bypass and buffer are exactly the same!

 

[UKBoogieboy]

Don't be put off by the fact that its cheap and plastic, the sound and effectiveness is what COUNTS! And this is one of the very best. I have read about other people being amazed by them aswell!

 

[soundchaser59]

Don't be put off by the fact that its cheap and plastic, the sound and effectiveness is what COUNTS! And this is one of the very best. I have read about other people being amazed by them aswell!

I've read that as well, hard to find anybody who doesn't like it.

 

[Newysurfer]

Don't be put off by the fact that its cheap and plastic, the sound and effectiveness is what COUNTS! And this is one of the very best. I have read about other people being amazed by them aswell!

How much does the Danelectro cost UKBoogie ??
The MXR 6-band EQ only costs US$80 on Ebay :mrgreen:

 

[tmac]

I don't have a favourite EQ, but I do have a Boss two-band parametric EQ (not a pedal) in the FX loop to use as a solo boost. When engaging it with the remote control footswitch, the volume will increase if the power section of the amp is not already fully saturated, since it is in the loop. Not like what happens when boosting the input signal to the amp when already using lots of preamp distortion. Also, it can be useful to change the EQ curve a bit at the same time, not only the level.

For this use, a two-band parametric EQ can be powerful enough, if it also has adjustable, individual Q-values for each band, as this one does.

- Torquil