Mxr eq as boost?

Anyone here using their mrx 10 band eq up front as a boost?

I did have it in the loop for quite some time but have since been converted to bypassing the loop so said i'd mess around with it up front. I don't have an OD or anything else up front so I decided to see how it would sound to use the eq as a slightly eq'd boost. So what i'm doing now is running the volume slider maxed and the gain at 0. Most of the other sliders are also at 0. I run it on at all times and it does tighten my rhythm sounds quite a bit (ch 4 metal rhythms - old school technical).

Any views on this? I'm considering getting maybe a maxon od808 or other od/boost. Would this have a substantially different effect used up front with level maxed and gain off or would it be similar enough. I feel the boost offered by the EQ definitely made my sound more focused but i still think it's not exactly what i'm looking for.

Btw i'm using a roadster

Never tried it with that pedal. or any EQ pedal. I would figure it would be simular to a "clean boost" with an OD pedal. I have a boss eq pedal, Ill give it a try. I normaly run a RAT pedal for a boost.

EQ's used as a boost are indeed similar to clean boosts in that you get more of your already-existing preamp tone. Essentially, it's like boosting your pickup's output by 15dB. They are limited in tone-shaping since the amp's preamp is still primarily responsible for the overall basis of the tone, and therefore an EQ placed after the preamp (such as in the loop) will have a much more dramatic affect on the tone. Still, they can be useful in milder tone-shaping roles, such as providing a decent overall signal boost with just a bit of additional midrange for solo time, or as a cheap way to tame the mud if your pickup is a bit woofy and you're going into a Recto, for instance.

I use an OCD for a clean boost in front of my roadster, but just for leads and also a crybaby q-zone which has a boost plus that cocked-wah sound for a really sweet lead tone. I've never found a need to boost for rythms.

What I'm asking I suppose really is - will the OD808 with volume maxed and gain at 0 give a similar result to the way I have my eq set up or will it be a lot different?

OD808's are well-known for their affect on tone. That either good or bad depending on what you are wanting. Any overdrive will have some degree of affect, even the BB Preamp, which is known to be one of the most transparent ones out there. The 808 will reduce the overall bass response, getting rid of a lot of mud in Recto amps, which users call 'tightening their bass'. It will also provide a modest but noticeable boost in the upper mids at roughly 2-4kHz. Finally, it will add noticeable amounts of harmonic distortion to the signal. This will be less so if the pedal's gain is set to '0', but it won't completely remove it.

Most folks like what that does to their tone in that higher solo notes 'sing' a bit more and artificial harmonics tend to be easier to achieve, and overall sustain is improved.

Chris McKinley said:

...The 808 will reduce the overall bass response, getting rid of a lot of mud in Recto amps, which users call 'tightening their bass'...

Click to expand...

This is EXACTLY the reason I like the 10-band as a boost. A bit of cut at 250 Hz can eliminate the "mud" without killing all your lows the way an OD pedal does. While it is true an EQ has much more of an effect when used in the loop, your amp can't amplify a frequency it never gets, right? Kill the muddiness before it has a chance to become a problem. The "singing" tone is also easy to achieve by boosting the 2K and 4K bands...a little goes a long way here.

Yep. In fact, that's why most people who use an EQ as a preamp boost do so....they can tailor the tone curve that the amp sees with more precision than OD's usually provide. If I thought there would be a big enough market for it to justify doing it, I'd make an OD that had a couple of graphic sliders at specifically chosen frequencies that let you tailor the OD's tone response more than most do.

i tried (with a jcm800) but i didn't like the way it changed the "distortion"... i use a turbo rat (with both mesa cal50+ and jcm800)