Help me decide on a good Parametric Eq for the Quad preamp

Hi there! My current rig consists of a mesa boogie quad preamp + 2:90 power amp. I am absolutely happy with the tones I can get, but I ve been thinking of getting a cheap (-200 dollars-) - vintage maybe - parametric eq rack-mount to further shape my sound. I would like to try scooping the mids a bit more, so that I can get that 'old Metallica sound". Now, after doing some research my options have come down to these...

1) TC 2240 Parametric Equalizer

2) Boss PQ-50

3) Rane PE15

I would appreciate it if you could just comment on the above racks! Thanks a lot!

dbx 131 might be up your alley. It's not a parametric, but it's a great EQ.

Or get this :lol:

Sorry I can't be more useful, not familiar with the units you posted.

Thx man, but I need a parametric one

I have a Behringer PEQ2200 and it does the job fine. They're out of production but can be picked up on ebay dead cheap.

I've heard the Presonus EQ3B is very good for what you wanna do, saw it on here a while ago - have a look at Fleming Rassmusen's recording notes for the actual settings used on 'Puppets' and 'Justice'.

I actually took my parametric out of my setup as I wasn't interested in aping someone else's sound.

Thx for the answer man. The Rane would cost me 100 dollars shipped and the Boss 80 dollars. I ve found them both on ebay.

Furman PQ 3 It might be a bit more than your state price range but it's the one to get.

I ordered the Rane PE 15. It should arrive in 2 weeks so I ll be posting my thoughts then! Thx everyone!

My parametric has just arrived! Can you please tell me how to set it up in my rig?

I think I got it right... I connected the input of the Rane to the 'Effect Send" of the Quad its output to the "Effect Return Loop" of the Quad. I read in a forum that based on Mr. Rasmussen notes, if you want to achieve the old metallica sound u have to dial------------------> +6dB of 4.6k shelving, -6dB at 1.2k, and +3/4 dB of 120hz peaking.

Has anyone tried these settings on a parametric EQ?

I don't want to beat you down or bust your bubble, but what you're doing doesn't make sense. The settings for the parametric EQs in Flemming Rasmussen's notes are not settings that would work in an FX loop of an amp. He probably used those settings in the recording process on the guitar tracks, not with the amps. You wouldn't get the same effect running it in the FX loop of your Quad.

Nonetheless, if you look at his notes, you'll see that one way of him keeping track of settings was "5/5" "500/-3" etc. The upper number means frequency (if the number is small, it's in kHz, if it's big, it means Hz), the lower means how much cut/boost. So "5/5" means +5db@5khZ, "500/-3" means -3dB@500Hz. For the B&B settings... I have no idea, probably the way you wrote it, yeah.

My advice, however, would be to stop chasing Metallica tones and start chasing your own, unique, awesome tone. And that's coming from someone who also used to spend his time staring at FR's notes and chasing specific Metallica song tones. Until I realized I'm not James Hetfield with his IIC+ slaved into a JCM800 through his 80s Marshall cabinet being recorded by Flemming Rasmussen :wink:

As posted above. Stop while you're ahead.
The guitar tracks are double or even quad tracked, then eq'd, then countless other studio fixes and tweaks. Then the whole thing is mixed and the guitars are further tweaked to get everything to live nice together.
Good luck. :lol: