Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 21 Nov 2003 10:51 am |
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Terry, several of the bigger manufacturers of stomp-box units make graphic EQ's. Boss, Arion, MXR, Electro-Harmonix, ect., all made them when I last checked. Most any of these devices (provided they have at least 5 or 6 bands) offer far more control over your tone than the regular controls in almost any amp. The reason for this is that the controls in the amp are passive, that is, they operate on the "cut" principle. The bass control in most amps doesn't really add any bass, it only allows you to "cut" or reduce what's already there. On the other hand, most of the graphic EQ's have active circuitry. That is to say, they actually boost the amount of bass already available by slightly amplifying the low frequencies. The same applies to the treble and mid-range controls in most all amps...they are strictly "cut" controls, and severely limit what you can do, tonally.
I've always been a big proponent of graphic EQ's because they enable you to get far more out of an amp than it was ever designed to produce. Almost every stereo system (and certainly every professional recording studio) has some sort of graphic equalizer, but the instrument amp manufacturers are reticent to give us the same option...even though instrument amps are usually far more expensive than most stereo amplifiers.
I used to use an old MXR 7-band job that worked pretty well, but I don't think that model is made anymore. MXR now makes the M109 that can be had for about $75. It's a 6-band job that offers 18db of boost or cut. Though I haven't tried this model, this is the type you should be looking for. Get at least 6 bands, and look for at least 15db of control. Should you decide to go with a "rack unit", there's dozens to choose from.
Once you've played with an amp system that has graphic EQ, everything else ("tone stacks", "parametric controls", "modeling circuitry", etc.) comes up as "second-best".
Believe it! |
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