anyone use an eq for acoustic
 

I'm wondering if anyone uses an eq (such as the boss stompbox) in your acoustic effects chain. I wish the ES had a mid button and since it doesn't I thought maybe this would help with the tone...just asking....thanks

Eq
 

Our worship leader uses the Boss eq, and it makes a ton of difference. Unless your acoustic-electric has an outstanding system, most all of them need the mids cut to have a natural sound, but the more bands you can have control over, the better chance you have of "massaging" your signal to get the desired sound. The other advantage to having it on stage is that you automatically get eq'd sound in the monitor, so you don't need to eq the acoustic guitar sound sent to the monitors (a lot of times you don't have the luxury of eq'd monitor sound).

Hope this helps.

Matt

My guitars each have two sources, a SBT and an internal mic. I use a different three band parametric eq's for each source before the separate signals are blended. Works rather well.

I always carry a Boss eq pedal with me as a backup - great pedal, intuitive and quick to set up. My guitars all have K&K minis and I normally play through a Pure XLR preamp. The Boss sounds almost as good, but not quite. I am happy to use it in a band situation, but for solo guitar I prefer the Pure XLR for it's slightly truer acoustic sound - it's a close thing though.
Keith

i use an mxr108 10 band eq pedal on my rig.

I'm another who always carries a GE7 for backup, and I use it on occasion to EQ the signal from an acoustic.

Since it has a 1Kohm output impedance, I've actually used it as part of a blending setup with a Fishman Platinum Pro EQ preamp (which also has a 1Kohm output impedance) on the other pickup. I can combine the outputs of the GE7 and the Platinum directly with a Y connector. The phase inversion switch on the Platinum allows me to adjust the phase relationship of the two signals to see which Platinum phase setting gives me the best sounding blend.

AG mag editor Teja Gerken has mentioned using a GE7 with a second guitar so he can make quick switches between guitars without having to adjust the level or EQ settings on a single available amp input.

Gary

BTW, I believe the 10 band MXR EQ box (which is powered by 18v) would be better suited for a high-headroom pickup system like the DTAR Wavelength. I avoid using the GE7 with my high-headroom pickup systems.

I use a pretty steep cut at about 500 hz on my ES Taylors. Helps a WHOLE lot.

anyone use one on a fishman natural II UST on a Martin Dread? I have the Behringer 7 band EQ for electric, but hadn't thought to use it for acoustic. Where would you cut?

thanks guys.....when I get some more funds I think i'll try it...

Here is what I am finding in my own experimentation:

In my Cargo, I have the K & K Pure Western Mini pickups. These I run into a K & K Pure XLR preamp. This preamp has bass, mid, and treble EQ control knobs with their center frequency and bandwidth selected specifically for the Pure Western series pickups, and the boost/cut is +/- 20 db instead of the normal 12 or 15 db +/- range.

However, even with the mids turned all the way down on both the amp and the preamp, it is still somewhat mid-rangy. I insert a Boss EQ-20 (Twin Pedal series 10 band graphic EQ, now discontinued) in the effect loop on the amp (Cub AG100) and use that to any extra tweaking. This combination gives me the sound I am looking for without adding any extra noise. The EQ-20, if you can find one is VERY versatile. First, it is 10 bands, second it is quiet, third it has a selector for output gain that allows it to be inserted either into the effect loop or between the guitar and amp input, fourth, it allows you to store 10 of your favorite EQ setups. It is truly unique in its combination of features and quality, and I don't know why they discontinued it. You may find one on Ebay or Craig's list.

Tony

Boss still makes a device that lets you store multiple EQ settings. It's the AD-8. It has the fancy mic modeling, which I don't use (don't need it with K&K mini), but the four-band EQ section with sweepable mid is more than adequate and you can store up to four settings. I used it for a couple years to allow quick guitar changes on stage: Mute, switch guitars, a click or two on the foot switch to bring up that guitar's EQ setting, un-mute and you're good to go. Takes about 5 seconds.

http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/AD-8/index.html

I don't use it any more, because I'm using K&K mini's in all my guitar and a Pure XLR preamp, and I don't need to change EQ for each guitar any more. I set bass and treble at neutral, cut the mids a bit and that's it. The dread sounds like a dread and the OM sounds like an OM.

David

David:

Though I am using the same pickup system and preamp as you are, I believe that the Cargo has a distinctly mid-range component to it when amplified using this system, so that is why I use some extra EQ. I believe that others with "normal" guitars probably do have similar results as yours. I am sure the K & K system sounds great in that situation. With just a bit of the EQ-20, the K & K system sounds wonderful in the Cargo too. Without the EQ-20 it sounds quite good to, but I just wanted to get rid of that bit of mid-range bump.

Tony

I use the MXR M108 10-band. It's a little pricey compared to other eq pedals but if you can find one for less than the street price, it's great. Mine is basically used as a high-pass filter on my home-made k&k PW style pickup to eliminate some of the handling noise and decrease the likelihood of feedback. The only warning is that it requires 18v which can be tricky, depending on your power supply setup.

As I have posted elsewhere in this section of the forums, I have been experimenting with a number of ways to EQ. I have found both the modded Boss GE-7 (defintely NOT the stock version!!!) and the stock version of the Electro-Harmonix KnockOut pedal to really do the trick. I am now done with my experiments, having found a sound that I really like and can live with. The setup is the Cargo with K & K Pure Western Mini system going into the K & K XLR Pure Preamp, and then into EITHER the modded GE-7 graphic EQ pedal or the KnockOut (either of these sounds very, very good), and then into the guitar input on my AAD Cub amp.

The EQ-20 sounds good, but does not have a "warmth" to it that I can get from these other analog pedals. Even my wife notices the differences quite readily without knowing what is connected to what.

Tony

Tony.... Did you put the mini in your Cargo yourself?? I just ordered the mini and Pure XLR for my Cargo after reading what you said.... did you have the Fishman is it and take it out or by pass it or blend?? Thanks