Equalizer or Booster pedal as a boost?

[Nicholasim]

Just a small poll. Wanna hear what you guys think.

I'm looking for a pedal to boost my signal during lead solos etc.

Should I be looking at an EQ pedal or a booster pedal?

Do give your opinions!

 

[mightyboy88]

depends on what kinda solo tone you are looking for i think

if u wanna cut through a thick mix probably an eq would do better. i think a parametric eq would be the best application for this

if you wanna sweeten the sound of your solo then i think a booster pedal will do a good job

Just a small poll. Wanna hear what you guys think.

I'm looking for a pedal to boost my signal during lead solos etc.

Should I be looking at an EQ pedal or a booster pedal?

Do give your opinions!

 

[Godspeed64]

Booster = volume boost; depending on the said pedal it can target specific frequencies to stand out.

Personally not a fan of using EQ to boost, only to change the tone.

 

[Nicholasim]

Here is where I'm confused, since a booster pedal is to boost volume and certain frequencies depending on what the pedal is built to do, why not just get an EQ pedal where I can set it to whatever frequencies I want AND set the volume level.

Wouldn't getting an EQ pedal be much more versatile as compared to a booster?

 

[J.custom]

You must also take into consideration that there are specific frequencies that are being control in an eq pedal. So it may be versatile to some, but not so much to others.
I would personally prefer a boost pedal cos it can be used either as a vol or gain boost depending where it's placed in your signal chain. If it's placed before your main drive, it acts as a gain boost,but if it's placed after, it acts a vol boost

 

[zesn]

I use another overdrive to boost my solo.
It just works for me.

 

[VidaK]

I myself prefer using an eq for lead boost.. especially useful for dialing in the right amount of mids to stand slightly in front of the vocalist and other instruments

 

[an2]

I use a subtle mid-boost myself. Works better than my other guitarist's volume clean boost.
Then again, I've seen someone set their volume really high, then use a volume pedal to roll the volume back, or the EHX Signal Pad Passive Attenuator.

 

[mightyboy88]

Ive tried using eq pedals, clean boosters and overdrive pedals to boost volume for solo

EQ: biyang eq-7
CB: (no pun intended) mxr linear booster
OD: Digitech hardwire overdrive(tubescreamer clone)

My favourite is the OD because it makes the sound really sweet and warm, with a very pronounced upper mid range boost that sounds great for perhaps an instrumental lead song

The EQ comes second as it can really help to cut through a mix as you can focus the tone on certain mid range frequencies. I find that the final sound, while effective as a lead tone, is not as sweet and warm as what you get from an overdrive boost.

I didnt really enjoy using the CB as a volume booster.

 

[subversion]

me: i switch to my 'solo' pickup...

 

[Nicholasim]

Thats what i do as well nut i received feedback from the audience that i could barely cut through the mix. I just bought a MXR 6 band EQ pedal yesterday and so far, i think its working great! Will have to test it out during jamming soon though

 

[eljo89]

I use a Gworx Boosty at the end of my chain if I want an overall boost. Let's me cut/add treble and bass as well. But if I'm looking for more saturation/gain I'd just kick on my OD.

If I had to choose one, I'd go with an EQ pedal though! If you know exactly which frequencies you need to cut through the mix it'll work great, without having to add gain. Most of them let you kick your volume up a notch too.

 

[relinquish69]

I don't like the way an EQ screws with the overall tone.

 

[Nicholasim]

So far I've been using the MXR EQ. Its been working well as far as I can tell. The EQ pedal allows me to increase and/or alter my tone. So i see it as killing 2 birds with one stone.

Does the EQ messes with tone if you just have flat EQs but just increase the dB? I haven't tried it yet but i have tried just pure flat EQ at 0dB and it didnt alter tone at all.

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

0 db across flat eq setting, none of the particular eq frequency band's gain amount is being cut or increased.

With flat eq but increased dB, this one be kinda contradicting each other, in the sense that on the eq pedal, changing the setting actually increase/decrease the gain (in db) level in their own respective frequency band (in hertz).

Anyway, with eq effect, you have choices to play around with the boost/cut in various frequency band compared to boost pedal (without eq section) that just boost in term of gain across whats available within, without much control over the freq range.

 

[j_m_s]

@relinquish69, does that not depend on what EQ you're using?

The way in which the EQ pedal 'screws' with the original tone is the way you've set the knobs. You can use an EQ pedal set completely flat to achieve a standard 'transparent/flat' clean boost. The only difference is that with the EQ pedal, you get the option of boosting specific frequencies that allow you to cut through the mix better. I find that boosting the mids (but not too much...) helps to cut through the mix better especially if you're going for a solo.

In a live mix sometimes it tends to get really cluttered (considering that Snare, Vocals and guitars share a lot of the midrange) and you don't want to have too many things in the frequency range because it makes each instrument have less 'perceived space' in the mix. This is where an EQ could come in handy too..

Unless of course the EQ pedal inherently adds noise/drastically tone sucks etc etc.

 

[eljo89]

@Nicholasim Which one are you using? The 6-band or 10-band one?

@relinquish69 Well, depends on whether you just need to get louder, or if you're trying to find a spot to cut through the mix.

 

[Nicholasim]

I'm using the 6 band version. Very solid construction and really sensitive. Just a slight bump of the EQ (1mm) and you can hear the difference in your sound already.

 

[eljo89]

Yupp! It's a good pedal! If you're trying to cut through the mix for solos, usually just bumping the 3.2k fader on your pedal will do the trick. You'll be able to cut through without having to change your volume much; sound engineers will love you for this! Haha! Bumping 1.6k will give you a little more 'percussion'.

Alternatively, if you want to go with the 'volume up' approach, these are the frequencies you'd wanna cut, so your guitar can go louder in the mix, without getting uncomfortably piercing!

 

[mightyboy88]

I'm using the 6 band version. Very solid construction and really sensitive. Just a slight bump of the EQ (1mm) and you can hear the difference in your sound already.

hi nicholas ,

great to hear you enjoying your eq pedal.

there's an alternative way of using the eq in which you might be interested in. that is to use it as an attenuator, or use it to cut volume.

so basically what you do in that setup is to get the required volume and tone for your lead sound by tweaking dist pedal knobs, amp eq etc

and then you place your eq after your distortion pedal in the signal chain and basically pull the faders all the way to zero and rework your rhythm sound by increasing each fader gradually till you get your required volume and tone for rhythm

hence when the eq pedal is on you get a chunky rhythm tone and when the eq pedal is off you get your lead tone. its abit counter intuitive doing it this way but there was one period of time in which this configuration worked really well for me.

try it out and see if you like it!! if u dont theres always the option of using the eq as a boost like u are doing now, however the disadvantage of using a boost if that when playing at gig volume the activation of another "gain" pedal often leads to feedback, this is especially true if you are running a daisy chain in powering your pedals as the little increments in white noise gets amplified by both the dist pedal and the eq

just my 2 cents !