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Been playing with EQs over the past couple weeks...

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2016 8:13 pm
by skreddy
First I wanted to make an exact duplicate of my Hiwatt's tone stack (well I didn't bother with the Presence control, just wanted a quick listen of how its 3 regular bands would work in a stompbox format). Good news: it works. Bad news: way too lossy. Then adding a gain-makeup stage after brings up a massive noise floor. So that's out.

So I went to an active 3-band tone stack. I also designed a really cool pre-gain stage (instead of just a buffer at the input) that features soft, ever-so-slightly-gritty germanium-diode compression as you turn it up (not unlike the sound of a Klon in cleanish-boost mode). Good news: it works great! No loss, obviously. Noise level is fine, can do a flat response with all controls at noon, can boost or cut all 3 bands no problem. Only minor issue: after playing with it, I got frustrated with the lack of ability to fine-tune and target specific midrange bands. It's more of a "sledge hammer" approach to tone control. Works super great but not particularly good for precision or elegance. You can stay flat, add a bit of compression, do a very honky midrange hump, or a doomy mid scoop, etc., etc.

So now I want to make a new version where I can have 3 separate midrange bands, parametric, each with freq, Q-factor, and boost/cut. Plus bass and treble, each with 3 selectable shelving freqs. Have not proto'd this version yet, but I will soon.

Now I'm thinking, why not both? Why not make a 3-band version and a 5-band parametric version too? I already have names picked out for both...

Re: Been playing with EQs over the past couple weeks...

PostPosted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 11:46 am
by ak47
Hiwatt tone stacks are my favorite by far :mrgreen: each control works so well.. especially if you like using pedals.. yes, I loooove my Hiwatts!! :music

So of course you now have my full attention Marc :mrgreen: A question on placement.. what is your take on a 5 band parametric pre dirt and 3 band passive post dirt setup?

Re: Been playing with EQs over the past couple weeks...

PostPosted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 2:31 pm
by skreddy
ak47 wrote:Hiwatt tone stacks are my favorite by far :mrgreen: each control works so well.. especially if you like using pedals.. yes, I loooove my Hiwatts!! :music

So of course you now have my full attention Marc :mrgreen: A question on placement.. what is your take on a 5 band parametric pre dirt and 3 band passive post dirt setup?


Well, my initial idea was to actually put gain stages, each with a different sort of available distortion, on both sides of the tone stack. I already did design that nice mostly-clean pre-gain stage, and it should really please folks who like the Klon's cleanish boost sound. And I was going to make something more along the lines of a power-amp distortion to go after, something that will get that certain amp-on-the-verge-of-meltdown, juicy but filthy compression, on the back end.

But now after seeing how much will go into the 5-band parametric version, I'm thinking of making it all clean so it will go ANYWHERE in the chain, before, after, or in-between dirt stages.

(oh, the 3-band isn't going to be passive; it's all active. Passive was too lossy and would introduce an unacceptable noise floor after bringing the volume back up)

Re: Been playing with EQs over the past couple weeks...

PostPosted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 5:23 pm
by ak47
Ok. Cool.. I like the sound of both ideas actually :mrgreen: one thing that I have always thought about is that a lot of people boost & cut frequencies a bit too far when using eq's with guitar.. just me perhaps; but to get a tasty curve through the right frequencies without it sounding too notched or honky can be quite a challenge. I don't know how this would affect design though because it is a matter of balancing the ability to offer a wide range of control on different bandwidths against keeping it sounding natural in extreme settings.. does this make any sense? Running an eq that doesn't sound overly eq'd? :confusedq

Re: Been playing with EQs over the past couple weeks...

PostPosted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 7:49 pm
by skreddy
ak47 wrote:Ok. Cool.. I like the sound of both ideas actually :mrgreen: one thing that I have always thought about is that a lot of people boost & cut frequencies a bit too far when using eq's with guitar.. just me perhaps; but to get a tasty curve through the right frequencies without it sounding too notched or honky can be quite a challenge. I don't know how this would affect design though because it is a matter of balancing the ability to offer a wide range of control on different bandwidths against keeping it sounding natural in extreme settings.. does this make any sense? Running an eq that doesn't sound overly eq'd? :confusedq


Well, job one is to make it sound good. I do like to dial out unpleasantries too, so that even extreme knob settings won't sound like garbage. But on this deluxe 5-band thingie, I can't guarantee that a user still can't make it sound overly eq'd. Just the nature of giving so much power and so many knobs. :D But I totally get what you mean.

A lot of folks have been interested in the Frank Zappa thing, where he gets those crazy mids, and a lot of folks like the cocked wah thing, and then there is the whole deal of just wanting something a little bit tweaked. Usually we builders will design the whole eq into a pedal, you know? But we have no way of predicting what sort of room or hall or stadium, indoors or outdoors, you might be playing; and every situation comes with its own set of unique eq requirements. Not to mention the whole recording studio thing, where you don't necessarily want an open, full-spectrum eq but something that sits well in its own place in the mix. And overdubs might want to sound a little different from each other, etc., etc.

So the multi-band parametric would likely not be for everybody, only the truly dedicated knob twiddlers, and of course a two-edged sword--with all that power comes the ability to make horrible choices! :joker

Edit: I will spend a little bit more time tuning the bands of my 3-band version, though.

Re: Been playing with EQs over the past couple weeks...

PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 2:47 am
by ak47
skreddy wrote:So the multi-band parametric would likely not be for everybody, only the truly dedicated knob twiddlers, and of course a two-edged sword--with all that power comes the ability to make horrible choices!


Exactly!! This is giving me a 'Lord of the Rings' vibe :mrgreen: Bring it on!

Of course it is all about the sound as you point out.. finding that inspired tone that gets the creativity flowing is what it is all about :mrgreen:

Re: Been playing with EQs over the past couple weeks...

PostPosted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:35 pm
by skreddy
ak47 wrote:
skreddy wrote:So the multi-band parametric would likely not be for everybody, only the truly dedicated knob twiddlers, and of course a two-edged sword--with all that power comes the ability to make horrible choices!


Exactly!! This is giving me a 'Lord of the Rings' vibe :mrgreen: Bring it on!

Of course it is all about the sound as you point out.. finding that inspired tone that gets the creativity flowing is what it is all about :mrgreen:


Oh crap; so I really got into the zone yesterday tweaking those freqs on my 3-band eq. Started to sound nice, so I abandoned the concept of giving it a dirty boost at the input (instead I'm just giving it a "clean, graceful overload" compression ability at high gain levels rather than allowing the op-amp to hit the limits of its supply rails) and upgraded the op-amp to a hi-fi Burr Brown. OMG, it's definitely not frustrating to play with now. I haven't abandoned the 5-band idea, but I'm all in on the 3-band concept, and it sounds great. Will almost certainly fit into a small enclosure, too, unless I do something extravagant like adding loop(s) to it (you know, for piggy-backing other things like OD/dist so one switch turns on multiple things all eq'd at the same time). But I already have a separate product, the Dual Loop, that's designed for just that, so why incorporate that into another pedal that could be compact instead?

Re: Been playing with EQs over the past couple weeks...

PostPosted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 7:27 am
by ak47
You know it must be good when the designer is this happy.. :pedallove