Amp EQ Controls

[GreatGreen]

Okay, so I'm going to assume most built-in EQ sections in tube amps aren't centered in the same place right? In other words, the center tone control frequency of a Dual Rectifier is probably going to be different from one of a JCM 800. And on top of that, I'd imagine that a lot of amps have different total frequency ranges for their tone controls too, meaning that even if the EQ's center frequency on both the Dual Recto and JCM 800 were matched to each other, the treble and bass frequencies wouldn't necessarily also be matched up.

So basically, what I'm getting at is that a lot of tone controls on a lot of different amps can be all over the place, right? Sometimes you'll have an amp with the bass knob centered on 100hz, the mid knob centered on 1khz, and the treble knob centered on 4khz. Sometimes it will be 90hz, 800hz, and 4khz, etc. And that's not even getting into the issue of each control's Q.


Anyway, here's my question. How does the selectable Active EQ tone stack work relative to this? Does each amp have its own version of an Active EQ or is it universal, with each "knob" always controlling the same frequencies with the same Q?

 

[bammbamm]

Okay, so I'm going to assume most built-in EQ sections in tube amps aren't centered in the same place right? In other words, the center tone control frequency of a Dual Rectifier is probably going to be different from one of a JCM 800. And on top of that, I'd imagine that a lot of amps have different total frequency ranges for their tone controls too, meaning that even if the EQ's center frequency on both the Dual Recto and JCM 800 were matched to each other, the treble and bass frequencies wouldn't necessarily also be matched up.

So basically, what I'm getting at is that a lot of tone controls on a lot of different amps can be all over the place, right? Sometimes you'll have an amp with the bass knob centered on 100hz, the mid knob centered on 1khz, and the treble knob centered on 4khz. Sometimes it will be 90hz, 800hz, and 4khz, etc. And that's not even getting into the issue of each control's Q.


Anyway, here's my question. How does the selectable Active EQ tone stack work relative to this? Does each amp have its own version of an Active EQ or is it universal, with each "knob" always controlling the same frequencies with the same Q?

I believe starting in 6.0, the default tone stacks were more or less the same as the real counterparts. Maybe 10% variance (don't quote me on that) but read the 6.0 release notes. Also, you can find the definition of the active tone stack vs passive in the manual or the wiki.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

The centered frequencies for the tone controls have been correct since way back in the standard/ultra days. From v6, the taper of the pots is also correct. Don't know about the active EQ option, I never use it.

 

[Rex]

The way I understand it, the active tone stack has the same center frequencies as the passive stack, but with more boost/cut range, and more independently (no interaction between "knobs"). At least that's wht the manual seems to be saying, and it's what my ears seem to be hearing. A Twin with an active stack still sounds like a Twin.

 

[GreatGreen]

Sorry for not being clear earlier, I'll rephrase.

Will the Active EQ always control the same frequencies in the same way, no matter what amp sim I select? For example, will the treble knob, when Active EQ tonestack is selected, control the same treble freqency in a Fender Twin as it does when it's controlling an ENGL Powerball?

I get that you'll always have the same range of db to work with while cutting and boosting, I'm just wondering about the specific frequencies the Active EQ tonestack controls per amp sim.

 

[Rex]

The way I understand it, the active tone stack has the same center frequencies as the passive stack. It won't always control those frequencies in exactly the same way—if it did, there'd be no point in using it. But you can get the same tones as the passive stack, along with tones you couldn't get with the passive.