Tip: amp input EQ instead of guitar tone control

Kamil Kisiel

Kamil Kisiel

Power User
Maybe this is already widely known, but I just thought of it the other day and it's made my life a whole lot simpler....

The amp input EQ can be used instead of the guitar tone control to roll off the high end of your pickup sound. I've always found it a bit tricky going from a jazzy rhythm sound to a high gain lead because I often want more of the high end present for the lead sounds, but need to roll down the tone a lot for the rhythm. The thing with rolling it down is that I can't just go to 0, it's too much, it's gotta be between 1 and 2 to sound right, which can be tricky if you're trying to switch quickly. On the other hand for the lead sound I often don't want to go all the way up to 10 but often more like an 8 or 9 on the tone control.

With the amp input EQ I can just find the right value of the high cut control and save it with the channel and now have the right amount of high frequency roll off for any situation right when switching scenes.
 
Very cool. Will check this out right now! I live on my tone knob but it would very helpful to have the correct tone dialed in with the press of a footswitch.
 
The Input EQ is one of the greatest and most powerful tools in the box I think. With Mesa sims I seem to always turn up the low cut in the Input EQ to about 200hz to tame the low end flub in the most perfect of ways which I have been unable to replicate anywhere else in the signal chain. It is amazing (thanks again @2112 for that trick - changed everything for me).
 
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Was going to start a thread on what a great tone shaping tool the Input EQ is, but I thought I'd dig up an old one for the sake of redundancy.

The 'chugga' required me to look for some tweaks because my low end sounded a tad harsh with my presets for two of my guitars. I use a separate preset for a mid output pickup guitar (Thornbucker Plus) and identical one but tweaked for a high output pikcup (Duncan JB). After a week of living with it, I decided to address the issue and found, or remembered..... the Input EQ - Wow. With the AxeFx 3 I've added a mid-hump, because of Cliff's PEQ mid-hump (before the amp) tip. The hump has a Q of .5 and a 'boost to taste' with low & high shelving. By moving the frequency (the range of the hump) it totally dials in either pickup. The JB likes it around 700Hz and the Thornbucker likes it around 960hz. It totally livens the guitar up and focuses the sound....to my ears. I forgot how powerful this is. To all you flat earther's (flat EQ curve.....lol) give it a try. Here's where my Brit Super preset (for the JB) lives at the moment.

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You can also use an EQ block before the amp and set it up to switch via a CS without having to change channels, a trick used to add additional channels to kitchen sink type presets.
 
luke said:
You can also use an EQ block before the amp and set it up to switch via a CS without having to change channels, a trick used to add additional channels to kitchen sink type presets.
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That's how I did it w/ Ax8.
 
One of my favorite parts of the Axe is the filters. Filters in the amps, cabs, effects, the filter block, the para block, globals, and all the neat filter types. I don't like using EQ if I can avoid it, but it's nice to have all that power when you need it.
 
Is it just a matter of turning down the high cut?

Sometimes I've put a filter block in front of everything to simulate rolling the tone knob down and I've always wonder if it's the same thing or am I losing something. So if recording a DI and then reamping, why wouldn't I always leave the tone knob wide open and then cut the highs later if I want and leave my options open?
 
Try it out and see what you like. One of my guitars, an Anderson tele does not like input eq whether in the amp block or an eq block. It's very bright on the high E above the 12th but taming it makes other positions dull, so I have to ride the tone control.
 
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