Can An EQ Pedal Ever Be A Suitable Alternative To Multiple Guitars?

HT986M2 · September 2023

This question has been on my mind for a while now, and I'm looking for input. If we take the 'feel' of a guitar completely out of the question, and assume the guitar has good resonance, then if said guitar has a quality pickup (e.g. SD / BKP etc.) then can an EQ pedal - along with amp selection - be used to somewhat accurately replicate the character of other guitars and pickups?

I only ask as I have two particular guitars I always tend to play. They are resonant, they stay in tune well, and play very well indeed. As such, whenever I try out new guitars while hunting for different sounds I always seem to be disappointed that these new guitars don't always meet similar levels. So my hunt for new sounds always falls short.

I've found with different amps, cabs and equalisation the guitars can approximate a number of different sounds. Granted it might not be an exact match, but I feel an EQ pedal is drastically overlooked when it comes to pedalboards I see online.

Is it just me, or am I missing something?

Dr_Necessiter · September 2023

Dunno, but to get the ball rolling, apparently you can do the BB King Lucille thing with an EQ pedal: https://happybluesman.com/sound-like-bb-king/

ICBM · September 2023

HT986M2 said:

This question has been on my mind for a while now, and I'm looking for input. If we take the 'feel' of a guitar completely out of the question, and assume the guitar has good resonance, then if said guitar has a quality pickup (e.g. SD / BKP etc.) then can an EQ pedal - along with amp selection - be used to somewhat accurately replicate the character of other guitars and pickups?

I only ask as I have two particular guitars I always tend to play. They are resonant, they stay in tune well, and play very well indeed. As such, whenever I try out new guitars while hunting for different sounds I always seem to be disappointed that these new guitars don't always meet similar levels. So my hunt for new sounds always falls short.

I've found with different amps, cabs and equalisation the guitars can approximate a number of different sounds. Granted it might not be an exact match, but I feel an EQ pedal is drastically overlooked when it comes to pedalboards I see online.

Is it just me, or am I missing something?

I don’t even think you need the EQ pedal. I’ve got two electric guitars, both solidbodies with HSH pickups (one with humbucker splits, one without), and I can get basically any solidbody guitar sound to a good approximation just using the guitar controls, a couple of overdrive pedals and an amp with some switchable options, plus playing techniques. I’m really not interested in trying to ‘nail’ sounds as long as they’re in the right ballpark.

stickyfiddle · September 2023

I recall a rig rundown for Billy Gibbons where each of his guitars had a specific EQ applied so that they all basically sounded like his favourite Les Paul. By the same logic you could presumably apply an inverse of each of those EQ curves to make his Les Paul sound pretty close to each of those individual stage guitars. Bearing in mind his stage guitars are almost LPs, SGs and Teles with similar construction and fixed bridges, of course.

In reality there's far more to it in terms of how each different instrument resonates and how the different total string lengths affect things, etc etc. And a few specific sounds are fairly unique (Strat in-between, Jazzmaster pickups, etc). But you can get reasonably close.

If you have a couple of really great instruments you love I certainly wouldn't advocate buying more less-good guitars just to get 1% closer to a specific sound.

maharg101 · September 2023

In short no. Consider applying EQ to a recording of your voice. It would still be recognisable as you.

That said, EQ is a useful tool in many respects, especially pre and post gain stages i.e. overdrive, distortion.

theatreanchor · September 2023

HT986M2 said:

This question has been on my mind for a while now, and I'm looking for input. If we take the 'feel' of a guitar completely out of the question, and assume the guitar has good resonance, then if said guitar has a quality pickup (e.g. SD / BKP etc.) then can an EQ pedal - along with amp selection - be used to somewhat accurately replicate the character of other guitars and pickups?

I only ask as I have two particular guitars I always tend to play. They are resonant, they stay in tune well, and play very well indeed. As such, whenever I try out new guitars while hunting for different sounds I always seem to be disappointed that these new guitars don't always meet similar levels. So my hunt for new sounds always falls short.

I've found with different amps, cabs and equalisation the guitars can approximate a number of different sounds. Granted it might not be an exact match, but I feel an EQ pedal is drastically overlooked when it comes to pedalboards I see online.

Is it just me, or am I missing something?

No I don’t think you’re missing anything. I have three electrics (and maybe that’s one too many), and I like them all. They all play well and serve different purposes and have different tonal characteristics. But they all make me play a little differently and that’s what I like about them. Could my SG replicate the sound of a Strat? No.

But would anyone care - can they tell the difference of one distorted guitar to another? Probably not! Guitarists can, sure, but a wider audience probably wouldn’t be bothered what instrument we’re using.

An eq pedal will take you so far, but it can’t do all the work.

Sporky · September 2023

maharg101 said:

In short no. Consider applying EQ to a recording of your voice. It would still be recognisable as you.

Yup. Graphic EQ pedals have bands too wide to change the core character of the sound - I think "formants" is the appropriate technical term.

Possibly a 31-band graphic, or a parametric might work.

Or for a simpler way to change the character, a comb filter can achieve more - so a stuck flanger or phaser for example. A notch filter might just work.

The FOXROXX ZIM had a comb filter gif one side, just a set of give or six settings, and a knob for boost or cut. That was remarkably effective.

p90fool · September 2023

In very broad terms yes, you can use an EQ pedal to get a country twang out of a Les Paul or a fat overdrive out of a Strat.

A favourite use for me is to put an EQ pedal before a warm distortion to starve it of lower mids and volume, to give an almost Rickenbacker-like jangly rhythm tone.

Play the guitars you know and like and modify their output, that's what all pedals are for.
There are plenty of famous records where guitar parts were not recorded on the guitars we all associated the player with and assumed they used - various forms of EQ and compression are the primary reasons for that.

duotone · September 2023

I remember Tom Bukovac talking through his pedalboard & demonstrating various tones using the same guitar & by just changing controls on his Boss EQ pedal.

Skip to 2:50 mins

https://youtu.be/FX_zIpWjaiQ?si=CuIdUzt4ZPFzq2xk

Roland · September 2023

Leon Todd has a similar video about using EQ to simulate single coils with humbuckers, and vice versa.

EQ doesn’t remove the need for different guitars, but can remove the need to take so many to a gig.

monquixote · September 2023

It's been demonstrated a few times that people can barely tell the difference between different guitars in a blind test including on here at one point so I've no doubt you could probably get any tone out of just about anything with some FX.

The biggest difference for me is how you approach the instrument and how it makes you feel and play, no FX is going to do that.

slacker · September 2023

I like having multiple guitars that do different things. However when I play with a band I take 1 or 2 guitars and get most sounds from one. Also in a two guitar band assuming guitars are different you can get a range of sounds from both.

It's the same with pedals I've got loads of drive but use 2 on a board. I get bored sic so mix and match

I'm not pro semi pro or anywhere near pro. I like having lots of stuff and home and choosing which gear to take out. As I say to people I've got 9 guitars and 2 hands.

Two guitars work. Drive is drive. The only thing you can't take is a strat in-between sound but a 2 p90 guitar can get close.

Grangousier · September 2023

If you want to EQ a guitar signal so that one type behaves reliably like another, you'd need to use a pickup that picks up each string separately, and ideally with a neutral sound that's as far from, say, a Les Paul neck pickup as a Strat bridge pickup. In which case this is a solved problem, and the answer is either the Roland VG series or the Line6 Variax.

ElectricXII · September 2023

slacker said:

I like having multiple guitars that do different things. However when I play with a band I take 1 or 2 guitars and get most sounds from one. Also in a two guitar band assuming guitars are different you can get a range of sounds from both.

It's the same with pedals I've got loads of drive but use 2 on a board. I get bored sic so mix and match

I'm not pro semi pro or anywhere near pro. I like having lots of stuff and home and choosing which gear to take out. As I say to people I've got 9 guitars and 2 hands.

Two guitars work. Drive is drive. The only thing you can't take is a strat in-between sound but a 2 p90 guitar can get close.

I'm the same. I have several guitars, including an electric 12 string and an ES-335, however 90% of the time I gig with just a Telecaster and an LP Special P90, two drive pedals and some modulation. Often I'll use the LP Special for an entire three set gig, as I can get close to a Tele tone with the P90s.

UnclePsychosis · September 2023

Jimmy Page made Telecasters sound like Les Pauls and some people still can't tell 50 years later.

Its really easy to overthink this stuff. If you have a sound in your head that you absolutely have to have 100% or else the sky will fall in, then you maybe need different guitars. If you just want a good sound, you can make almost anything work for anything.

Sassafras · September 2023

I can't tell one guitar from another unless I'm playing it.
I can sometimes tell single coils from humbuckers but not always.
A lot depends on the amp, the EQ and how the strings are picked.

ICBM · September 2023

UnclePsychosis said:

Jimmy Page made Telecasters sound like Les Pauls and some people still can't tell 50 years later.

Its really easy to overthink this stuff. If you have a sound in your head that you absolutely have to have 100% or else the sky will fall in, then you maybe need different guitars. If you just want a good sound, you can make almost anything work for anything.

I think this post should be made a sticky on all guitar forums.

flying_pie · September 2023

I use a parametric EQ with a multi FX to approximate different tones for gigging with a single amp and guitar. It's not the same as using multiple guitars and amps, of course, but it's good enough and the heck of a lot easier.

For example, the only song at our last gig that really needed a jangly tone was Free Fallin' and I'm not going to bring a Tele and Vox for one song.. EQ did a great job.

I also used a pitch shifter with EQ together to thin out and brighten the darkened, compressed tone as we were playing Led Zep Rock-'n'-roll in G for vocal comfort and that's was the easiest way to keep the main riff going while bass and other guitar played in standard tuning. Again that saved bringing a guitar in D standard for a single song.

And none of the three guitarists I was aware of in the crowd said anything other than compliments about my guitar sound and they loved that we did thode songs well enough. FWIW they were actually critical of the other guitarist's tone which was probably based around seeing the gear he was using. It's amazing what happens when people don't know your signal chain

HT986M2 · September 2023

I'm glad I wasn't completely off the mark! An EQ pedal is just not something I tend to see in a lot of boards online, and so I thought I was taking crazy pulls. Said boards will have a boost and fourteen different overdrives, but nothing else really to sculpt their sound. I just think an EQ pedal is just such a powerful tool, and being able to adjust it on the fly opens up a myriad of tonal options

The Tom Bukovac video above is exactly what I was getting at.

roberty · September 2023

For double/multi tracking it helps to have a few different guitars. The harmonics are different from instrument to instrument which helps with scale and separation. Steve Albini says this too. For playing live EQ will get you most of the way anywhere

LionAquaLooper · September 2023

I uaed to own a Variax guitar. Could sound like any guitar listed in its repertoire. Doesn't mean it FELT like those guitars. That's why I'd rather own different guitars rather than one that can do it all.

willo · September 2023

I've had EQ as part of my boards for the last 20 years previously because of how versatile it can be. You see it on a lot of session players boards for the same reason. But like @LionAquaLooper says, it doesn't make the guitars feel like another, and that also affects how I play. So hugely useful for live and studio, but in an ideal world some core guitars is best.

dangriffiths · September 2023

There are a bunch of good videos on this but I got something from both of these:
https://youtu.be/eo5_ZtVS0kY

https://youtu.be/wjhTxQXu8sc

Littlejonny · September 2023

I use EQ a lot - mid boost for my strat, mid cut for my semi hollow HB…bass cut for clarity acoustic etc etc. You can do almost any gig with a strat and an EQ pedal.

However, what it doesn’t change is what I (perhaps wrongly) call the ‘envelope’. No amount of EQ can get the explosive twang of a good tele bridge assembly, or the slight ‘woof’ of a semi hollow. Or the sustain and bloom of a Les Paul or the lack of sustain of a Rickenbacker.

Not that you need all those sounds!

Kebabkid · September 2023

You might like the first part of this video -

Not a dedicated EQ pedal but it can cut and boost and shape your sound and that's the Xotic RC Booster and I found it a great tone shaper

Voxman · September 2023

in my view and experience, having an EQ on your board is one of the best secret weapons a guitarist can have. as it can give you much greater tonal control than from a typical amps EQ. It can help to get you in the ball park eg fattening up a Tele or thinning out a Les Paul, but using your guitars volume & tone controls, amp & other pedals will all play a part here too.

Experimenting with new speakers (buying/fitting) can be expensive and time consuming. More so than perhaps trying to match a specific guitar tone, an EQ can be a good approach to modifying your amps tone if you're not overly happy with it and especially combined with a BBE Sonic Stomp Maximiser (both in the fx loop btw) where the BBESSM really helps to un-muddy your sound and give you a clearer, more defined tone.

Brio · September 2023

I have the Behringer EQ-7 clone that I can wire on the fly into my board, but once i have a sound l like I will reproduce it in my GT1000 Core. Much easier to use sliders than programming the Core with the app.

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Can An EQ Pedal Ever Be A Suitable Alternative To Multiple Guitars?

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