EQ pedal in front of amp or in FX loop?

[Gogogoch]

Which do you favour?

FX loop makes sense to me and saves precious space on my small pedalboard. Just wondering what others do. Cheers.

 

[blowtorch]

I get good results going straight in the front of the amp with an EQ pedal

 

[drmmrr55]

FX loop!

 

[northernguitar]

I like mine in the loop. Going in, the only eq I care about I can get from a treble booster.

 

[mkdaws32]

I’ve used it in both places, and for a long while had 2 Boss GE7s on my board - one before the preamp and one after. If I have a good crunch rhythm into a decent amp, an eq used as a clean boost kills two birds with one stone - boosts and drives the amp harder for heavier rhythms, and allows you to shape the tone. The second one in the loop was mostly Eq’d flat with a volume boost for leads, maybe a soft mid-bump and small cut around 200-250hz to fatten the tone and reduce low end flab/mud, if needed.

 

[Old Deaf Roadie]

I subscribe to the "filters come first" method, so EQ would be placed at the front end.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

Which do you favour?

FX loop makes sense to me and saves precious space on my small pedalboard. Just wondering what others do. Cheers.

I know I am in the minority here on this, but I actually just place mine on top of the amp (where the input is) rather than on a pedal board. It is easier for me to adjust the controls of the EQ this way.

 

[Nick Fanis]

If you use your amplifier's dirty channel and want to boost it for leads the fx loop is the only logical place to insert it.

 

[Guitarteach]

For sculpting a boost to voice the amps overdrive a bit and to make some frequencies sing or sustain, then in front.

To shape the whole sound and for most effect depth, in the loop.

The 5 band EQ on my Boogie is post preamp and it can create crushing, massive tonnes an EQ in front simply can’t. It is also footswitchable, so i can set it as a shaped solo boost to cut through the band... in front, esp. with dirt EQ just gets lost in the reduced headroom.

What is ‘best’ is really determined by what you want to achieve.

 

[lathoto]

In front of everything but the compressor, vibe, and drive. All of the modulation effects (including reverb) come after. The EQ (JHS Colour Box V2) is always on.

 

[Festofish]

Move it around and see how you like it. As of right now, mine is at the very end of the loop. That way I can adjust the sound if it’s bass heavy or light. Volume drops can also be fixed. It’s amazing how it can change the tone of your drive pedals.

 

[scottser]

i use mine as a boost either before or after a drive pedal, so in front is best for me.

 

[JustPlayItLoud]

It entirely depends on what you’re using it for. If you’re using it to compensate for differences in pickups, go first. If you want to shape the sound of a specific drive pedal (a highly underrated use) then go right before it. It’s it’s just overall sculpting then either first or in effects loop, but I find high gain sounds it works better in the loop. EQ is a tool more than just an effect.

 

[Gogogoch]

It entirely depends on what you’re using it for. If you’re using it to compensate for differences in pickups, go first. If you want to shape the sound of a specific drive pedal (a highly underrated use) then go right before it. It’s it’s just overall sculpting then either first or in effects loop, but I find high gain sounds it works better in the loop. EQ is a tool more than just an effect.

At the moment, I plan on using it when swapping between a CV Tele an Epi Casino.

 

[doghouseman]

if you put it in the effects loop and you boost the signal at all, remember, you are basically boosting the level of your other effects in the loop - which can be useful, or not.

 

[JL_LI]

I know I am in the minority here on this, but I actually just place mine on top of the amp (where the input is) rather than on a pedal board. It is easier for me to adjust the controls of the EQ this way.

+1 On top of the amp where it belongs.

 

[JustPlayItLoud]

At the moment, I plan on using it when swapping between a CV Tele an Epi Casino.

In that case I’d recommend early in the chain. If you run a relatively dry signal chain it might be similar if run in the loop, but I find it best to put it closest to what it’s specifically trying to shape. If you have any other filtering things like wah, or if you use an always on boost, then play around to find where it seems to work best in the first few pedals, but probably just start with first in the chain (after a tuner or any fuzz circuits that get cranky about input impedance)

Edit: But forgot to add the most important part! If it sounds good, it is good! If I’m happy with the way something is working I’ve learned I’ll drive myself crazy with the “what if I try this”. But I do it anyway, because I’m weird. I’ve found if I use chorus I find I prefer it last in the chain right before the amp and after and tape/analog style delay effects that sound best in front of the amp. Just try stuff!