...uh, in general I use my EQ pedal as a clean boost. works great.
It also works great if I want to play more than one guitar through the same
amp and paddle board. I bypass the EQ pedal when I'm playing my SG with
the '57s, (because their sound is very close to ideal for me)...
and I can adjust the EQ pedal to play a Telecaster or an Epiphone ES-339 P-90 Pro
through the same amp rig. The EQ pedal helps me compensate for lesser p'ups than the
'57 Classic and Classic plus.
If I want dirt, I kick my Blues Driver. I also have a TS-9 tube screamer.
that works great too. Turning the dials on yer amp works just as you say it does,
but it requires me to turn my backside to the audience and focus on my amp,
which I hate to do. I'd rather work out some settings at home and hit the right
one with my foot while I'm telling jokes to the audience...
like:
Q: "why are there no banjos on Star Trek?"
A: "Because it's the future..."
Good techniques, Colonel. Your post got me thinking outloud and i wanted to chime in.
I have had quite a few equipment revelations here of late and I responded to them with a rather holistic approach.
My first move was to get rid of everything but 24.75" scale guitars. That was a major tone and "feel" improvement. Next was moving all humbuckers up to 4/32" from the strings, which made the overall tone much more articulate.
I too used an EQ pedal for years, generally to boost lows and mids. But, Ive come to realize that a recent speaker change - in my case a 50 watt WGS Reaper 55Hz - put my GE-7 on the shelf. The speaker gave me exactly what I had been using the EQ for.
Now, my recent move to make a custom made Von Herndon doubleneck (based on an EDS-1275) my main 'do everthing' guitar, created another set of needs. Drawing from Don Felder's technique, I designed a split into the wiring, so the 6 and 12 string necks will run through separate amps.
The Marshall VS265 2X12 will be kept "clean" and EQ'd specifically for the 12 string neck only. The six string side will run through one (or both) of my DSL40C' s.
Drawing from positive experiences with my Gibson SG and its relatively mild PAF clones, I used Thro-Bak SLE-101's PAF's on both necks.
That reduces my pedal board down to a Boss low impedance volume pedal, a CS-3 compressor, a DD3 delay and NS2 noise gate - and I am not 100% sure I am going to keep the compressor at this point.
For me, I found the greatest tonal improvement came from minimizing and optimizing my gear....