How are EQ pedals used ?

[mbengs1]

From my experience, it's used as boost for solos. Do you leave it on all the time and use it for all kinds of tones? When do you turn it off and on? 

[Phil O'Keefe]

I use mine as a tonal shaper as least as often as I use it for a boost, if not more. It doesn't stay with any single setting - it gets changed around as needed. Sometimes I'll use it pre-distortion (or overdrive) and sometimes after it - the two will do different things. If you want to accentuate a certain frequency and bring out more of that from the dirt pedal and make it grind more in that particular range, try putting it in front of the dirt pedal. Boost the heck out of the frequencies you want the dirt pedal to overdrive harder, and cut out the stuff you don't want to hear as much of. To EQ the overall sound of the dirt pedal, put the EQ after it. 

Same thing applies to EQ and compression. Putting the EQ before the compressor will change how the compressor responds, while putting it after the compressor will not, and is more effective for general tone adjustments. 

 

[WRGKMC]

I used to use one for awhile.  It was pretty much a band aid approach to fixing mis-matched gear that really didn't work very well together. 

Also used them recording back in my early days trying to get the best tone on tape from a mic or piece or gear recording direct.  

Where in the chain?  Tried it in every conceivable location you can imagine, before distortion, after distortion, both before and after, First/last in an effects chain. Where you place it can make a big difference.  Each position will produce different results based on what feeds in vs what feeds out.  If you put it before an echo you can adjust how much frequency the echoes have.  if you place it after you can only manipulate what made it through not what made it into the echo so the results are different. 

 I still have my 10 band MXR from the 70's I used to use on a pedal board.  Haven't used it other then check to see if its working in at least 20+ years.  They were pretty expensive units back in the day.   Mine is so beat up after 50 years there isn't even any blue paint left.  Still works OK though.  They used really good ceramic caps in their units that keep their value.  Of course the Pots aren't exactly smooth any more.   

Once I got better gear dumped using additional EQ.  Pedal board space is valuable real estate.  Gear upgrades made it unnecessary to use additional EQ so it got replaced with other pedals that were more useful.  If you have pedals with tone controls, an amp with an EQ, (plus amp/cab modeling) An EQ really isn't needed.  If I want different tones, I simply plug in a different guitar,  select a different drive pedal or use a different amp and I can get all the variety I need. 

When my recording setup was super basic I had a list of EQ settings to make guitars sound good. I's use a smiley face setting for acoustic guitar tones, A Frown face for boosted mid tones like a wah pedal that's closed (Boston guitar player tones)  I did a series of recordings using nothing but a synth and an EQ.  I boosted the lows for bass tones, Highs for string tones and boosted mids for the lead voicings. (some of my early recording experiments)  The results were actually pretty cool considering I was using sound on sound to record multiple tracks. 

As they say, use what you got till you get better results with something else.  I'm not a huge fan of overly boosted anything and you have to be careful not to over boost certain guitar frequencies or you may wind up with tine ear tones.  Ears self adjust and block out offensive tones the more they hear them. Its like the man who can block out his nagging wife's voice.  I try not to boost guitar tones beyond a certain amount unless I'm purposely using that frequency as a special effect. That song MTV is an excellent example of mids boosted to produce a special effect which you wouldn't normally get otherwise.  If it works well in the mix go for it, otherwise be careful. You can get hooked on tones that make others cringe and that's never a good thing.