Eddie and MXR 6 Band EQ or Roland 10 Band EQ

[Mats A]

Well, did or didn´t Eddie use the MXR 6 Band EQ or was it the Roland 10 Band to get his tone on VHI? I´ve listened to some of the isolated guitar tracks with Eddie on YouTube and they sound a bit different from the record. Fact is if you go after the VHI tone you don´t really know how it sounded in front of his cab, The tone on the album is a lot tinkered with in the micing and mixing of the record i believe. Is it possible to get that tone without an EQ in front of the amp. Did he really use any load box in 77 or did that come later with the Bradshaw things as many says. I believe even Rudy Lieren has said that the load box thing came later. Was the Flanger placed after a possible load box? I don´t think it sound like that. The Phase 90 must have been Before the amp because otherwise it sounds almost synthetic. I don´t believe he used his Echoplex except maybe as a booster in front of thev amp in the studio.

[eljodon]

I own the Boss GE 10 which is the same one he had and an MXR 10 band and there's a difference. The MXR 10 band( the new ones) sound like crap when you boost the volume and gain. The Boss BE 10 doesn't do that, you can boost the frequencies and the gain and it doesn't start sounding weird.
I think he used one in front of the amp in many of his tracks because I hear a mild midrange boost in his tone(at least in his 1st 3 or 4 albums. I can get his tone very close using either a Metro/Friedman Plexi or a custom made 68' spec plexi. For me the best way I can get that tone is to slave it with the MXR in front and the Boss GE 10 between the slaved amp and the amp I use to power the speakers like a Suhr PT100 or other amps I own. I blew up an MXR 10 band eq using it after the dummy load so I use it in the front and the Boss after the dummy load because it has an input level switch. The MXR 10 band eq get's rid of the flub in the low end and it smooths out the tone plus it boost the amp a bit. I use a Variac at 85 to 90 volts.I can get the same tone with out slaving it but I have to eq the tone by decreasing 1kHz with slight narrow band and also 400 to 500Hz. To get the top end I just boost the presence on the amp I'm using as a power amp and get the bottom end from increasing the resonance. I think people get to hung up on getting the exact gear, like using an EP 3 to boost the signal for example.You can use a clean boost and just boost slightly since he didn't have as much sustain as some people might think. As long as you have a good sounding Plexi the eq, phase 90 and MXR flanger it should get you there. To me, slaving it is more convenient as long as you use a dummy load that doesn't compromise the top end.I had one custom made for me.

[dirtycooter]

The vintage boss 10band is clean and quiet. Ed obviously has one in pics.
Then there is the vintage blue 6 bands... this one has the mojo but some are said to have fluctuations between different ones of the same era... problem is its got some noise but has the mojo.

Then there is the new mxr 6 and 10 bands. Alledgedly mojo be gone here to a degree.
Griffin FX offers a modded model of either of the new mxr eq's with different cleaner quieter op amps.

So there is 6 choices right here. But the vintage blue is pretty prevelant in old evh rig pics.

[rgorke]

I've noticed that running the MXR 6 band into an echoplex actually reduces some of the hiss as opposed to the MXR straight into the amp.

[eljodon]

I had the old blue ten band MXR eq and the new one doesn't sound as good. It's sounds like they widen the q so is not as pronounced as the old one. But the Boss GE10 band eq sounds better.

[garbeaj]

Blue 6-band you mean?

[Leotis]

There was a blue 10 band as well....

[garbeaj]

Of course Eddie never used a blue 10-band, but is the blue 10 band as noisy as the blue 6-band?

[guitar007]

Nope...and they sound nothing alike.

[Leotis]

Of course Eddie never used a blue 10-band, but is the blue 10 band as noisy as the blue 6-band?

I didn't get that he was implying that... I thought he was simply stating that he had one.

[dirtycooter]

To say Ed never used a blue 10 band mxr eq would be kinda.... like you would know if he picked his nose or slept with asian girls.
All we do know is that its not in photos. What few pics there are we don't see it but thats not to say he never used it.
Odds are if it was made back then in that era anything is possible really.
I have heard good things about the blue 10.

[garbeaj]

Well personally I'm going to go with the pictures and I'm going to rule out the blue 10-band as having been used by Eddie just going by the pictures I know, but I think it is pretty safe to say that he used the blue 6-band and the Boss 10-band.

[fivecoyote]

I've noticed that running the MXR 6 band into an echoplex actually reduces some of the hiss as opposed to the MXR straight into the amp.

^Now that is super interesting.

Rhoads used the MXR 10-band, Ed used the 6.

Is it worth mentioning that we are trying to mimic recorded tones with for the most part live setups? Things like the Boss EQ -- which is money -- Ed wouldn't have had to use. He had that other EQ with 4 letters...Donn.

[garbeaj]

Rudy said that the EQ pedal was only used on certain guitars on certain songs...whether he was talking about the blue MXR 6-band or the Boss 10-band I don't know--I suspect he meant both.

[guitar007]

I've noticed that running the MXR 6 band into an echoplex actually reduces some of the hiss as opposed to the MXR straight into the amp.

^Now that is super interesting.

Rhoads used the MXR 10-band, Ed used the 6.

Is it worth mentioning that we are trying to mimic recorded tones with for the most part live setups? Things like the Boss EQ -- which is money -- Ed wouldn't have had to use. He had that other EQ with 4 letters...Donn.

What other EQ are you referring to?