Using an Empress ParaEq (or similar) as a preamp?

[Jim Soloway]

For reasons that are not important I've found my sound (especially live) drifting darker and away from the Blackface idea that has been central for me for decades. I've been experimenting with various modelers and modeling pedals and ultimately found them all too bright. So I'm wondering if I could use something like an Empress ParaEq (combined with a reverb pedal) as a preamp/front end into an active cab instead of a modeler.

I know there have been discussions about the ParaEq here but I don't find the search function here all that useful. Hopefully you guys can give me some feedback on this.

[ccroft]

You need to go advanced search : https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/sear...archid=2897399

If you read enough threads you might discover that I have one. I'd be quite happy to lend it to you if you want to try one out sometime. I'm not using it at all these days.

[Jim Soloway]

You need to go advanced search : https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/sear...archid=2897399

If you read enough threads you might discover that I have one. I'd be quite happy to lend it to you if you want to try one out sometime. I'm not using it at all these days.

I'd love to try it. I'll send you a PM.

[bluejaybill]

I don't know if it is useful as a preamp, but it is for sure useful for filling in the midrange frequencies that seem to be lacking for me on a BF amp in a jazz context. I suspect that by itself it would be a very "clean" sound, and lacking the character of a preamp that is intended to sound like a tube amp. But that might be fine for your purposes.

The Empress EQ is a great "Swiss Army knife" for tone shaping in any context. It should be fine for your tonal requirements. Whether it has that elusive "vibe" quotient you're looking for is the open question.

[bluejaybill]

Oh, one other thing- there is a volume control on the boost mode, but no volume control unless the boost is on.

[bozobreak]

I use it when I don't want to bring an amp to a jam, My setup: Eastman AR805 with KA 12 pole floating pu, Empress para eq dlx in to an active wedge. The boost is really good on it.

[supersoul]

I know there have been discussions about the ParaEq here but I don't find the search function here all that useful. Hopefully you guys can give me some feedback on this.

Search with google
empress paraeq site:jazzguitar.be

Empress Effects ParaEQ MkII
Empress ParaEQ
Eq pedal recommendation (post #9 has a video Jack Zucker made about it)
and a few more

[Jim Soloway]

I don't know if it is useful as a preamp, but it is for sure useful for filling in the midrange frequencies that seem to be lacking for me on a BF amp in a jazz context. I suspect that by itself it would be a very "clean" sound, and lacking the character of a preamp that is intended to sound like a tube amp. But that might be fine for your purposes.

The Empress EQ is a great "Swiss Army knife" for tone shaping in any context. It should be fine for your tonal requirements. Whether it has that elusive "vibe" quotient you're looking for is the open question.

I'm actually looking for less vibe. I've spent the last year sharing a very small home office space with my wife. That's meant playing through headphones and mostly I just hear the headphone feed from my recording interface. So I've gotten accustomed to a much drier unaffected sound. Playing out I'm using a fairly neutral amp with an Art pre-amp in front of it for a boost. Beyond the boost, it has no tone shaping features as all. That rig also gives me a darker more neutral tone and the response has been really good. All I really want is better control of the EQ combined with the boost and I can add a reverb pedal to warm it up and then run it straight into either a powered cab or a small PA. I'm not about to argue with the people who like what they're hearing.

[Jim Soloway]

Search with google
empress paraeq site:jazzguitar.be

Empress Effects ParaEQ MkII
Empress ParaEQ
Eq pedal recommendation (post #9 has a video Jack Zucker made about it)
and a few more

Thanks.