NPD: Empress ParaEQ

[LK155]

Just about the only thing that bugs me about my little Quilter amp is the tone controls.

There's one called TRI-Q, which allows you to scoop the mids or cut the lows, and there's another called HI-CUT, which, amazingly enough, allows you to roll off the highs.

But neither lets you add anything. You can't tweak the bass up a smidge, or add a bit of treble for some sparkle.

An EQ pedal would address this, I thought.

So the research started.

There are many choices. Most EQ pedals use a number of fixed-frequency sliders. These seemed very fiddly to me, and I thought old-fashioned knobs would be easier to use.

But EQ pedals with knobs are few and far between. Earthquake Devices makes one.

I searched out various 'top-10' and 'best EQ pedal' stuff on the intraweb. Lots of that out there, some of which is obviously advertising and some is mindless drivel.

But concentrating on the reviews either sourced from seemingly reputable magazines, or conducted by what appeared to be semi-intelligent unbiased enthusiasts (is there such a thing?) it appeared the Empress ParaEq is one of the best. A paragon of virtue in fact. (Wouldn't that be a cool name for a pedal? THE PARAGON OF VIRTUE DISTORTION, DIRT, & FUZZ PEDAL. But it'd have to be fairly wide, just to get the name on it. I digress.)

I listened to far too many sound clips of the ParaEq in operation, all of which making the thing sound like, well, a paragon of virtue.

When I noticed the little 'Made in Canada' script on the face of the pedal that sealed the deal.

I'm certainly willing to support a small business in my own country, as long as the product is a good one and the price is realistic. The ParaEQ is not inexpensive, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

So yesterday I plunked down a goodly pile of Canadian dollars and bought one. Actually, that's a lie....I just swiped my credit card. The plunking down part happens later.

This is a busy-looking pedal. It actually has two functions:

As an EQ pedal, it affects three areas of the tonal spectrum (low, mid, and high), and each of those areas has three controls:

> a knob determining how much gain you want to add or subtract (+/- 15db);

> a knob determining the centre frequency at which you want to add or subtract gain (35 to 500hz for low, 250 to 5K for mid, and 1K to 20K for high); and

> a switch determining how wide a band of frequencies you want affected by your adjustments (either 1/3 octave, 2/3 octave, or 1.5 octaves).

Good grief. No shortage of adjustments possible here.

As a boost pedal, it offers up to 30db of clean boost to the signal. That's a lot, and yes, it's very, very clean.

Capable of turning my Trinity Tramp head (single 6L6, single 12AX7) into a raging beast with incredible headroom.

Upon unpacking the pedal, I first stuck it on my pedalboard. Seemed an entirely reasonable place for it.

Discovered rapidly that bending over to change settings is a major PITA. Just about impossible to read the black lettering on a blue background too.

Thought briefly of getting one of those miner's hats with the strap-on flashlight, but ultimately decided it wouldn't fit in with the rest of my wardrobe.

One of my goals in positioning my various music room hardware is to be able to reach everything from my chair, while recording.

The Quilter has effects in/out connections on the front panel, so I moved the pedal to sit on top of it.

It may look funny up there, but it's a great deal easier to work with. And I can actually read the tiny numbers on the faceplate.

No such in/out connections on the Tramp, so to use the pedal with that amp, it needs to go back on the board.

So the equipment layout has changed a bit.........

This pedal works as advertised. It's not difficult to quickly find some worthwhile adjustments which have a big impact on the sound.

And as previously mentioned, it's super clean. Empress spec sheet say 0.0063% distortion. (I was looking for something closer to 0.0060% distortion, but I guess 0.0063% will have to suffice.)

So far, so good. I may post some with/without EQ clips later.

[Gitfiddler]

Looks like a great addition to your home studio setup.

 

I checked out the reviews on Reverb, and it is well loved by all. Congrats!

 

https://reverb.com/p/empress-paraeq-with-boost?gclid=CPTDoOL-3M4CFVKIfgodXjsKxw

[Genericmusic]

Nice review of quality piece equipment.

[Blunote]

I bought one a year or so back on the advice of Dan W (Rockabilly69) to use with my acoustic rig. For me, I was primarily interested in dialing out frequencies that would cause feedback with my amp. It's been a welcome addition to my board.

 

BTW, I have the same complaint about readability of control labels. They really should change the font color to white -that, or paint the pedal a color that stands out against the black lettering.

[LK155]

I actually never considered this pedal as a tool for removing problem areas with my sound. Rather, I wanted to have a pedal that would let me make better sounding recordings.

Apparently, it does the former quite well.

Here's a video documenting how the ParaEq can solve three different problems (you may wish to fast-forward through the first 30 seconds of shredder noise)....

 

 

And, when filling out the online warranty registration, I mentioned the fact that black-on-blue lettering was not the best choice. Maybe if enough customers point that out, they'll change the lettering to white.

 

 

[Steiner]

Sweet. I hoped Bond would settle all things and shred on the archtop. Alas, denied...

 

Loved your review LK155. You did your homework; impressive.

[LK155]

Got an email the other day from Steve Bragg, founder/designer of Empress Effects.

I had sent in the warranty registration for my EQ pedal, mentioning that I didn't care for the black lettering on the blue pedal because it was impossible to read.

Steve agrees with that assessment, saying that once they exhaust their initial supply of 1000 enclosures, they're switching the lettering to white.

Nice to see that some people actually listen to their customers.

[MrB]

I have the Empress Compressor.

One of the best quality pieces of gear I've ever seen.

I also contacted them with some questions, and they were quick to respond and very helpful.

The even told me how to tell the difference between first and second generation units by

looking inside at the switch relay (so I could be sure I bought the newer one).

 

Great company, if you're torn between a product of theirs and one by another manufacturer,

spend the extra Canadian dollars and by Empress.

 

Mr B