Cheap EQ as dedicated Dobro-ish effect?

Karl Paulsen · Post by **Karl Paulsen** » 30 Apr 2021 7:26 am

Last night I had the pleasure of hearing an MXR Resonator pedal. Got me thinking of a couple tunes in my current duo where a somewhat dobro-ish (not necessarily exact) tone would work well.

A bit of research here and it looks like folks are using GE7's for this purpose as well. Anyone using any of the crop of cheap Eq's for similar effect?

The Eno/Amon EQ7
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000505583355.html is intriguing because of it's low price (around $30) it has 7 bands (alot of cheapies have 5 or 6) and it takes up so little space on the board.

Thoughts?

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 30 Apr 2021 12:42 pm

I use a a Danelectro Fish & Chips? I had a Bo-Bro, and A-B'd it next to T he Bo-Bro (which IS a GE7) and actually liked it better than the Boss. A lot cheaper too. I sold the Bo-Bro.

Karl Paulsen · Post by **Karl Paulsen** » 30 Apr 2021 4:48 pm

Richard Sinkler wrote:I use a a Danelectro Fish & Chips? I had a Bo-Bro, and A-B'd it next to T he Bo-Bro (which IS a GE7) and actually liked it better than the Boss. A lot cheaper too. I sold the Bo-Bro.

That's a cool suggestion. Looks like it's $45 which seems quite reasonable. How large is it compared to a Boss or a mini-pedal?

Looks like the Behringer clone of the GE7 is fairly well-regarded and only $25 but is backordered at Sweetwater and everywhere else except sellers who are marking it up for scarcity.

I think it might be down to the Fish and Chips or the Behringer.

Steve Lipsey · Post by **Steve Lipsey** » 30 Apr 2021 8:31 pm

I also tried both the GE-7 and the Fish and Chips...and F&C won easily. Probably because it actually wasn't as good as the GE-7...a little inaccuracy makes the dobro sound more real...or something like that...
However, I ended up bringing along a Beard Road-o-phonic, easy to keep next to the pedal steel, and yes, it sounded more quite a bit real...

K Maul · Post by **K Maul** » 1 May 2021 4:33 am

Richard Sinkler wrote:I use a a Danelectro Fish & Chips.

So how do you set it? Most recommend BTBTBTM.(bottom,top,etc).

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 1 May 2021 7:00 am

K Maul wrote:
Richard Sinkler wrote:I use a a Danelectro Fish & Chips.
So how do you set it? Most recommend BTBTBTM.(bottom,top,etc).

Yup. The center frequencies of each slider are the same as the Bo-Bro. The Bo-Bro was Bobbe Seymore's creation. It was a Boss GE-7 that he set the sliders like you posted except the 7th slider was all the way down, broke the handles off the sliders, hid that fact with a piece of plastic glued over them. I actually vary the 2nd slider to remove "honk" in some venues. I find the best EQ pedals for this are 7 band EQs with the center frequencies that the GE-7 and Fish and Chips has. I have a Source Audio programmable 7 band EQ with different center frequencies that I can't get a decent dobro sim out of. I tried a 10 band MXR with no luck.

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 1 May 2021 9:04 am

A couple of comments on using the GEQs, NOT really related to the original Dobro sim topic.

Acoustic-electric guitar with a slide: This also works quite well as a "dobro" IMO. Set the GEQ the same way as above for a pedal steel.

Boss GE-7 noise: Some of the older ones can be noisier at some settings. Usually replacing some or all of the op amps will help a lot here.
I have heard, but not confirmed, that the F&C already has better op amps in it.
By the way, for DIY tweakers and modders, the Boss GE-7 is MUCH easier to work on.
This has been discussed and mentioned here in previous topic threads. Do a search for details.

Using a GEQ to mitigate "peaks" and "Valleys" from other effects:
I have a couple of modulation pedals that can produce nasty artifacts, especially if feeding a distortion/overdrive/fuzz/etc.
One is a Univibe type pedal, the other is an MXR Micro Flanger set to a Leslie type effect.
Putting the GEQ directly after the mod pedal, you can tweak the bands to get rid of these nerve wracking tones.

Karl Paulsen · Post by **Karl Paulsen** » 1 May 2021 1:54 pm

Maybe I shoud'na done it, but I bought the Fish N Chips. I don't know if it is discontinued or just a victim of Covid production and shipping but it was going up in price everywhere with used ones fetching new money so a new one is inbound now.

If it's a bit less accurate than a GE7 and even if it has a bit of noise (though I haven't heard that it does) that's ok as it will be a dedicated dobro'esqe effect. I get enough eq'ing for now from my amps and I can always pickup an EQ specifically for Eq'ing later.

Will report when it arrives.

Ron Pruter · Post by **Ron Pruter** » 1 May 2021 6:21 pm

Karl, It is noisy. A noise gate will be needed, in my opinion. I also recommend playing around with the 100 and 200 slider. I run them in the middle. Ron

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 2 May 2021 5:03 am

Ron Pruter wrote:Karl, It is noisy. A noise gate will be needed, in my opinion. I also recommend playing around with the 100 and 200 slider. I run them in the middle. Ron

I found the Boss noisy but have not noticed any with the Fish and Chips. That's the reason I got rid of the Bo-Bro ( Boss GE7) and went to the Fish and Chips. A noise gate shouldn't be necessary. I do back down the 200 slider to almost half.

Karl Paulsen · Post by **Karl Paulsen** » 2 May 2021 5:15 am

Thanks for the pic Richard!
The F&C should be here on Thursday.
Thanks to everyone for their advice. I'm learning alot here.

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 2 May 2021 5:35 am

The GE-7 I had did a credible Dobro simulation, but hissed like a snake. I replaced it with Tom's MXR. A nice pedal (that mostly goes unused, as do all of my dozens of pedals currently sitting in storage).

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 2 May 2021 8:10 am

Ron Pruter: The F&C is noisy?
When used as a dobro sim, or some other way?
Have you actually tried one?

I'm with the other guys.
I have both, and have not noticed any extra noise with the F&C.
As I said in my previous post, some of the Boss GE-7s can be hiss monsters (mine was), but there is a fix for that.

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 3 May 2021 11:00 pm

Put the GE-7 between the guitar and VP...when the VP is shut off=no hiss.

SH

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 4 May 2021 7:10 am

I've been using the Finch &Chimps for a fake Dobro for years and Lovin'it.

Karl Paulsen · Post by **Karl Paulsen** » 4 May 2021 8:38 am

You guys are making me feel very good about my choice of the F&C.

It's good to hear there probably won't be much noise added but even if there is I'm not too worried. It'll only be on when I'm needing the Resonator sound and it'll be on my pedalboard which is between the VP and Amp. Further, my Encore has the humbucker so my rig is generally pretty quiet anyway.

Looks like delivery is running early. I might even have it in time for rehearsal tomorrow evening!

Bruce Bouton · Post by **Bruce Bouton** » 4 May 2021 2:01 pm

Xactone solutions in Nashville will mod the eq . No noise. Analog Man will do the same. Cheaper than a noise gate:) I use my EQ constantly. It's like having a separate amp.

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 5 May 2021 6:37 am

Bruce Bouton wrote: "Xactone solutions in Nashville will mod the eq."

Which EQ?
The Boss GE-7?
The Danelectro F&C?
Both?

Bruce Bouton · Post by **Bruce Bouton** » 5 May 2021 2:14 pm

The Boss

Karl Paulsen · Post by **Karl Paulsen** » 5 May 2021 7:50 pm

The F&C arrived thus afternoon and I took it to rehearsal tonight with my duo. The singer liked it alot in Dobro mode.

Doesn't seem to add any noise unless I push the gain past 75% so I don't see it being a problem. $50 well spent I think.

Ron Pruter · Post by **Ron Pruter** » 2 Jul 2023 5:28 pm

Found this old post. Felt I needed to admit my mistake. If you hook up the F&C between the guitar and the Vol. pedal it is totally quit.

Karl Paulsen · Post by **Karl Paulsen** » 15 Jul 2023 7:22 pm

Ron Pruter wrote:Found this old post. Felt I needed to admit my mistake. If you hook up the F&C between the guitar and the Vol. pedal it is totally quit.

Thanks for the tip!

Been running it after my volume pedal and tuner. Might add a bit of noise, but not more than the standard Peavey reverb circuit.

Been considering trying a couple pedals between the guitar and volume pedal though. If I do that, I'll put the F&C there.