How to Make It Sound Like You’re Playing a Different Guitar By Using an EQ Pedal

[@rahzark]

This is the best pedal content on youtube. No ads for the pedals, it's just how to get the most of stuff you might already have.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Thank you!

[@southernpride2003]

​@@MichaelBanfieldGuitar Howdy from North Carolina I use flatwound strings and I play rockabilly my style is pretty much like Luther Perkins I also use a tube amp would an EQ pedal get me that tone like on the I Walk The Line record that sort of dark bass tone I roll my tone off as well

[@BryanClark-gk6ie]

​​@@southernpride2003 Yes.... adjusting pickup height/using the neck pickup and the type of pick you use all will help. Just letting you know because I'm from NC also and nobody took the time to try and offer you any advice NC.

[@softlightsymphonyband]

GE-7 is the studio guitarist’s secret weapon and I’ve seen used to do exactly the kind of stuff you describe many times over the years. It always amazes me how everybody has these giant pedalboards these days and yet many don’t have a basic EQ pedal.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Very true!

[@florencenightanday2672]

I watched Michael’s other vid on the things you can do with an eq pedal last week , blew my mind, I promptly went and bought myself a Boss GE7 ! Very grateful for this knowledge sharing !

[@bigbasil1908]

@@florencenightanday2672 Yeah I got one as well after watching that video and I'm not disappointed lol.

[@JordanSeal]

This is wonderful, for several reasons. I'll name three: You give good, down-to-earth advice. You deliver that advice in a clear, concise manner. Your playing samples clearly demonstrate what you're trying to... err, demonstrate. This isn't only true of this particular video, but this one made me want to comment. Thanks!

[@NashTurley]

with bridge pickup of a tele, I've found that simply turning the tone down a bit makes it much more humbucker like

[@zoeuwu7460]

Halfway through the video but wow that Les Paul sound is absolutely gorgeous with that eq

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Thanks! Yeah it seemed to clean up any potential muddiness that humbucker has in neck position sometimes.

[@Casey3-P-O]

I think, along with the EQ that you did, using a boss compressor pedal for the Les Paul will make it sound very close to a Strat. For instance, David Gilmour recorded the Another Brick in the Wall part 2 solo with a Gold Top Les Paul, and everyone always thinks he used his black Strat to record that one.

[@moustachio334]

The neck P90 does the strat sound when rolled back just a tad. It's why I won't separate with my p90 Gibson.

[@TheBenb1999]

The EQ you put on the Strat was very similar to what a Tube Screamer does. Very cool content!

[@BingleMcPingle]

Thanks for posting - this is a very underrated pedal. I picked up a GE-7 pedal a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised by its versatility, now I can make my single coil strat sound like a humbucker, and cut out the annoying high end frequencies that come out of my OS-2 pedal.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Brilliant! Thanks for commenting, and yes I agree, the OS-2 can be a bit can be a little excitable in the high end.

[@ggman946]

I have recently been experimenting with a GE-7 and it has already earned a spot on my board for bringing clarity to a muddy neck humbucker and as a mid boost for single note lines. I’ve found that tiny notches in the eq spectrum can bring desirable results.

[@StratsRUs]

It took me ages to get round to buying an Eq pedal.I wish I'd bought one earlier.All sorts of great sounds with or without drive.Thanks

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Yes me too!

[@bricecpops8171]

I'd say it's also a good idea to mess with the level a bit. Gibson's humbuckers are higher output than Fender's single coils, so whenever you use the same amp/pedal settings, the Les Paul will be higher gain than the strat. Boosting the level will simulate this and make it feel more realistic, in my opinion.

[@chilidogcowboy]

Yet again a tremendously useful gift to the internet! You rock Michael!

[@chilidogcowboy]

If you haven’t already, I would love for you to explore how to use an EQ to approximate a hollowbody with a strat and les paul. The hollow sound is crisp and combed but with a little low meat left in the mix….it might be instructive and useful to explore the differences.

[@goodpeopleoftheworldunite]

Brilliant. Great tips there, I'll be trying this out asap.

[@wesp2735]

I stopped buying drive pedals after I got a Boss GE-7. I can get close enough to most of the sounds I want. It makes my Boss OS-2 even more versatile as GE-7 can counter the mid hump of the OD side and the scoop of the DS side. It can also act as an amp simulator when recording direct..D*mn I should have bought an EQ earlier and saved money instead of tone chasing. BTW, your videos are excellent Mr. Banfield. Lots of substance, straight forward and not gimmicky. Keep it up!

[@jinjxmusic]

Your videos are always wonderful, Michael. I'm a true believer in the GE7. I own like five - all older and were modded mostly by Alchemy audio and they cover serious ground. I love using them with archtops and boosting the 800 by a hair and pulling down the 400 and 200 when I feel feedback coming on. Hearing you transform that Lester is a thing of beauty.

[@janaxelblomberg7768]

This tutorial was a lifesaver

[@martinheath5947]

Not to mention that taking an EQ curve (including flat)and pushing all the faders up by the same amount gives you a volume boost to drive your amp a bit harder for solos.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Oh yeah! The GE-7 has a master volume but I don't think the old GE-6 does, that would be a decent work around for that pedal.

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Much needed on a Stratocaster when playing with a drummer and bass, helps the Guitar fit in with the room size/ wall material too. Has a volume slider too for a boost. You got a Strat to sound close to a P90 Gtr. Thanks.

[@AdADglgmutShevanel]

I just got an EQ today and am excited to try making my single coil bridge pickup in my Strat sound beefier for band practice.

[@flotenn3351]

I'd try to push the level when simulating a LP on a Strat or take it back when simulating a Strat on a LP. Maybe this doesn't do much with a solid state amp, but I think it might have a noticable effect with tube amps and additionally might simulate the different types of pickups regarding their output. Will try it when I have some money left to spent on new toys. Nice vid as usual!

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Yes! I think I mentioned this when I recorded the video but maybe it didn't make the cut... I found with my setup it didn't really need any adjustment of the overall level. But yes I agree, definitely good to try adjusting the overall level to simulate the higher output of a humbucker or a low output vintage single coil sound, especially when playing with overdrive. Thanks for commenting again Flo!

[@flotenn3351]

@@MichaelBanfieldGuitar It's always a pleasure! I am curious about how this will affect P90s and if it is possible to do that trick with them. I am quite sure. Might I also suggest doing a vid on the DS-1 as a blues distortion and how to properly use it?!

[@flotenn3351]

@@MichaelBanfieldGuitar Btw I ve seen that you usually have the tuner in front of your other pedals, is there a special reason for that? I usually have my tuner at the end of the signal chain and use it as some kind of killswitch. I recently had a long talk with someone who was saying that this would lead to tuning issues, but I never experienced these. Maybe there are some if you have some modulation pedals or a pitchshifter activated while tuning. But I have no idea why tuning issues should occur when tuning with some drive pedals still on hence they do change the overtone and eq curve of the signal, but not the root note imho. Also with larger pedalboards the signal might get weaker due to the cables (and loss of treble when there is no buffer) but this does not change the pitch of the note I am playing. I'd like to hear your opinion on that, maybe there's something I didn't think about yet.

[@3rdStoreyChemist]

@@flotenn3351 A tuner pedal can be used as a buffer as well and it’s good to have one of those as early on in the chain as possible. Just saves requiring two pedals and you get a more consistent signal throughout your pedalboard by having it earlier. having it at the end of your board, you lose that secondary functionality. Also if you forget to turn any pedals off, it’ll have a harder time tuning, ideally you want a totally clean signal going into it. There’s no benefit to a kill switch specifically at the end of the chain, a common usage of the two volumes in a Les Paul is one pickup totally off acting as a kill switch, no need to be near the board either that way. Also if you want to tune and go back to a certain sound, you don’t need to turn off all the pedals, tune, then turn back on if the tuner is first or early in the chain, just turn it in to mute the signal, tune away, turn it back off. If you are between songs, you can also turn on the pedals you need for the first whilst tuning as well.

[@scottm3775]

Awesome video! Very helpful 😊

[@colinm3869]

I really like teles and es style guitars because you get a good kinda middle ground (some sparkle and beefiness) both perks of a strat or a les paul in one guitar. Interesting to see how much the eq can do though

[@JamesStrassburg]

Neat video - Only thing I'll add is the volume output of single coils is significantly lower than humbuckers which will, in turn, drive anything downstream differently. Depending on what you're doing, adjusting the level accordingly (up for strat, down for les paul) might improve the simulation. That said, if you're onstage, you may want the level consistent and I actually do the opposite with a guitar that has coil taps. I have a clean boost on board set to make the volume equal if I run single-coil mode.

[@juanmanuelvera1896]

Very insteresting stuff! Awesome what EQ can do.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Indeed!

[@astrologyambience240]

And love the idea of just sounding different to match harmony and, or melody blends.... adding another layer to be unique as well. Thank you MB

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

You are very welcome. Thanks for commenting!

[@Nickshreds890]

This was incredibly educational! As a guitarist I've been playing for 19 years and am always looking for different ways to improve and equalise my guitar sound. It's amazing what a pedal can do when you set it up correctly. I used to use a Black Star amp and I struggled to get the tones I wanted. So I changed to a Yamaha THR and have been so excited to have a much more responsive amp which is very sensitive and picks up on dynamics, how softly or how hard you're playing . Of course it's possible I just didn't know how to get the ISF to sound the way I wanted ( that's the one knob for EQ controls on Black star amps, such a weird design!) I will definitely have to try an EQ pedal! Thank you again :)

[@clemmcguinness1087]

Michael plz keep doing these videos, thanks

[@dennisdewinter1997]

This is an excellent video. It’s very thorough and to the point. Like a previous person said, it’s very concise and your guitar playing illustrates your specific points perfectly. I just recently bought this pedal and have been amazed at what it can do. I ditched my Xotic dual boost pedal for this and have been so much more satisfied.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Glad it was helpful!

[@daverenick5830]

I just ordered the GE7. I use (more then anything else) a Tele with two Lollar Imperial Humbuckers that unfortunately I can't coil tap. So, I find your presentation extremely helpful and thanks. I mainly play super clean (I use the Origin Cali76 or the Cali76 Stacked edition for compression) I have a tough time getting just the right light touch of OD when I need it and rather than spend a million USD on a 57 Tweed Twin to get more mids, I just decided to get an EQ. It amazes me that that didn't occur to me before. The GE7 is so universal it was an easy choice. Anyway, like most guys who get trapped with eternal gear purchases, I have hit my limit for now, so your video comes at a good time. D

[@elvan12581]

Man man you made that strat sound gorgeous.

[@TheDestroyer42069]

I use this to vary the sounds of an extended range guitar. its so nice the best pedal I have is a cheapo EQ pedal. I love it when you are broke but you still can do stuff like this. hahaha

[@ropersnoop]

Very helpful & informative, cheers!

[@ess2586]

Thank you! I think everyone should dust off their Boss GE-7 and play around to start with. Great video.

[@larrytrujillo5672]

Excellent presentation! This is exactly the info that I needed, as I am going to purchase a strat and I still wanted to retain a thicker sound as well. Very helpful.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nickviolin1389]

Brilliant video, the settings work great for me. Cheers Michael. Back in the 70's when there were things called music shops, I saw an amazing demo of a graphic equalizer. The guy in the shop took a cheap "copy" guitar (they really were nasty things in the 70's) and with a GE he could make it sound like a strat, a Les Paul or an SG. Despite being gob-smacked at the time, I've never had a GE until recently. A stratocaster has always been my #1 guitar since I worked out that Les Pauls don't work for me (is it the body shape, the scale length or the tuning ...) but now if I want a nice meaty LP tone I have got it right there. Stratocaster + 7-band GE + VOX AC15 = raw meat.

[@STMRecords1]

Excellent video! Love your approach, your channel is a goldmine

[@jonathanhandsmusic]

Good video ! I like the EQ to fatten up bridge pu on my Strat and Tele.

[@alpyal1287]

Amazing video, exactly what I was looking for gl

[@paulogp4629]

Great sound, man. Great tips. Killer playing.

[@gingerAV]

feel like the les paul example was a bit more tele-ish! i find a tele neck pickup has a similar darkness and squishiness to a neck humbucker, just with a bit more single coil chime and less sustain. great tutorial! love your videos!!

[@zvuksvetla]

Extremely useful! Thank you very much!

[@Davidthestratman7]

I use the eq pedal instead of an overdrive. Plus I find it really opens up the sound of my Marshall

[@aronhallam6449]

I agree with what he says. Although in changing your sound and getting it nearer to the original you might get a worse sound than you had to start off.... I have a valve fender PA and had thought about getting an eq pedal as its a bit lacking in top end.

[@claudiosuarez1256]

Well , now i need to get an eq pedal 🙊🙊🙊 thanks . Great video 😃🤙

[@rmaxtpmx]

Awesome suggestions. I've come to really hate playing Les Pauls, but sometimes I just want a some umph. Although I have found that the Rusty Fuzz gets me some amazing tones with the strat bridge pup (PV 65s). Ice picks have their purpose, too.

[@waynegram8907]

MICHAEL BANFIELD< what EQ settings or what pedals can get those surf 60's Tubular tones? I think you have to use two EQ pedals in series. Listen to a lot of surf bands and surf albums to get those tubular tones. The surf bands used brown face fender amplifiers which used a different tone stack circuit in the brown face amplifiers which might be a factor in getting that tubular tone

[@grahamcharlton9704]

Really useful. Many thanks.

[@davidsummerville351]

Great info, so I liked and subscribed. 😎🤓

[@luisvolpon1598]

Thank you, very useful tips 🎸🎸💪

[@jagtone]

Useful info, but you left out the simplest and most basic thing for taming the ice pick bridge pickup, and what ought to be the first mod for any SSS strat: move the second tone control to the bridge pickup.

[@DukeOfMaine4]

Love the content man! Keep it up

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Thank you!

[@81realtime]

Awesome!

[@edwardszysorhans573]

Great video, thank you!

[@anonymousguitarist7418]

I think this is more achievable with a telecaster because of the more dynamic tone

[@bjornd9375]

great video - thank you

[@TheGurner1]

Great stuff! The setting I'm looking for an my GE-7 is how to make a Strat sound like a Tele?

[@donharrold1375]

I really wonder why EQ peddles aren’t more popular. You can hardly find one these days. They’re essential as far as I’m concerned. Totally agree on the Strat bridge pickup. It’s the Strat’s Achilles heal. Fender should focus on HSS as the main option on Strats going forward. The bridge pickup is virtually unusable unless you’re a surf rock musician.

[@deanevangelista6359]

Well that just takes the fun out of owning every kind of guitar.

[@AnnoyingCritic-is7rp]

Well, it would be nice to hear you play something on a strat, and then try to replicated it with the EQ or something.

[@edsohovocals]

This is excellent. Thanks. So practical and well explained. Do you - or anyone - know how to EQ/emulate a Jaguar or Jazzmaster using a Les Paul?

[@JosephCompton66]

Brilliant. Thank you.

[@EnchantedRhythms]

taking the master gain down for humbuckers --> single coils helps aswell

[@bluwng]

This is a winner ! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@FullMetalDMZ]

I think the les paul could’ve sounded even closer if you use the middle position instead of the neck, great video

[@mjbrisbois]

I would love to see a similar video using a tele to simulate a strat and a Les Paul or SG

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

I'm sure that would work great. At least with my guitars the tele sits almost in between the sound of the LP and Strat so it shouldn't be too hard to make it lean either way.

[@PeedyJ]

I’m gonna try some of this on a Tele 👍

[@colbyminor9228]

That’s the strattiest sounding Les Paul I’ve ever heard

[@brian91145]

Great video man! Can you make another video on the GE7 and all that you use it for?

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Yes this is on my list, with any luck I'll get around to it in the next few months I hope

[@paulodacunha8781]

Actually usefull

[@eorkwos]

how to make a tele sound like a es-335 or 355 plase!!!

[@GantZiller]

Very impressive! Recently sold a Jason Isbell Tele and bought a used PRS S2 22 as I thought the coil tap would get me the tele sound. Fairly close but it’s just not the same, I otherwise love the PRS but it’s not fulfilling its intended purpose for me. Do You think an EQ pedal Would help me? Coil tap is pretty nice but somewhat weak sounding

[@SasquatchGuitar]

Excellent.

[@RussC123]

Thinking about getting one of these. Where on the pedal board do you suggest putting this when you also have OD pedal, reverb, and delay?

[@rainshadowband3161]

Would coil splitting the humbuckers, then using EQ pedal get it even closer to a Strat sound? I'm too lazy to bring more than 2 guitars to a gig, one is LP style for standard tuning, the other a Gibson SG for half step down tuning. The days of bringing a guitar shop's worth of instruments with me and dancing on a pedal board of 100 pedals are behind me. Now, I just have the two humbucker guitars (both with coil split) and a Boss multi-FX board with built in pedal. Gonna add in an EQ pedal to see if it can save me bringing in a Strat, a Tele, a PRS, a Rickenbacker, etc. Thanks for the video, amazing information!!

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Yes I would think the coil splitting will get you even closer!

[@j.jester7821]

it amazes me that people will spend hundreds or thousands on new pickups when an 100.00 eq pedal can make (almost) any pickups sound decent

[@moshezarviv1252]

smart guy !!

[@Luke-Emmanuel]

what guitar and pick up would u suggest to use for this to get the closest to other sounds as a best base

[@surfff]

Where in the signal chain does the EQ pedal go for this guitar-shapeshifting technique?

[@Flamonarchest.]

Contracts make more from Aeropostale

[@edsohovocals]

Does anyone know how to EQ a Les Paul so it sounds like a Jaguar or Jazzmaster?

[@user-wl4mn8gf1c]

can I ask what are the setting on the Fender amp

[@odnnanref]

I'm wondering where is the EQ pedal has to be spoted in the chain? Before or after dist/OD?

[@Popskull_666]

What les paul is that? its beautiful

[@JuanMotta]

Excelente!!!

[@londongarza5495]

I have a Les Paul with coil splitting. Is there a benefit to combining the coil splitting with an Eq pedal, or is it better to simply use the pedal?

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

I don't have a guitar with coil splitting so I'm not sure. I'd simply recommend trial and error. The coil splitting might be better at helping emulate the lower compression and openness of a single coil and then you could try using the EQ pedal to enhance the single coil character further (maybe with more subtle settings than I use here if you're already close to a more single coil sound). Then A/B everything, humbucker+EQ vs coil tap+EQ vs coil tap alone. See which you like best. It's a bit of work but it should help answer your question. Let us know how you get on!

[@londongarza5495]

Thanks! Will do. Your videos featuring eq pedals have convinced me to get one. As always Your videos are great! Thanks for the suggestion.

[@WyattBrown377]

The advanced version of this idea is the Keyztone Exchanger pedal

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Yeah that looks like a good one! I think it's been updated to a new version recently too along with some mini versions keyztone.com/

[@Brad143]

Hi,do you place it after the Distortion pedal,thanks.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

I would place it early on in the chain before any drive pedals if you want the effect of emulating a different pickup and how that pickup would interact with other pedals. Not to say you can't put it after the drive pedals if you like the way it sounds though, it's just that you'd be re-voicing the drive pedal rather than the guitar.

[@Brad143]

@@MichaelBanfieldGuitar ok thanks buddy

[@terran236]

Since I started using eq pedal and compression before amp I stopped falling for marketing bullshit. Funny how electric violin players aren't as obsessed with pickups. Amp and efx take you further than overpriced guitars.

[@sweetpain67]

What’s a functions band? English, dude!

[@avr4h]

what about tele?