Pedal Order - EQ Before or After Overdrive?

Dave demos the consequences of putting EQ in front of overdrive or behind it, so you can hear the surprising difference!

[Mr.ABartley]

This was very helpful. My ear was attracted to before.

[MrMd]

Who else was dying to hear the tone with both eq pedals on pre od & post od at the same time?

[Albosacnut]

I use a Boss GE7 to tune my rig to the room. To get the best sound everytime. Indispensable bit of gear that I couldn’t live without.
And because the room is my lounge room I only had to set it once 👍🏆

[carminelombardi]

I was looking for a demo exactly like this, now I understand the differing tones pre and post distortion. Very much appreciated.

[darwinsaye]

My understanding is that Fender places their EQ before preamp tubes, and Marshall places it after them. This explains why a Tweed Deluxe has a fuzz like sound when cranked up, as the lows are driving the preamp tubes into full compressed flubbing out, whereas a Marshall tends to have lows tighter lows since the EQ is only boosting lows *after* the tubes are driven.

[Roosterboi]

I liked the scooped sound after and the mid boost before.

[britneylauer]

I use two of them ... One in front for boosting the overdrive and the second one for tone shaping . Usually both are on

[BadMofoMusicCritic]

Pre sounded best to me each time. In a mix it could be different of course. Just got a ge7, think I'll start with it front of chain.

[martinthibodeaux]

Before seems good for tailoring the way the overdrive distorts the signal, without a huge change in the overall tone of the pedal. After seems better for tailoring the tone of the pedal, without changing the way the overdrive distorts the signal. If I could only have one EQ pedal on my board, I'd put it after the drive. That way I could do tone shaping into whatever amp/speaker combo I'm using. It seems like the more versatile of the two options.

[BrySquatch]

Very useful video! Great playing as well. Before was more subtle and smooth. Definitely my preferred sound. But I can see after for a more aggressive sound being useful to others.

[everonlyallforthee]

Great vid. Some here are saying EQ before drive sounds better, and it does, but that's not the point; he's got great tone to begin with. 

Seems the general rule is: EQ before drive does more to preserve the tone of the guitar, but is limited in its ability to do dramatic tone shaping. EQ after drive allows for dramatic changes in tone, but EQ changes are more pronounced and may end up messing with the good parts of the dry tone.

[danieljbdj]

excellent video showing varieties and textures other than timbres there is no better or worse, what exists is taste and for what purpose we want it

[RobSmith-rnie]

The change in character is surprisingly pronounced. Definitely sounds better to me *before* the OD in all of the examples.
Here's my question though. If I also have colored clean boost before my overdrive (boosts the low mids)...should my EQuator go at the very beginning or in between the clean mid booster and the overdrive??

[royfulton]

Great demo, lovely tone/s and very tasty playing!
Thank you.

[markusaurelius]

Dude, your vibrato and playing is super awesome.

Nice !!!! :O

[sterlingmcvay]

I Like Before, mostly, as it Pushes the Tone UPFRONT a bit more, but I can see actually, using 2, the one After, puts bit a bit more in a kind of, BACKSPACE - which you could Enhance with a REVERB, as sometimes you Want the Guitar Part Back Somewhat, especially if there is a Vocal going on, at the Same Time...

[alanwebbguitar]

Same thing with the Wawa pedal. Before and after distortion very different. I like it after so that you can wah the distorted sound.

[drydreams]

I’ve never given it much thought I have been playing for years since day one of owning both a eq and overdrive pedal . I mixed it up after watching this video and idk don’t like post overdrive but it’s a good chance that I’m not used to it, it’s totally out of the norm for me. But I like getting my eq sound clean with the right tone I want then adjusting and shaping the overdrive to compliment it’s tone not just drown it out. I run a Demonfx microtubes D7k ultra as my EQ / preamp section and a demonfx alpha omicron distortion pedal straight to the FX return . I’ll be trying it again ya never know it might grow on me with some experimenting I’m playing a rickenbacker bass with a ashdown electric blue amp it’s only 180watts 1x15 cab and 4x10 cab speakers but it will rock the house

[TimMilliken]

I use one pre(1st) in chain to fix a guitar like a muddy hollow body. I use one post(last) to fix a dull amp or gas it.

[frantisca]

Funny how results are so different: compressed, enhanced, cocked wah, nasal... noticed that there is quite a bit of hiss when the EQ is placed before. I have an OD/Boost pedal with 3 stages of clipping, 3 bandwith EQ and independent boost. Very efficient ! Cheers guys 🎸