Empress ParaEq MKII Deluxe

[James Freeman]

Anyone tried this as a boost?

27v internal voltage, 30dB of clean low noise boost, low/high cuts and shelving.
This might be the next best thing before adding another 12ax7 gain stage to the amp.

Right now I'm using an SD-1 to shape the frequencies and a Mosky Silver Horse for a high headroom boost after the SD-1, both pedals engaged.
I'm getting almost tube like high gain from this combination when boosting the 2203 but I think the ParaEq might replace both.

 

[iaresee]

I didn’t keep a lot of pedals after I went all-in on Fractal but I kept all my empress pedals: the compressor, the delay and the paraeq. I have an OG para eq and it’s an amazing tone shaping tool. I did beta testing for it and I recall being pretty skeptical how useful a parametric EQ would be for a guitar player. I was so floored by it. All these years later and I still keep it around. Wouldn’t be caught without one in an analog rig now.

 

[2112]

I've got the MKII and the clean boost is impressive. S/N ratio is equally impressive on it too.

 

[Whizzinby]

I can’t speak your level of nerdawesomeness but I used my MKII Deluxe specifically as a choose-your-own-OD with my Synergy rig. Being able to pinpoint precise hi/low cuts and the right amount and right frequency range for mid hump, on a per Syn module basis was awesome. It’s such a great piece of utility kit.

Like a lot of gear I dumped it only because I stumbled onto the world Fractal and lost my will to live need for other gear, bowing to its greatness.

 

[Achilles]

Not a fan of baby blue?
Limited 'Nigel Tufnel' edition at Sweetwater right now.

 

[Achilles]

Lovely!

 

[0XI0]

desert island pedal, as a boost it's violent, boost plus high-pass filter is laughter inducing 100% of the time

I find way more shades of usefulness in cutting rather than boosting for some reason, just the mid band alone at max q max cut, the freq knob becomes what sounds like a bazillion-way PRS pickup selector knob, in phase out of phase parallel head stand series backflip, all the tones, interpolateable, CVT, all out of single bridge humbucker

 

[saarangnarayan]

At 1/3 the price, this seems like an interesting alternative: https://www.andertons.co.uk/ibanez-pteq-parametric-equalizer-pedal/

 

[KingsXJJ]

At 1/3 the price, this seems like an interesting alternative: https://www.andertons.co.uk/ibanez-pteq-parametric-equalizer-pedal/

Got one of these waiting in the box to try out. Quite a bit cheaper. Just hope it’s quiet and built well. I preordered when first released.

 

[EOengineer]

Oddly, it often feels like we turn everywhere but towards EQ when chasing tone shaping devices to hit our amps with. I’ve often preferred EQ to tubescreamers for high gain tightening and absolutely love a mid/top boosted EQ through the front on my 1959 when I want things to get extra gnarly.

Seems like this should work fine for a 2203 though I guess I’m a little surprised you need that much of a boost.

 

[Orvillain]

Oddly, it often feels like we turn everywhere but towards EQ when chasing tone shaping devices to hit our amps with. I’ve often preferred EQ to tubescreamers for high gain tightening and absolutely love a mid/top boosted EQ through the front on my 1959 when I want things to get extra gnarly.

Seems like this should work fine for a 2203 though I guess I’m a little surprised you need that much of a boost.

EQ was my solution for years and years, because I really had a kind of prejudice against drive and boost pedals! I still don't really dig outright distortion pedals, but I do like a good drive now, and boosts are essential tools nowadays! But my setup used to a Laney VH100R back in the day, with an EQ pedal in front to tighten up the lows and make it teh metalz.

 

[EOengineer]

EQ was my solution for years and years, because I really had a kind of prejudice against drive and boost pedals! I still don't really dig outright distortion pedals, but I do like a good drive now, and boosts are essential tools nowadays! But my setup used to a Laney VH100R back in the day, with an EQ pedal in front to tighten up the lows and make it teh metalz.

Pretty similar story here. The EQ thing was a utility discovery - it was all I had at the time so I bent the rules to make it work, and it turned out to work very well.

That said, SD-1, Tubescreamer, etc sound awesome through my 2204 too, just a slightly different tool. If I need to cut lows or pop up the mids with no other changes I’ll grab the EQ pedal. If I need that plus additional compression, I’m probably reaching for a drive/boost. The EQ is great when you don’t want the additional compression.

 

[James Freeman]

Got one too.
The JCM800 turned into a mega scooped window shattering ear grinding chainsaw that will make 1988 proud.

 

[Richard_G]

I'm thinking about adding an Empress ParaEq MKii Deluxe as the last pedal in the chain on my pedal board.

The board is used both with my amp (Shiva 20th) and as a "stand-alone" board where a Tonex One is the "amp".

So far I've had my Tonex One as the last pedal, with drives, compression, modulation, delay and reverb in front. I'm used to having these pedals in front of my real amp and I really like the possibility of going direct from the Tonex One to FOH or for recording. I also use this setup with headphones connected to the Tonex One for silent practice (fantastic solution!)

But I want to experiment with putting delay and reverb after the Tonex One. And I think having the Empress ParaEq MKii Deluxe as the last pedal in the chain would be really useful in my setup; having a powerful parametric eq to sculpt the sound with knobs readily available - and also high and low pass filters.

Going into my amp or direct to FOH/recording (with the Tonex One as the "amp"), I think this would be great. But how about practicing with headphones? Will the Empress ParaEq MKii Deluxe be able to drive a pair of quality headphones without a dedicated headphones output?

 

[KingsXJJ]

I'm thinking about adding an Empress ParaEq MKii Deluxe as the last pedal in the chain on my pedal board.

The board is used both with my amp (Shiva 20th) and as a "stand-alone" board where a Tonex One is the "amp".

So far I've had my Tonex One as the last pedal, with drives, compression, modulation, delay and reverb in front. I'm used to having these pedals in front of my real amp and I really like the possibility of going direct from the Tonex One to FOH or for recording. I also use this setup with headphones connected to the Tonex One for silent practice (fantastic solution!)

But I want to experiment with putting delay and reverb after the Tonex One. And I think having the Empress ParaEq MKii Deluxe as the last pedal in the chain would be really useful in my setup; having a powerful parametric eq to sculpt the sound with knobs readily available - and also high and low pass filters.

Going into my amp or direct to FOH/recording (with the Tonex One as the "amp"), I think this would be great. But how about practicing with headphones? Will the Empress ParaEq MKii Deluxe be able to drive a pair of quality headphones without a dedicated headphones output?

I can’t answer your headphone question. But I can suggest an alternative to the Empress that is considerably cheaper. The savings would allow you to buy a separate headphone amp and still have enough cash leftover to buy a couple of nice pedals or one pretty nice one. You can get both for $150 saving $200 off the Empress.

First, the Ibanez Pentatone PTEQ five band for $129

Then the Behringer $20 headphone amp: