Explain why Placing EQ before Amp has no effect?

[A440point2]

So when I place an EQ block pre amp, no effect is present (even on extreme settings, nothing is heard). it is only once I place it post amp is it heard. Why is this? Am I the only one having this problem? Or is this not a problem and was Helix designed this way?

[PierM]

EQ before amp should work normally. Can't see why it shouldn't. Any particular EQ?

[Fazer1k143]

EQ before the amp works fine for me. It does take more extreme settings to make it noticeable there, though, especially with high gain settings.

[HonestOpinion]

So when I place an EQ block pre amp, no effect is present (even on extreme settings, nothing is heard). it is only once I place it post amp is it heard. Why is this? Am I the only one having this problem? Or is this not a problem and was Helix designed this way?

 

You have probably already have done this but try making extreme EQ changes on the amp model itself to see if you are getting the results you expect from the amp's EQ and make sure there is not a problem with split/merge routing or parameter settings on blocks either upstream or downstream from the amp. And of course, make sure the EQ block you are testing is set to "On"  ;)

[A440point2]

I was Just rebuilding some patches today and and when I tested the effect of a preamp EQ I noticed it wasn't much difference. I started to make a new Mono Channel Patch with no splitting or merging. I tested EQing before the amp to pre-sculpt my tone and I haven't noticed a difference. I am attempting a high gain patch, but I'd be willing to make a video and post it to show the lack of results. Maybe I will check the effect on a clean patch first.

[A440point2]

EQ before amp should work normally. Can't see why it shouldn't. Any particular EQ?

It seems to be with Any of them currently.

[A440point2]

OK, so I went back in and cranked all the settings down on every band. Only then did I hear the difference. However, when moving only one band, it is very difficult to hear the difference even with extreme settings. I'm not in the habit of REALLY twisting knobs like that to hear a difference. However, the effects are happening. Thank you all for your Help!

[amsdenj]

It depends on your amp settings. If the amp is clipping heavily, EQ before the distortion has less impact because there's no gain left to boost/cut. You can take advantage of this. Bass cut and treble boost before distortion followed by bass boost and treble cut after distortion can be an interesting sound. You can use the bass cut before distortion to remove mud. Treble boost before distortion doesn't have much impact because it gets clipped. Bass boost after distortion brings the bass back, but without the mud since it isn't clipped. Treble cut after distortion removes ice-pick/fizz. 

 

But the cool think is this can make the volume control on your guitar work very well. With the volume all the way up, you get just the distortion you want. As you turn the volume on your guitar down, the clipping is reduced and the bass cut/bass boost and treble boost/treble cut tend to cancel out giving you your regular clean amp sound. You're using the non-linear characteristics of the distortion blocks to your advantage to voice the tone into and out of distortion while having this effectively canceled out as you turn your volume control down giving you the nice clean tone too.

[davidb7170]

Okay sounds like you probably have it sorted, but just in case, make sure they eq block is not bypassed... Probably wasn't, but I've made changes to an fx, thinking wtf, only to realize it was bypassed (face palm) ...

 

Dave

[A440point2]

It depends on your amp settings. If the amp is clipping heavily, EQ before the distortion has less impact because there's no gain left to boost/cut. You can take advantage of this. Bass cut and treble boost before distortion followed by bass boost and treble cut after distortion can be an interesting sound. You can use the bass cut before distortion to remove mud. Treble boost before distortion doesn't have much impact because it gets clipped. Bass boost after distortion brings the bass back, but without the mud since it isn't clipped. Treble cut after distortion removes ice-pick/fizz. 

 

But the cool think is this can make the volume control on your guitar work very well. With the volume all the way up, you get just the distortion you want. As you turn the volume on your guitar down, the clipping is reduced and the bass cut/bass boost and treble boost/treble cut tend to cancel out giving you your regular clean amp sound. You're using the non-linear characteristics of the distortion blocks to your advantage to voice the tone into and out of distortion while having this effectively canceled out as you turn your volume control down giving you the nice clean tone too.

Definitely sounds like something I will experiment with! Thank you!