The ShadowMusic Web Community

As some will know the early sounds were often shaped in the studio with the application of high and low cut filters to bring out the mid range where the guitar shines and sits in the mix better. Typically cutting the lows around 250Hz or so and the highs around 3-4khz approx. I have searched for a pedal that does this and there are not many out there but came across this Carl Martin Pedal called 'The Contour and Boost' which has this type of eq function. Using it with a graphic EQ or Parametric EQ pedal would allow you to shape your live sound nearer to the record.

http://www.carlmartin.com/product_contour_boost.htm


Here is a UTube Video featuring Paul McCartney's guitarist Brian Ray explaining the sound it generates.

Just seen this, Roger. Very interesting. Have you bought the pedal? If so, how do you rate it? Does it do the required job well?

J

I am awaiting delivery Justin... told me not before mid - end August. I am sure it will do a great job based on what I heard in the video. I will let you know my feelings when I get it and give it a running.

I could only get it at GAK according to Google by the way

Something different from Johannesburg, South Africa. I posted 15 x Shads numbers on You Tube - check it out and tell me what you think. The link is: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWWXAX ... jkqNnHP1Sw, or you can put my name into the address tab "Chic Berkhout".

MeBHank wrote:Just seen this, Roger. Very interesting. Have you bought the pedal? If so, how do you rate it? Does it do the required job well?

J

Hi Justin

Well it has been a long wait since June but it arrived today and I gave it a test run.... Perfect it shapes The Sound and works exactly as I thought it would. It also acts as a boost if you want which work well lifting the volume. Obviously each Shads tune has its own EQ and method but for live performance this pedal will give you a great sound pushing the all important Mids out. A bit pricey but a little bit better that just a graphic eq or bass cut pedal would be as I have tried those methods. I have also added in a little parametric EQ and it works well if you boost high and low mids depending on the tune.

The unit has a 3 pin mains plug on the end, so a different design to most, but there is no noise at all. A great pedal and I recommend it for getting a great shadows sound live ! The pedal could also be used to shape a recording sound I would think as it acts a Low / High pass pair with a crossover point at 440 Hz.

Finally got the Empress ParaEQ parametric to go with this pedal and getting great results with that and the Contour and Boost Pedal. The Empress is a better pedal than some of the others because the frequencies are marked up and the Q switch is about right being wide (around 1.5 - 2 ish I believe). My live sound is much improved and I am experimenting using these in the Send and Return loop of my amp. Not cheap but I believe it is worth it.

Example is Peace Pipe I set Contour and Boost to cut bass/low mids (High Pass) fully up and low pass down about 3.5 notches down from max. Add a boost on the Empress ParaEQ around 2Khz approx. 6db. The Top Boost Channel is set 12 'O' Clock on treble with about 10% bass.

Still experimenting with these pedals and they both have a boost facility and on some tunes that can work well with a slight gain added particulary the ParaEQ. A pad switch is provided as well providing 0db -6db and -12db cutting and -6db and a mix of boost seems a good response.