Basically once you have a pedal chain, the EQs serve different purposes depending on where they are.
The EQ on your bass alters the tone of the instrument itself. Before it goes into any effects. Basically it is synonymous with setting the bass tone itself.
Lots of those effects will modify and change that sound - often adding higher or lower harmonics. Having an EQ on a preamp after that is super useful for shaping the sound after the effects that modify it. Also, if (like me) you are not using an amp at all, this is your final preamp before the DAI.
Then the EQ on your amp can be used to EQ for the room you are in. For your practice space this is no big deal. If you are playing live or with others it might be a very big deal - you may need to EQ at that point to be heard well in the mix and/or not be muddy.
(I never had this problem in our band because I was the synth player and could cut through anything. But our bass player and guitarist definitely needed to EQ.)
Oh and yes, the amp does have an effects loop on it which from what I’ve read allows me to have the preamp anywhere in the chain rather than just at the end of it ?
The effects loop on the amp is for putting your amp’s preamp before effects. There’s sometimes effects you want to put after the amp preamp and that’s the only way to do that.
Lots of people (myself included) like putting modulation after distortion, for example. So if you are overdriving your preamp on your amp you would be able to put your chorus or phaser in the effects loop.
Another natural thing to put there would be reverb.
Ha Ha, yeah, I can put patches together fine, sound fine, but when I wan to shape and color and adjust, it kills it for me fiddling thru the controls and I always hit a bank button with my hand when I don’t want to.
I wouldn’t call it frustrating, because to me it is not, but I find it lacking for lack of a better word.
like the zoom box, but I just like the real pedals, better, I can hold them, talk to them, water them, feed them, watch them grow…
yep, that’s what happens a bunch. but it’s pretty damn fun to make a horrendous racket, and then after messing around more, suddenly, you get “hey, that’s actually not so bad”
Just don’t let it take you away from practice and learning songs.
It will eat up your time to play with them, but save time to get the work in too.
I have stayed up many a night, all night, fiddling with a new toy. lol… then finally practice at like 4am
