Empress Effects Bass ParaEQ

I’ve been searching for a high-quality bass EQ for a long time, and the Empress Bass ParaEQ exceeded my expectations.

The sound quality is exceptional. It doesn’t change the character of my bass or amp—it simply lets me shape the tone with incredible precision. The biggest surprise for me was how effective the high-pass and low-pass filters are. They instantly cleaned up unnecessary low-end rumble and harsh highs, making my bass sit perfectly in the mix without sacrificing warmth or punch.

The controls are intuitive, the build quality is outstanding, and the pedal is virtually noiseless. It feels more like a piece of professional studio equipment than a typical effects pedal.

I mainly use it for live performances and rehearsals, and it has become an always-on pedal on my board. If you’re looking for a transparent, musical EQ that enhances your instrument instead of coloring it, I highly recommend the Empress Bass ParaEQ. It’s expensive, but after using it I understand exactly why.

Having long considered, and resisted the ‘standard’ Deluxe Empress Para EQ for sometime, I purchased this Bass version as soon as I saw it.

I really only ‘needed’ something to add active eq slap tone - bass and treble boost and mid cut - to a passive Jazz bass, but I could not resist.

This does so much more. There is so much versatility on offer. Check out the suggested settings in the manual ( you get a paper copy and it’s also online). They are a good starting point to get a great ‘Marcus’ slap tone, a great ‘’Jaco tone, and a nice smooth jazz tone, that can be rolled off in Ashton Barratt reggae territory. What more could you want?

Strangely the pedal doesn’t have an adjustable output level, but I just adjust the input gain on my amp. I could use the ‘boost’ control for changing the output anyway if needed.
It is a pity it does have presets, as it offers so much total variety…but then it wouldn’t be an analog pedal I guess.

In short, a 10/10 product, it’s not cheap, but if you can afford it, buy it, you won’t regret it.

Empress Effects Bass ParaEQ is simply an amazing pedal with endless possibilities.

If you put it at the beginning of your signal chain, it can turn your passive bass into an active bass with high fidelity sound or it can tame your active bass.
You can put it at the end of your chain to sculpt your final sound.

The way I use it is, I set up a tone at home and put the ParaEQ at the end of the chain. Then during rehearsals or shows I just make the final adjustments with HPF, LPF and the 3 band parametric EQ to cut through or sit perfectly in the mix and also fix any room boominess. I also have the boost switch when I need that extra kick.

With this pedal, you basically have a studio tier EQ tool at your feet. What you can do with it is entirely up to you.