Furman PQ4

This must be the most complicated eq i have ever come across in my whole life. It has four parametric sections BUT the biggest problem is that each section does not start from the point the previous left over, instead each section starts from the middle of the previous. Google the word to see what i mean. It's crazy getting a sound out of it without help! Plus don't expect to find a manual nowadays.

The sound quality is quite good. Though i will complain about the hiss and noise amount when turning the level high. I like trying out rare stuff because i tend to think they might turn out to be the secret weapon of my sound. So after checking some forums i stumbled upon this eq. It took me some time to get hold of it because they are old and you can only find them used. I think people in the forums tend to exaggerate a bit. Sure it is a good eq but there isn't something really special about it. I mean after all those years the modern eqs are very good. Even if it was special when it was into production, today it is just an eq. There is no doubt it is not bad but it is not what everyone said it would be. I originally bought it for use with heavy distortion but i ended up using it in the loop of my laney for my clean sounds. Even with an ISP the amount of noise in conjunction with the high gain noise made it impossible to use. Anyway, what really disappointed me in this eq was its price/sound. I paid 400 bucks + shipping and in my studio i have modern rack eqs that smoke this one and i bought them a lot cheaper. I am really torn with this thing. I may keep it because it is old but it is not what everyone hypes it is. My advise - try it before you buy it. Also try a couple of modern rack eqs and then decide which one is better. If you hear an eq for the first time, it will make an audible difference but you should aim to buy one you will not have to replace in a few years.

Oh it is very solid. Considering it is older than my son and it still works flawlessly i say it is dependable

Never dealt with them. Though i know they don't make them any more

This is a fine example about economy theory. You don't have to make the best product, you just have to make it desirable. I happen to spend really a lot of money on guitar gear but i imagine the average player wouldn't be that pleased to spend almost half a grand for a unit that might crap out the next day. Try it , try it , try it and then decide. Don't believe everything you read on ebay or in forums, most of the times they just want to raise the prices of old equipment! So beware and remember that the only one you can trust is yourself and your ears!

This thing is pretty hard to dial in right without knowledge of how the unit works. A good way to get a sound form it is get settings from other people who use it, and tweak it a little. You also need to mess around with the order in the signal chain, I use it in the loop, though some people use it up front, before/after effects. Anyways, once you have some baseline settings, it is much easier to dial in "your tone". If you want some settings, e-mail me and I'll hook you up.

I use this with a randall RG100HT head, and a B-52 AT-412 cab. my chain goes from: Dean ML--->MXR 6-band---->Dunlop Crybaby From Hell---->Randall Head----->B-52 cab, with this thing in the loop. Although i use some of his stuff, i don't go for a "dime tone", my tone is slightly chunkier, less fizzy, and a bit more gain. Without this, the randall head sounded a bit thin when i kicked in the MXR 6-band. So, i picked one of these off of ebay, and it made all the difference. Made the gain more extreme, boosted the bass, basically made the randall sound a ton better. I would give this a 10, but it is a bit noisy when the level is high up, but otherwise, it gives you amazing control over your tone.

As far as i can tell, this thing is pretty resilient once its in the rack, seeing as most people put it in and leave it there. Having said this, I wouldn't crash test it or anything. However, the electronics within it seem to be pretty rugged, and i would be comfortable gigging without a backup.

They stopped making these ages ago, so i doubt they'd help me out. But i haven't called them or anything, so i have no opinion.

I play death/thrash/black metal, and this is the key to my tone, as much as i love my randall. I have been playing for about 3 years, and i now have the "perfect tone", to my ears atleast. I compared this to a PQ3, and i found this gave me much more control with the extra band, and had a deeper and thicker tone than the PQ-3, which was a bit fizzy. If it were stolen, i would try my hardest to get a new one, though they're almost impossible to find.

I didn't have a manual for this unit, but it's got 4 knobs and it's pretty easy to figure out if you've at least 1/2 a brain.

I use this unit in the FX loop of Randall RG-100 ES head. with a Rocktron hush (not that this unit is noisy 'cause it's not), a sonic maximizer and Danelectro Cool cat chorus. And a Danoelectro FishNChips in between the guitar and the amp for extra hot signal through the preamp.
I get the sound of Pantera's Far beyond driven or Reinventing the Steel.

With the PQ-4 I can zero in on any frequency and cut or boost it where I see fit.

It seems pretty sturdy, but I'm not going to go bashing it up or anything to test it. I had a hard enough time trying to get my hands on this thing. I am using it without a backup, same with my amp, and other FX. I love Solid State.

I dont know about customer support, I hope I don't have to.

I play heavy as shit metal music. I love where this unit takes my tone. I can get my own sound from using this thing, and it helps me stand out. Plus it just looks cool as hell in my rig.