sound honky or overly
dark. Surprising me quite
a bit, Orange actually
avoided all of that, by giving
me one of the sweetest and
fullest sounding EQs I’ve
ever heard.
Many EQs can sound
artificial, flabby, or too
tightly-voiced to be of any
use. The cheaper ones are
usually the main culprits
of sounding trash and not
getting the job done. I
wanted to dislike the Two
Stroke, and try as I might
to find a reason to, I just
couldn’t. It is far more
straightforward than the
graphic EQs from MXR or
Boss, and it sounds like
an old hi-fi EQ—adding
a subtle sweetness with
just the right amount of
character to make the music
pop without changing the
overall sound too much.
Placing the Two Stroke
after a distortion or drive
is a useful tool for cleaning
up muddy or unruly lows
or sculpting the mids to
exactly how you want them.
Place it before a drive and it
sweetens up the character,
adding warmth and fatness
to the tone the farther
you crank the clean boost.
Place it in the FX loop of
your amp for an extra EQ
stage and a bit of a kick to
further drive your favorite
glass. I found that if I use