Hey all....this is going to sound like a really stupid question but here goes....
When I've recorded in a larger pro studio, they are working with a large board and every channel has EQ etc... They tweak bass, mids and treble on the board when getting sounds for vocal, guitars, drums etc...so now when I'm recording at home with my computer and Sonar, I don't have the "Board" with EQ on it so should I be putting an EQ plugin on every track and if I'm doing a guitar track with an amp sim like S-Gear, where should the EQ go in the chain? I typically am running a plugin OD-Sgear-reverb-delay as my basic chain. Also, any advice where I might put a compressor/limiter in that chain? Thanks in advance. I know these are really basic things but I appreciate your wisdom here.
 
 

You should put an EQ plug only on tracks that require EQ. How do you know if a track requires EQ? Ask your ears.

I agree with your statement but if I was in a commercial studio, the producer would be adjusting bass, mids, treble on the board before it goes into the DAW. So what I'm trying to figure out is how does one replicate that without a board so to speak? It seems like a missing pc of the chain.

mojazzmo69
I agree with your statement but if I was in a commercial studio, the producer would be adjusting bass, mids, treble on the board before it goes into the DAW. So what I'm trying to figure out is how does one replicate that without a board so to speak? It seems like a missing pc of the chain.

you can / should adjust your sound on the way into the DAW in such a way that you like it and it fits the performance. there are zillions of way to do that, the EQ on the board is just a small piece of it which you can (probably should) leave for the mixing process. e.g. for guitar create a good guitar sound using pedals, amps, mics and capture it using a good preamp. leave the EQs for later. Sonar Platinum gives you a 4 band EQ + high and low cut per channel which you can use to place the guitar in the mix later on (or you could us any other EQ plugin) ...
 
if you EQ on the way into the DAW you should pretty much know the sound you want to get, because once you take frequencies out in the recording process, you can't get them back unless you re-record ...

Thanks Rob. I appreciate the reply. When you say Sonar has a 4 band Eq per channel, is that a plugin or is there an EQ strip I'm not seeing. I have this issue of older projects that look completely different from when I open a new project in Sonar. Thanks in advance.

It might help to know which version of SONAR this is about. Many versions of SONAR have a per-track EQ built in. Keep in mind all versions of SONAR record incoming audio dry so while it is possible to add a EQ (or any plug-in) and hear the result by enabling input echo, the recorded clip will not contain the affected audio.

Sonar Platinum.

Mojazzmo,
The templates that come with SPLAT (Sonar Platinum) are typically set up with prochannel and the QuadCurve EQ on each channel. 
As for older projects, you can either migrate them to new templates or simply "add" the prochannel EQ to the channels needed.
The first option will help you get a more uniformed "look" as you were mentioning..

mojazzmo69
I agree with your statement but if I was in a commercial studio, the producer would be adjusting bass, mids, treble on the board before it goes into the DAW. So what I'm trying to figure out is how does one replicate that without a board so to speak? It seems like a missing pc of the chain.

You're right, that bit isn't there in Sonar itself. It also isn't there in whatever DAW your commercial producer is using in the studio. As you said, the producer tweeks EQ on the board on the way into the DAW. If you feel strongly that you should be replicating that at home, then its time to go board shopping. Or if you're generally only recording on instrument at a time, perhaps its time to go shopping for a rack channel strip/pre-amp/eq.

But here's the important thing to remember. There is not going to be much difference between applying eq to your signal on the way in to be recorded vs applying that same eq to the signal during mixing. I'm not foolish enough to say there would be no difference (although I personally feel this is the case) because someone will surely cite some esoteric example of how the Beatles or Zappa or Hendrix got some amazing sound that could only happen by using eq on the way in. But I ain't no Hendrix and I'm perfectly ok with that.
 
The bottom line is I've done it both ways and I've never felt the end result suffered by not using EQ on the way in to the DAW. I mean if my source sounds so awful on the way in that I really need to eq it before recording, I'm probably going to solve the issue more organically, i.e. different mic or placement, different instrument or amp settings etc. 

Platinum has a QuadCurve EQ in every audio/instrument/aux track and bus and several other EQ plug-ins which may be added to tracks and buses. Still audio is recorded dry.