Doug_Les,
I'd like to provide some clarification to some of the advice you've received. The Alesis 3632 compressor/gate is optimal placed between the guitar and the amplifier's preamp...that is, before the amp. However, the same is not true for the BBE Sonic Maximizer or the Behringer EQ. These items are tone effects, and like all such effects, have a much stronger influence on the sound you hear coming out of the speakers when placed in the amplifier's effects loop. Ideally, you would place the EQ first, straight out of the amp's Send socket, then place the Sonic Maximizer after it, then back into the amp's Return socket.
Here's a link to a thread where I cover a lot of the relevant information in one place:
http://www.forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19660
Here's another one that covers effect placement about as comprehensively as you'll find:
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=31052&p=228149#p228149
You may find that the BBE Sonic Maximizer is useful in some circumstances more than in others (e.g., certain songs, nailing a specific tone, etc.). That said, and whether you are a fan of the effect or not, I must provide a clarification of what Jackie posted about them. The Sonic Maximizer is definitely not "nothing but an EQ change", and you physically cannot fully reproduce the effect with an equalizer of any kind.
Here's a link to a thread where I describe what the effect actually does:
http://www.forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=17056&hilit=+sonic