A lot of those are significant though, EQ maintains relationship to pitch and tone, delay is directly related to rhythm, etc. The main issue is that most of these are relative to inputs, etc, with a few exceptions.

Edit: An exception would be trying to 'fatten' the sound of an acoustic guitar and using a 25-35ms delay, which puts it close enough that it's not perceivable as a delay, but will provide a noticeable effect on the tone of the guitar.