A good few years ago the black & white photography group I was in at the time invited a Welsh photographer, well known on the club circuit, to give us a lecture. She had a formidable reputation and went by the nickname of The Welsh Dragon. After her lecture a friend, rather bravely, showed her some of his prints. She jabbed a finger at one and said, " The blacks aren't deep enough!". Then she jabbed a finger in his chest and ordered him to "Get some P.Q. developer." So he did.
A short time later we had another lecturer who told us the way to get deep blacks AND nicely gradated highlights was to use two developers. First you put the print into strong Dektol, 1+4. As soon as something started to appear you pull the print out and place it in a weaker developer of your choice. Yes, this was for Multigrade paper, so he said.
Some time later my friend gave me some PQ and some Dektol developer. I think he had tried them with inconclusive results. At the time my paper developer of choice was Agfa Neutol WA. But out of interest I decided to try the PQ, and also the 2 bath trick with Dektol followed by dilute Neutol WA. I went through all the motions and also printed the negative just with Neutol WA. The paper was Ilford MG4 Fibre.
I soon came to some definite conclusions.
The PQ didn't produce very deep blacks.
The Dektol made the prints look cold.
The Dektol + Neutol WA seemed to increase contrast in a not very nice way.
The prints developed in just my normal Neutol WA at 1+9 looked best. No doubt about it. So the Dektol and the PQ went down the sink, and I carried on with Neutal WA as normal.
I have just dug all these test prints out and had a good look at them. And guess what? They all look the same!
Alan