While tone-enhancing is fantastic, especially in a studio environment, instead of refining your sound you can play around with some extreme settings to attain more unique textures. Dimebag Darrell’s ‘Scooped’ Tone This preamp design is then married to an EQ based on the semi-parametric design found on Chase Bliss' Condor pedal. Consequently there's three different mids resonance options and a variable Q control. Not only that, but the mid frequency itself is fully variable, controlled by a dedicated slider. Despite being a very useful category of effect, the reality is that many players aren't prepared to open their wallet for just an EQ. As a result, many EQ pedals are an EQ and a preamp in one. Moreover, any EQ that has active bands has to contain amplifier stages, and usually a master volume. This means that the distinction between an EQ pedal and a preamp is a little fuzzy to begin with. You could also use the EQ pedal to boost or subtract certain frequencies which is how you mould your sound. The second main question is how many bands you need. For a parametric EQ, this is likely to be between one and three. For a graphic EQ, the number will typically be between 6 and 10 bands. These are spaced at frequencies that correspond to octaves above a fundamental.

We’ve already stated that an EQ pedal is fundamentally a tone-shaping tool. When the modest 3 or 4-band EQ section on your amplifier isn’t quite enough, an EQ pedal can give you almost surgical control over your sound. Both a parametric EQ with 3 bands, or a graphic EQ with 5 or more are going to give you radically more control over your tone than almost any guitar amp. How we choose the best EQ pedals Okay, so those are the glossary terms, but what can we hear in the actual mix at which frequency, and why is it important? As mentioned before, any sound (whether isolated or made by a number of sources like in a band) will form a sonic footprint. This sonic footprint is registered by our ears as one thing. How those different sources are put together will determine how it sounds to us. And in my opinion the center frequency of the 8 bands respectively makes more sense than say those of any of the Boss 7 band graphic equalizers.Here at Guitar World, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything guitar related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides.

For the purposes of this guide, we'll cover some preamps that also feature a powerful EQ. Including preamps adds additional variables you might want to consider. For example, whether it is discrete, transistor, (J)FET or op-amp, and how much gain is on tap. Since the distinction between preamp and boost pedal is also blurry, the tone and timbre of the preamp, and whether it can cross over into overdrive might also be a factor in your decision. Also I can warmly recommend the Artec SE-EQ8 Graphic Eq, 8 band graphic equalizer, which is dirt cheap but non the less works great and is actually also build really well and sturdily.Yes and no. Yes if you want more control over your signal. Often EQ pedals will have sliders rather than knobs and these can make it easier to visualise what your sound ‘looks’ like. You should also remember that amps will have EQ controls however they might be changing a broader range of frequencies and so an EQ pedal (Especially a 7-band or above) can help you hone in on those frequencies. The MXR is the perfect boost. It tightens the tone, and adds gain but without congesting and compressing the tone like a overdrive can. It's my fav boost. I still use my Maxon od808, Boss sd-1, and even my metal zone for that purpose, but the MXR 6 band is the best of the bunch and gets the most use from me. The 10 band is also really good, but doesn't sound quite as tight as the 6 band, which is just more focused in it's tone. First off, let’s define what EQ actually stands for. When referenced, EQ means Equalizer or Equalization. It’s actually a scientific term that defines the spectrum of sound. It defines where certain sounds and frequencies sit on a universal spectrum.