Unlock Your Tone: A Guitarist’s Guide to the Power of EQ Pedals

EQ pedals might seem a bit intimidating at first, with their banks of sliders and mysterious numbers. Unboxing one doesn’t quite have the same thrill as a new overdrive or reverb. But don’t let that fool you.

What Does an EQ Pedal Do?

EQ pedals are some of the most powerful and versatile tools you can add to your pedalboard. Capable of completely transforming your amp and overdrive pedals, they can unlock a world of tonal possibilities.

If anyone can get excited about boosting specific frequencies, it’s us guitarists!

Cut or Boost?

So, let’s dive into the basic principles of using EQ pedals and explore how they can transform your setup.

In the most basic terms, equalization involves either cutting or boosting different frequencies by different amounts. Even as an absolute beginner, you’ll have encountered it – your guitar’s tone knob is a basic filter, and the bass/mid/treble knobs on your amplifier are effectively a three-band EQ.

A guitar’s sound is fairly broad across the frequency spectrum. Say you play your A string – that’s tuned to 110Hz. However, the raw signal will contain overtones and harmonics, which are greatly accentuated by any compression and distortion.

Other parts of the signal, such as hand noise on strings, pick attack, and others, all have their component frequencies present in the sound, which combine to create a signal that broadly ranges from 80 Hz to about 7 kHz.  Most guitar speakers also filter out the highest high-end.

Guitar EQ pedals typically do not cover as broad a range as mixing EQs. Human hearing caps out at around 20 kHz, but when it comes to the sort of signals going through a pedalboard, you only need to worry about that sub-7 kHz range.

It’s also good to keep in mind that all steps in your signal chain impart some EQ character. You’ll get a different EQ curve from different pickups, pedals, and amplifiers, and most traditional uses of an EQ pedal are just trying to predict and control this fact.

On live and recorded guitar sounds, there will be equalization applied after the microphones; however, dedicated EQ pedals give you control over the sound that’s going into your amplifier, which has a different result than applying EQ afterward.

This leads us onto the first big question – where does your EQ pedal go in your signal chain?

Where to Place Your EQ Pedal in the Signal Chain

As with basically all pedal signal chain order questions, the answer to this depends on what you want to do with the pedal.

EQ pedals are exceptionally versatile in that they have a lot of use cases at basically every stage of your signal path. Let’s explore the effects of moving an EQ pedal around in a chain.

• Before Overdrive/Distortion: Putting the EQ first in the chain allows you to do several things. It’s effectively shaping the sound coming straight out of the pickups – so if you have punchy, loud, and mid-forward humbuckers, you can cut some bass and midrange to get them a little closer to single-coils, and vice-versa. If you’re using overdrive or distortion, placing an EQ first in the chain allows you to adjust which frequencies get distorted most.

• For example, if you’re using any overdrive pedal, cutting 100 and 200Hz while boosting 800Hz keeps the low end cleaner, while overdriving the midrange harder – great for retaining clarity while maintaining an aggressive sound, as you don’t overwhelm the signal with distorted bass.

• After Overdrive/Distortion/Fuzz: If you have a distortion or fuzz that kicks out a lot of low-end mud or harsh fizz, an EQ pedal placed after it in the chain will give you a lot of control over the sound and let you filter out these unwanted elements. You can also use one to add back any midrange that has been scooped out.

• The benefit of this placement is that, provided your amp has the headroom, you won’t be changing the amount that each frequency is being distorted – the EQ will have a ‘cleaner’ effect on things. Take, for example, a pedal with a rather extreme EQ curve. Achieving its signature sound might also introduce unpleasant fizz. You can’t turn down the treble on the pedal itself without losing the desired tone. Here, an EQ acts as a true ‘problem solver’ – thanks to the granular nature of the adjustments you’re making, you’re given a degree of control that very few dirt pedals allow for.

• Additionally, while this placement can be used to fix troublesome frequency problems, it’s also great at re-voicing drive pedals entirely. Say you have a pedal with a mostly flat EQ response, but the song you’re playing is calling for a more mid-focused sound. An EQ set to cut the bass and boost the midrange slightly will be incredibly transformative.

• In the Effects Loop: The same principle applies when putting an EQ in the effects loop as putting the EQ after your other dirt pedals – think of the preamp as another overdrive unit, with its own distortion character and its own EQ curves. Your amp’s EQ controls may be before or after it starts distorting your signal, but if you place your EQ pedal in the effects loop, it’s guaranteed to be after any preamp distortion.

• Here, if your amp has a bit too much fizz or low-end thunk, you can easily use the EQ pedal to reduce that. Additionally, if you want to be heard during your solos, you can set your EQ pedal to be a bit louder and boost the midrange, making sure you’ll push through a band mix when needed. Most EQ pedals feature a level control – while this lets you use them like a boost, as above, it’s also essential if you want to keep your signal at the same volume while changing effects.

Using EQ as a Character Effect

Okay, so we’ve talked about using EQ as a rather prosaic utility – one that helps you slice off a little bass here, boost some mids there – but can EQ pedals be fun? Well, sort of. It’s not exactly a wild modulation pedal, but you can indeed get a bit weird with extreme EQ settings.

Boosting just one band – and cutting everything else – is a great way to do this. For the lower bands, you get a wooley, sub-bass sound that’s unusable in most musical situations but great if you need an abstract rumble for whatever reason.

For the midrange and even the highest bands, isolating them gives you a lo-fi, “coming through a telephone” effect – excellent for intros or breaks, before turning the pedal off again to return with a bang to your full signal.

Additionally, keeping things mostly flat except for the midrange and then applying a significant level boost while the EQ is before an overdrive or a fuzz, you get a sort of pseudo-boost effect, emulating the vintage-style honk favored by some iconic players.

Graphic EQs vs. Parametric EQs

There are two main types of EQ pedals you’ll encounter:

• Graphic EQs: These pedals, like many popular models, visually represent the EQ curve with their banks of sliders. Each slider controls a specific frequency band, such as 100Hz, 200Hz, 400Hz, and so on. This gives you an immediate visual understanding of the EQ shape you’re creating.

• Parametric EQs: These offer more precise control. Instead of fixed frequency bands, parametric EQs allow you to select the specific frequency you want to adjust, the amount of boost or cut, and the “width” or “Q” of the affected frequency range. This allows for very targeted tonal shaping.

Specific EQ Settings for Different Genres and Playing Styles

Let’s dive into some specific EQ settings you can try for different genres and playing styles. Remember that these are starting points, and you’ll want to adjust them to fit your specific gear and personal taste! We’ll assume you’re using a standard graphic EQ with frequency bands around 100Hz, 200Hz, 400Hz, 800Hz, 1.6kHz, 3.2kHz, and 6.4kHz.

• Tight and Punchy Rock/Metal Rhythms:

  • Placement: Before your overdrive or distortion pedal.
  • Goal: To tighten up the low end and enhance midrange clarity for defined power chords and articulate riffs.
  • Suggested Settings: Slightly cut the lower frequencies (100Hz, 200Hz) and moderately boost the upper mids (800Hz, 1.6kHz).

• Smooth and Singing Lead Tones:

  • Placement: After your overdrive/distortion pedal or in the effects loop.
  • Goal: To create a sustained, vocal-like tone with good sustain and clarity.
  • Suggested Settings: Keep the low end relatively flat, gently boost the lower and upper mids (400Hz, 800Hz, 1.6kHz), and slightly cut the higher frequencies (3.2kHz, 6.4kHz).

• Bright and Twangy Clean Tones (Country/Surf):

  • Placement: Before your amp or in the effects loop.
  • Goal: To enhance the clarity, sparkle, and percussive attack of clean tones.
  • Suggested Settings: Keep the low and low-mids relatively flat, and moderately boost the higher frequencies (1.6 kHz, 3.2 kHz, 6.4 kHz).

• Warm and Round Clean Tones (Jazz/Blues):

  • Placement: Before your amp or in the effects loop.
  • Goal: To create a smooth, full, and warm clean tone without excessive brightness.
  • Suggested Settings: Slightly boost the lower frequencies (100Hz, 200Hz) and significantly cut the higher frequencies (3.2kHz, 6.4kHz).

• Mid-Scooped “Chugging” Metal Rhythms:

  • Placement: After your high-gain distortion pedal or in the effects loop.
  • Goal: To create the classic scooped midrange sound often used in heavier metal genres.
  • Suggested Settings: Boost the low end (100Hz, 200Hz) and high-end (3.2kHz, 6.4kHz) while significantly cutting the midrange frequencies (400Hz, 800Hz, 1.6kHz).

Do You Need an EQ Pedal?

EQ pedals are great at both practical problem-solving – adding back in lost mids and reducing fizz and the like – but they’re also capable of making a rig extremely versatile. If you’re gigging a lot of different genres or like to explore a lot of different sounds, EQ pedals can open your pedalboard up to all sorts of options.

Obviously, by themselves, they’re not that flashy – but in some ways, the same goes for overdrive pedals that need the ‘right’ amp and so on – it’s all about context, both in terms of your signal chain and what you want to do with it.

Luckily, the cost of entry isn’t that high. Yes, things like advanced EQ workstations are very pricey, but these are specialized solutions – undeniably great at what they do, but for those just dipping a toe into EQ, perhaps overkill. A standard graphic EQ is an affordable and effective way to start exploring the power of tonal shaping.

So, plug in that EQ pedal and start experimenting! You might be surprised at the sonic possibilities you unlock. Remember to trust your ears and have fun discovering your perfect tone.

The Boss GE-7 is a great place to start with EQ pedals and is readily available worldwide.

• Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer Pedal at Andertons
• Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer Pedal at Gear4Music
• Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer Pedal at Sweetwater
• Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer Pedal at Thomann

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