Finding the best EQ pedal for your guitar pedalboard isn’t easy. There are tons of different equalizer guitar effects pedals, but not all of them give you the same control and ability to fine tune your settings.
Traditional equalizer pedals let you control your guitar levels and frequencies. Some pedals have sliders to roll through the frequency bands while others have knobs for fine tuning low, mid, and high tones.
Both of these designs have different advantages. The sliders allow for more control, but they are also a little more cumbersome to use. Knobs offer less options, but they are easier to use.
With all that being said, let’s look at the top-rated equalizer guitar pedals and see which one you should add to your pedal board or guitar rig!
| EQ Pedal | Guitar Pedal Rating | Features | Price Check |
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Empress ParaEq |
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MXR M109 6-Band Graphic EQ |
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EarthQuaker Devices Tone Job EQ |
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Boss GE-7 7-Band EQ |
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Source Audio SA170 Programmable EQ |
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Danelectro DJ-14C Fish & Chips Band EQ |
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Click Below to Compare the Top Equalizer Guitar Pedals in 2020
Contents
- 1 Click Below to Compare the Top Equalizer Guitar Pedals in 2020
- 2 What We Recommend and Why
Here is a list of the best EQ effects pedals to add to your pedal board and make your guitar effect pedal collection complete.
- Empress ParaEq with Boost Pedal
- MXR M109 6-Band Graphic EQ Effect
- EarthQuaker Devices Tone Job EQ and Boost Guitar Effects Pedal
- Boss GE-7 7-Band EQ Stomp Box
- Source Audio SA170 Programmable EQ Pedal
- Danelectro DJ-14C Fish & Chips Band EQ Mini Effects Pedal
Empress ParaEq with Boost Pedal
Specs, features, and benefits
The Empress ParaEq with Boost pedal is a very useful pedal both live and in the studio.
It’s built in a hard Die Cast Aluminum box, which makes it pretty stiff.
The pedal is completely analog and stands for one of the best Eq boxes out there.
The controls on this pedal are:
Four three-way switches on the top of the pedal-three of them are for choosing between narrow, medium or wide Eq and the fourth is for lowering the input volume that comes in the pedal.
Three control knobs for low, mid and high frequencies, and three control knobs for their gain.
Also, it has one control knob for boosting.
This is a very versatile, low noise and high-quality pedal that can shape and enhance your guitar tone to it’s very best. It can also boost up to +30db without making any unwanted distortion.
You can also power it with nine, twelve or eighteen V power supplies.
Pros and Highlights
- Versatile – this pedal is truly one of the best eq pedals ever made. And the fact that you can shape your tone so much, makes this pedal great for players that really know what tone actually means
- Clean and low noise – this pedal is great for putting it in front of your other effect pedals. It will make them sound even better than they actually do
- True Bypass – it won’t affect your sound when it’s not engaged
Cons and Potential Flaws
- There are none!
Bottom Line
The Empress ParaEq with Boost pedal is definitely one of the best if not the best eq pedals on the market. You have like a ton of control over your sound with this pedal. It will bring the most out of your magnets and your amp. Great, high-quality parametric Eq pedal!
MXR M109 6-Band Graphic EQ Effect
Specs, features, and benefits
The MXR M109 6-Band Graphic EQ pedal is a great sounding, high-quality guitar pedal famously used by names like Eddie Van Halen and Dimebag Darrell.
Don’t let the small size fool you, this pedal can cut or boost up to 18db and can make your amp sound enormous.
The pedal has six control sliders with the centers on 100 Hz, 200 Hz, 400 Hz, 800 Hz, 1.6K Hz and 3.2K Hz.
This is a very simple and affordable eq pedal and one of the most popular. You won’t get disappointed with this unit. It’s built with a huge amount of preciseness.
Pros and Highlights
- High-quality sound – This pedal is one of the best out there. The simple settings will bring your guitar tone to life with any pedal chain you can imagine
- Affordable – the MXR M109 is very cheap when it comes to high-quality eq guitar pedals
- Clean boost – You can use this pedal to boost your solo section in this song. Boosts clean without any unwanted dirt
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Power input is on the side – This is not a nightmare, but it’s not the best thing for a pedal placed in a pedalboard
Bottom Line
The MXR M109 6-Band Graphic EQ is a great pedal and many players will keep it till the end of their lives. It is very simple to use, but it’s also one of the best eq pedals on the market.
It is very cheap in comparison with the other eq pedals with this kind of quality.
Great for boosting and shaping your tone.
EarthQuaker Devices Tone Job EQ and Boost Guitar Effects Pedal
Specs, features, and benefits
The circuitry in this pedal is inspired from the old stereo preamps and their tone shaping controls. This pedal is good not only with guitars, meaning you can plug basically any instrument in it and have a huge amount of tone-shape control over the sound.
The “Tone Job” has only four control knobs: Level, Bass, Mid and Treble.
With the Level knob, you can basically cut or boost the volume.
And a footswitch. That’s all. However, this pedal has a high-quality sound.
The pedal is hand-built just like every other EarthQuaker pedal.
Runs on 9V or 18V power adapter.
Pros and Highlights
- Great amount of control – The four knobs on the pedal are just enough to enhance your guitar sound like never before
- Affordable – This pedal won’t break the bank and you will be amazed by the quality of the unit
- Boost and Eq – Many players use this pedal as a booster too, it can boost or cut your volume as much as you need in order to get the best possible sound out of your guitar rig
Cons and Potential Flaws
- There are none – Too good to be true right? Well, I still haven’t met a guitarist who owns one of these and is not satisfied
Bottom Line
What could a guitarist ask for when it comes to an Eq guitar pedal?
Affordable price, stiff built, simple and easy to use, boosts a lot, plug & play…
The Earthquaker Tone Job has it all!
Boss GE-7 7-Band EQ Stomp Box
Specs, features, and benefits
Boss is surely the most famous guitar effect pedal company in the world.
Why? Because their products are always affordable, great quality in sound and performance.
They get the job done and they last for decades.
This is the case with the Boss GE-7 too!
The GE-7 has seven control sliders and one slider for level control.
The sliders go from 100 Hz to 6.4 Hz, which makes the pedal one of the best guitar Equalization pedals ever.
The level slider can cut or boost up to 15db.
Pros and Highlights
- Cheap – This pedal is on the cheaper spectrum. If you want something to get the job done and not spend a fortune – you will be amazed how this pedal can deliver the bang for the buck
- Reliable – Boss pedals are known both for their quality and their long lives
- Simple and easy – Guitar players on the road don’t want to spend a lot of time messing around with their gear. You can set up the GE-7 in a minute.
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Hiss – The pedal does have some hiss when is boosted with the level slider, and when it’s not – is completely quiet
Bottom Line
The Boss GE-7 works great with both acoustic and electric guitars. It is very simple to use. It can give warmth to your tone and saturate your amp. It won’t break the bank. It will last for decades.
There are better options, but they have bigger prices too.
Boss GE-7 is a great bang for the buck.
Source Audio SA170 Programmable EQ Pedal
Specs, features, and benefits
The SA170 is a modern, digital Equalization pedal. It comes in a stiff aluminum box, with seven frequency bands – you can control them with the left and right arrow to choose the band, and then with the main control knob to set the levels.
The thing that especially distinguishes this pedal from the others on this list is that you can save a preset. Four presets actually. You can scroll through the presets with the two little buttons on the left side of the pedal. It’s midi programmable too!
It can also cut or boost up to 18db.
You might be confused with your first glance of the pedal and think that this is a complicated one, but in reality, this unit is very simple and easy to use.
It also has one feature – when you hold the footswitch for more than a few seconds, the auto-scroll presets come alive. This is basically just auto scrolling through the presets and gives a tremolo-like effect.
Pros and Highlights
- Great for live performance – If you are a player that likes to change his tone a lot through the gig, this pedal and the presets will come very handy to your playing
- Versatile – You will be amazed how much different presets can come out of this little box
- Midi programmable – this is totally unique in the world of the eq pedals
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Poor quality of the details – Some users have reported issues with things like the rubber feet and the battery cover falling off, loosen footswitch and screws
Bottom Line
If you are not afraid of the digital and want to explore modern pedals, this might be the pedal for you. It’s the only Eq pedal that is midi programmable on the market.
You can save your presets very easily and change them very fast during a performance.
The price of this pedal is not very high, and many users are completely satisfied with the quality. However, if you are just like the most of the guitar players, and you are in love with analog, this is not the pedal for you.
Danelectro DJ-14C Fish & Chips Band EQ Mini Effects Pedal
Specs, features, and benefits
Danelectro is very popular both for their interesting designs and their affordable prices.
This is pretty much the case with this pedal too. It has a very interesting design, it’s pleasing to the eye, and it’s very affordable.
The casing of this pedal is very small and is made out of plastic.
The Fish & Chips by Dan Electro has 7 Eq control sliders on it, from 100 Hz to 6.4K Hz and a Level control slider.
It is very simple to use. It’s versatile and has great quality for the price.
Pros and Highlights
- Cheap – this pedal is surely one of the cheapest Eq pedals out there, awesome for starters
- Versatile – you can have a lot of control over your sound with the 7 control sliders on the pedal
- Small – this pedal is really small compared to all the other pedals and is really easy to find its spot on the pedalboard
Cons and Potential Flaws
- Oh, well – This is a really cheap pedal… – The casing is made out of plastic, many players have reported it being noisy and distorted, others reported that it just stopped working after a couple of months. However, there are a lot of players that love this pedal, and if it breaks, they would just buy another one of them. It’s really cheap.
Bottom Line
There are lots of Eq pedals on the market that are just better than this one. However, this pedal is great for newbies in the world of Eq and pedalboards.
It’s a cheap pedal and many of the players are highly satisfied with the quality of the sound they get from it.
If you gig a lot, probably you should go for a more expensive one, but if you are just starting – this pedal might be the right thing for you.
What We Recommend and Why
I simply must go with the Earthquaker’s Tone Job… It’s a great pedal.
Stiff built, simple, versatile and not overpriced Eq guitar pedal.
You can also use this pedal with whatever instrument you like and sound awesome.
The fact that this pedal is hand-built is pretty remarkable.
Also, the Earthquaker company provides a lifetime-warranty.
