Whether you’re playing live to thousands or creating mixes in your bedroom, using EQ effectively can be an essential but elusive tool.
While EQ may not be the sexiest subject when it comes to pedals and tone-shaping for guitarists, it’s probably one of the most overlooked factors.
With that, let’s take a look at MXR’s 10 Band Graphic EQ and Boss’s GE 7 and see how they compare.
MXR 10 Band Graphic EQ
While we all have our own peculiarities, there’re certain patterns that we all share with each other. One of the most common ones is belittling certain units and appraising others. We can be guilty of getting caught up in the world of overdrives, delays, fuzzes, modulation and crazy synths that we often forget about the effects that are most crucial to our tone. We concentrate on drastic changes rather than focusing on our sound and performance. We satisfy ourselves with two-knob-control over the many various parameters and hardly ever think about better ways of crafting our music. It’s easy for us to underestimate the importance of equalizers in our chains. But when you think about it, this doesn’t really make much sense at all. But the good thing is for most musicians is that they’re open-minded and have a desire to experiment. For that reason, we’ll be having a look at one of the most prominent equalizer pedals out there – MXR’s 10 Band Graphic EQ. This unit uses a simplistic approach to deliver powerful performance.
Features
MXR’s 10 Band Graphic EQ is one of the equalizers from the brand. While there’re certain perks to their other products, this one stands out, particularly for several reasons. The first point is that it has noise-reduction circuitry, which guarantees noiseless and quiet operation. This can be helpful, especially if you have a longer chain with numerous pedals and even more cables. The second point is that this unit has an additional output that allows you to route it in two effects chains simultaneously or connect it with two different amplifiers. Either of these benefits gives you broader sonic possibilities and more control over your sound. Furthermore, the M108S Ten Band EQ has a true bypass switching that helps your tone stay intact throughout the whole chain. MXR has considered all the scenarios for a gigging musician, and as a result, they’ve incorporated brighter LEDs that are visible even in direct sunlight. Since this is a slider-type equalizer, this addition makes a lot of sense as it allows you to see the settings even from a distance. MXR’s 10 Band EQ has a “bullet-proof” enclosure that looks expensive and classy. It features a silver chassis with blue LEDs and sliders that stand out even on the fanciest pedalboards. One more thing to keep in mind is that the pedal can be powered using an 18V adapter.
Controls
The control section of MXR’s 10 Band EQ is configured in the slider style. You’ll not see any knobs or switches here; you get brightly lit sliders that are assigned with different tasks. Many people prefer such a configuration to the encoder one, as here you have the ability to visually discern between the frequencies and settings. Many believe that it makes the whole process of shaping the tone way easier and more convenient.
Now, with having a more simplistic pedal, you’ll find the sliders that are solely dedicated to the equalizing process. However, the M108S Ten Band EQ has an additional two for Volume and Gain. The volume allows you to alter the overall level of the effect, while the gain alters the amount of the gain boost and lets you steep your signal with some power and strength. In the center of the unit, you’ll find 8 sliders with the following frequencies: 31.25, 62.5, 125, 250, 500, 1K, 2K, 4K, 8K, and 16K. Each of these frequencies provides you with the ability to accentuate or cut ±12dB on specific frequencies. So, as you can see, the unit has quite a wide range in this sense, meaning you can get absolutely meticulous and craft your tone with a detailed approach. The last thing to note is that it has a footswitch that allows you to engage the equalizer and get going.
Sound
This MXR unit has enough frequency range to cover both electric and bass guitars. As it starts low and goes quite high, it gives you the ability to refine the bottom-end and high-end with equal forces. The direct effect of this one is not too drastic to be afraid of touching the sliders, which is amazing, because your modifications will not ruin your sound. The clarity of the M108S Ten Band EQ adds a few winning points to the greatness of the unit. As previously mentioned, it works wonderfully anywhere in the chain as well as in the effects loop – opening up many possibilities for the user. It can add a touch of gain to your signal, preparing it for distortion or rounding up a bit of your overdriven sounds. It’s good to know that it doesn’t turn into an unidentifiable mush at any setting or placement.
Boss GE-7 7-Band EQ
We all love it when all our pedals are full of diverse features. Who doesn’t love it when a unit can do it all? Having the ability to modify many parameters is always a perk and when searching the market, versatility is usually our highest priority. However, in most cases, a pedal usually has to be focused on one single thing in order to deliver maximum results, and that’s the case with the majority of EQ stompboxes. They don’t offer much other than allowing you to change the frequency response in your sound. They modify the color of your tone with simple modifications and that’s about it. While it could easily be considered to be a con, in real-life scenarios one-trick ponies are usually amazing and can jump over all the fences. Today we’re going to step out of the versatile zone and focus on a simpler unit, and that’s where Boss’s GE-7 comes in. It has one single job to do, and it does a great job at it. If you’re looking for something resembling the pedal that I’ve mentioned above, then this unit could benefit you.
Features
Boss’s GE-7 is not the most versatile pedal in the world and it doesn’t have any sophisticated features or fancy tools hidden up its sleeve. It’s the case what you see is what you get and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just like most stompboxes from Boss, this one is extremely well-built. The unit’s enclosure is extremely sturdy and well-built, which is why so many people love Boss’s units. In some cases, more affordable pedals can eventually cost you more as they break apart as soon as you mistreat them. The good news is that you won’t have such problems with Boss. Their GE-7 is a graphic equalizer which operates using sliders for each frequency, offering 7 different bands (hence the name) ranging from 100 to 6.4 kHz. This unit is designed with the classic Boss style and it’s configured in a light color palette and topped with white sliders and a huge footswitch. The GE-7 can be supplied with a 9V battery or an adapter. It has a typical check indicator, which shows the user the lifespan of the battery, as well as shows you if the unit is operating or not.
Controls
As previously mentioned, Boss’s GE-7 is a graphic equalizer with sliders. In short, this means that all the controls we have here are in the form of sliders. This helps users see each setting better and understand what is going in our sound without playing guessing games.
The layout of the GE-7 starts with 7 different frequency bands. The specific ranges you can change are 100, 200, 400, 800, 1.6k, 3.2k, and 6.4 kHz. The first three take care of the foundation, while the latter four are used to modify the harmonic content of your sound, allowing you to shape the higher frequencies. Each of them allows you to attenuate or boost specific frequencies with ±15dB. The final slider on the unit is labelled as Level and this lets you modify the output of the effect and even boost your clean signal. In order to avoid sonic problems, it’s best to take it easy and mess around with sliders with a “less is more” approach. This way, you’ll be able to eliminate feedback and other impurities without destroying your sound completely. Boss’s GE-7 has a footswitch that engages or deactivates the pedal with a simple click.
Sound
When it comes to the sound of the Boss GE-7, there’re several great things that need to be mentioned. The overall sonic quality from the pedal is amazing, especially for its price. It treats each frequency individually, taking care of them with a gentle heart. It can work equally well with more subtle and heavier genres, which is amazing, as even the classic players enjoy some distortion from time to time. The GE-7 unit may develop some noise, although as mentioned above, it’s due to improper application. You’ll need to know how to tweak your equalizer for it to sound good. The unit can apply a clean boost and push your amp to overdrive, creating an amazing sonic outcome. When pairing the device with other effects, it doesn’t get muddy and weird. Instead, it takes a dirty signal and eliminates its impurities with ease.
Conclusion
Overall, both of these units are great, although if you play heavier stuff, the MXR is better as it edges out the Boss with more control, especially on the low end. The MXR 10 Band has a little more tone sculpting and seems to give a little more punch, due to the 18 volts as opposed to 9 volt.
