The 10 Best Graphic Equalizer Pedals
Updated by · How we research
Seven sliders, a five-year warranty and decades on pedalboards make the Boss GE-7 our pick among 10 graphic EQ pedals for guitar and bass, analog and digital. When users buy our independently chosen editorial recommendations, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
Most players who buy a graphic EQ pedal end up using it for two jobs: cutting the muddy low mids that clog a band mix, and lifting the level for solos. A row of sliders makes both quick to see and set by foot or by eye. These picks suit guitarists and bassists, from a first pedalboard to a rig run by MIDI.
Editor's Notes
October 26, 2026, by Ezvid Wiki Admin:
We put the Boss GE-7 first. It's simple, Boss still makes it, it runs on a battery, and its seven bands sit right where a guitar's sound lives. The MXR M108S is the pick for ten bands and a quiet circuit, and the Boss EQ-200 is the one for saved settings, stereo and MIDI.
Four old entries are gone. The Electro-Harmonix entry had turned into a fuzz pedal, the J. Rockett Audio Rockaway Archer is a boost and overdrive rather than an equalizer, Source Audio stopped selling the SA170, and the Behringer EQ700 had no buyable offer. Its successor, the Source Audio EQ2, takes the SA170's place. We also dropped the Mesa/Boogie honor, since that pedal appears to be discontinued.
New here are the Boss GEB-7 for bass players, the Mooer Graphic G for full pedalboards, and three low-cost options: the Donner EQ Seeker, the JOYO R-12 and the JOYO JF-11.
Lab measurements of EQ pedals don't exist, so we leaned on Boss's spec pages, dealer spec sheets for the MXR and budget pedals, and long guitar-forum threads where players compare hiss and bypass on the same pedals.
September 22, 2020:
While there haven't been a lot of developments in this category beyond a few new models from disreputable brands, Boss has had an exciting model added in their Boss EQ-200. Not only does it track changes to your settings on a little waveform display screen, but it also has a memory bank in which you can save up to four preset layouts. If you add whatever your current settings are on the actual faders, that gives you a total of five settings you can toggle among during a performance, and any guitarist who uses more than one ax in a given performance knows how useful it can be to switch up your sound on the fly. That also makes it a smart choice for electronic musicians and others looking to variegate their sound in real time.
The Source Audio SA170 remains the only other high-tech offering on our list, but it's better suited to the opposite of the artists listed above, as there's a bit of a lag when making adjustments or sorting through its memory banks. For a simpler choice, the MXR M108S is still tough to beat, with some of the best tone in the business. Players looking for more versatility might want to consider the Electro-Harmonix Fuzz for its additional effects, but it is a bit on the pricey side.
July 29, 2019:
With an update to the MXR in our previous number one position now allowing the pedal to offer dual outputs, there was little chance that another option would unseat it. MXR also updated their smaller offering with the same new low-noise circuitry and aluminum housing, but that little pedal is stuck at number six due to a lack of volume or gain controls. The Electro-Harmonix model crept up a spot to number three on the strength of its build quality and flexibility, even if it does take up a lot of space on a board.
Notably, you may find that there are some small, inexpensive options on the market that did not break into the ranking we've curated. While many of these boast similar superficial specs to much more expensive models, the test of time simply isn't there, and there's no reason to think a cut-rate pedal won't start developing noise as the corners cut on its circuitry begin to make themselves known. The only exception to this is perhaps the Behringer option at number seven, which has been around long enough to prove its worth despite its low cost (though users should expect a tiny amount of hiss).
Special Honors
Empress Effects ParaEQ MKII Players who find fixed sliders limiting may prefer a parametric EQ, where each band's center frequency can be swept to the exact spot you need. Empress Effects, a Canadian pedal maker, builds the ParaEQ MKII with three sweepable bands and a built-in boost. It costs more than most graphic pedals and takes longer to set up. empresseffects.com
Six, Seven Or Ten Bands
A wider swing allows deeper cuts, but big boosts also raise noise, so most players use a small part of the range.
Each slider on a graphic EQ boosts or cuts one fixed slice of the sound. A guitar does most of its work between about 100 hertz and 6 kilohertz, so six- and seven-band pedals put all their sliders there. The Boss GE-7 runs from 100 hertz to 6.4 kilohertz, and the MXR M109S stops at 3.2 kilohertz. That spacing gives fine control over the mids, where a guitar cuts through a band.
Ten-band pedals stretch from about 31 hertz to 16 kilohertz. The extra low bands matter for bass, baritone guitar and keyboards, and the top band adds air. The Donner EQ Seeker and the JOYO R-12 use that layout. Bass players who want a smaller pedal can pick one voiced for bass, like the Boss GEB-7, which runs from 50 hertz to 10 kilohertz.
Boost range is the other number to check. Most pedals offer 12, 15 or 18 decibels each way. A wider swing allows deeper cuts, but big boosts also raise noise, so most players use a small part of the range.
Where It Goes In Your Chain
Placement changes what an EQ does. In front of the amp, it acts like a tone control plus a boost: it shapes what the amp's preamp hears, and a mid push makes a dirty amp break up harder. In an amp's effects loop, it shapes the finished sound, closer to adjusting a mixing desk. Andertons' EQ pedal guide walks through both setups.
Next to drive pedals, order matters too. Before an overdrive, cutting lows tightens the distortion and boosting mids adds bite. After it, the EQ reshapes the distorted tone without changing how hard it clips. A common trick is to set the bands flat and raise only the level slider, which gives a clean volume lift for solos. Boss suggests that use on its GE-7 page.
Cut before you boost. Taking out a muddy band usually sounds cleaner than boosting everything around it, and it keeps hiss down. For a look at analog and digital EQs side by side by size, see GuitarPedalX's EQ roundup.
Power, Bypass And Noise
Check the power needs before you buy. Most EQ pedals run on 9 volts DC with a center-negative plug, but the MXR M108S wants 18 volts, and a 9-volt supply won't run it properly. Digital pedals draw far more current: the Boss EQ-200 is rated at 170 milliamps, so make sure your supply's outlet can carry it. Several budget pedals ship without an adapter.
Boss pedals use buffered bypass, so a small buffer circuit stays in the signal even when the effect is off. That can help with long cable runs. Most of the other pedals here use true bypass, which takes the circuit out completely when off.
Every graphic EQ adds some hiss when sliders are pushed far up. Players in long threads on the Seymour Duncan forum and The Gear Forum describe the MXR pedals as quieter and the GE-7 as noisier with big boosts. Sliders also collect dust, so a cover or a quick blast of air helps them stay smooth.
How we researched this
We compared 17 EQ pedals and read the makers' spec pages or dealer spec sheets for the 10 picks. We weighed published EQ roundups from guitar sites, long forum threads where players compare noise and bypass, and patterns in owner feedback, and we checked every brand for recalls with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. No pedal on this list has a recall. We found no lab measurements of EQ pedals, so noise comments rest on player reports.
Sources (16)
- Boss: GE-7 Equalizer
- Boss: EQ-200 Graphic Equalizer
- Boss: GEB-7 Bass Equalizer
- ModularGrid: MXR M108S
- No Treble: Source Audio EQ2
- Donner: EQ Seeker
- Effects Database: JOYO R-12 Band Controller
- ModularGrid: JOYO JF-11
- Effects Database: Mooer Graphic G
- Guitar World: Best EQ pedals
- GuitarPedalX: best EQ pedals by size
- Andertons: guitar EQ pedal guide
- Seymour Duncan forum: MXR 10-band or Boss GE-7
- The Gear Forum: GE-7 noise
- Thomann: EQ-200 customer reviews
- CPSC: recalls search
Frequently asked questions
What does a graphic EQ pedal do?
It splits your sound into fixed frequency bands and gives each one a slider to boost or cut it. Most also have a level slider, so the pedal can work as a clean volume boost.
Where should an EQ pedal go in my signal chain?
In front of the amp, it acts like a tone and boost control. In the amp's effects loop, it shapes the overall sound. Before an overdrive it changes how the drive reacts; after it, it reshapes the distorted tone.
What is the difference between a graphic and a parametric EQ?
A graphic EQ has fixed bands, one slider each. A parametric EQ lets you sweep each band's center frequency and often its width, which is more precise but slower to set.
Why does my EQ pedal hiss?
Boosting bands, especially the highest ones, raises noise along with the signal. Cutting the bands you don't want, rather than boosting the rest, and using a clean power supply keep hiss down.
Do bass players need a different EQ pedal?
Not always. Ten-band pedals reach low enough for bass. A seven-band guitar pedal stops too high, so bass players who want a compact pedal usually pick a bass version such as the Boss GEB-7.
