Guitar Gear

Any graphic EQ will have a dramatic effect on your tone. I chose the GE-7 because I trust BOSS quality. Though I don’t gig nearly as much as I used to, a lot of my equipment choices over the years have been driven by durability. I know BOSS pedals will stand the test of time and the rigors of gigging.

As to the subject at hand, I’ve now had the pedal for several weeks and have gigged with it a bunch of times. As I said in my original review of the pedal, I don’t know why I hadn’t had one in my chain until now! As Phil McKnight said in a conversation with Tim Pierce on YouTube, “A graphic EQ fixes problems.” Truer words could not have been spoken!

Though it certainly can be used as a clean boost because of the Level slider, the GE-7’s core competency is boosting or cutting frequency ranges. With the last gig with my old farts classic rock band, I played my Squier CV Tele, plugging into my ToneMaster Deluxe. When I had everything set up with the GE-7 completely neutral, I noticed a bit of sharpness in the midrange. After fiddling a bit, I realized that it was in the 1.0k region, so I cut that frequency a couple of dB. My tone also felt a little flat after that, so I boosted the 100 and 200 ranges and upped the 3.0k and 6.4k a little to get a more scooped tone. Holy shit! It was the best I’ve heard it sound – ever!

Then when I engaged my OD pedal which provided a little midrange boost, my tone was balanced. And it struck me that I didn’t make major changes on the GE-7, but it fixed all sorts of issues in my tone; issues that I frankly just lived with until now.

Since that gig, I’ve been testing the GE-7 with several of my other amps in combination with my CV Tele, Les Paul R8, Taylor T5z, and even my Gibson J45. Later today, I’m going to test it with my Godin Artisan ST V. This is a guitar that I love but has been a bit problematic tonally for me since I got it. It’s a very bright-sounding guitar, and I’ve never been able to dial in its tone just using EQ knobs on my amp. I’m banking on the GE-7 to fix it!

A little update… I started writing this post a while ago and since then I’ve gigged with my Godin Artisan ST. The GE-7 saved my ass with that guitar which has been difficult to dial in with any of my equipment. With that guitar, playing it is like butter, but the pickups have been weird. It’s too bright in the upper midrange and too boomy in the low range. I was able to cut out the problem areas and got a smooth and creamy sound that was just bright enough to cut through the mix. It’s going to be great to be using that guitar in my regular rotation! LIke I said, game-changer!