Boss · GE-7 · 1981–present

Boss GE-7 Equalizer

Boss's first compact graphic EQ was the six-band GE-6 from the late 1970s, and the seven-band GE-7 followed in 1981. It's still in the catalog. The sliders sit at 100Hz, 200Hz, 400Hz, 800Hz, 1.6kHz, 3.2kHz and 6.4kHz, each with 15dB of boost or cut, and a Level slider lets you use it as a clean boost too. The top band is a shelf for smoothing treble, and the rest are peaking filters. Put it before a drive pedal and it changes how that pedal distorts. Put it at the end and it fixes a muddy or harsh amp. Acoustic players use it to tame feedback. Analog Man says the stock pedal can get noisy when you move the sliders, and he offers a Pro mod for Japanese units and newer ones with full-size boards. The Malaysian units from about 2020 use surface-mount parts he can't modify. For a simple fix-it EQ, any working GE-7 is fine. If you want it modded, buy an older one.