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Behringer EQ700 Pedal Review – The ULTIMATE pedal for any rig!
Introduction
Time for another first on the website! This is my first EQ pedal review! I have been meaning to review an EQ pedal for ages, and what better place to start than the Behringer EQ700! This is a super affordable EQ pedal designed to show you what you can do with one! I have read and heard a lot about this line-up from Behringer! A lot of good and a lot of not-so-good! So I thought I would grab some and give them a look.
So as always, why don’t we go over the actual pedal, listen to some sounds, and then I will tell you my thoughts on the pedal! I am excited for this one as I haven’t really had much time with an EQ pedal or a Behringer pedal like this. So, let us dive right into it! What is the Behringer EQ700 pedal? What does it do?
Behringer EQ700 Pedal
The Behringer EQ700 is a seven-band EQ pedal that draws its inspiration from the Boss GE-7 EQ pedal. Designed to help sculpt your guitar sound, it is trying to mimic a rack EQ you might find in a studio. Each slider is designed to adjust a certain frequency, allowing you to boost or cut each frequency. AS well as boosting or cutting the output of the pedal. I believe the original use of these types of pedals was to assist with cutting down feedback on stage.
Why don’t I go over the controls before we go too much further? Now, it is pretty clear that each slider adjusts frequencies, so I will tell you what each slider adjusts. Starting from the far left.
- Slider 1: 100hz
- Slider 2: 200hz
- Slider 3: 400hz
- Slider 4: 800hz
- Slider 5: 1.6k
- Slider 6: 3.2k
- Slider 7: 6.4k
- Slider 8: Overall output level for the pedal.
The whole pedal is housed in a plastic housing which has been given a mustard yellow colour to it. The pedal can run on either a 9v battery (insert the battery by taking the footplate off) or a 9v power supply. On the right-hand side, you have the input and the power input, and on the left-hand side, you have the output. You can buy the Behringer EQ700 pedal for around £20-£25, depending on where you shop.
The Sounds
For the demo songs, I plugged the EQ700 into the front of my custom RD Amp. I set up an edge of breakup tone and then used the EQ700 to push it and act as a boost/overdrive. This was recorded directly with the help of my Two Note Captor X with a 1X12 cabinet on it. The reverb was using the amp’s built-in spring reverb! Sounds glorious!
For the sound samples, I just plugged it into my Nano Cortex (Review Here) and ran through the sliders and set up the EQ in various ways. There was a bit of reverb and delay using the Nano Cortex, but the only pedal was the Behringer EQ700. Hopefully, this gives you some idea of what you can achieve with an EQ pedal! How you can alter your sound!
Now that we have heard some sounds, let me run you through my thoughts on the pedal! What do I think about it? There is a fair amount to cover!
What are my thoughts?
The Design
There isn’t much to say about the design and packaging! The pedal is £25! They weren’t going to spend a lot on design! You can clearly tell what the pedal is meant to look like (except the colour). I have a feeling the box was designed when this pedal was released (2007) and hasn’t been updated or changed since! I will say that the information you get inside the box is pretty useless! If you download the manual online, it is fairly useful, but nothing in the box is any good!
Although this pedal can be run on a battery, I don’t think many people will be! It is not the easiest to put a battery on it. On a Boss pedal, you just unscrew the footplate; on these, you need a pointy device to press the hinge in to lift off the footplate. Not an easy task to do on the go! I would highly recommend using a power supply!
"I didn’t look at it as a cheap fun toy. I was actually thinking of ways I could use it on my board!"
The Sounds
Sounds? Well, it can sound like anything you need it to sound like! I think the pedal is fairly clear and doesn’t colour your tone when set to default! However, all the sliders and frequencies are super responsive, and you can hear a difference when sliding them! Each slider has a good amount of boost and cut, nothing too crazy! I found that even at max or minimum, you can still use it and get usable sounds.
Apart from a small issue (that I will talk about shortly), I think the 7-band EQ is well set. For guitar and bass, you have all the frequencies you would want to be able to adjust! For guitar and bass, you to boost your mids for poking out of a mix or boosting the high end for that sparkle and classic rock jangle! It is all there within the 7 bands!
More on the Sounds
The volume slider also has a good range on it! Allowing you to push your amp into a natural overdrive from the pedal, then using the EQ to push or cut individual frequencies! Such a cool and useful feature to have! So simple to use as well!
What really surprised me was that after the first time I played the pedal, I could see myself using it! I didn’t look at it as a cheap fun toy. I was actually thinking of ways I could use it on my board! The amount of sculpting and fine tuning you can do is so useful!
The Drawbacks
One of the biggest things I noticed was the first two sliders being very close. Not so much physically, but the frequencies that pick. 100hz and 200hz aren’t that far apart. I wish they would have gone 100hz and 250hz. I feel this would have given you more freedom with the ranges of the pedal. However, it is only a minor issue and isn’t a huge deal.
I know everyone mentions it when talking about Behringer pedals, but I have to bring it up. This pedal is in a plastic housing! Now, what does this mean? Well, it isn’t as strong as most other pedals! It is a cheaply made pedal, so for that reason, some parts have to have lower standards. If you are planning to use this pedal live or even use it frequently, you may experience issues with the housing from repeated presses. However, you also might not! It depends on how hard you abuse and press the pedal.
"The best thing is, it isn’t even hard to do! Just fiddle with the sliders till you get something you like!"
Final Thoughts
I cannot explain how useful an EQ pedal is! You can do so much with one! From sculpting your sound to using it as a boost or overdrive! I can think of at least four pedals that can be replaced by an EQ. For the money the EQ700 is, it is worth having one around! £25 for a brand new one is killer value; however, if you look on Facebook Marketplace and Reverb, you might be able to find some even cheaper!
If you do a lot of gigs where you use a backline amp, the Behringer EQ700 can help you shape the amp and your sound into what you are after! In more detail than a simple amp EQ can. If you swap between a treble booster and a Tube Screamer, you can recreate those with an EQ pedal! The best thing is, it isn’t even hard to do! Just fiddle with the sliders till you get something you like!
Conclusion
So that is my review of the Behringer EQ700 EQ pedal. I properly loved this pedal! I might have to now try some other EQ pedals! Is there any difference between the more expensive ones? Are they actually any better? Apart from the plastic housing, of course! Maybe the Boss GE-7 will be up next! What this pedal has done is open my eyes to EQ pedals! Just how useful they really are!
I do have some more Behringer pedals which I will be reviewing in the pipeline! They will be coming out over the next few weeks, so please check back or give up a follow on Instagram and YouTube to keep up to date with them all! I really wanted to see what this line-up of pedals can do and is all about! Are they just a waste of money or are they actually usable? I aim to see!
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Behringer EQ700 Links:
- Behringer EQ700 (Thomann Affiliate)
- Behringer EQ700 (Andertons Affiliate)
- Andertons Affiliate Link
- Thomann Affiliate Link
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