Boss GE-7

The sound quality is excellent, nothing to complain about here!  When you hear what this pedal can sound like, you will wonder why there aren't already boutique varieties of it available from one of the boutique shops.  Having a small graphic EQ that is built like a tank is something every guitar player can benefit from.  I play acoustic and archtop guitars.  But, from reading discussions elsewhere on the net, it is clear to me that electric players will get at least as much use from a pedal like this as somebody who plays acoustic instruments.  The pedal seems to be free of noise and hiss, and there are adjustments to the EQ frequencies and range that make for some nice, shimmering highs.  At first, I was not going to install those parts, but I am glad I did.  The instructions do tell you which parts are for lowering the noise floor and which are for affecting the EQ itself.  Also, a quick email to pedalhacker for explanation of what the EQ mods do, resulted in a timely response that helped me decide to jsut go for it (even though he advised I might want to live with the noise mods for a while and then decide to install the rest of it).

The Boss GE-7 is built like a tank, and these mods do absolutely nothing to change that (unless you screw up the install).  Again, an honest evaluation of your skill set will be much more preferable to ruining a perfectly good pedal that is stunning after the mods.

Since this is a pedal mod, "ease of use" here is not about the pedal, but instead about installing the mod.  Remember that you don't have to install the mod.  Pedalhacker will do it for a very reasonable fee.  I chose to install it, so that is how I am reviewing this mod. The mod includes 3 ICs and several capacitors and resistors.  The install is easy IF you are experienced with kit building, which includes following directions and soldering.  It takes care and patience to remove all the original parts.  The original ICs are soldered to the PCB, but the kit includes sockets for the new ICs. If you are not confident about your experience, it would be better to have Pedalhacker do the install than to wreck a perfectly good pedal. For those with the necessary experience, the install will take about an hour.  To evaluate your experience, please realize that a 7 band graphic EQ pedal will be more complex than a distortion type pedal, and therefore this really is more like building an electronics kit than a simple one or two component mod.

The mod kit arrived quickly (purchased via PayPal on Ebay) and all the parts were in the kit (nothing missing).  The instructions are clear with photographs marked to show where the replacement parts reside on the PCB.  I emailed pedalhacker once to determine if I should go ahead with the EQ portion of the install, and received an informative and timely response that same day within an hour or so.

Overall, this mod kit makes a so-so pedal into a great pedal.  I believe that if there is one pedal that any guitar player could benefit from, it is a DECENT graphic EQ pedal.  With the mod kit, I think the GE-7 is a top-notch pedal.  It is analog, and I much prefer the sound over the EQ-20, which is the Boss 10 band graphic EQ "Twin Pedal", which I also own.  The EQ-20 is a very good pedal, so the comparison is fair.  Prior to the mod, the EQ-20 was a much better pedal, but after the mod, the GE-7 is definitely the one. The pedal kit was $30.  You may be able to find the components yourself cheaper from catalogs such as DigiKey, but knowing what the components are and which ones to replace is a whole other story.  Combine all that, and $30 is a bargain.  I believe pedalhacker charges $49 if you have him do the install, but that would mean that you pay $19 to get a fully functional, modded guaranteed working GE-7, with no risk at all.  Either way, it is definitely worth doing.