EarthQuaker Devices Zoar Dynamic Audio Grinder Distortion Pedal

Zoar is a highly interactive medium-high gain discrete distortion (using only transistors; no opamps or diodes in here!) that has that highly sought after touch sensitive amp-like quality. It has been finely tuned to create a highly tweakable hi-fi and modern sounding distortion, but with the ghosts of old school circuitry to deliver a grind that is both instantly familiar and delightfully unique. From defined sparkle and tightness of an overdrive to low-medium gain fuzz that’s perfect for drop tuned guitars and basses, Zoar can do it all. Zoar lets you dial in and control every nuance of your tone from jangly on-the-verge of break up to blowing the walls out heavy saturation. While having its roots in a very familiar past, the passive 3-band EQ has been finely tuned for modern tones. While this style of tone shaping seems simple on the surface, it is deceptively complex and highly interactive - yet surprisingly easy to instantly dial in dozens of mind blowing sounds.  

This meticulously crafted box has six knobs that allow you to truly customize your sound with the Level, Weight, Gain, Bass, Middle, and Treble controls.  The Gain control on Zoar goes from the edge of break up all the way over the cliff into the crunchy, grinding abyss. The character of the distortion is heavily dependent on the setting of the Weight control as well as the pickup type and further fine-tuned by the EQ section.

Zoar’s 3-Band EQ and Gain controls give you nearly unlimited options with great focus and sensitive precision, but the real powerhouse of Zoar is the Weight control. This control dictates the amount of low end that is passed into the circuit, thus controlling the entire character of the pedal. Simply dial in the 3-Band EQ to 12 o’clock and adjust the Weight to see how drastically it dictates your sound. From a mere clean boost to a high gain distortion to overdrive to the crispy Hi-Fi fuzz territory, this function gives you everything.

The Level control hits unity around noon, but this is dependent on where the other controls are set. In addition to controlling the output volume, it also plays a small part in controlling the voice of Zoar. By adjusting the Level control with any combination of EQ (boosting the frequency bands and cutting the output volume), you can achieve drastically different curves that have the feel of the more traditional low pass filter type tone control.

Want to elevate your sonic spirit to a higher level? Try running Zoar at higher voltage! Zoar can handle power up to 18v DC. Higher voltages will yield a different frequency response with more defined dynamics and a faster response. When powered at 18v, the range of clean tones are widened, dirty tones become punchier with better note articulation, low frequencies are tightened, higher frequencies will cover a broader spectrum without becoming harsh and the output volume nearly doubles! The experience is not unlike plugging into a wall of high wattage tube amplifiers!