EarthQuaker Devices’ new Zoar Dynamic Audio Grinder is the brand’s “most tweakable distortion device ever” and promises “dozens of mind-blowing sounds”
Don't be fooled by its streamlined control layout. According to EQD, it's enough to harness everything from “jangly on-the-verge of break up to blowing-the-walls-out heavy saturation”
The result of this realignment is the Zoar Dynamic Audio Grinder – a streamlined yet “deceptively complex” high-gain stompbox that has been marketed as the brand’s “most tweakable distortion device ever”.
Just how tweakable can a six-knob, one-footswitch pedal be, you ask? Well, as per EarthQuaker Devices’ own words, very: the secret ingredient is supposedly the Weight parameter, which dictates that amount of low-end that passes into the circuit.
With Weight at its disposal, the Zoar can, erm, soar from clean boost territory all the way to hi-fi fuzz. This parameter is joined by a standard three-band EQ and master Level and Gain controls, all of which are said to share an intricate relationship that drastically alters the Zoar’s sonic characteristic.
This is, of course, the basic operation of most other pedals, but EarthQuaker Devices insists the Zoar is an exception: “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.”
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(Image credit: EarthQuaker Devices)
(Image credit: EarthQuaker Devices)
Another aspect that sets the Zoar apart from its competitors is its transistor-based construction. There are no op-amps or diodes here, just transistors that vow to deliver a greater amp-like touch sensitivity.
Other appointments include silent relay-based switching with Flexi-Switch Technology (which lets you momentarily engage the effect by pressing down the footswitch), an all-analog signal path and operation tolerance of up to 18V.
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With that in mind, the Zoar (unsurprisingly) behaves differently when powered at 18V, offering wider clean tones and punchier dirty sounds with better note clarification.
All of this, according to EQD, adds up to a distortion pedal that “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”.
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
