Origin Effects M-EQ Driver review

Origin Effects builds on the sonic signature of a 1950s EQ unit, offering a flexible new take on drive pedals

Origin Effects M-EQ Driver
(Image: © Future / Olly Curtis)

Guitar World Verdict

Far more versatile than your average overdrive, Origin Effects’ M-EQ Driver is a touch-sensitive tonal enhancer that lets you get in and really adjust the character of your drive sounds, while offering a tactile relationship between your dirty and clean guitar tones.

Pros

  • +

    Origin’s usual high standard of build quality.

  • +

    Compact size.

  • +

    Targeted midrange boost.

  • +

    Top-end attenuation.

  • +

    Great response to playing dynamics.

Cons

  • -

    Nothing.

You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

In the world of drive and distortion, the midrange frequencies play a huge part in shaping the sound, so it follows that a pedal with a lot of control over that crucial area of the spectrum will offer real flexibility. 

This is especially the case if that pedal is based on some of the most respected studio EQ units in the business, the 1950s-designed passive Pultec units. These Pultecs featured highly musical EQ and a push-pull output stage that could be overdriven, and here Origin Effects’ aim is to put that mojo into a compact pedal form that guitarists can use.

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