Earthquaker Devices Zoar

Earthquaker Devices Zoar is a highly interactive medium-high gain discrete transistor-only distortion 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.

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.

The 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. 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.

Zoar can handle power up to 18v DC. 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!

Earthquaker Devices Zoar demo video