The Fishman ToneDEQ Acoustic Instrument Preamp has some decent effects and sounds fine when it works, but the physical build quality is a major letdown—especially for a product marketed to gigging musicians.

After only about a dozen live uses, the XLR input collapsed inward and now no longer functions. That makes the unit essentially useless in a live setting. This wasn't abuse or rough handling - just normal gigging, plugging in and out like any DI or preamp should be able to handle.

The housing feels cheap, and the connection points clearly aren't reinforced well enough for real-world use. For a piece of gear that's supposed to live on the floor and be part of a professional signal chain, that's unacceptable.

If you're playing at home or in a studio where cables rarely move, it might be fine. But for gigging musicians who rely on durable, road-worthy equipment, this unit falls short. Sound quality doesn't matter much when the hardware fails this quickly.

Bottom line: decent effects, but poor construction and unreliable connections make this a bad choice for live performance.

I am a professional multi-instrumental performer acoustic, not only did this pedal improve the sound of my guitar,but improved the sounds of my electric violin! Highly recommended!!

The ToneDEQ has all the effects I need in an acoustic guitar pedal. Pares nicely with the Aura Spectrum DI Imaging pedal.

Used the TONEDEQ live last night for the first time and it performed very well. I did try it out on a small PA in my practice room, but only spent a little time with it. During a break between the 1st and 2nd set we plugged it in, did a short sound check, played the acoustic set with no problems at all. The band loved it and I could hear and control my acoustic sound quite well. I used a bit of chorus, but left the reverb off since the room/PA sounded really great. My sales engineer Andy and others in the service / technical departments took great care of me. THANKS!

The ToneDEQ is a perfect match for Fishman's, MARTIN branded MX-T pickup system. Tuner is in guitar, low cut switch allows removal of rumble and allows EQ to control usable signal. Compressor has soft knee curve, works well at all settings. EQ has good center frequency's, Q (bandwidth), and range of control. Phase switch is always good for feedback elimination without over EQing. Reverbs are nice but subtle; chorus, flanger and tremolo are great, good electric guitar sounds on acoustic. All acoustic instruments with pickups need a MUTE button for stage use, not included. The best thing about this preamp is the sound. With the guitar EQ control set to flat, I roll on volume pedal (for muting) while strumming, cannot tell when amplified sound takes over from guitar. If you like your guitar sound and have Fishman pickup this is your preamp.

I'm a violin player in a loud band- rock, gypsy, bluegrass, punk, reggae, and so on. I really like this ToneDEQ-- it seems to be loaded with the various effects that really shape the sound of the violin and get it to come out of the mix.

Normally, I'd expect an 'all-in-one' box to have lots of effects that are just ok... but I was surprised that they all seemed to be above board. I especially like the reverb, which is, in my book, essential for rounding out the tone of an acoustic violin. Some folks complain about the reverb/ delay being on the same switch such that you can't use them both at the same time- I don't use delay for violin, so I don't mind. True, it might be nice to have the chorus/ tremolo on separate switches, but hey, this is an all-one-box so I'm sure they had to make concessions somewhere.

The EQ and low cuts are also nice, and of course essential for pulling out the right frequencies for the violin. Some reviewers have noted that there is no notch filter-- from what I can tell, the phase switch on the ToneDEQ is an alternate method of combatting feedback, so time will tell if it's effective enough to replace a notch filter.

I also tried the Fishman Platinum Pro against this unit; this one came out on top, not just for overall sound but because the ToneDEQ also has a series of effects (that the Platinum Pro does not). However, as noted by another reviewer, the Platinum Pro has a tuner, which the ToneDEQ obviously does not. I have a standalone polytune pedal that I am putting in front of the ToneDEQ, so no problem there.

Overall a great unit and very happy with it.

The product was suggested by my sales engineer to give me the tone with my Taylor guitar I have been craving. It makes the air sparkle now in the studio. I have it on set it and forget it now! I also had an issue with the TONEDEQ over the weekend and called my SALES engineer, Drew Foster, he immediately knew what the issue was and even though I was skeptical of the suggestion, I went home and did what Drew Foster had suggested and it WORKED!! Drew has been helping me build my home studio and get gear for my GIG RIG!!. He always helps me get the best items for what I describe I want and how I want to use them and he nails it every time. And he has helped me save money as well. Big Kudos to Drew Foster (@drewfoster) and I would recommend him to anyone!

Thanks to Drew and Sweetwater!!

I'm a guy with too many amps and pedals already. I was looking to simplify my life a little and go directly into the house through a good pedal so once again I started to research acoustic pedals on line, I soon boiled my searches down to the Fishman TONEDEQ and or ZOOM AC-3. So what the heck I ordered both of them.I tried them both out side by side at home and dearly love both of them. I got everything I was looking for with the TONEDEQ,all the marvelous tone and effects of the Fishman amps with easy to operate and simple controls. I took the TONEDEQ into a fairy large church with a wonderful P.A. system and plugged in direct. Wow, how cool does that sound! Talk about accurate reproduction of whichever guitar I choose for the week. I couldn't be more pleased, the worship team and congregation members often comment on the great sounds that I'm getting with this pedal. Always a big thank you to the Sweetwater team for their high quality equipment selections and great service.

A great piece of gear…with all of it's features, I was able to eliminate an acoustic pedal board twice it's size…smaller footprint frees up limited stage space…it sounds very natural…I really like the boost feature…especially with my acoustics the don't have a volume control built in…

I have used this for the last year along w a loop and vocal pedal..it has nice effects when working but has quit several tines in the middle of gig...i no longer trust it....

This direct box is perfect for my needs! It gives me all the effects I need without having to tote a bunch of pedals to church every week where I play.

My "major" criticisms of the ToneDEQ would be 1) Its lack of a notch filter, and 2) I wish the reverb was its own separate effect instead of being selectable with the delays (you can have either reverb or delay, but not both at the same time). The reverb is sweet, but I can't really use it as I really need the delay to be available on certain songs, and switching between reverb and delay would make my sound very inconsistent. So I just use a different reverb further down the pedal chain.
Otherwise, I love the tone it brings to my primary acoustic (Taylor 714CE). I finally feel that the live sound of this guitar has reached its true potential. A few other less-significant comments: The input and boost level knobs are a little hard to adjust on the fly, especially when packed in with other pedals. Also, a mute button would be nice. All in all, the tone is awesome, and the effects are sweet. I love the boost function. I debut the ToneDEQ this weekend and am looking forward to how it enhances my live sound during a real performance. I'll see if I need to mess with the low cut and phase switches at a real venue, but at home, there has been absolutely no feedback and no need to change these from their defaults. Another quality product for the acoustic guitarist from Fishman!

I've had this unit for about 4 years now and love most everything about it. Like others, I wish delay and reverb were separate controls but that isn't a serious issue as reverb is available in other places, i.e., the board.

Here's my major problems. 1) The unit makes a loud pop when turning dials, particularly the chorus. I have learned to use my tuner stomp box as a silencer when changing settings. Not a deal breaker but a nuisance none the less. 2) The unit makes crazy popping noises when there is no input cable connected. It does it on both battery and line power. Can't figure out why. Maybe it's just my unit. Otherwise, typical Fishman crystal clarity and build quality.

Excellent for my acoustic gigs. The effects and EQ are very nice and worked well as longs as you have time between songs to reach down and make the adjustments for the next tune.
I would love it if it had separate buttons for each effect so you could use delays, reverbs and tremolo at the same time. An onboard tuner would also be a plus. Maybe the next model?

I'mloving my tonepro pedal! Its easy to use and it's compact , its giving me various sounds in one box rather than 4or 5. Thats my favorite part of it.

If you are an acoustic tone chaser this box is truly amazing. It won't be for everyone, but if you like lush waves of acoustic goodness this is it. To begin with the preamp is silent and alone boosts my passive pickup beautifully. The effects are truly usable and what blew me away was how musical and mesmerizing my tone was with the flanger. Previous experiences with jet plane sounding flangers had me concerned this was a wasted function. But with this on and dialed in - it sounded like two guitars playing as I strummed and rolled my wrist to accent the bass and then treble strings. Wow! The bass is rich and smooth and the EQ very effective.

But all is not completely perfect - I agree with others that while it is well made and sounds stunning I wish the enclosure was a little more robust. There is quite a bit of plastic involved. Aluminum would give me more assurance with this investment.

I have to date used a smallish pedal board with a clean boost, BodyRez, EQ, Reverb, Chorus and Delay with great results. I run this through a Fender Acoustic 100. But I spent a lot of time fussing with the pedals. The ToneDEQ I still play with, but it is so easy to dial in I spend less time fussing and more playing.

As a significant bonus, my Ibanez AS53 semi-hollow sounds amazing through this - even better than the string of pedals I mentioned. Interestingly the only guitar that didn't sound better was my Breedlove. It definitely sounded better through the pedal board.

A big thank you to Joshua Dillon for his patient guidance. We discussed multiple units and what I was trying to achieve. When this unit was offered as a Demo at a reduced price I opted with this over another we had discussed. The Demo unit was in virtually new condition.

Used only one time so far (at a Church), and got complements from the sound board on my guitar sound.

The dials turn nice and smoothly, and unit feels relatively solid. The volume control (which only controls the 1/4" out) was nice so I could have control over my own monitor volume.

I do wish the eq had a bit more to it, but overall I'm happy with this unit. I was looking for a single unit to improve my guitar's sound coming through the board, and this fit the bill.

I purchased this item to hopefully bring some life to what is normally a bland sound to my acoustic guitar during a live performance.
This device provided the sparkle I was looking for!

This is a first class A number one acoustic preamp. I believe everyone has already said all the good things about it above so I don't want to repeat that. But I love this thing. But there's one more thing I really like...tremolo... and it's almost impossible to find a good one out there and this was included here And it sounds fabulous. I use the tremolo but barely turn it up so it's not real obvious but barely enough that my guitar begins to sound like angels singing from heaven. And the compressor wow does that do a great job tameing down and really smoooothing! out any overly jangley acoustic sounds your guitar might be making. I mean... this his thing is really nice. I also have the other Fishman preamp's that emulate other great guitars when you plug into it. But I have found out this pre-amp can take the guitar you have and make it sound beautiful and you don't need a modeling pre amp to make it sound like somebody else's guitar. I know because I have both of the preamps. So take my word for it this things a dynamite little gadget.

This does everything it claims to do, and verynicely. Of course it doesnt have the control of dedicated pedals such as tc or strymon, but it does an excellent job at a basic level. Only reason it got 4 stars and not 5 is the plastic case. Nowhere near as sturdy as their older AFX aluminum boxes.

I needed a device that would allow to direct connection to a sound board and also to make my acoustic guitar sound like an acoustic when plugged in electronically. The Tone DEQ was the solution for me. The Tone DEQ brightened and balanced the sound and provided versatility for the various acoustics that I play. Worthy every cent I spent. I found out about this through a friend who bought one at Sweetwater.

I've switched over to Ovation guitars a few years ago simply for the ergonomic standpoint. Back, arm and rib injuries made playing squared guitars very painful, I'd even given up playing for a few years because of this. The one thing I just couldn't get from the Ovations was the sound of my old solid wood squared guitars when amplified. Let's just say the plastic in the Ovations comes through. Most players I've spoken with that are "in the know" told me the trick with them is "EQ-ing."

Several weeks ago I ordered a Fishman Tone DEQ and I've been kicking myself in the butt ever since. Why did I wait so long? The sound I've been looking for was there, the guitar just needed the right help. The Tone DEQ was the answer. Holding it, and playing with it says this is one quality piece of equipment.

This one took care of the mid problem that I had on my taylor guitar. After few tweaks on the tone controls (particularly on the mid knob), boom! It worked like magic. I've been struggling to get the right tone on my acoustic guitar since I got it late last year. My sales engineer was right, It put more life and depth into my sound, making it more natural as an acoustic. Thanks a lot Jordan Garrett! and thank you Sweetwater! Just Awesome!

Great all in one Acoustic pedal. Includes EQ for tone and feedback control as well as nice effects a person might use.....

I was totally blown Away with this Pre amp. I had an older Fishman Loud Box, I sold it after I got this. I am using this with my Taylor 714E. It is plugged in to my Pa and sounds Great. I would recommend this Preamp to any one that plays through a Pa or a Acoustic Amp. Thanks Phil

Yes, nice Fishman quality. I think reviews below amply cover positive features. 4.5 Stars as far as features and sound.

So here are my main negative pet peeves against this spendy-enough $... multi-pedal (to balance out overall rating):

1. The metal buttons have a very LOUD CLICK when pressed. Fishman needs to use soft touch pads on this, it is after all for softer acoustic sets, right? CLICK!! Ruins live recordings.CLICK!! Lordy. One star down.

2. As others have also said, no onboard Tuner with On/Off feature. Gosh, that should have been self-evident on this unit and so easy to include. Now I need yet another pedal next to this on the floor. Lost another star here.

3. No power adapter included with... purchase? Whaa? 3rd star gone.

4. Not a negative per say, but as a last suggestion (for DEQ 2.0) would be helpful to have a small Looper feature built-in, like on some Roland AC amps - along with a built-in Tuner I could finally get rid of all my other pedals for acoustic gigs!

It's been a while since I needed an acoustic pedal (I fried an old Roland unit which I loved by using the wrong power supply) and I was having a hard time choosing between several units. Well I am so happy I went with the Fishman Tone DEQ! First of all, the unit looks really nice and is well built. And the sound is absolutely clean and beautiful. The effects sound real good, I use the reverb 2 set at 25% and 50% and the chorus 2 set at 25% and 65%, and the boost is perfect for that extra kick you need for your leads. If you're looking for an acoustic pedal, I highly recommend you take a look at this one. Excellent pedal!!

I have been using an older gibson J 200 acoustic and my newer Taylor 914 for my trio gigs, and was pleased with the sounds and tone of both. Then i received my fishman toneDEQ and was really blown away! I didn't think those guitars could sound any better but the Fishman took it over the top, great unit and top notch effects, very satisfied! And Dan Robinson's help made my purchase that much more enjoyable, thanks Dan.

Playing for over 30 years. I have various acoustics, Martins, Taylors, Yamahas and Godin. They all have different characteristics and tonal qualities. I could never find one pedal that addressed feedback issues during live performances, for all the guitars I have. This one takes care of that problem.

The effects are warm and are totally user adjustable. I use very subtle effects. Mosty delay and compression. Sleek looking, easy to use right out of the box. Adds wonderful tone to your guitar. I play thru a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb reissue, which is one of the cleanest amps you can use. This pedal enhances the sound without washing out the tone of the guitar you are playing. Plus, it does not break the bank!

I've had the ToneDEQ before and loved it! Will Newbill has been my go to guy for equipment on the Web for several years now. Friendly and knowledgeable regarding what is on the market. I've never had the lest bit of hesitation ordering from Sweetwater like some of the places that I will NEVER do bisiness with again! The orders are shipped fast and get here in top condition. Dave Ken*****.

I've only just had this thing for a short while but Sweetwater asked me for a review and these guys provide such terrific customer service how could I refuse? First, I am not a club/church working musician but a gigging acoustic singer/songwriter who plays mostly listening rooms and small festivals. Had I known how much difference an acoustic pre-amp would make to the sound of my guitars (Taylor 514 w/Baggs M-1 active , Martin 000-17 w/Baggs Anthem SL ) I would have done this years ago.

I was looking for a multi-effects pedal board to replace the low-end Digitech and Zoom effects units I have been using. These effects never lived up to their hype and I found it easy to overload their processors and the sound to turn sour pretty quickly. Besides, the only effects I use a lot are reverb, delay and chorus and, occasionally, a touch of dirt and tremolo. This box gives me everything but the dirt. After pouring over all of the stuff available I paired it down to the ToneDEQ and the Boss AD-10. Several of the reviewers said the AD-10's effects were pretty weak so I went with the ToneDEQ figuring if I don't like it, I can always send it back.

First blush: I don't plan to send it back. It is a high quality product producing crystal clear tones that bring out the highlights of my guitars like I haven't heard before. It makes me want to play just so I can hear them. The effects are a little limited in their selection but suit me and are strong and widely adjustable. I/O is professional grade allowing for versatility in a live sound system setting. I run it into a TC Helicon Voice Solo FX150 personal monitor and am very pleased with what I hear. Some people complain that it doesn't have a built-in tuner but that doesn't bother me as I use a Korg Pitchblack stomp box that works better than any built-ins I've seen so I probably wouldn't have used it anyway.

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I have nothing to compare it to. Maybe there is something else out there at this price range that's better but if so, I doubt that I will find it because... I don't plan to send it back.

First of all it is very very easy to use. I can go from natural to heavenly. The effects of sound professional and clear. I'm using it with my Ibanez 12-string. It has a Fishman pick up system. I'm running it into the deck. And then from there into a 60-watt Fishman loudbox. More than enough volume and the effects in the deck sound better than the effects on the amplifier. A bit stronger. I flatten everything out on the amplifier and just use the deck. So easy to use. The compression does a wonderful job. Fishman you've done it again. I will never go without the deck. Thank you and Sweetwater very very much.

First of all it is very very easy to use. I can go from natural to heavenly. The effects of sound professional and clear. I'm using it with my Ibanez 12-string. It has a Fishman pick up system. I'm running it into the deck. And then from there into a 60-watt Fishman loudbox. More than enough volume and the effects in the deck sound better than the effects on the amplifier. A bit stronger. I flatten everything out on the amplifier and just use the deck. So easy to use. The compression does a wonderful job. Fishman you've done it again. I will never go without the deck. Thank you and Sweetwater very very much.

I play a lot of acoustic live and was always looking for a more produced sound. i didn't want to put a pedal-board together just for the acoustic though that is what my ears were probably wanting to her. I have been using a Bagg's Session D.I. which was ok. As soon as i plugged into the Fishman ToneDEQ it delivered exactly what i have been searching for for years. I run a Taylor 326 CE with the Expression 2 pickup system and it gave me (in my in ear monitor) the produced sound i have been looking for. I add a bit of compression, some reverb for a bit of space, and chorus if needed to round out the sound. Now it sounds like a studio produced guitar. Excellent! Effective EQ, nice routing options, adjustable boost function switchable to kick out that solo, and stellar sound. Cant wait to see what it does for direct recording.
One caveat; It is a battery hog. Only got 1 and a half shows out of the battery. No problem with a One Spot!

Easy to use and produces amazing sounds from my Taylor! So glad I purchased!

Hello from a longtime fishman user. Loud box 100, undersaddle pickups, pro eq, sa220, sa330x, and now the fishman tonedeq.

The good: very clean, separate foot switches for chorus and delay as well as boost, plenty of adjustments, xlr output. This is a very easy to use unit and great for Live performances.

The bad: no onboard tuner, no included power supply, no phantom power, price is steep when considering these items are missing. If fishman could just add these three things it would beat all other units out there and become the go to pedal for acoustic guitarists everywhere.

The comparisons: I also have three of the zoom acoustic units... 504, A2, A3. The A3 is nice but cumbersome to use in a live environment. I did an A/B with the A3 and the fishman and found the A3 just a bit more digital sounding (of course... it is digital). I hate the A3 interface but love that it has so many features. I have also used a Yamaha AG and a Magic Stomp. Don't bother with the MagicStomp but pick up an AG stomp if you can find one. The only downside to them is a delay while switching patches.

I find myself alternating between the Fishman Tonedeq and the Zoom A3 and cannot decide which on will always be with me. The tone shaping and overall quality of the fishman' sound is a winner but it is held back by the missing items mentioned above. Fishman is almost there with the perfect pedal. If they can add just three little things and maybe make the enclosure without simulated wood grain they will have a true winner.
Thank you to sweet water and Geoff for setting me up with this unit and thank you to Fishman for constantly improving the acoustic experience.

Prior to purchasing this pedal, I had played around with a couple of my friends' and finally gave in and spent the money. By far, one of the best guitar products I have purchased. I currently play a Taylor 210ce K-DLX, which sounds amazing by itself, but the variety of tones made possible through this pedal allow you to create so many different sounds. Another feature that is indispensable is the fact that this pedal also acts as a DI, assuming you have this as the last pedal in your chain. Unfortunately, this amazing feature becomes useless if you are using a looper (you can make some sweet music by using a Ditto Looper after this) or other effects that you want after the ToneDEQ.

Very easy to use. All the effects are crystal clear and subtle, and all are tweakable. A very convenient and usable boost function. Actually you get everything you need to amplify an acoustic or even electric guitar (with clean sound). The preamp is also very light.
Couple of downsides – when switching modulation effects fast, you'll hear a boom in speakers, so do it carefully and slowly. Also for the price of the item Fishman could include a power adaptor with the pedal.
Otherwise it's just great. Easy to use, light, great sounding.

Excellent choice for a solo or duo performer. Great tone and flexibility and some nice effects to color your sound in various ways. Very easy to use.

I run a Taylor 618e (newer version) through this and if you spend a little time you can get quite a good sound. The trick is not not push anything to hard... do your low end roll off, boost the highs a bit and cut the mids a little (everything is center-detent on the Taylor so I can have full override live if needed) and mix in some of the compression, it's really not suffocating. Reverb 1 seems just right at least in our 250-seat church. HOWEVER, I'm not a big fan of the DI in this. It sounds good, that's about it. I use a dedicated Radial J48 DI box which runs on Phantom power and sonically walks the Fishman off the court IMO. I use the Amp out on the Fishman into the J48, much better result (this is for fingerstyle btw, not mush strumming). I know, this breaks the all-in-one idea, but there's four things that keep this from being a true AIO unit: for this price it should run on Phantom power (although moot point for me now), there's no Mute footswitch which would be great for guitar changes, no built in tuner that works when muted like the Boss pedal, and Reverb & Delay are not able to run simultaneously. Maybe that's asking a lot but this isn't a $129 unit. Nonetheless, tone-wise it's quite good once you work with it and at the end of the set or service, that's all that matters.

I can really tell a difference when using the preamp. It makes your acoustic sound 3x better

This unit includes all the effects I typically use on my acoustic or electric guitar. The tone is top shelf and the reverb, echo , chorous and tremolo are all first rate. To the amp or to the board, live or in the studio this thing sounds great. No complicated programing is required to dial this baby in. It cuts right to the chase. Two thumbs up from me!

The Fishman ToneDEQ Acoustic Preamp with effects is awesome. If your doing Pink Floyd songs, David Bowie,and classic 60's n 70's, this is the Preamp you gotta have..So easy to use,between song step on or turn off the effect, very easy to use.Love it!!

At first, i think that this unit was all i need for my acoustic guitar. D/I, boost, effects, compressor..All nice features! But.. this unit lack of some esencials things to use as a stand alone acoustic processor..
1. Built-In Tuner - it's very handy to have a tuner. If you have more guitars like me at the same time in-stage, is nice to quickly tune the selected guitar between songs..
2. Mute switch - I hate to lower the volume between songs to prevent accidental strings noise, and or in breaks...
3. Sweepable Mids - 700hz isn't my go-on freq to adjust.. There is a huge waste of control from 700khz to 12khz, where the High are set. Adding another mid-high control about 2k provides a lot of more control. Or simply adding a sweepable mid can resolve this problem.
4. Can't use reverb and delay simultaneosly - Sometimes this combination is very nice and i can't do this on this unit.
5. Absent Notch filter - No notch filter in a acoustic preamp/effects unit?? Uhh??

The ToneDEQ features are very nice like the compressor, low-cut, boost and is a usable unit, but i think you will need extra gear to get a total control of your sound.