I used to use a stompbox EQ (Tech21 Qstrip) every time I played, even if it was just a single song at an open mic. That was with an M80 or stock piezo. With the Schertler AG-6/S-Mic I am using now, I don't need to. I like it flat. If you need extensive EQ, I would consider checking out some other pickups.
I used to use the Qstrip when I hosted an open mic, and it sounded great with all the pickups I ran into.
Six things I really like about the Qstrip:
1) I could power it with phantom power.
2) It sipped battery power. You could run it for months on a single 9v. The red LED would gradually get dim over months of use and it would still sound great when you could just barely see the LED light.
3) The Q on all bands gradually increases as you cut or boosted harder. It was very much like an old analog board EQ in this way.
4) All analog. If you boosted the bass really hard it would gently give you the same sort of saturation that you would expect from a vintage analog board. Absolutely beautiful sounding. Very clean flat.
5) It could handle anything from soft passive pickups to really hot active ones.
6) It also functioned as a really good active direct box. I found that many passive pickups sounded perfect even with the EQ punched off.
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