Lots of players can do without an EQ pedal some of the time, but they can't do without an EQ pedal all of the time, because there are lots of uses for an EQ that's external to the amp. Here's why:
All amplifier tone controls have a single turnover frequency that the controls operate on, unlike a parametric EQ like you find on recording consoles. The EQ creates either a shelf or bell curve centered around that frequency. That's great - but it's not always the frequency you need to shape!
If your amp's bass control has a Baxendall curve (many do), turning down the bass starts cutting the frequencies slightly at 1 kHz - right in the midrange where you generally want more push, not less push, and then gets more extreme as the frequency of the signal goes lower.
Fine, but what if you want to hear good bass, but cut the mud below only 200 Hz without affecting the midrange?
This is one example where you need a parametric or multi band graphic EQ with the sliders. And you want this EQ ahead of the first gain stage to prevent mud from the very first preamp tube -- meaning, before you get to the amp's EQ.
Similar discussions can be had about midrange and treble controls.
You can, quite simply, be a lot more surgical with an EQ pedal if it's a good design.
In a room that has problems, or a stage that resonates and exaggerates 100z, do you really want to cut the bass starting at 1kHz? Or would you rather focus on the problem frequency? Because your amp's tone controls won't do that. An EQ can.
In the session world, you see a lot of EQs on pedalboards, because used in front of the amp, they're great tone-shapers; for example, an EQ can affect what frequencies break up when the signal hits the first preamp tube, pre-EQ. That creates a different sound from EQing after the first preamp stage or two with the amp's controls.
Amps also work a lot harder to reproduce low frequencies. Most mud in an amp is caused by distortion at the first gain stage before the EQ (v1). Once a signal is muddy, all the EQ on an amp isn't going to cure it. This is another reason producers like EQ pedals on players' boards. Know why an AC30 can be as loud as a 100 Watt amp? Because the bass frequencies were intentionally filtered out in the amp's design.
In a similar way, you can use an EQ pedal to create different responses from distortion pedals, accentuate frequencies that will be modulated with modulation pedals, eliminate mud in the pedals ,or make a Singlecut sound more like a Strat for one song.
You'll see players like Pete Thorn and Tim Pierce with some kind of EQ on their pedalboards. In Pete's case, that's sometimes just a treble boost ahead of his dirt boxes to affect how they break up, but Pierce uses a multi-band EQ pedal for the reasons I mentioned above.
Then there's the creative aspect of tone shaping and what you can do with EQ to sculpt sounds.
So yes, there are lots of reasons to have an EQ pedal and I've only addressed a few of them.
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