Q-switched laser sources have obtained substantial attention over recent decades due to their extensive applications across various industries and scientific research fields. Advancements in finding new saturable absorber (SA) materials to achieve efficient Q-switching remain a key focus in fiber laser research. This study demonstrates the generation of Q-switched pulses utilizing two distinct passive SA types: an organic film absorber incorporating Alq3 and an artificial SA based on a single-mode fiber (SMF), step-index multimode fiber (SIMF), single-mode fiber (SMS) structure. Initially, we employed an organic SA by embedding Alq3 into a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film to create a Q-switched pulse train with a broad tuning range. An integrated tunable bandpass filter (TBF) within the Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) cavity allowed for continuous wavelength tuning from 1520 nm to 1563.3 nm, covering nearly the entire C-band region. The fiber laser exhibited excellent stability, with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of approximately 53 dB across various wavelengths. These findings highlight the broad absorption capabilities of Alq3, confirming its suitability for compact, stable, and widely tunable fiber lasers. In a second approach, we fabricated an SMS structure by fusion-splicing a 158 mm length of 105 μm core diameter SIMF into the EDFL cavity. This structure effectively served as a passive SA, utilizing multimode interference and the Kerr effect to modulate the cavity loss for Q-switching. The repetition rate ranged from 87 to 158 kHz, achieved with a pump power between 115 and 343 mW. The minimum pulse width of 2.5 μs was obtained at a pump power of 343 mW. The SNR of the fundamental mode reached 72 dB at a central wavelength of 1530 nm. Our results demonstrate that the SMS structure is an effective SA for generating stable Q-switched EDFLs with a straightforward cavity configuration.