Single or Multi

[Hanson]

Hey just wondering about pedals
First of all what are the best multi effects pedals out there?

And for the proper question , Would it be easier to buy seprate effects than Multi effects
Because ive heard that alot of the presets on multieffects such as the line6 are crap unless you spend time modifying them.
and i know i wont be any good at that , but single pedals only have a few controls so that might be simpler

So about this post being all over the place , but just lemme know if you can make any sence of it

Hanson

[Dood]

My take on the subject is not meant to upset the pedal users amongst us, but for me, instead of buying piles of pedals, i'd rather use that money to buy the best effects rack I could.

There is, as you have pointed out, benefits and disadvantages. One being that, yes you should spend a bit of time learning how to use the unit to its full potential. There's stuff that a rack / mulitFX unit can do that pedals just cant. ever. However, if you like the modular approach and only want to take a specific effect out of the house with you, then you are saving space, time and effort. Obviously, there are lots of boutique pedals out there, that *may* have sounds that aren't availanble on cheaper effects units. You have also pointed out that single pedals are easier to use. True. My preference is also to keep all the expensive stuff all racked up away from the floor. I therefore have just a controller sat on the front of the stage to get covered in beer, by exciteable gig goers. Another reason I wouldn't want to put my ten beloved pedals on the floor. Another plus for pedals.. if one blows up completely..well you just disconnect it.. if my rack dies, I lose all my effects. That hasnt happened yet, thankfully!!! You can also buy single pedals one at a time which is obviously cheaper in the short run thansaving up for a full rack.. but I suspect if you had bought ten pedals, the rack equivalent price would buy you a monster FX unit.

So thats a brief pile of thoughts. There are reasons to and not to in my opinion.

[Darcy]

I have gone back to singles, Had multi effects and they are very good but they give a "taste" of the real thing. Singles are limited but give a better quality sound but if you need shed loads of different sounds multi effects win hands down.

[Dood]

[quote name='Darcy' post='34383' date='Jul 19 2007, 10:04 PM']Singles are limited but give a better quality sound[/quote]

I'd have to totally disagree with you on that one. Certainly if you buy a cheap and cheerful multifx, then you may be presented with some poor effects. However most midrange multifx are equally as good quality as seperate pedals. Spend some more cash and I reckon the processor wil be every bit as good as 'singles'. In some case far better, due to the improved signal route.

[quote name='Darcy' post='34383' date='Jul 19 2007, 10:04 PM']Had multi effects and they are very good but they give a "taste" of the real thing.[/quote]

I don't quite follow what you mean. I can assume that you are refering to boutique pedal sounds that may not be included in mulitFX?

Having said that, a lot of units, such as mine allow you to model effects using 'building blocks'. VCOs / VCAs / Envelope controllers and Pitch sensitive controllers can be added to chains of effects parameters to make some really bizarre and wierd noises!

[Darcy]

Dood, talking from personal experience things like overdrive and Fuzz on multi effects like the ME50B and Pod, there good but get a real Muff or similar there is more depth, range, feeling. To be honest I couldnt warrant spending large amounts of ££££ on rack mounted equipment, anyway isnt this meant to be for Hanson's benefit?

[Dood]

[quote name='Darcy' post='34828' date='Jul 20 2007, 06:02 PM']Dood, anyway isnt this meant to be for Hanson's benefit?[/quote]


Its ok chill mate! ;o) That's why I'd asked for you to qualify what you were describing. I didn't really understand what you were getting at, so made the assumption that someone without FX experience at all would be completely lost.

To a point I think you are correct too. Cheapy multifx tend not to have decent overdrives lol .. wasps in jamjars come to mind!

[Darcy]

LOL Chilled

[The Funk]

With effects, I think the real story is that you can't get good sounds out of budget kit. You're better off not using an effect at all than a cheap effect or one that you don't know how to use properly.

I have a bunch of single pedals and a rackmounted compressor/limiter. Studio effects will always be far better than pedal effects but they will also cost a lot more. There's also a convenience thing. A lot of these great studio effects are designed to be operated by an engineer (by hand), not by a musician whose hands will probably be otherwise occupied. If it's an effect you can just set and forget, or operate with some kind of MIDI foot controller, then it's gig-able. If not, you'd have to get a stomp equivalent.

Having said all that, the entry-level studio multi-effects units will probably deliver a better sound than entry-level effects pedals. Reverbs, delays, auto-wahs etc.

It's hard to generalise about these things though. Give us some sounds you're after and a budget and we'll be able to advise better.

EDIT: In terms of ease of use, all effects pedals are difficult to use if you don't spend the time getting to learn what they do. The controls may be presented in different ways on Multi-Effects units and individual pedals but they perform the same functions. If you don't understand those functions, it won't matter if it's a pedal with 3 controls or a rack unit with a digital interface - you'll have no control over whether you get a good or crap sound.

Edited July 22, 2007 by The Funk

[Hanson]

Thanks for all the advice guys

Well im looking at spending around £150-£200 , Going the second hand route obviously so that ill get a better deal for my money.
Im not 100% sure what im after , but im only playing Small Pub and Club gigs and my gear isnt the best ever right now so im no 100% fussed about having the bet tone ever allthough it would be nice

I like to have a really bassy dubby Kinda tone and a Tingy Pop Punk kind of slappy sound at gigs aswell , At the moment we're playing mainly covers so itd be nice not to have to quickly keep changing my amp settings around between songs...Therefore it would be easier to use a stomp.

Im really new to effects , and know next to nothing when it comes to them.
Id like a overdrive/distortion/fuzz...But i dont know the difference between either of them.
Id like a chorus , but i tried a FAB chorus stomp and a Boss Chorus stomp and prefered the FAB , the price difference was £15/£50
I also like the idea of a synth , but after trying one of the boss synths i found it hard to get a good tone. I saw a guy using a [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/roland_gr20s.htm"]ROLAND GR-20S[/url] Which was totally what i was after synthwise but it was only for guitar really and also way out of my price range.

As you can see , my minds all over the place.
But i guess getting a multi effects i could just spend some more time talking to you guys and learn how to adjust and modify the effects on it. Im taking music tech in college anyways so it could come in handy

Out of the Ones [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/bass_multieffects.html"]Here[/url] which would you reccomend?

Hanson

Edited July 21, 2007 by Hanson

[Muppet]

I use the Toneworks AX3000B for my covers band where a number of different sounds are needed. I find that it is excellent. It is easy to use and easy to get the sound you are after. It's also pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things.

[bernard_beard]

If you are not totally sure what kind of sound you are after/like, maybe it better to go the multi effects route.
I'm pretty sure most will let you go from a dubby thump to a slappy ziingy sound in a single stomp.

Not much of an expert on multi-effect stomps, but if I had to choose I'd be thinking about which one had the best quality construction and least noise rather than which had most silly effects crammed in.

Edited July 21, 2007 by bernard_beard

[Hanson]

And which one would that be?

[Dood]

For £200 (including posatge) a multiFX unit that I would recommend whole heartedly would be this one [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2876"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2876[/url] . It will take a little time to figure out how to use it properly.. but TC are easily a market leader in rack FX. I've owned a TC rack for years.

[s_u_y_*]

I recently made the turn from multi back to single. The main factor was really space. The main band I'm in now doesn't need a lot in terms of effects, so all I really needed was a bit of overdrive and chorus. Since I was taking public transport, it was becoming a bit hassle to carry my Line 6 Bass Pod XT Live around to gigs. I could have went for the Bass Floor Pod, but in the end decided to go for singles as I could choose what effect I needed to bring and save my poor back.

TBH I do prefer multi-fxs. For live situations, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between a effect modeller and the real thing. Also, all the settings were stored digitally meaning I wouldn't have to remember all those settings or bother with writing on bits of tape.

Ultimately, it boils down to your personal situation examining the pros and cons.

[dr.funk]

I really fancy trying a Lexicon MX200, seems cheap and well equipped for everything I would want by cascading the two channels into each other.

[The Funk]

It sounds like you don't know what you want yet, in which case I'd say hang onto that money for now.

EDIT: Completely changed my mind. It sounds like you [i]do[/i] want to get started experimenting with a few different effects soon. And the sooner you get experimenting with the different effects, the sooner you'll understand how to get the most out of them. So I'd say get a decent multi-effects unit such as the TC. A guitarist friend of mine who's toured all over the world uses a TC. It's not the only rack-mounted multi-effects unit out there but it is one of the few designed specifically for guitar and bass.

Edited July 22, 2007 by The Funk

[MythSte]

I think the boss me-50B would be a good place to start, its Layout and programming is pretty analogue style, as you said you wouldnt be happy tweaking your sound loads, but presets can be saved etc. Then if you find your after something more specific, you could always put a pedal in the chain as its not huge.

food for thought!

[bassboy115]

why not do what i do: get a multi fx and then when you work out which ones you really use the most and want to get a better sound for then get a single pedal :

for example: i use a korg ax10b and only really use the fuzz so i bought a big muff and bypass the korg or use the compression on there...iv still got the different sounds on the korg if ever want to mess around with sounds when writing songs.

[Adam]

[quote name='ste_m3' post='35698' date='Jul 22 2007, 08:53 PM']I think the boss me-50B would be a good place to start, its Layout and programming is pretty analogue style, as you said you wouldnt be happy tweaking your sound loads, but presets can be saved etc. Then if you find your after something more specific, you could always put a pedal in the chain as its not huge.

food for thought![/quote]

Totally agree, the Me 50-b is a great starter piece, i have owned one for the last 2 years, but have now "grown out" of it, it has a great compressor, and some good effects, and some you will never ever use!!

may be getting rid of mine soon as i want a line 6 pod pro xt rack mount, i think dood made a real good point about having all the effects racked away, to avoid risk of damage etc.

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[Dood]

and dood is off to find a good deal on a line 6 too! ;o)

[bassboy115]

if using rack mounted effects wouldnt you still need a foot pedal anyway to control when you use it?

[Adam]

yes but if that gets damaged, its not goodbye effects, its just goodbye foot controller, id rather have a foot controller get damaged than my fx unit on the floor,

IMO anyway
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p.s reading back does this make any sense? lol

[bassboy115]

i understand what ur saying but it just seems like it doesnt make much difference which you get... You damage a footpedal(rack mounted) Your stuck with a unwanted effect half way through a song...

But then again if a fx pedal cuts out you have no sound...

I was just thinking that getting an effect pedal first would be better as there cheaper until you work out what effects your acctually going to use.

Or can you get multi rack mounted effects? if you can then really it makes no difference anyway!

Thats just MO anyway lol

[Adam]

in answer to the original question posted at the beginning of this thread, i agree with you, sorry i wasn't thinking about the thread when i answered last.


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[bassboy115]

lol no worries

Edited July 24, 2007 by bassboy115