Pedal board - or stick with what i've got

[BigJHW]

Hey hey,

So i know the pedalboard v multi effects posts are probably all over this forum so i won't go down that route... (well sort of)

 

but i was wondering

I don't usually use effects or pedals or any sort but.... i am considering it as i can think of  a track or 6 that we play that might use a little something.

So that said...

 

I own a Boss ME50B - seems to have things i could use - i've owned it for years now one of my age old GAS purchases but don't know that i've ever used it

 

should i stick with that unit OR should i get individual pedals and make a board?

 

help me make up my mind

 

ta

Big J

[Boodang]

I've done multi effects including the Helix but to my ears the pedals I have do each individual effect better. The bonus to this is that there's lots of fun with GAS trying out and getting each pedal plus some that I have like the Doc Lloyd and Walrus with some great art work. And for some reason I enjoy the process of putting together the pedalboard for specific setups. The downside, I admit, is that my current board (which admittedly now has 16 pedals) costs way more than a multi effect but, I think, sounds better. You don't have to go as far as getting 16 pedals though and just have fun picking out the few you need.

[Boodang]

Also.... KNOBS! Going the pedal route gives actual dedicated knobs to tweak. Multi effects makes me feel like I'm a programmer rather than a bass player!

[Lunoxx]

11 minutes ago, Boodang said:

I've done multi effects including the Helix but to my ears the pedals I have do each individual effect better. The bonus to this is that there's lots of fun with GAS trying out and getting each pedal plus some that I have like the Doc Lloyd and Walrus with some great art work. And for some reason I enjoy the process of putting together the pedalboard for specific setups. The downside, I admit, is that my current board (which admittedly now has 16 pedals) costs way more than a multi effect but, I think, sounds better. You don't have to go as far as getting 16 pedals though and just have fun picking out the few you need.

My thoughts exactly. However, you could also build a pedalboard including your ME50B, e.g. have an individual Octaver and fuzz pedal at the beginning of the chain going into the ME50B. Maybe stick with the multifx for now to explore the world of effects, find out what you like/need, and then check out some individual effects and test them against their counterparts in the ME50B. 

[BigJHW]

42 minutes ago, Boodang said:

Also.... KNOBS! Going the pedal route gives actual dedicated knobs to tweak. Multi effects makes me feel like I'm a programmer rather than a bass player!

That was one of the things that drew me towards the ME50B when i saw it - KNOBS things to actually play with - an analogue pedalboard rather than all this digital stuff that's everywhere else 

 

 

[BigRedX]

The great thing about programmable multi-effects is that once you have set up a sound you like you can store it and then it's there again at the touch of button/footswitch. That for me completely over-rides any supposed sonic benefit of individual pedals.

[Bassmidget209]

I guess it depends what you need specifically for the tracks you are wanting to spice up. Part of the problem for me regarding multi effects is firstly I MUCH prefer having individual knobs to visualise what I want to do. Totally get the benefits of presets etc but my brain does not like it at all. Secondly there is a lot fo stuff in multis that you probably do t need or want at this stage. For me this makes a lot of multi effects too overwhelming (I do keep flirting with the idea however). A good compromise for me is the zoom ms50b. It is a fully fledged multi effect but has the footprint of a single pedal. I have access to everything it offers but it's not the main player for me. It also is soooo fiddly to work with that I don't think it will bey long term option but I'm.tryong to make it work for now

[Skybone]

Again, it depends on what you want to do with the effects...

 

You could go down the pedals / pedal board route, but be prepared to experiment, swap pedals in & out until you find ones that you really like.

 

There again, you could try a newer multi-FX, but that then opens the question on whether you just want effects, or whether you want to get into amp/cab modelling. If you're happy with your current amp setup, and just want the effects, then maybe look at the Zoom B1 Four / B3n. Of course, the Zoom's have the amp/cab models on board as well, but they can also be used without engaging them. If you wanted to spend a bit more money, then maybe a HX FX, or one of the older Line6 M modellers (M5, M9, M13) might do the trick.

 

If you wanted to get a bit more serious about a multi-FX, there's the POD Go, HX Stomp / Stomp XL, as well as the Helix. There's also big bucks kit like the Kemper, Headrush, Neural & Axe FX.

 

Currently using the POD Go, and think it's great. It is limited compared to the Helix/HX Stomp, but anything more would be overkill for what I need. And if I do need something else, I can copy a patch/preset and tweak it to suit requirements, and work around the limitations. Sound quality's fabulous too.

 

Before I bought the POD Go (and all the other multi's I've been using), I was seriously considering going back to a pedal board. However, after costing up the pedals I thought I'd want/need, looking at alternatives, looking at ancillaries (board, PSU, patch cables, etc.), it made buying a "do it all" multi even more practical. 

 

You need to figure out what sort of sounds you're after, what effects you need/want, and what you want to achieve, then go from there (usually downhill / down the rabbit hole etc.). 

 

Whichever way you choose, trawl the Effects For Sale section.

Edited June 21, 2022 by Skybone

[Downunderwonder]

There's nothing to stop you using the fx on the 50B multi unit as if the bays were stomp boxes as far as I can tell.

 

''Some songs that could use some fx'' might well be fully covered with what you have already.

 

Do that for a start and add other boxes as you feel. Then retire the Boss, or keep it, or give the whole fx thing away.

 

The only thing worse than having a multi fx unit not being used is having ten pedals next to it.

[Boodang]

Also(!).... analogue. Multi effects push you down the all digital route, not necessarily a bad thing, especially and obviously for delay and reverb, but my favourite pedals and the ones I wouldn't be without are analogue. 

I love my analogue octaver, and my compressor, envelope filters, phaser and overdrive are all component based and I haven't found a digital equivalent. But that's just me and it's a very personal thing.

Interestingly, the one digital pedal I love and thought was analogue until I researched it, is the Mr Black Fwonkbeta which is massive sounding and great fun to play in the right contest. So in one respect I stand corrected!

[Naigewron]

Why choose? Do both!

 

I have individual pedals for my core tones (preamp, drive, EQ, compression, cabinet simulation and direct out), and a Line6 HX Stomp for literally everything else. Incredible flexibility, and yet my core tones are retained no matter what preset I load in my HX Stomp, and I can tweak my core tone without having to reprogram my HX Stomp, or change the same setting in multiple presets. It's the absolute best of both worlds.

 

That being said:

Since you already have a multi-FX, I'd start with that. Dial up a decent sound using what you already have, and use that as a starting point to see where you want to go from there. The ME-50B is definitely not a bad unit, and it has a lot of good sounds, so you might find that you can keep using it. Over time, maybe you want to add other pedals to your setup in addition to the ME-50B, or maybe you find that you want to replace it altogether.

 

Pedal mania is a lot of fun, but it gets really expensive really quickly, and if you don't know what you're looking for or how to achieve what you want, it's really easy to just start throwing money at the problem. I've had some extremely expensive pedalboard setups that just didn't end up working for me at all, and my bank account is still reeling from those days. I'm slowly learning to control myself, but it's not always easy 😄

Edited June 22, 2022 by Naigewron

[Woodinblack]

19 hours ago, BigJHW said:

an analogue pedalboard rather than all this digital stuff that's everywhere else

 

Just to be clear, it is a digital pedalboard with some knobs!

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, Boodang said:

Also(!).... analogue. Multi effects push you down the all digital route, not necessarily a bad thing, especially and obviously for delay and reverb, but my favourite pedals and the ones I wouldn't be without are analogue. 

I love my analogue octaver, and my compressor, envelope filters, phaser and overdrive are all component based and I haven't found a digital equivalent. But that's just me and it's a very personal thing.

Interestingly, the one digital pedal I love and thought was analogue until I researched it, is the Mr Black Fwonkbeta which is massive sounding and great fun to play in the right contest. So in one respect I stand corrected!

 

Not necessarily. My first multi-effects unit was a Roland GP8 which apart from the delay and chorus/flanger was all digitally controlled analogue effects.

[jonnybass]

I kinda agree with Bigredx, although I think with multi-effects being more difficult to edit on the fly soundchecks become more important.  Currently I use separate pedals, but I keep looking at mulit-effects simply for the ease  of programming and storing time and modulation based  effects, then using my analogue filter/octaver/distortion effects.  best of both worlds  sonically I think.

 

jonny

[BigRedX]

The whole point of programmable effects is that you don't edit them on the fly. You do that at your leisure in the rehearsal room and then when you are gigging you simply hit the right footswitch to call up the right combination of effects.

[Boodang]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

Not necessarily. My first multi-effects unit was a Roland GP8 which apart from the delay and chorus/flanger was all digitally controlled analogue effects.

I stand corrected! Mostly they're digital I guess would be a more accurate description. 

[jonnybass]

48 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

The whole point of programmable effects is that you don't edit them on the fly. You do that at your leisure in the rehearsal room and then when you are gigging you simply hit the right footswitch to call up the right combination of effects.

Sorry Perhaps i should have been clearer, you may need  to edit the sound depending on the room/stage/area sound of your gig.  which is why the soundcheck (i think) becomes  more  important. 

 

Ideally all edits  would  take place  in the comfort  of  your rehearsal space/studio, but unless you are in complete control of the sound  at the venue, there is a chance some at the gig tweaking is required. At least thats what i have  found.

 

Jonny 

[BigRedX]

38 minutes ago, jonnybass said:

Sorry Perhaps i should have been clearer, you may need  to edit the sound depending on the room/stage/area sound of your gig.  which is why the soundcheck (i think) becomes  more  important. 

 

Ideally all edits  would  take place  in the comfort  of  your rehearsal space/studio, but unless you are in complete control of the sound  at the venue, there is a chance some at the gig tweaking is required. At least thats what i have  found.

 

Jonny 

 

TBH in 30+ years of gigging with multi-effects I have never once felt the need to "tweak" my sounds at the gig.

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

The whole point of programmable effects is that you don't edit them on the fly. You do that at your leisure in the rehearsal room and then when you are gigging you simply hit the right footswitch to call up the right combination of effects.

 

Not how I use the HX effects, I don't have an patches, apart from the main one, I just use them as 6 effects and turn them on or off as required.

[jonnybass]

21 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

TBH in 30+ years of gigging with multi-effects I have never once felt the need to "tweak" my sounds at the gig.

Fair enough, while in 30 years of gigging I have, or in the very early days of using multi effects at least I should have and not used a  horrendous sweeping filter on a certain frequency.  Thats one of the things isnt it?  theres no hard and fast rules..soundscapes are all different.

 

Jonny  

[BigRedX]

8 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Not how I use the HX effects, I don't have an patches, apart from the main one, I just use them as 6 effects and turn them on or off as required.

 

My Helix is set up with one patch for each song and up to 4 snapshots (as required) for each patch.

 

I have a two basic patches (one for each band) which have what I consider to be the core sounds I need and then I add and adjust the modules as required to give me the sounds for the music. The foot switches are set up so that I have 4 snapshots on the bottom tier and 4 patches on the top. I use the set list function to arrange the patches into the order we are going to play the songs, so I don't even need a printed list.

[Woodinblack]

Just now, BigRedX said:

 

My Helix is set up with one patch for each song and up to 4 snapshots (as required) for each patch.

 

I have a two basic patches (one for each band) which have what I consider to be the core sounds I need and then I add and adjust the modules as required to give me the sounds for the music. The foot switches are set up so that I have 4 snapshots on the bottom tier and 4 patches on the top. I use the set list function to arrange the patches into the order we are going to play the songs, so I don't even need a printed list.

 

I never got into snapshots so I don't use them, and no patches either. Actually no reason that it isn't like that as the majority of songs are just fairly straight, I just dont do it. Plus our set list has a habit of being more flexable than most bands, so can't really rely on the order we are going to play the songs until a few seconds before we do.

[MrDinsdale]

I’m pretty new to effects, I’ve always just used a compressor and what ever growl I could get out of my GK. 

 

Recently got the Boss GT1000 core and was blown away by the quality of the sound. There are a few other pedals I’d still like to pair up with it but makes a great central piece for a pedal board, the options are pretty endless.

[MrDinsdale]

I think in general the real pedals will normally sound better than the emulated version but it’s so negligible with these new units. Nothing beats tinkering with a real pedal though. 

[Downunderwonder]

18 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

TBH in 30+ years of gigging with multi-effects I have never once felt the need to "tweak" my sounds at the gig.

That's because your soundfolk have tuned the PA to the room.