Multi-FX recommendations

[MacDaddy]

My recommendation, the Digitech BP355

 

 

Often available for under £100.

Bass and guitar amp models, but can also be used just for fx.

Looper and drum machine.

Easy to use, awesome bit of kit.

Gigworthy sturdiness, mine has seen me through 3 bands.

[CJPJ]

I recently got a Valeton GP-200 and I have to say it has blown me away. It's got everything you need in it for around £250 including effects, amps, tuner, drums and an expression pedal. It even has Midi and DI. I'm going to stick a Cali76 in front of it and maybe a separate pre-amp if I feel I need it. I've had a Zoom B6 (hated the plastic form) and an HX Stomp (too small and fiddly) and an HX Effects (to much space given up for not enough back). I think the Valeton just hits the spot with great sounds at a brilliant prices and its quality made in a sold metal casing. I'm usually a real brand snob - generally just for the sake of it - but in the case I've taken an alternative view.

[Paddy544]

I did seriously consider the Valeton but lookie what I got yesterday

 

Today is a play day

 

[CJPJ]

20 minutes ago, Paddy544 said:

I did seriously consider the Valeton but lookie what I got yesterday

 

Oh nice. Does that essentially replicate all the individual Boss stomp tones (like OC-5 and BF-3 etc)? 

[CJPJ]

Looks like some are replicated and some are generic (although probably still the Boss original as why would they reinvent the wheel?) https://static.roland.com/assets/media/pdf/GX-100_prm_eng01_W.pdf

[MichaelDean]

3 hours ago, Paddy544 said:

I did seriously consider the Valeton but lookie what I got yesterday

 

Today is a play day

 

Enjoy! And thanks for the thread! I got one last week - I'm loving it so far!

[MrDinsdale]

I got the GTK core and love it. So much you can do, playing around with parallel drives and amps is loads of fun and cool tones.

 

I’ve had mine around 6 months and feels like I’ve barely touched the surface. 

[SumOne]

I reckon the GT 100 was a good call.

 

Probably about once a year I decide to sell my individual pedals and get a multi-fx, which I'll then usually sell within 6 months to get individual pedals then the cycle continues!  This year is no different, I've just bought  a GT 100.

 

For me, it seems to be the right amount of footswitches and onboard controls and easy editing access along with a decent amount of processing power and quality effects.  £488 isn't exactly cheap but it isn't overly expensive compared to some multi-fx or the cost of a pedalboard full of individual pedals. 

 

I'm expecting a couple of downsides, but it seems they can be overcome easily enough:

• No synths, but I expect that using 15x effect blocks including Octaver, Fuzz, Modulation & delays it'll be able to produce some good synthy sounds. And there is an FX loop if needed. 
• More outputs including XLR would be good but not essential, my amp has an XLR out (and after all, the cables from Bass to pedals, through a load of pedals and patch cables and then to Amps aren't balanced and it doesn't seem an issue). If I'm lucky enough to play big venues with long cable runs to mixing desks and I'm not using the amp XLR for some reason then small DI boxes are cheap. 
• Drum loops/metronome and an aux in would be nice but streaming can be done with a Bluetooth connector as an optional extra. Or I guess the fx loop return can possibly be used.

 

 

 

Edit: I got a good deal on a GX 1000 Core so returned the GT 100 to fund it (thanks to GAK with a quick and easy returns policy with no fuss). The Core is more powerful (more effect blocks, more parallel paths, an extra fx loop, higher sample rate) and smaller and has a couple of extra effects, the GT has a better user interface on the screen and more footswitches + expression pedal. I've added an expression pedal to the Core (but it misses the GT expression 'hard toe press' button which is useful to do things like change it from a volume control to wah while in the same preset) and I'll get a dual footswitch, it still won't have as much footswitch control as the GX though. The Core is better if you want it as part of a pedalboard, the GT as stand-alone.

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by SumOne

[mcnach]

On 05/11/2022 at 21:59, CJPJ said:

I recently got a Valeton GP-200 and I have to say it has blown me away. It's got everything you need in it for around £250 including effects, amps, tuner, drums and an expression pedal. It even has Midi and DI. I'm going to stick a Cali76 in front of it and maybe a separate pre-amp if I feel I need it. I've had a Zoom B6 (hated the plastic form) and an HX Stomp (too small and fiddly) and an HX Effects (to much space given up for not enough back). I think the Valeton just hits the spot with great sounds at a brilliant prices and its quality made in a sold metal casing. I'm usually a real brand snob - generally just for the sake of it - but in the case I've taken an alternative view.

 

I've recently got a GP-200. I already had a Zoom B6 but of course, now I'm getting more into guitar again and my ancient Behringer V-Amp is pretty dated (although it has some decent sounds, that thing). I was looking into Boss GT-1000 and the Line6 Helix Floor/LT... but the Valeton GP-200 was getting some great reviews, and although not covering nearly as much ground as the other units, this was under £300... so I figured I'd give it a try, and if no good I'd return it and get a better unit.

 

No need.

 

Yes, it's limited compared to the others in routing capabilities and a few other things, but quite honestly, I quite like it. The amp/cab modelling sounds very good! The FX are decent enough in general, and with a user-positioned FX loop I can easily add a couple additional pedals to supplement the built-in FX if I decide I need something extra. 

 

One reason that made me want to try the GP-200 was the dedicated amplifier controls on the face of the unit. The interface seems really well thought out: everything is easily accessible without having to get lost in menus and submenus. I use it on my desktop mostly, playing through monitors, using it to record demos and share stuff with the band. Really impressed by this little thing.  

 

 

 

 

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, mcnach said:

 

I've recently got a GP-200. I already had a Zoom B6 but of course, now I'm getting more into guitar again and my ancient Behringer V-Amp is pretty dated (although it has some decent sounds, that thing). I was looking into Boss GT-1000 and the Line6 Helix Floor/LT... but the Valeton GP-200 was getting some great reviews, and although not covering nearly as much ground as the other units, this was under £300... so I figured I'd give it a try, and if no good I'd return it and get a better unit.

 

No need.

 

Yes, it's limited compared to the others in routing capabilities and a few other things, but quite honestly, I quite like it. The amp/cab modelling sounds very good! The FX are decent enough in general, and with a user-positioned FX loop I can easily add a couple additional pedals to supplement the built-in FX if I decide I need something extra. 

 

One reason that made me want to try the GP-200 was the dedicated amplifier controls on the face of the unit. The interface seems really well thought out: everything is easily accessible without having to get lost in menus and submenus. I use it on my desktop mostly, playing through monitors, using it to record demos and share stuff with the band. Really impressed by this little thing.  

 

 

Had a quick look at the specs and this unit sounds really well featured - very much Pod Go competition. 11 (GP 200) vs 6 fx (Pod Go) blocks available, drum machine (decent?) which I don't think the Helix units feature, and same number of fx patches (256).

 

What are the filter and synth sims like - would you rate them as being "usable"?

[mcnach]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Had a quick look at the specs and this unit sounds really well featured - very much Pod Go competition. 11 (GP 200) vs 6 fx (Pod Go) blocks available, drum machine (decent?) which I don't think the Helix units feature, and same number of fx patches (256).

 

What are the filter and synth sims like - would you rate them as being "usable"?

 

I don't think there's any synth, it's one of the prime candidates to add into the FX loop, that and an octave. For guitar I find the two octave FX are just ok, and I don't like them on bass. 

 

The 11 blocks is cool, but then they bundled up together into the "pre" block all kinds of preamps... and the octave/pitch-shifting, ring modulator, autowah, acoustic simulation and tape saturation emulation.  So that can limit things a bit, but 'fortunately' the best is to get an external octave pedal  The tape saturation thingy is quite nice 'though.

 

I haven't yet explored a lot with the various wahs (separate section, pedal controlled), but the impressions on guitar are good enough. A couple of the presets for bass use an envelope filter and it was pretty decent. You do need to make sure the sensitivity control is set right for your bass, it makes a big difference.

 

The bass amp/cab models are quite nice sounding. You don't get a lot of choice on the GP-200 for bass, but what you get sounds good. I bought this for guitar primarily, but I think it's going to be on guitar and bass duty for my little home recordings, and the Zoom B6 for live (I don't gig on guitar these days).

 

The drum machine is basic as you could expect, but it sounds ok (much better than the one on the Zoom B6) and there's tons of rhythms, which makes capturing an idea really easy. 

 

It does have a few limitations compared to the more expensive competition, but when you start looking at the POD Go, GX-100, HX LT etc, it seems it's a matter of finding which functions you must have and which ones you don't care so much about: one unit offers you A and B but not C, another gives you B and C... etc. In my case, apart from liking what I heard online, having dedicated physical knobs for the amplifier model was that feature that I wanted and could compromise in other places.

What I like teh best about it is the basic amp/cab modelling. My Telecaster hasn't sounded so good in ages! I may not get the sweet clean-on-the-verge-of-breakup that I loved from my old VibroChamp, but I'm getting something really tasty along the same lines from the "Tweedy" simulation, and the overdrives... there's quite a lot of them and most are great. The whole amp/OD/guitar volume interaction feels extremely realistic to me, I'm quite happy with it. The presets are very RAWK, with huge reverb and delays... but build something from scratch as you would with physical gear and it works really well.  

 

Navigation is very easy, which is usually one of my bugs with multiFX over the years. The display is not tactile, but they've used the physical controls cleverly. 

 

I haven't yet tried to record via USB. I think it offers 4-outs and you could record the effected and the dry signal simultaneously, so you can 're-amp/FX' later too.

 

 

[Al Krow]

Just seen that there's a baby brother to the GP-200 the GP-200 LT. It shares the same basic capability of the GP 200 but loses the expression pedal and half the stomp buttons to give it a more compact form factor which would be pedal board friendly if you wanted to combine it with other dedicated pedals e.g. a synth. @jimfist you were asking about the Nux MG-30 on the Zoom B2-4 thread as an alternative to the latter; I think this Valeton could give the Nux a very good run for its money and (sadly being the Zoom-fanboi that I am) is a more appealing multifx to me than the B2-4 to me. I'm impressed that it has a bit crush / ring mod sim on it, that's not a common feature on the more budget multis in my experience!

 

 

 

It's double the screen size + drum machine + aux in + 3 more effects blocks + for half the price of the Stomp, but without parallel path options which the Stomp has...

 

I think I'm starting to put myself in harm's way of getting one of these!

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by Al Krow

[Boodang]

TC Electronic Plethora X5 could be a good fit if you know what fx you want to you use.

Edited February 27, 2023 by Boodang

[Al Krow]

@mcnach Be really interested to get your warts and all thoughts on how your GP 200 handles pitch shift to enable us to easily change key on covers material? One test for me of how good a multi is, is how well it handles this as it's not one that the Zoom B1-4 is brilliant at - and not as good as Helix Stomp on this one.

[mcnach]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

@mcnach Be really interested to get your warts and all thoughts on how your GP 200 handles pitch shift to enable us to easily change key on covers material? One test for me of how good a multi is, is how well it handles this as it's not one that the Zoom B1-4 is brilliant at - and not as good as Helix Stomp on this one.

 

 

I'd say pitch-shifting in general is not a strength on the GP-200. Better on guitar than bass, but octave and synth effects are prime candidates for an external unit in the FX loop of the GP-200. I haven't used a Zoom B1-4, I can only speak about the B6. I find the B6 much much better in that respect. The Helix/HX range is better sounding in general. I like the GP-200, mostly for guitar, because the amp/cab modelling and drives etc work really well and I would not pay >2x to get better FX, the GP-200 is good enough for my purposes, but in general it doesn't have the best effects, certainly not compared to a Helix.

 

Just dipping in and out now, I'll see if I have time this weekend and record a few of examples. I actually want to spend time with the octave FX on the B6 to see how close I can get to that "OC-2 synth type sound", which is one of the sounds I'd like to use in the UB40 tribute band, so I can plug in the GP-200 as well and record a few clips. But I'd say if pitch shifting FX are very important to you, look elsewhere unless you are happy with adding an external pedal to it. The octave is very usable on guitar, and it can be ok on bass, it'll do teh job live... but this is something I feel a bit picky about and I don't love them. Delays, reverb, chorus, phaser, flangers... I can always find some good stuff. Overdrives, some very tasty ones! But the octaver seems almost like an afterthought, bundled among the 'preamp' models, which is weird as the Valeton OC-10 was very decent (I have one too). 

 

One thing I love on the GP-200 is teh dedicated switches for each FX block. One of my hates with multiFX is the navigation, menus, submenus... The GP-200 is extremely easy to use even for someone with my phobias  Everything I want to access is very easily accessible. The Boss units, for example, sound great and can do so much, but they're definitely a RTFM type of thing.

Edited March 2, 2023 by mcnach

[Al Krow]

4 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

 

I'd say pitch-shifting in general is not a strength on the GP-200. Better on guitar than bass, but octave and synth effects are prime candidates for an external unit in the FX loop of the GP-200. I haven't used a Zoom B1-4, I can only speak about the B6. I find the B6 much much better in that respect. The Helix/HX range is better sounding in general. I like the GP-200, mostly for guitar, because the amp/cab modelling and drives etc work really well and I would not pay >2x to get better FX, the GP-200 is good enough for my purposes, but in general it doesn't have the best effects, certainly not compared to a Helix.

 

Just dipping in and out now, I'll see if I have time this weekend and record a few of examples. I actually want to spend time with the octave FX on the B6 to see how close I can get to that "OC-2 synth type sound", which is one of the sounds I'd like to use in the UB40 tribute band, so I can plug in the GP-200 as well and record a few clips. But I'd say if pitch shifting FX are very important to you, look elsewhere unless you are happy with adding an external pedal to it. The octave is very usable on guitar, and it can be ok on bass, it'll do teh job live... but this is something I feel a bit picky about and I don't love them. Delays, reverb, chorus, phaser, flangers... I can always find some good stuff. Overdrives, some very tasty ones! But the octaver seems almost like an afterthought, bundled among the 'preamp' models, which is weird as the Valeton OC-10 was very decent (I have one too). 

 

One thing I love on the GP-200 is teh dedicated switches for each FX block. One of my hates with multiFX is the navigation, menus, submenus... The GP-200 is extremely easy to use even for someone with my phobias  Everything I want to access is very easily accessible. The Boss units, for example, sound great and can do so much, but they're definitely a RTFM type of thing.

That's really helpful thanks @mcnach! Must admit I'm a little underwhelmed by the Zoom B2-4, given it's price point, which is a shame being the Zoom fanboi I am. I may just hold off now to see if anything decent comes out of NAMM 2023, or if Yamaha/Line 6 finally get around to upgrading their 8 year old Helix offering.

[mcnach]

3 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

That's really helpful thanks @mcnach! Must admit I'm a little underwhelmed by the Zoom B2-4, given it's price point, which is a shame being the Zoom fanboi I am. I may just hold off now to see if anything decent comes out of NAMM 2023, or if Yamaha/Line 6 finally get around to upgrading their 8 year old Helix offering.

 

The Helix may be a little old, but it's still better sounding than most other things out there. It's just that the cheaper units are getting better and better, so it requires a bit more of a chat with yourself to decide whether the difference in quality is worth the cost.

 

I was ready to buy a Helix, just could not decide on the LT or the Floor version... then the GP-200 came along and I thought "this will do". The basic guitar sounds are very good, and the FX are on the whole decent enough, with a few very good ones. I can live with it, and in fact I love it... but it's not without some limitations, which should not be surprising considering the price. What I don't get is why they didn't put something like their OC-10 in there!

 

Zoom... I like the B6, but I can't help feeling that they didn't quite get it right. With some extra processing power it would become even more flexible. Add parallel routing (and probably a couple hundred £ more  ) and the next unit could be really special. 

 

 

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, mcnach said:

 

The Helix may be a little old, but it's still better sounding than most other things out there. It's just that the cheaper units are getting better and better, so it requires a bit more of a chat with yourself to decide whether the difference in quality is worth the cost.

 

I was ready to buy a Helix, just could not decide on the LT or the Floor version... then the GP-200 came along and I thought "this will do". The basic guitar sounds are very good, and the FX are on the whole decent enough, with a few very good ones. I can live with it, and in fact I love it... but it's not without some limitations, which should not be surprising considering the price. What I don't get is why they didn't put something like their OC-10 in there!

 

Zoom... I like the B6, but I can't help feeling that they didn't quite get it right. With some extra processing power it would become even more flexible. Add parallel routing (and probably a couple hundred £ more  ) and the next unit could be really special. 

 

 

I suspect there's a reason they've not including an OC-10 sim. Probably the same reason that they've ceased production of their rather too accurate and much loved clone 😁

[mcnach]

19 hours ago, Al Krow said:

I suspect there's a reason they've not including an OC-10 sim. Probably the same reason that they've ceased production of their rather too accurate and much loved clone 😁

 

Their little pedals were quite cool, and they're all discontinued! 😲

 

The Katfish envelope filter was quite good too.

[SumOne]

Is the compressor on the Valeton GP 200 decent enough for Bass? I assume it's alright as the 'S Comp' has Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, Tone, Blend. And generally does the unit seem reliable - no long loading times when you turn it on, connectivity issues, or annoying software updates/glitches?