Effects switching questions

B

birdie3

New member
For the longest time I have been using a mid-nineties, all-in-one, multi-effects unit called a BOSS ME-30. I love the fact that I can set up patches and select banks etc.. This is exactly the sort of switchablity that I need for playing live and this unit does the job nicely. I like the unit. It actually has good tone as well and doesn't colour my sound too much. The only problem is that the distortions are extremely horrible.

I have decided to use an analogue distortion (Rocktron XDC - sweet 'lil machine) and a seperate compressor in front of the ME-30 to help remedy the problems with the ME-30's distortions. This has helped tremendously however I am now faced with switching problems. Now I have a seperate switch for my distortion and I have to stomp twice if I want to get the distortion sounding great with all of the post-gain stuff in my ME-30.

Here are my questions:

Is there a way to get it so that I only have to stomp once (like with the
ME-30 with a seperate switch that controls everything perhaps) to get the exact patch I need when using a seperate distortion unit?

Do I need two amplifiers to do this correctly?

Is this even possible or should I look for better gear?
 
The reason the distortion is 'horrible' is because it is a digital reproduction of a tube amp being overdriven.

The best solution is to get a tube amp and use it's overdrive to get the distortion sound you want and use the multi-fx for everything else.

Buy a Boogie - live happily ever after.
 
That doesn't solve his problem though, does it?
He's looking for a way to switch everything at once. So even if he did buy a boogie, he'd want to change the channel AND the effects he has going in one swift kick.
 
If you are going to use a seperate distortion pedal alongside your ME-30 (I do the same) you are either going to need a line switcher like savageblues suggested or just deal with stomping a couple times. I just started using my ME-30 in manual mode, and I am really liking that. I have a Princeton chorus, so I use the overdrive and chorus from that amp, then have a compressor, flanger, reverb, and delay that I use on the ME-30. I have been liking that set up quite a bit for the couple weeks that I have been doing it so far. As to the onboard distortion settings, I liked the "vintage" distortion setting once I tweaked it enough - I don't know if you used that one very much.

Anyway, not sure if that helps, but I don't have anything else to do at work.....

:)
 
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