Multi effects processors vs. stomp boxes?

gibson59neck

gibson59neck

Villiage Idiot Keeper
I have a Boss GT8, which I've stated in a few places around this site. It has so many bells and whistles I cannot find a use for half of them. On the other hand, it was $495 bucks. It gives me every damned effect out there, just in case I might ever want to use them, and does so many things that are easy to understand and cleverly arranged on the board. However - I see so many players using stomp boxes and NOT these multieffects, and I sometimes wonder if I am just stupid and falling for some gimmicky device. ( sorry, I am fickle, have low self esteem, and self confidence eludes me at all times)

So - that being said, what do you all like to get your sounds out of? Rack, boxes, or multieffects processors?????HMMMM?
 
i personally find all-in-one signal procesors annoying. they're too cpmplicated for me. If I ant distortion and reverb, I'd rather just hit a reverb stombox and a distortion stombox, rather than using my feet to manuver a boad and trying t figure out what 'bank' to use and trying to get it with reverb but without chorus. I like it to keep it simle. Of course, I'm a simple minded moron,so.
 
Like I said in the other thread, I use a GT-8 and much prefer it over the single stomps. Mainly because you can put it in 'manual mode' and use it like separate stomp boxes, but mainly because the GT-8 is BY FAR the most flexible multi unit available and to me sounds great. Once you get over the dang learning curve (which actually took me a good 10 hours or so to get REALLY comfortable with the unit), it is easy to operate. The fact that you can tweak to get just about most things you might currently want is why I like it. If you want just clean and overdrive, then by all means, get a nice Marshall and use the volume knob on your axe. I use the thing in a church setting too, so getting a large variety of sounds at ANY volume is a major plus too.

Personally, comparing the thing to pedals, I think sounds easily as good, if not better than your typical stomper. I have never really gotten into the boutique pedal thing, spending $300 for a one trick pedal...or more, so I can't comment there. But the reverbs, OD, delays, chorus (hey, it's a Boss) ...etc...all sound as good is any of that Digitech stuff, or whatever flavor you like. Same with the wahs.

No...I don't use the "slicer"..the appegiator, and some of that "off the wall stuff"...but the feedbacker is pretty insane, as is the tone modifier, dual amps sounds at once, dynamic mode.....

I figure the $500 beans isn't all that more than a couple or three pedals or so... unless you're buying that DanElectro garbage. ...nevermind that "Bad Monkee" people rave about. My "Bad Monkee" went back the next day :)

Still got my whammy wah though and the ProCo rat. For a quick "throw some stuff in the back seat of the car" kinda setup, they work. The GT-8 does the same thing in spades.. and more.

so...you think Roland will give me a job now :D
 
Having used both - I would say a good multi is better than a load of cheap pedals, but really nice pedals will give most multi-fx systems a thrashing in the flexability and sound stakes.

Multi-FX generally sound very 'digital' to me, although the more expensive models (like the Vox Tonelab) sound fairly good. They just can't do what pedals like the TS, RAT, Small Stone and Zvex pedals can do though. They just don't have the 'mojo'.

The way different pedals interact at different stages of the signal chain is always interesting to experiment with too.

My advice is, if you can't afford really nice pedals then get a multi-fx.
If you can afford nice pedals and a good pedal-board, then build your sound with pedals and a line-selector instead.
 
I agree that the sound of a multi effects isn't as good as a standard pedal.

I also have found that guitarists who use Multi FX modules usually have a very "over effected" sound. I think this is basically because you have so many effects at your disposal, you tend to use too many effects to get one sound.

If you are in a pink floyd, experimental , intrumental ect band then go for a good Multi FX.
If you are in a rock, blues, metal ect band then just go with pedals that you need. You will actually find it easier to create a sound you like with less.

Hope this helps
 
I havn't used the GT-8, or any similar multi-FX, but after giving them a good long peek in music shops, they don't look any easier to use...
I have used multi-FX such as the Zoom 505/505II, and they are a bitch 'coz yu have to set each bank and patch up before you play, so you can't just decide to smack on the 'verb - as 'Newbie Dude' mentioned, it's so much easier having separate stompboxes.

By the way: my setup-
Guitar -> Boss TU-12H tuner (will get the TU-2 pedal tuner when can afford it) -> Marshall Drivemaster distortion -> Morley Power Wah -> Marshall JCM900 -> 2-way footswitch.

Wah, reverb, two distortion sounds, and a lot of options with the combinations. Works for me!
 
GNX3000 is what I use...

I have been only playing for 3 about 3.5 years and so far the only "amp" i have used was a little practice amp that I borrowed from friend of mine when I first started playing.

Other than that I have pretty muched used a RP100A to a GNX3 then for two weeks the POD XTL (which didn't last long with me) then took it back and bought the GNX3000 which I love so far.

I play every week at church and the GNX3000 affords me the ability and ease that I need. First, I hook directly into our PA system via balanced XLR outs.

Then I turn the power on.

That's it.

I have at my disposal, reverb, chorus, delay right there. Just as if stompboxes were there, really no difference.

Plus the GNX3K is very easy to use. That is one thing that pointed me in the direction of the GNX3K. Very easy to use manually. But even better is the fact that it comes with USB connectivity so that I can connect to my laptop and use the software that came with the GNX3K to dial in my tones. Which makes using it even easier to use.

Also the included ProTracks (cakewalk design) software allows me to record to my PC with ease. When connected the GNX can be used as an outboard sound card which eliminates any latency problems unless you have a very old PC (My old PC which was a P111 850 ran it with no latency either).

It also has line in and out and also a Mic in as well. I can apply the effects of the GNX to the Mic or line inputs as well or turn them off.

It is a great tool for live use and recording. Hands down the best unit for the cost IMO. And it is a $100.00 cheaper than the Boss GT-8.

Also, what I find funny are people that will say that stompboxes are better than multifx, when they own Boss or digitech pedals. From my understanding, Boss makes some great stompboxes and the stompbox models in the GT-8 are suppose to be just like the Boss units by themselves... Same for the Digitech unit as well....
 
clinton said:
I also have found that guitarists who use Multi FX modules usually have a very "over effected" sound. I think this is basically because you have so many effects at your disposal, you tend to use too many effects to get one sound.
Click to expand...

My basic tone is modeled after Joe Perry of Aerosmith. For the most part when I play it at church, the only affect I have running at the same time is reverb and sometimes chorus. Depending on the song I will hit a stombox on the GNX3K and give it a little more overdrive. But other than that not anything more than what most people use in their chain.

Of course in this chain there is a built in noise gate, compressor, and I have the use of an assignable expression peddle as well.

If there is one person out there who's tone IMO, sounds very processed but is not, is Zakk Wylde. His tone with Ozzy was pretty good. Now his tone with BLS sounds so digital and overly processed... I don't know why... Maybe someone can elaborate... It's just sounds so tingy... But I still like Zakk as a player and his new BLS albumn, Shot to Hell, is pretty good...
 
I think that that the pros of using a good multi effects unit like a T.C unit or Lexicon is that you get virtually endless sounds that can be accessed at a moments notice.

The cons are, you are stuck with the effects that come with it.

The pros of using pedals (stomp boxes) is that you can use a SB that fits your needs exactly thus getting exactly the sound you want.

The cons of using stomp boxes is that they can be a pain in the ass to connect if you have alot of them, and usually you only get one or two setting out of them at one time.


That being said, a poor quality rack or stomp box will still suck tone no matter what. So what ever route taken, quality is key.
 
Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages.

Stomp boxes
. Each is low cost
. Initial setup is easy (patch cables)
. Basically stomp and go
. Noise can be higher, as most are analog
. In song changes can be tricky when 2+ pedals have to be changed to get a tone

Multi-Effects units
. Higher cost for a single unit
. Setup usually involved programming of some sort
. Wide range of effects combinations
. Single button press changes everything at once
. Typically very low noise

I have been a multi-effects user for at least 20 years. For me it works, for others it may not. I have two rigs, one at church and one for portable external gigs. Church rig is rack based and uses an assortment of multi effects units controlled by a single FCB1010 pedal. Portable rig uses a POD XTL and a Roland FC-100 for guitar synth sounds. I prefer the XTL approach as it is simpler, very flexible, and has zero noise.

Ed
 
For me its stomp boxes all the way. I find that many distortions on cheaper multi effects are digitised and pretty lacking. Theres something about over-driving an analogue circuit to clip that just sounds better. I also like having the choice of as many different distortions as i can afford; TS 9s or DS 1s, it doesnt matter with single pedals because you can chop and change. Another thing i dislike about things like the GT8 is the in built expression pedal; they just cant stand up to a Dunlop Wah. I use mostly Boss effects, and if I had only reason to avoid the floor processors, itd be a DD3. Amazing pedal.
 
TelePaul said:
For me its stomp boxes all the way. I find that many distortions on cheaper multi effects are digitised and pretty lacking. Theres something about over-driving an analogue circuit to clip that just sounds better. I also like having the choice of as many different distortions as i can afford; TS 9s or DS 1s, it doesnt matter with single pedals because you can chop and change. Another thing i dislike about things like the GT8 is the in built expression pedal; they just cant stand up to a Dunlop Wah. I use mostly Boss effects, and if I had only reason to avoid the floor processors, itd be a DD3. Amazing pedal.
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Ive done it all , from the individual pedals to to a multi-effects floor processor, to a rack unit with a midi pedal. Every amp will decide whats best for it.

But in general, the best tone ever in my opinion is with a rack unit with a midi pedal matched up with a tube amp with a serial effects loop. TC electronics is one of the best, thats what i use. It puts all idividual pedals to shame(effects that is). The DD3 doesnt hold a candle to the pristine delay the TC puts out, plus i can program 100 different delays all at the touch of my foot vs having one type of delay at a time with the DD3.

The boss DD3 is what like $110 for just the one pedal vs $399 for the TC plus everyother effect you can think of chorus,flange,delay,reverb,pitch, filters, eq, compressor. If you replaced every effect from the TC with a boss pedal that gives you one setting at a time you spend probably $1000 and have to tap dance on your pedal board all night.

The disortion pedals are a different story though.
 
I have a Line 6 Pod as well as a bunch of stomp boxes. The Pod is nice because you can program the sounds you need for a tune and switch everything up with just one switch. But I think a few of the stomp boxes I have sound better than the line 6 version. For example, I like the sound of my Tube Screamer, boss flange, and boss chorus much better then the Pod versions of those effects. But these days if you have to choose I think you get more bang for your buck with a muti-effect processor. But it also goes back to what someone else said here: It also depends on what you are looking to do. If you play light on effects, go with stomp boxes. If you are one of these guys likes all kinds of weird sounds, go with a multi effects processor.

I think the best bang for your buck is the DigiTech RP50 Guitar Multi-Effects Processor. I am amazed at all the crap this thing can do for $60.
 
Ed Dixon said:
Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages.


Multi-Effects units
. Higher cost for a single unit
Click to expand...

Yes there initial cost is higher... (even though you could go with an RP Series from Digitech)... But if you considered all the effects included (not including the amp and cab models) your spending more for the individual effects than you would be for the sing MFX machine...

Your like me. I use my GNX3K at church.. However, I wish I had two of them so that I could keep one at church and one at home... HOwever, it still beats lugging around an amp and pedals...
 
metalj said:
Ive done it all , from the individual pedals to to a multi-effects floor processor, to a rack unit with a midi pedal. Every amp will decide whats best for it.

But in general, the best tone ever in my opinion is with a rack unit with a midi pedal matched up with a tube amp with a serial effects loop. TC electronics is one of the best, thats what i use. It puts all idividual pedals to shame(effects that is). The DD3 doesnt hold a candle to the pristine delay the TC puts out, plus i can program 100 different delays all at the touch of my foot vs having one type of delay at a time with the DD3.

The boss DD3 is what like $110 for just the one pedal vs $399 for the TC plus everyother effect you can think of chorus,flange,delay,reverb,pitch, filters, eq, compressor. If you replaced every effect from the TC with a boss pedal that gives you one setting at a time you spend probably $1000 and have to tap dance on your pedal board all night.

The disortion pedals are a different story though.
Click to expand...

The best delay I ever used is a Roland Space Echo.
 
Codmate said:
The best delay I ever used is a Roland Space Echo.
Click to expand...
They are that good then? I am thinking of picking one up as, though I have a maxon analog... there is something appealing about an old tape echo... :rolleyes:
I am such a pedal slut. Do they have a Betty Ford's for that?
 
perceive said:
They are that good then? I am thinking of picking one up as, though I have a maxon analog... there is something appealing about an old tape echo... :rolleyes:
I am such a pedal slut. Do they have a Betty Ford's for that?
Click to expand...
Yup - they are *that* good - and better :D

I still use a DD3 - which 'works' in that it 'does delay'.
Sure, it mashes up the sound a bit - but it does the job.

My friend's space echo really made me want to throw the DD3 out the window though. It's a pristine unit, barely used with what looks like a new tape in it.

The features on this thing are out of this world and the sound is to die for. If only it was smaller it would come to every gig with me. I'm definitly looking to get one of my own for home use anyway.

The Sound On Sound feature is *stunning*. You can be Dave Gilmour and Lee Perry all rolled up into one ;)

Maybe it's just me - but I fell in love with the thing. Try one, but beware - you may fall in love too ;)
 
I don't want to debate which is better. Both ways have their use, individual pedals are fine when you only want (or need) a few efx, multi units offer variety and are a lot easier to haul around. I have a DOD FX7 which used to get a lot of use, now it mostly just sits in the box untill some effect is needed for a particular song. Mostly I used it to split my signal to two amps and rarely used more than delay and compression. I'm not overly into effects for myself, I prefer to get gain and distortion from my amp. Now I rarely use anything more than my old Cry Baby Wah. I play mostly pretty clean but it's nice to have the variety of efx from one unit if i need them for a particular project.
 
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