advice on buying a $200-$300 guitar effects pedal

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rockironwebb

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I am a drummer, that being said you may be wondering, what do I care? My guitar player is young, but really good and super commited to working on material and recording tracks so we can play around. I am new to recording. I bought a mixer(behringerX2222) some cheap mics, and got a hold of some software(acidpro7,mixcraft 5) just to see if I would like tinkering around. Turns out I really like doing the home recording thing. Anyway, My guitar player is wanting to get a multi effects pedal board so we can play around with many different sounds. Being so young he doesn't know a whole lot about what is available so he asked me to look into it. Of coarse we want a good live sound out of the amp and into the mixer, but he also has a laptop and it would be nice to have usb connectivity so he can record stuff with it at home. I've searched for boards and see that there are limitless options. Can anyone suggest what may work well for us and why? remember the price range. I would hate for him to put the money out and then we find out we could have done better with another product. THANX
 
Digitech makes great pedals with USB interfaces (for customizing) the RP series (I think thats what they are called) start around $90 or so.

If I was going to buy a multi-effect pedal that's what I would get - I have demo'd several of them

I have a Delta Labs Multi-effects pedal - it's cheaper than Digitech and has no USB but it has a LOT of effects and sounds fine through an amp or direct to a mixing board
 


the video doesnt do it justice.
i have one.
it rules.
made my shit tiny 10 watt sx practice amp sound amazing.
 
Thanx for the tip, I looked it up and it looks like it is jamm packed with goodies. I'll pass the link on to my guitar player.
 
kidkage said:


the video doesnt do it justice.
i have one.
it rules.
made my shit tiny 10 watt sx practice amp sound amazing.
Click to expand...


Thats pretty sweet - I am going to go try one of those out. I can't believe it comes with tubes in it too - thats bad ass and under $300! looks like a better deal than the Digitech -

and it comes with Cubase! Damn man thats a deal
 
that pedal is prolly pretty sweet and all, but as a guitarist for the past 16 years, I've had my share of multiFX pedals. I would recommend buying individual stomp boxes. you get far more control per effect, and if one pedal dies, you're only out a single effect rather than your entire chain
 
theD1CKENS said:
that pedal is prolly pretty sweet and all, but as a guitarist for the past 16 years, I've had my share of multiFX pedals. I would recommend buying individual stomp boxes. you get far more control per effect, and if one pedal dies, you're only out a single effect rather than your entire chain
Click to expand...

It's true your out all your effects if it dies, but to even come close to the options you would have to spend well over $1000 -

have you had a lot of multi-effect pedals die on you?
 
arcadeko said:
Thats pretty sweet - I am going to go try one of those out. I can't believe it comes with tubes in it too - thats bad ass and under $300! looks like a better deal than the Digitech -

and it comes with Cubase! Damn man thats a deal
Click to expand...

It's (the tubes, eq, effects, etc.) really responsive to tweaking, and has a cab simulator that actually sounds good. Granted, if you use your cab simulation setting(s) through a real amp and cab... you'll need to roll off treb. :D
I got mine in September '10
It's been around since 08 or 09 I think but Musician's Friend just started carrying it recently, like within the past few months. I had found mine on Sweetwater. It was the first thing I ordered from them now I get everything from sweetwater... they send candy :p

The best part? No sim sizzle!!! Well, the only time you'll run into sim sizzle is on the Z OD preamp module (it's zoom's "custom voicing"). Don't worry though, there are 43 other preamp modules to comfort you.

I had a chance to mess around with some Boss, Line 6, and Digitech stuff friends of friends had and am happy that I found this on the net, because it's miles ahead of the others.
 
Yeah I am looking forward to checking one out - even though I just dropped $240 on a Blackstar HT-Dual - but I find it hard to believe the Zoom will sound as good - even though it has the same tube in it... It better not sound as good or I am going to be seriously pissed off
 
arcadeko said:
It's true your out all your effects if it dies, but to even come close to the options you would have to spend well over $1000 -

have you had a lot of multi-effect pedals die on you?
Click to expand...

kinda. I quit using them a while back, but every one I've had eventually crapped out. now I stick to Boss and Digitech pedals. they're tough as nails, and can double as a hammer or wheel stop while changing a tire

also, I found I had a LOT of effects I never even used, so I don't NEED to spend $1000 to get the sounds I'm looking for. I've got around $600 in floor FX, but that includes the pedal board.
guitar>boss MT-2>Boss Super Chorus>Digitech Delay>Behringer 7-band EQ>amp
 
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theD1CKENS said:
kinda. I quit using them a while back, but every one I've had eventually crapped out. now I stick to Boss and Digitech pedals. they're tough as nails, and can double as a hammer or wheel stop while changing a tire

also, I found I had a LOT of effects I never even used, so I don't NEED to spend $1000 to get the sounds I'm looking for. I've got around $600 in floor FX, but that includes the pedal board.
guitar>boss MT-2>Boss Super Chorus>Digitech Delay>Behringer 7-band EQ>amp
Click to expand...

You must have not taken good care of your multi-effects pedals then, if they all died on you.


Multi-effect is clearly superior. Better price, better flexibility....can't beat it.
 
Why not try an actual audio interface and AmpliTube 3 FREE. He will get a better audio interface than would be included in most multi effect pedals and get more options to expand with one later down the road. Otherwise the Fender Mustang is pretty cool, includes a built in usb interface and AmpliTube Fender LE
 
guitaristic said:
You must have not taken good care of your multi-effects pedals then, if they all died on you.


Multi-effect is clearly superior. Better price, better flexibility....can't beat it.
Click to expand...

gear takes a beating when you take it into bars and venues. stepping on a pedal 40 or 50 times in a night takes its toll eventually
 
Check out LINE 6 UX2. You get a nice USB interface with the pre amps and all, plus POD Farm. If you want something cheaper there's also the UX1.
 
kidkage said:
Enjoy. It's fun. Even the presets sound cool.
But once you have time to read the manual and tweak things, stuff gets crazy.
Click to expand...

It sounded pretty good - but I think I am all set with my HT-Dual - I don't really use many effects. I played with the tubes a little and I am sure if I messed with it a little I could get them screaming but I think I am leaning towards a consistent sound - just a tube being hammered into submission is fine with me :)
 
Yeah just get the zoom boss or digitech one that does everything. If I was going to spend that much I might specialize in something that does one thing really well, but I never seem to be motivated to buy or use pedals when I play guitar.
To be honest I can think of a lot better ways to spend the money, but I can see how an all purpose pedal like that could be cool in a band setting and open up a lot of options.
 
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