Arguing with myself: effects pedals vs. mult-ieffect.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mr. C
  • Start date Start date
I have owned three different "jack of all trades" boxes. One Digitech and two Zooms. They have their own strengths and weaknesses. But i always come back to individual pedals. The multi effects boxes can sound pretty good through a nice tube amp, but stand alone pedals, to my ear, sound the best. The guy who said that if the multi box goes down you are screwed is right on. If just your wha farts out, then you still have everything else. For my money, having the single pedals gives me peace of mind and superior sound. One trick ponies may do only one trick, but they do that trick the best.
 
If you can get the sounds you want from the multi-fx pedal, go for it. If you do the homework, you can make some nice sounds with lots of the available gear out there.
I think what CaptGoldenEars said is true...that standalone pedals DO sound better, but ultimately you have to do your own homework and find what kind of equipment works for you. I know it sounds blasphemous, but I run a Boss GT-8 into a Mesa Mk III. I love the dirty channel on the Mk III, but sometimes it's a bit loud for the gray hair/dinner jazz set at the beginning of some gigs. I ended up running an Ibanez TubeScreamer (and sometimes a Voodoo Labs Bosstone) in the effects loop on the GT-8 because while the GT-8 has nice overdrives & distortions, I haven't been able to get it to do more than one or two specific types of overdrive or distortion that I like...plus I use the expression pedal as a post-effect volume control.

Good luck on your sound quest.
 
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