Recommended Multi-Effects Units

[ericlingus]

what rack mountable effect units would you guys recommend? Something that does everything from distortion to delay/reverb and modulation effects. or one that is mainly for distortion sounds and another for the rest of the effects.

 

[dwarf]

Keeping with the GT range

Boss gt Pro?

I've heard nothing but good reviews about the "sansamp" series of modelers.
They could possibaly do a rack mount.

 

[mixmkr]

Hey mixmkr,


Have you had any experience w/ the GT 5 at all?

sorry no...but at this point, I am pretty intimate with the GT-8

 

[mixmkr]

what rack mountable effect units would you guys recommend? Something that does everything from distortion to delay/reverb and modulation effects. or one that is mainly for distortion sounds and another for the rest of the effects.

I've got some older units from the 80's that are one trick ponys, to an extent, but sound great. One is an ADA 1.28i (and a 2.56i) digital delay... one of their better ones when the digital stuff started hitting the market. The delay is nice cause it has a high cut on it, but where it shines is the chorus effect. However it is a mono unit, so I have two of them You see this and other similar stuff nowadays on Ebay for $50 or so fairly often. I bought one new back then for $200 (which was a lot of cash for me then) but pick up this stuff for dirt cheap now. Plus it has cool LED's on it too!

I also have some older Alesis reverbs (which sound great on a live guitar rig) and there are others like the older Yamahas, Rolands, etc. Depends what you like. The Alesis Wedge is not a rack mount but is a "sleeper" reverb for adjustability and sounds fantastic imo. It has a bunch of other delay based effects too.

so... you can get a bunch of this stuff, but when it is all said and done, a single package like my GT-8 really outshines it all in the end, and is MUCH more flexible and easier to use, pack around, and so forth. However, I still have a "lust" for all that hardware rack gear which is so cheap by todays prices... (and of course some of it NOT so cheap... aka Eventide=killer sound)

 

[ericlingus]

yeah it would be nice to just have a single multi effects unit instead of a bunch of different ones. Well i'd still buy a dynamic processor separate(unless the compression on the boss is really great) but other than that tghe boss gt8 pro seems like it can take care of it all.

 

[Matt_Gill]

Vox Tonelab? The big one with tubes + such in? Ive heard good things about them, although have you considered single stompboxes?

 

[gcapel]

yeah it would be nice to just have a single multi effects unit instead of a bunch of different ones. Well i'd still buy a dynamic processor separate(unless the compression on the boss is really great) but other than that tghe boss gt8 pro seems like it can take care of it all.

Yeah the only problem is all those multifx processors are digital. I dispise steril sounding effects. As far as tone goes I would go with single analog effects. There are some digital delays that are ok. But as far as chorus, distortion, flanger, phaser or modulation effects you are going to find that analog is the best way to go as far as tone. I too deal with single pedals on a pedal board. It can be a big mess. But well worth the great effects.

 

[ericlingus]

what are some nice analoge(sp?) rack mountable effects then? I'll get a digital reverb/delay. I hear nothing but great things about the RNC compressor. So that leaves me with modulation effects, a noise gate/expander, a parametric EQ and some sort of direct distortion. How is the sansamp psa 1? The distortion, I want digital because I already have a mesa boogie F50 amp. I also like digital distortion, so I want a nice rackmountable one.

 

[Matt_Gill]

WOW! someone who liek digital distortion! you dont come across that very often! good on ya' no being swayed buy everyone (including me) saying, buy tubes! its the only way!

 

[DogFood]

I've got a Yamaha DG-Stomp. I've seen one on FleaBay for $75, recently. Darn cheap. For someone who needs one inexpensive it can't be beat. It's not as sophisticated as a rack mount unit. The tuner is a dissapointment. I get wah and volume pedal, great delay and verb, and lots of standard stuff. I use the headphones, it's stereo. Quite a toy for a hundred bucks.

 

[TMatt142]

I'm with Mixmkr.....I don't have a GT-8, but I have the GT-6. I am amazed at what it really can do once you crack the book on it and get to know it. I also love the distortions on it although at Church I don't use that. At home recording, everthing is direct and the distortion sounds great. I sure would like to know the main differences between the GT-6 and 8, bsides the color. I'm still happy as heck with it.