Staying under $200: Multi-effects choices (pretty much two?)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Almy
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Almy

Almy

Guitar Guy
I've started doing some research for floor effects pedals for electric guitar and think I've narrowed down what my choices ought to be. I don't need a TON of options, as mainly it's for church and then fun on the side.

My short list seems to be just two for my price range, the ToneWorks AX1500G and the DigiTech RP350...with the toneworks keeping the top slot to me so far.

If I've read up correctly I would need to spend over $300 to make a big enough difference worth spending more money (the gt-8 sitting at $450, the line 6 at $400, et cetera.) The next toneworks model is just $50 more, but has mainly lots of stuff I'll never use, no drum machine needed.

I've seen bad comments on both the 1500 and the 350 in regards to the expression pedal. That's something I'd like to have working decently if it's possible in my price range.

Anyway, just hoping for suggestions or missed possibilities. I could go more than $200 but I would really rather not, as my needs are incredibly minimal. Mainly I'd like to be able to adjust a bit to find tones I like from different settings.

Edit: Forgot to mention recording isn't a necessity, as I have a home recording setup. It's also a setup I can take out and about if I want.
 
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id go korg over digitech anyday. the RP digitech stuff is garbage to my ears.

multieffects can rarely do expression pedal sounds very well. a wah pedal is probably the worst thing on any multifx ive ever used, which unfortunately ive heard quite a few.

really determine what you need from your pedal. if wah is important, maybe a seperate wah pedal and a less expensive pedal for everything else would be a better idea. zoom has some nice stuff. small pedals with no expression pedal, but lots of good choruses, delays, vibro, tremolo, and some crazy stuff like pitch shifting.

behringer ( :eek: ) makes a cheap wah pedal. ive used it before and its no cry baby and takes some getting used to but its miles ahead of any wah pedal ive heard in a multifx pedal.

Adam
 
Back when digitech was called DOD, we used to say it stood for "Dead on Delivery." Look on ebay and see what the resale is for these units, you may well find good information that way.
 
One way to get the best bang for the buck is to go used on eBay. You should be able to move up while staying within your budget. Or check out local pawn shops.
 
Don't let anyone tell you the Korg "sounds better" than the Digitech pedals. I own both and there's a learning curve to each of them. Once you completely understand how each pedal works and how to tweak them for the best effects and tone, both are EXACTLY EQUAL to eachother.

The only thing that would make the Digitech RP pedal more desireable is that it's practically bulletproof. The Korg pedals are more fragile and tend to break down at a much higher rate. If you just needed a pedal for studio use, either pedal is a very good choice. But if you plan on taking it out anywhere or gigging with it, go for the Digitech RP350.

One thing is for sure, though... stay away from Zoom and Line6. Both are pretty crappy compared to the Korg and Digitech products.
 
I would second that the Korg stuff is more fragile, but disagree that Digitechs sound as good. I have owned units from both companies, and continually return to the ToneWorks series because of the sounds they produce. I can't say anything about them as modelers, because I tend to just twiddle the knobs until I get the sound I want. However, I've heard that the Marshall and Vox models on Korgs are among the best, which would make sense as Korg either owns or is in strong connection with those companies.
 
I've bought some expensive Digi-Tech crap before.

Never again.

Stomp switches are very weak in some models.

I wrote a review here....... http://www.effortlessrecords.com/reviews.htm


BrentDomann said:
I would second that the Korg stuff is more fragile, but disagree that Digitechs sound as good. I have owned units from both companies, and continually return to the ToneWorks series because of the sounds they produce. I can't say anything about them as modelers, because I tend to just twiddle the knobs until I get the sound I want. However, I've heard that the Marshall and Vox models on Korgs are among the best, which would make sense as Korg either owns or is in strong connection with those companies.
Click to expand...
 
Almy, my favorite low-price processor is the discontinued Johnson J-Station, which is one of the few processors/modelers I've used that seem to excel at producing clean tones. I'm able to use it for both my rock and jazz work although (like any of these processors), it takes some time to tweak the settings to produce something worthwhile. Once that's done, all's very cool.

It's still easily available used for under $200, and you can find loads of pro reviews online if you're interested. (The "sound-on-sound" mag review of the J-Station vs. the POD was especially interesting.) You'd need to make sure to get one of the optional floor pedals, though, which may be harder to find.

I've heard form colleagues that the POD XT model is also a worthy choice, but I have little knowledge of the Digitech models. I used a cheap (<$100) RP model for a while and enjoyed it for live work, but not nearly as much as the J-Station, especially for cleaner tones and recording. I haven't used any of the more expensive Digi stuff.

Good luck with your search, man.
J.

An afterthought: you might want to at least audition M-Audio's Black Box. I know it runs $199, including footpedal, from some vendors. I haven't heard it but have noticed a few "very good" mag reviews. M-Audio's one of my fav low-end companies, in general, so maybe its pedal is decent. Just a guess.
 
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You could even go for an older GT-3 on Ebay. You could probably get one for $125.

And buy a seperate wah like mentioned above.
 
Thanks for all the replies, every little bit helps. Now I'm bouncing around the idea of trying for a nice tube amp first, then just getting individual pedals as I can afford them. Ugh, so many options.

I'll probably still go with the multi-effects pedal unit idea anyway. An initial amp would put me way over my budget.
 
The Vox AD30VT is a great sounding tube amp and includes many effects, and Amp modelling.

I send you a link to their site, but I just tried it, and the link to the AD30VT is DEAD.


Anyway... check it out if you get a second.
 
BrentDomann said:
I would second that the Korg stuff is more fragile, but disagree that Digitechs sound as good. I have owned units from both companies, and continually return to the ToneWorks series because of the sounds they produce. I can't say anything about them as modelers, because I tend to just twiddle the knobs until I get the sound I want. However, I've heard that the Marshall and Vox models on Korgs are among the best, which would make sense as Korg either owns or is in strong connection with those companies.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Something about the Korgs just sound better than the newer Digitech stuff to me too as thier focus seems to be more about strait up good quality traditional stomp effects to be used in front of an amp rather than trying to be everything to everybody all wrapped up in some little plastic mold. POD's will be better at modelling of coarse, but for live effects directly in front of an amp the Korgs are hard to beat for the money. I think Digitechs older RP series was better than thier new series though cause it was like having rack gear on the floor (and many actually had real tubes in them too).

$200 used will definately get you that next level though. What seperates the higher end units is not nessisarily the quantity or quality of the effects themselves, but more the deeper editing capabilities they offer through small LCD menu screens where you have access to almost every possible effects parameter imaginable and then some. To me, just the addition of a multiband graphic EQ alone is reason enough to want to make that step up. I dont use a lot of effects either but like my sound to be super refined and need access to all those subtle parameters.

Check out some these alternatives if shopping used:

Digitech RP-12
Digitech RP-20
Digitech RP-21
Boss GT-3
Boss GT-5
Boss GT-6
 
I have never owned or used anything Korg..... but you got me wanting to try it out !


NRS said:
I agree with this. Something about the Korgs just sound better than the newer Digitech stuff to me too as thier focus seems to be more about strait up good quality traditional stomp effects to be used in front of an amp rather than trying to be everything to everybody all wrapped up in some little plastic mold. POD's will be better at modelling of coarse, but for live effects directly in front of an amp the Korgs are hard to beat for the money. I think Digitechs older RP series was better than thier new series though cause it was like having rack gear on the floor (and many actually had real tubes in them too).

$200 used will definately get you that next level though. What seperates the higher end units is not nessisarily the quantity or quality of the effects themselves, but more the deeper editing capabilities they offer through small LCD menu screens where you have access to almost every possible effects parameter imaginable and then some. To me, just the addition of a multiband graphic EQ alone is reason enough to want to make that step up. I dont use a lot of effects either but like my sound to be super refined and need access to all those subtle parameters.

Check out some these alternatives if shopping used:

Digitech RP-12
Digitech RP-20
Digitech RP-21
Boss GT-3
Boss GT-5
Boss GT-6
Click to expand...
 
Oh wow, thanks for posting about the EQ's. I've just been assuming the $200 range had them, thinking that was how you could adjust the different sounds to a more custom fit. I thought I saw some in that price range with computer software capable of something like that. Of course I've looked thru a million in different price ranges so I may have gotten it mixed up.

Either way that's really good to be aware of. I'll do some more digging. One bad thing tho, you might be forcing me to go ahead and save a bit and spend more.

It's all your fault!!!
 
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