Rack, Multi - Effects unit or Effects Pedals.

[AJ6stringsting]

I got my first pedal for my 14th birthday, a EHX Big Muff and then a EHX Electric Mistress Flanger Deluxe soon after.

I was amazed at the way those boxes made my guitar sound.

A few years later, M.I.D.I. can along and all of a sudden, guitarists had as much control over their sounds, just like keyboardist.

 

Many folks abandoned their pedals for the convenience of multi effects rack units and a few years later, M.I.D.I. multi effects floor units came into play.

 

As you figured, I'm doing a survey about which you prefer.

 

Heck, post'em, if you got them !!!! 👍

[nice keetee]

mix and match

[Axisplayer]

Analog and digital pedals on a pedalboard, controlled by a switcher that sends midi also. Didn't see that choice on your list so didn't vote.

[AJ6stringsting]

What kind of switching system you use to bring your analog pedals in the signal ?

 

I use an RJM Mini Effects Gizmo.

[Axisplayer]

I am using a Voodoo Lab PX-8+. There is a pic of the setup in the 2017 pedal board thread.

[mbengs1]

Congrats on your new pedals, bro! I use mainly my analog pedals for jamming my music. I got about 17 analog pedals mainly boss and MXR. but i have a multi effects which i use for recording.

[WRGKMC]

I have all three. Pedals, Multi effects pedals, and rack units which are controlled by a midi floor board.

 

You left out heads with built in effects too.

 

All work well so its merely a matter of preference which you choose to use. Both the multi pedals and rack units have the disadvantage of having to be programed and having patches built which require allot of forethought. I limit the multi effects use to recording where you have time to tweak the effects to perfection. Live, where you are constantly playing different rooms with different acoustics, separate pedals have an advantage of tweak-ability.

 

Going in and tweaking 100 different patches simply isn't going to happen at a show so its a hit or miss situation. In a well established band that plays the same music night after night however, a multi effect unit can have the edge over single pedals. You can create specific patches for a bands original music that covers a wide array of tones unique for that bands music and the sound man can handle the sound the audience hears which overcomes the issues of having to tweak the sounds for different rooms/halls/arenas.

 

Out of the bunch my least favorite are amps with built in effects. (Less so much the gear then the users who don't know how to set them up right) People who use multi effect amps tend to set up they're patches at low volumes. When they play out live all they're patches wind up having too much gain because they set those patches up for low volume and small rooms.

 

Gain is something that is non linear. It has a psychoacoustic effect on a listener and makes it sound louder then it actually is. A musicians always has to realize as you go up in volume you have to drop the gain levels exponentially until you are at live performance levels which match an acoustic drummer and bassist.

 

Patches built for playing live will sound nearly clean and sterile at low practice volumes. If need be you're better off building separate patches for live and practice, otherwise you'll be driven nuts by the feedback and noise trying to get low volume patches cranked up for live use. Likewise, running live patches loud enough to feel right at low volumes will drive the people in your household crazy if you haven't got a sound proofed room.

 

What I do is have separate amps and gear used for different volume levels. I pull out the big guns for live shows, medium stuff for rehearsals, and small stuff for practice. My recording setup is versatile enough to run any of it.

[Mr.Grumpy]

I voted "1" even though at least one of the effects (my delay pedal) on my pedalboard is a digital.

 

I use a pedalboard with standard effects pedals (no multis) and without a switcher.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Racks, multi-effects and pedals - I have, and use, all three.