Effects guys - Multi-Effects...which one????

[Bob Vila]

Holas HCAF!!

 

Ok...lately I have been struggling with building out my pedalboard. I am looking to add some standard effects to my board (delay, reverb, chorus, comp, etc).

 

The problem is:

 

My personal tastes will sway me into buying individual pedals that cost to much.

 

My solution:

Considering buying a multi-effects unit to save some cash.

 

I don't have hands on experience with any of them really, and don't know good the effects are. Some of the units I've been considering are:

 

Line 6 X3 Live

Line 6 HD500

GSP1101 with floor control pedal

TC electronic nova system?

Other TC rack stuff?

 

I am loooking to keep my purchase under $500 but could go a little higher if it was worth it.

 

I am avoiding putting in snax as an option

 

Has anyone used any of the above items and can fill me in regarding quality and "personal satisfaction"

 

Are any of these units something that would work well for gigging?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TL;DR Which Multi-effects unit is best?

[yourguitarhero]

Nova System would be the initial ideal but no 4 cable method so you can either use it up front (delays etc won't sound so good) or in the loop (makes the drive side of things useless) - you're using high gainers too from your sig.

 

Saying that, I am considering one to use with my recto loop and just sucking it up with the drives.

 

Does the M9 have 4CM?

[sleewell]

nova for sure. the delays sound better in front of the amp than the others would even with the 4cm. i have had the rp1000, m9 and nova and the nova owns them both.

 

i guess it also comes down to if you want amp sims or not.

 

line 6 stuff is good but their gain stuff is unusable trash, if you use pedals for dirt and the line 6 for everything else that works but then you are back to pedals.

[Bob Vila]

 

Nova System would be the initial ideal but no 4 cable method so you can either use it up front (delays etc won't sound so good) or in the loop (makes the drive side of things useless) - you're using high gainers too from your sig. Saying that, I am considering one to use with my recto loop and just sucking it up with the drives. Does the M9 have 4CM?

 

 

 

Ahh yes I forgot to include the M9 and M13....

 

You pretty much hit it on the head. I want to get the best out of a unit so I would think the 4CM would be the way to go. I only use my Mark IV now because its {censored}ing killer...so I would be trying to run out front and into the loop of the mark.

[guitarbilly74]

I'd get a G-Major and put it through the loop of your Mark and just add a comp pedal in front of the amp.

[Bob Vila]

 

nova for sure. the delays sound better in front of the amp than the others would even with the 4cm. i have had the rp1000, m9 and nova and the nova owns them both. i guess it also comes down to if you want amp sims or not. line 6 stuff is good but their gain stuff is unusable trash, if you use pedals for dirt and the line 6 for everything else that works but then you are back to pedals.

 

 

 

very interesting...i play in a metal band so I don't really ever run anything out front of the mark. the amp sims are nice to know i have fall back in the event that a power tube goes mid show. The primary interest though is a simple all in one effects solution. How are the other effects on the nova??? I am not too concerned with distortion or od as I dont need it.

[Bob Vila]

 

I'd get a G-Major and put it through the loop of your Mark and just add a comp pedal in front of the amp.

 

 

Billy, this was another thing i was considering. There are a couple nice TC electronic rack effects the major and G-Force...I am concerned about ease of use though.. Would i need a third party pedal to toggle the effects on and off? How is the ease of use? does one need to connect to a computer to get the best out of these or is the front display all a guy needs?

[Rizza]

I'd go with the M9. Easy to use, sounds good.

[somata]

I'd take a look at the G-Major 2...I have the original and like it, though it has the encoder problems that plagued the GM1, I've learned to live with it. The GM 2 has better encoder wheels, some additional and upgraded fx, and should allow you to do some switching of your Mark IV (I use my GM1 to switch channels on my Dual Recto). If I weren't going the Axe FX route, I'd get the GM2 in a heartbeat.

 

The M13 would be cool as well, there's only one issue (imo) and that's the fact that it doesn't do spillover between patches which I think is stupid...lol!!!

[GCDEF]

I've used an M-13 and a Digitech RP1000. Can't really help with the others, but between those two it's a toss-up. The M-13 is really easy to set up and really flexible. It does a lot of things well, but some of its modulations are a bit week. It has a wider variety of effects than the RP. The RP is a little more limited, relies on presets, but still gives you some of the M-13 flexibility by providing a stomp-box mode. It gives you amp sims, has a built in expression pedal and is a little cheaper.

 

If you're interested, my M-13 and and expression pedal are for sale. Send a PM.

[NaturalBornBoy]

 

Billy, this was another thing i was considering. There are a couple nice TC electronic rack effects the major and G-Force...I am concerned about ease of use though.. Would i need a third party pedal to toggle the effects on and off? How is the ease of use? does one need to connect to a computer to get the best out of these or is the front display all a guy needs?

 

 

I've been using a G-Force for years now. As easy to program as they come. The only issue I have with it is the flanger sounds like crap. And of course you're gonna need a midi controller to change presets.

[sleewell]

tc is famous for their verbs and delays and this unit does not disapoint, they are awesome. the mods and compressors are great too, i really liked the phaser and the octave actually tracked really well. each effect is highly tweakable with many usuable settings each. it was really quiet too.

 

its one of the those things i shouldnt have traded but i am a dumbass and prolly will pick one up down the road in a notorious rebuy.

[Bob Vila]

man there is a lot of good feedback here...I am interested in the TC electronic rack stuff, but then I am going to need a rack, and my mesa is a wide chassis...

 

What would be a good used price for a G-Major with a FCB1010 foot controller???

likewise for the nova system or a GM1 or GM2???

 

u guise rawk

[guitarbilly74]

 

Billy, this was another thing i was considering. There are a couple nice TC electronic rack effects the major and G-Force...I am concerned about ease of use though.. Would i need a third party pedal to toggle the effects on and off? How is the ease of use? does one need to connect to a computer to get the best out of these or is the front display all a guy needs?

 

 

You will need a MIDI pedalboard, but you can get an used one for $50. You can use the board to either switch effects on/off or to switch presets.

 

The cool thing about the G-Major is that it has relay jacks that can be used to switch channels on your amp so you can control your whole rig with the MIDI board.

 

You do not need a computer.

[guitarbilly74]

man there is a lot of good feedback here...I am interested in the TC electronic rack stuff, but then I am going to need a rack, and my mesa is a wide chassis... What would be a good used price for a G-Major with a FCB1010 foot controller??? likewise for the nova system or a GM1 or GM2??? u guise rawk

 

You can find a Gmajor 1 for about 200-250. For pedalboard I recommend you getting a Rolls MIDI Buddy which is very compact and reliable and you can find an used one for about $50.

 

Then get an used 2-space rack case from CL or something from about $40 and your have your whole set up at around $350-400.

[Shask]

I like using my HD500 for this. It isn't the "cleanest" effects like a TC Electronic unit would be, but there is a lot of good stuff in there. Besides the typical stuff, there is also a lot of weird filters and synth stuff which is good if you are into weird spaceship type sounds.

 

I also wouldn't say the amp sims are "unusable trash". There are a lot of good sounds in there that you could use as complimentary sounds to your Mark 4.

 

With the loopers and tuners and other stuff, you get a lot for the cash.

[Dave L]

If you want a G-Major, go with the GMII. I had the original, and I have to say I like the II more... sounds a little cleaner and feels like a more sturdy unit. It also has the additional FX, of course... trichorus and univibe, and something more that I

[Bob Vila]

 

I like using my HD500 for this. It isn't the "cleanest" effects like a TC Electronic unit would be, but there is a lot of good stuff in there. Besides the typical stuff, there is also a lot of weird filters and synth stuff which is good if you are into weird spaceship type sounds. I also wouldn't say the amp sims are "unusable trash". There are a lot of good sounds in there that you could use as complimentary sounds to your Mark 4. With the loopers and tuners and other stuff, you get a lot for the cash.

 

 

I was waiting for someone to chime in on the HD series...I am seeing these pop up more and more on CL lately. That could be taken both ways. Can you run these in the 4CM and build out signal paths for out front and the loop?

[Shask]

 

I was waiting for someone to chime in on the HD series...I am seeing these pop up more and more on CL lately. That could be taken both ways. Can you run these in the 4CM and build out signal paths for out front and the loop?

 

 

I think people are selling because they have been updating them, but not giving them the major things the previous unit (X3) had. They keep improving it, but you can tell there is a big update coming one day which will dramatically change the unit. It seems like the biggest complaints are more amp models, make the EQ's better, and add user down loadable IR cab models.

 

Yeah, you can run them in 4CM, and use 8 FX total. If you run no amp model, you will probably not have any issues with running all 8 at once.

[Bob Vila]

 

I think people are selling because they have been updating them, but not giving them the major things the previous unit (X3) had. They keep improving it, but you can tell there is a big update coming one day which will dramatically change the unit. It seems like the biggest complaints are more amp models, make the EQ's better, and add user down loadable IR cab models. Yeah, you can run them in 4CM, and use 8 FX total. If you run no amp model, you will probably not have any issues with running all 8 at once.

 

 

ok...this was something that I have been asking myself. What can the X3 do that the HD500 is not yet capable of? From what I have read, it almost seems like the X3 may be a better bet for effects than the HD 500. Thoughts???

[Razsan]

 

I was waiting for someone to chime in on the HD series...I am seeing these pop up more and more on CL lately. That could be taken both ways. Can you run these in the 4CM and build out signal paths for out front and the loop?

 

 

BTW - I'm trying to like the HD500 as an effects only unit but so far I don't. There's tons of tweaking still left to be done but there seems to be a lot of processsing that goes on. Trying to see if I can dial that out.

Also - so far my Ibanez DE-7 > HD500 delay

 

But to ANSWER THE QUESTION

 

Taken from a Line 6 forum:

 

3. Then, probably the most useful is the Four Cable Method (4CM) where you can emulate a more traditional approach adopted by quite a lot of guitarists, where with standard stomp boxes, they prefer to put all the 'dirty' FX like distortions, overdrives and Wah between the guitar and amp and all the 'clean' FX like modulation (chorus etc...), delay and reverb in between the amp's pre-amp and power amp using the amp's FX Loop.

 

 

[ComOp]

I have the HD500. Love it, haven't wanted for anything since I got it.

[Bob Vila]

BTW - I'm trying to like the HD500 as an effects only unit but so far I don't. There's tons of tweaking still left to be done but there seems to be a lot of processsing that goes on. Trying to see if I can dial that out.

Also - so far my Ibanez DE-7 > HD500 delay

QUOTE]

 

WOW...this is a big deal. I don't mind doing some tweaking but, this is concerning feedback.

 

I think I am going to look into the tc electronic stuff more...

[Razsan]

 

WOW...this is a big deal. I don't mind doing some tweaking but, this is concerning feedback. I think I am going to look into the tc electronic stuff more...

 

 

Just remember that this is only an opinion but there has NEVER been a Line 6 modeling product that I've liked. A guitarist I know claims he gets kudos on his tone every gig....I heard his sound on local TV and he sounded like processed doo doo.

[Bob Vila]

Just remember that this is only an opinion but there has NEVER been a Line 6 modeling product that I've liked. A guitarist I know claims he gets kudos on his tone every gig....I heard his sound on local TV and he sounded like processed doo doo.

 

 

Honestly I am just weary in general when it comes to buying Line 6 stuff...not to mention anything witha "POD" label. No hate, just skeptical.

 

FWIW, a guitarist in another band we play with used to rock the X3 live and his toan was very acceptable I thought.

 

 

Idk, I feel like a guy wouldn't have enough time with these units trying them out at GC to get a true idea of where they each really stand.