Multi FX pedal (

[Jkater]

Discuss.

 

[billybilly]

Well, I haven't tried all of them but I'll go so far to say that most of the popular ones these days sound pretty good... Once you know how to dial them in.  Every unit has it's own personality and learning how to get the best out of it has as much to do with the unit itself, IMO.  

Most of the presets on the ones I've tried are {censored}t, you're better off making up your own.

I suppose I should say I've tried a Boss, Zoom, Digitech, Pod and Fuse software with the Fender Mustang.  

[kayd_mon]

Well, I gig with a board of single stomps. But I am a fan of multi fx units, and I like to record with Pods, etc.

[humbuckerstrat]

I love my V-amp 2.

[Special J]

I honestly haven't tried any newer multi-effects units, but I don't think I'll ever use them. First, I like analog distortion, and I believe all but a couple of the TC units have digital distortion. Digital modulation is fine, but I'd rather be able to cherry pick those.

Second, I like to be able to tweak my settings on the fly, even using that as part of the effect, like sweeping the rate on a delay pedal to get that Doppler effect. That's usually not easy to do on an mfx. Also, I don't want to have to program something to make it sound good. It should sound awesome with a couple of knob tweaks or go on the for sale shelf. When I'm in the studio, and I hear a tone in my head, I can go to my board, or the pedal drawer and hook up a couple of pedals and go. I don't have to sit there and program in an approximation of a Fuzz Face and a Phase 90.

Lastly, collecting pedals is lots of fun.

[Floyd Rosenbomb]

+1 on what SpecalJ said.

 

I Iike to have the box right in front of me with it's own knobs.  I don't enjoy digging into an interface, it tends to pulls me out of the right brain mode (playing) and into a left brain mode (analytical), which seems to me to be an impediment to really connecting with what I am playing.

[brandass]

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Special J wrote:

I honestly haven't tried any newer multi-effects units, but I don't think I'll ever use them. First, I like analog distortion, and I believe all but a couple of the TC units have digital distortion. Digital modulation is fine, but I'd rather be able to cherry pick those.

Second, I like to be able to tweak my settings on the fly, even using that as part of the effect, like sweeping the rate on a delay pedal to get that Doppler effect. That's usually not easy to do on an mfx. Also, I don't want to have to program something to make it sound good. It should sound awesome with a couple of knob tweaks or go on the for sale shelf. When I'm in the studio, and I hear a tone in my head, I can go to my board, or the pedal drawer and hook up a couple of pedals and go. I don't have to sit there and program in an approximation of a Fuzz Face and a Phase 90.

Lastly, collecting pedals is lots of fun.

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This.  As good as multiFX pedals have gotten, they're still not as compelling or easily tweaked as a series of stompboxes.  I don't gig though, might be tempted by a one-stop-shop pedal if I had to cart it all over creation.

[mistersully]

if it's one or the other, i'd go with single stomps

[Grant Harding]

I like my Boss GT-8 in the effects loop of the amp. I don't use the amp models or distortion box effects, just colour and reverb/delay. Since it's a stereo unit you can take the other output to the PA or another amp to get a great stereo sound.

 

All of my gain is from pedals and the amp preamp, BEFORE the reverb.

[Grant Harding]

Live is the very reason for me. Being able to change a bunch of effects with a single footswitch.

[thewthrman]

I used a bunch of stompboxes for years.  I have some cool old ones.  Then I went through a phase where I was direct into the amp and didn't change tones all night.  I bought a PodXT to screw around with and I'll likely not go back to using individual pedals for a long time.  I bought the 4 button board and have 4 presets that I use.  Three are built from scratch and one was a factory sound that I tweaked a little. 

I guess it depends if you are starting from the perspective of "I need to sound like XYZ" or "I am going to step on buttons and twist knob until I find something I like".  For me, I need a clean fender twin sound, a gritty bluesey tone and a grindy van haleney fuzz.  I use slap echo alot.    Hate reverb and usually just do some room ambience. I sometimes add in tremolo.  Hate chorus. and phasors and flangers.  Every patch can add wah on the pod.  I just don't have want for any sound.

The quality aspect of modelers is overstated as any other arguments on here about tone.  I was blown away by the old PodXT when I bought it - and it was already old (read: depreciated).  So I tried the newer ones.  I just didn't hear a huge difference for what I need one for.  I went to music go round and tried a couple older ones and they sounded pretty similar too.  Seems to me the advances are in the feature set.  The ones with knobs only were harder for me to dial in.  But the new ones had so many sub menues that it took a long time to figure it out.  I probably didn't completely.  I got a sound that was similar to my old unit and decided to keep my $400.

[Grant Harding]

To me, getting my signal in stereo, using stereo reverb and stereo delay is way up my priority list.

[Brian May]

I'm still waiting for the day when they sound as good as my amps dirt...till then my amp/analogue ODs is what i shall use live!

[kayd_mon]

Ok, as I said before, I prefer and gig with stomps.

But how important is it to be able to tweak live? I don't bend over and mess with my board very often during a gig. In fact, since multi-fx boxes can't get their knobs accidentally messed up, I'd think that's a plus for live use.

[kit_strong]

To me the biggest advantage to a Multi FX unit is price.  I paid $500 for my HD500.  Meanwhile, my just my TRex Gristle King and TC Nova Delay added up to about that.  When you factor in patch cables, pedal board, batteries/power supply even using lower cost pedals you can quickly exceed the cost of most multi-fx units.

 

And for those that don't like having to menu dive to tweak things, the Zoom G5 has a dedicated LCD and 3 knobs for each FX block which will give you the same level of instant control as physical pedals.

 

[kayd_mon]

@thewthrman

I am a Pod X3 user. I have read that the HD Pods do better with simulating response, sag, and guitar volume changes and dynamics than the previous Pod generations, though I've yet to find out myself.

I went from 2.0 to X3, and it was worth it. I want to try HD to see if the jump is worth it.

[thewthrman]

Oh yeah.  It totally doesn't behave the way my old pedals/amp did when you roll off the volume knob a on the guitar, if that's what you mean. 

[kayd_mon]

Yes. My complaint about multi-fx boxes is that turning down your guitar's volume, for instance, isn't quite the same. You can get some artifacts then that aren't what you get on a "real" amp.

[Grant Harding]

 

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kayd_mon wrote:

 

Yes. My complaint about multi-fx boxes is that turning down your guitar's volume, for instance, isn't quite the same. You can get some artifacts then that aren't what you get on a "real" amp.

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On my AX2 there are 2 expression pedals on the floorboard and they're programmable. For the volume control, you can set it at the beginning or end of the signal chain, so you can get the "in front" gain roll-off that a guitar volume does or you can set it like a master volume, so that the gain structure is unchanged when you back off the volume. I set that different for different patches.

[Enigmatic]

I use  a POD HD500x.  It's a great unit if you use hi-gain settings.   If you use dirty or overdriven tones, you probably want to go analog. (or if you can afford the Axe FX II, go for it.  Axe will do both, but cost 5x more than the pod or gt)   

[steve_man]

I've used both.  Used to hate multi FX units, as they were too much of a pain to program and didn't sound very good.  My pedalboard into a tube amp was my go-to for a long time.  My current church does not have room for a mic'd amp setup, so I went searching for alternatives.  Had an M13 for a while, but it lacked amp modeling, which did not sound quite right when run direct.  Then, I tried an HD500...  The HD series is by FAR better than anything Line 6 has done.  Great models, great effects.  Love the fact that you can set it up like a pedalboard, and sounds really good running direct.  Plus, I like the fact that I can throw it in it's bag and carry it out in one hand.  

[Will Chen]

I use anything and everything to get the job done. Since 99% of my playing has to happen silently with the kids in bed, I've been going th modeling route for a number of years now and have done a tone of in depth comparisons between digital and the real thing and here are my thoughts.

1. Digital can absolutely emulate the real world sound and feel with such a high degree of accuracy that in a blind A/B the vast majority of guitarists could not tell the difference. The issue is you have to spend a ton of money to get there. I picked up a Kemper and really when monitoring the signals similarly they are near indistinguishable. However is paying $1,500 to $2,000 really necessary if you have the ability to turn on an amp and don't need 1,000 different sounds? If you don't need to exactly emulate your amp/mic, there are plenty of more affordable devices which are perfectly capable of great tones.

2. I love digital effects. They tend to be far more tweakable than their analog counterparts and allow you to do things you just can't do in the analog realm. Sure, that vintage CE-1 is going to have a warmth and mojo not perfectly captured, but I can have something extremely close and freeze the signal and pitch it up 2 octaves digitally.

3. No all in one unit actually does everything well. Maybe the Axe-FX, never tried it. But I love the polyphonic shifting of the Whammy V, as well as the EHX Freeze, and numerous reverbs/delays from the ZOOM MS-70CDR. I'd love to have all the effects I want in an all in one, but there simply isn't a unit on the market offering all that I want.

4. Dirtboxes are fun. I've done comparisons with real amps using a real dirt box and several manufacturers digital versions and in the majority of cases the sound is so close I couldn't tell on playback which was which without looking. That said, I really like dirtboxes. They're fun to play with and look cool. And are dead simple to operate. 

[thewthrman]

I have totally flip flopped on this topic, by the way.

My argument was that whether the audience perceived any difference or not, I need to sound good to myself so I will play better.  Absolutely it's true that when the amp sounds good, I play so much better.  But, the truth is, I don't think the audience noticed THAT either. 

So, what do they notice?  They hate it if it is too loud.  I have played so loud for so many years.  I love that warm wet feeling in the ears.  The amp sounds better if the tubes are cooking.  But I had a club owner say one time "Some bands are wall scrapers.  they draw people in.  People are cowering from you guys."  He meant it complimentary - LOL - because we were a fairly aggressive rockabilly outfit.  But, it stuck with me and I decided I wanted to draw people in.  That means STOP PLAYING SO G.D. LOUD!

I NEVER want anyone to tell me I am too loud again.  To get a nice tone at an infinitely variable volume, then I needed to go digital.