Pedals or processor of effect?

[João Paulo]

Hi...

Well i'll buy a guitar processor and want know which the best type of equipment? pedals or processor of effect?
What is the best? (ZOOM, DIGITECH, BOSS...)

[EricV]

Hi

So you want an actual multi-effect processor ? ( Several effects included, as opposed to bunches of stompboxes ? )

Well, this is just my opinion, and I made that decision a few years ago ( so the technical aspects might have changed a bit ), BUT:
I stay away from multi-effect pedals ( meaning those programmable multi-effect floor-units ).
I tried a bunch of them a year ago, and the thing that bothered me the most was that you have this big board in front of you on stage, and I didn´t like the tonal qualities... the ones I tried messed up the sound even when in standby-mode.
That means that I had an increase of hum plus a decrease of treble even when the unit was off.

So I went with 19" rack-based stuff. It depends on what kind of effects you want and how much you wanna invest ( I recommend referring to the harmony-central gear review user-base ), but the 19" multieffect units I liked were:

Rocktron Intellifex ( which usually isn´t that expensive since it´s been developed several years ago ), which is a nice & simple unit providing several good delay- chorus- and reverb sounds.

Rocktron Replifex- has some nice vintage-sounding and some modern sounds too, plus some cool extra features such as spillover-effects etc.

Alesis Quadraverb- Another "classic" which shouldn´t be too expensive. Basic, but good-sounding sounds

Alesis Q2- Which was one of my favorites. Lots and lots of different effects, very user-friendly, great sounds, lots of cool features ( 5 second sampler included )

Also, the TC Electronics stuff is very nice ( such as the Fireworks or G-Force )

What I like about the rack-based units is... they´re MIDI-controllable ( I usually had either a small MIDI-board or sometimes even just one single switch in front of me on stage ), they usually sound good and don´t alter the stuff when on standby, the Rocktron units have a noise-gate included, you usually have way more user-presets you can use, they all can be housed in a 19" rack, which makes setting up and transportation easier etc.
But the decision is up to you, and I haven´t tried the newer generation- floor-based multi-effects...
Eric

[RM II]

Don't listen to Eric, he's a professional musician.

Just kidding. Eric's one of the most knowledgeable people I've met in cyberspace when it comes to our chosen area of toys.

I play in a cover band and don't have the luxury of roadies and techs (I'm not saying you do, Eric) to help me figure out problems that may pop up unexpectedly, so I like the ease of having just one effects unit to hook up and lug around. I like the throw and go aspect of the multi units. I do know some other guys in bands that use a huge rack of effects and don't have any issues with them but I just don't want to go there.

I have had rack effects and boxes and prefer the multi units to all others. Just my opinion and preference.

As far as what brand is best? Digitech and Boss always seem to get the nod with most players I encounter. I've had people tell me Zoom effects produce sounds that just don't sound good.

I use Digitech.

[EricV]

Hi there,

and thanks for your comments... now I am flattered :)

Anyway, when I started using 19" stuff, I simply got me a 2-unit rack, and I installed a Rocktron Intellifex and a Furman Power COnditioner / light module.
Worked fine. I had everything wired, and so all I had to do when playing gigs was: Set up the amp, but the small rack on top of it, plug in the input / output wires, done. ( Of course, there still was the MIDI-board ).
Of course, using a huge spaceship-style rack is risky because of technical problems that might occur... and of course it´s expensive, but using just a single multieffect in a small rack is an alternative.
The floor-based multi effect I tried back then was... a Zoom 3030 ( and I think I also checked the 4040 ). I tried it both in front of the amp and in the loop, and I had a huge increase of humming and a loss of treble going on. Also, I didn´t like the sound itself that much, the delay was kinda choppy and crunchy.

But of couse, technology sure has improved ever since, and I haven´t checked out the newer units. Also, it´s always a question of financing that stuff...
Eric

[thesnowinmyhand]

A couple of years ago I used a Boss gt-5 on stage, but although I think Boss makes as fine a product as you can expect in such a price range it was not great. The A/D converison made my sound thin and I gave our sound engineer probably a headache.
Nowadays I still use the GT-5 a lot bet never in life situations, I found it is great for practicing at home through my headphones, so I can pratice for 2 or 3 hours in a row without my neighbours going crazy!.

Anyway since then I decided that I dont want my basic sound to come from a digital device. So I dont mind digital delays and choruses for example but I dont want any amp-modellers or digital based distiorsion any more for life situations (I know there are better ones available now in that direction for reasonable prices but conservative as we musicians are....).

As a rythm guitarist my sound was simple: a Boss MT-2 in a Marshall, using either a distorsion or a clean sound. But suppose you have a few more options like a delay or a chorus how do the professionals find it to hit 2 or 3 stompboxes at a time for a change? Because I hate this, I am slowly tending toward the rack unit although I have not yet invested in one (so expensive..)

just my thoughts

Robert

[7_stringa]

yeah i got a zoom 707 II

i rekon dere is nothing wrong with it
cheap 350 aud

hav drum machine
hav 6 second sampling (not de best but still good)
120 patches (60 u can edit)
33 distortions
and heaps of modualtions like 20 or usmhing
i cud go on for ages wid de effects but yeah reverd cab modulator xpression p[edal


yeah wayeva


i rekon its good and it soudns good 2




hey has ne1 heard of the digitech GNX 3
and what are the verdicts on that ,, i rekon it looks and soudns pretty mad(de features )

[João Paulo]

Thanks!

I bought a Digitech RP200. Very very cool! Easy to do patches, and sounds really cool!

see ya

[Agent_Embryo]

My 2 cents:

I've taken the step over towards going digital rack by getting me a used Rocktron Chameleon(Digital Preamp with Effects) in good condition. I've been using it for about a year now, plugging it straight into the Stereo Effects Return of my Marshall 8240 Valvestate amp. It's worked excellent so far. I also got a Digitech Control 7 MIDI floorboard (small size) to control program changes(going from clean sounds to max gain sounds and stuff). I like it alot, and am planning on getting an affordable power amp and a 3U 19" rack to mount it all in. Will have to get a 4x12 speaker cab as well.

I've used stompboxes in the past, and found that they might sound great in some setups, but when you go to a gig where you have to use a backline that isn't yours, you might not get the sound you want. This is a small problem...unless you can bring your own amp.

The small pedal multieffects like the Zoom ones can be a good alternative.

[EricV]

As I said, it depends on the sound quality you need... some of those small pedal multi effects have some really inferior components and might make it sound worse...
Anyway, Agent E., your comment about using a different backline is really good, this is something that occasionally occurs. I do have the Quadraverb mounted in a small rack, and if I need to use a different amp, I do. If it has a loop.
If it does not, I usually carry a pedal or two ( overdrive, digital delay, chorus ) with me and use those instead.
What´s interesting is that some multi effects, floor-based or 19", cannot recreate the sound of certain pedals... I hardly ever heard a flanger as good as the old ADA-ones. Also, the best phaser I ever heard was integrated into a Peavey Classic tube combo I once owned ( built in the late 70s or early 80s ). That thing rocked and I never heard a pedal or multi effect unit create a phaser-effect close to that one...
So anyway, for distortion / overdrive, I usually rely on the amp itself or a stompbox, same goes for Wah-sounds ( Morley Bad Horsie, Dunlop Hendrix Wah, Budda Wah ), while I use the Quadraverb or other 19" units for delays, reverb, chorusing etc.

Blah Blah Blah
Eric

[metallibeast]

I use Zoom Gfx 8, its actually quite good although I dun really use all the effects. The one thing I dun like about it is, all the preset settings are really trebly, you really gotten turn the presence and treble down. The wah is really bad...but than I dun really know how to use the wah...the wah sounded really thin.

Anyway...I'm wondering in some other threads...some of you all said that you prefer distortion from the tube...I'm wondering if I use a stomp box like a tube king or something similiar, would the distortion still sound great?

-Beast

[EricV]

What I meant in my previous post in this thread is that I prefer to use a distortion / overdrive-pedal when I need a boost.
I mean, I prefer to get the distortion from the amp and if I still need a bit more drive, I add that with a pedal.
I wouldn´t use a distortion pedal to turn a clean sound into a distorted one... I used to do that in the old days, but these days I prefer to have all or at least most of the drive be provided by the amp...

I actually never really tried one of those tube overdrives, but I think those might sound great...
Eric

[eviltwin]

I usde to run a Mesa V-Twin pre-amp pedal, it uses two 12AXT valves. I loved the clean and blues settings, but switching between them was a pain and setting the gain levels was nigh on impossible, so I sold it after a year. The guy a sold it to is happy with it. He uses it for all his overdrive/crunch sounds.

He used to use a metalzone pedal before the V-Twin but it sounded thin and I have to admit, the sound he gets from the mesa pedal is anything but thin.

Sorry I got off the topic abit but I thought i'd share my experience with a tube pedal after Eric's comment about how they might sound.

I would say they are worth checking out, but at the end of the day it all depends on the sound/tone that you are after.

[EricV]

Hey there,

cool, thanks for sharing that. I was wondering how they sound.

In the beginning, I used to use some distortion pedal to get a distorted sound ( sounded thin, too ), but once I got my first Marshall, I sold it and got a Tube Screamer ( to boost the amp for extra higain-lead sounds )...

Eric

[eviltwin]

Once I got rid of the V-Twin I used the money and got a JCM900 and 4X12, (absolute bargin), so I think that my main problem with the pedal was that it wasn't the sound I was after, but that doesn't make it bad, it just didn't suit me.