Does anyone have a Yamaha Magicstomp and what do you think?

[milkbone]

For $166 in Musicians Friend, it sounds good. From info gathered, the distortions stink and the modulations are great. Sound good to me since I would'nt use the distotions anyway. What do you think?

[bearballz]

Re: Does anyone have a Yamaha Magicstomp and what do you think?

I tried one out at a local GC and was really impressd with the unit. I to am considering picking one up. I think for the price you can't beat it. Plus you can download/upload sounds other people have created on their MS and download it onto the unit off the magicstomp website.

[aleclee]

Re: Does anyone have a Yamaha Magicstomp and what do you think?

I got mine back in January. I don't bother with the distortions but use the 'verb, delay, modulation, pitch shift, and parametric EQ. The sounds are great and, unlike a lot of modeling devices, the presets are fairly usable. Unlike the L6 modelers it replaced, the Magic Stomp works great in the loop of my Soldano.

Some folks might miss MIDI and continuous controller support. I miss tap tempo a bit but my biggest gripe is that on patches with a "blend" control for the effect, there's something of a volume drop around 50/50. The effect modes have great tweakability but having to hook it up to a computer puts a bit of a damper on things. My final nit is the 12V wall wart power supply. Nothing wrong with it but I'd be much happier if the MS could run off a power brick like my Juicebox or a Pedal Power.

Though the L6 modelers come closer to "benchmark" delay and modulation tones, the MS does more than my old DL4 and MM4, takes up 1/3 of the space on my pedalboard and cost less than either one of the L6 stompers. I sold the L6 units (for quite a bit more than the MS cost me) and haven't looked back.

I thought that $200 was a fair price for the MS given its sound quality and versatility. At its current discount price, it's a great deal IMHO. However, since it's a year old and getting blown out by MF, it might be a sign that a new and improved MS is coming out (or the line is getting discontinued ).

Bottom line: it's the centerpiece of my pedalboard and, for me, does the work of two or more pedals. If you're looking for a sonic Swiss Army Knife, the Magic Stomp could be a good buy for you if you can deal with the limitations mentioned above.