A few pedals or a multi-effects?

[Mukobi]

Hello,

I just got a new Les Paul-style guitar and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe that sound awesome together for clean, but the only pedals I have are a Boss DS-1 and a cheap Pyle wah that don't sound too amazing.
I'm in the market for mainly some dirt pedals that would work well with my rig. I'm looking to get 3 main tones: an edge of breakup SRV tone for rhythm, a singing blues lead tone, and then a 70s-80s rock Marshall-like tone, and I'm looking to spend less than $200 on pedals.

Do you think I should use that money to get 2-3 drive pedals, like a tubescreamer or other OD and some good distortion pedal, or do you think I would be better off going with a multi-effects pedal to get all those tones in one? Also, do you have any specific pedals that you can recommend especially those that would work well with my Hot Rod?

Thanks!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

Why not use the Drive and/or More Drive channels that are built into the amplifier and for which you have already paid?

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

But if that's not enough, good separate drive pedals will blow away the overdrives in most multi-effects units so badly...

 

[aleclee]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

good separate drive pedals will blow away the overdrives in most multi-effects units so badly...

Yup. If dirt is your major interest, I'd recommend pedals vs. MFX.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

For the edge of break-up SRV tone I suggest the legendary Boss BD-2 ($99 new). Even without any of the booteek mods it's a good pedal. For a singing blues lead tone you can stack a Boss SD-1 into the BD-2. For an arena rock tone on check out the MI Audio Crunch Box. Since I've already busted your budget you will have to shop the used market, or check out some of the lower priced MXR distortion pedals. As LPG said, most will blow away the distortions in multi-effects processors.

All that aside, many people use one of the Line 6 POD units and are perfectly satisfied. I've had two different multi-effect processors (neither was Line 6) and was perfectly dissatisfied. I gave the old Korg unit away but I still have the Vox Tone Lab ... somewhere.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

Do you think I should use that money to get 2-3 drive pedals, like a tubescreamer or other OD and some good distortion pedal,

Yes, well chosen pedals beat multi fx any day of the week IMO.

However, you have 3 sounds already on your amp. Getting your amp running and sounding its best is money well spent. If the tubes are fresh, strong and biased properly and perhaps think about investing in a really nice speaker (a texas heat is perfect in an HRD). The weakest point of the HRD amp is the stock "fender/emi special design" speaker. It is both unpleasantly trebly yet flabby in the bottom end at the same time. A texas heat can handle the wattage easily, thicken up the lows, smooth and define out the tops and just add some serious muscle to the amp. That should get you pretty close to all the sounds you are after without even plugging in a pedal.

Consider swapping out the first preamp tube with something nicer too. Fender use rebadged sovtek 12ax7wb's generally which are their bottom of the range tube. Given that V1 is the main tone shaping tube for everything that happens downstream in the amp, a nice one in that slot will make quite a marked difference. JJ's if you want fat and smooth. Tung sols if you want sparkle and chime, and EH if you want midrange grind. Might even be worth looking at a full set of nice tubes down the track, but seeing as the amp is new, use the current ones for a year or so until they need replacing. Just buying a single tube for the V1 slot is not expensive and quite a noticeable "tone upgrade" in an HRD.

If that is sorted then yeah, something simple like an SD-1 or tubescreamer is excellent to add some push and some hair to any of the three sounds your amp already offers. Better still, a fulldrive gives you all those sounds plus some extra flexibility. You can snag the fulldrive II for not much coin these days and it is still as good as anything else out there. I really cant see the need for any more boost or dirt than that given that the amp has its own dirt on tap. The fulldrive has two switchable levels of boost/grit so with the three sounds your amp already has, you have footswitchable access to 9 different tones, let alone all the fine tuning you can do with the flat mids/comp cut/mosfet/vintage options. Keep your ds-1, but it is probably best kept in the closet for rare occasions when you want to pretend you are playing hair metal in LA's sunset strip in the 80s.

So, if it was my 200 bucks, id grab a texas heat speaker and a second hand fulldrive II. Professional gear and classy boutique tones easily under your budget. With the change you can invest in a nice preamp tube or two.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

I was listening to the Wampler podcast, and they said exactly what Gibson175 said. Good speaker and a dirt pedal.

As a former multi-fx fan, I say go with pedals. They're a better long term investment. Even when all the pedal companies come out with updated versions, none will make your pedals sound like garbage in comparison, and you won't be spending money on a few things you like plus a ton of crap you'll never use.

 

[blueman335]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

Separate pedals! With a multi-effects box, you're just about guaranteed that you would not have chosen all of them to sound the way they do (manufacturers want to keep their costs down, some of the effects are just 'filler'). You give up tone quality and flexibility for a one-stop-shop. Is that worth it? You're going to be using your rig a lot, it's worth a little time up front to select the best pedals for what you want to do. Look for used pedals and save some money.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

+1 on used pedals. They're a good bet in terms of reliability. If a pedal works when you buy it, it's likely to work for a very long time to come.

 

[Aceman]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

I was going to that a decent OD for the low breakup SRV sound into the clean, plus the dirt channel on there, and/or the dirt channel plus that DS1 should give you all the flavor you want need….




I'll second the BD 2 - but all kinds of cool things. I say get two GOOD full range pedals - a Boost to OD, and an OD to Distortion.

 

[Archer250]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

Separate pedals for maintenance reasons. A GOOD multi effect can sound damn near indistinguishable from a pedal if you're good at dialing your sound.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

I agree with the other comments. Hot Rod Deluxes were almost built for taking pedals well.

SRV Rhythm: Clean boost to light OD
Singing Blues Lead: Tube Screamer style
Marshall: Marshall in a box

Many different ways to go about it, and the above suggestions are good. Here are some ideas:

Electro Harmonix
Soul Food
East River Drive
Glove

Mooer
Pure Boost or Flex Boost
Green Mile
Cruncher or Solo

Boss:
Aforementioned BD-2
Modified SD-1
Modified DS-1
There are great mod kits that transform a good SD-1 into a great Tube Screamer and an OK DS-1 into a pretty decent Marshall sim

Basically, the clean boost/light OD is pretty easy to find, the Tube Screamer style is super easy, it's the Marshall style that is a little more difficult in that budget. Most say Plexi or Crunch in the title...

 

[mwalluk]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

Always individual pedals.

Sure you can get a multi unit that does everything well, but not great. As much versatility a multi unit provides its also somewhat restricting.

Another thing to keep in mind is resale value. With pedals it always easy to fall in to trading those pedals for different ones. It's alot easier selling single efx pedals than it is a multi unit.

Recently I just finalized my board, pics and review to come soon once the 2 pedals come in the mail. Granted my board is different due to it primarily being modulation and time based rather than OD, but it does give an explanation of single vs multi.

I used to own a tc electronic Nova system. It was a nice multi unit that offered a ton of efx. It also took up my entire board size wise. It did delay and some modulation really well. The other efx were on point but not as great as some individual pedals I previously owned. It also had a delay when switching between presets. It was a complicating unit that took many of hours to tweak.

I eventually sold it after a year on the market.

I ended up buying versatile single pedals. TC dreamscape that does chorus, flange and vibrato. Neunaber seraphim that does verb and shimmer. Mister crybaby volume and wah. Cusack tme delay that's able to do a few different delays with only a small tweak to knob.

I never been happier.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

That said, suggestions for OD.... look for a clean boost, OD and distortion.

MI crunch box
Fulltone fatboost
Box of rock
Tc spark
Mxr wylde od

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

Some disadvantages of most multi-effect units.

1) Digital parameter access editing and control. This is never as immediate as grabbing a knob, slider or switch and moving it until you like what you hear.

2) Digital signal processing. Many MFX units convert yo' signal into noughts and ones, apply the effects that you ask for then, convert the noughts and ones back into an analogue signal. This has a tendency to flatten out dynamics. More importantly, it shuts off the possibility of deliberate overdrive. When the highly controlled signal arrives at your amplifier, its "sameness" gives the power stage valves nothing to get excited about. RESULT - everything you play ends up sounding kinda, "meh!"

3) MFX units tend to observe the conventional rules of effect chain sequencing. Thus, left field experimenting is another possibility denied. Granted, Step Phaser into Muff Fuzz is probably going sound wretched but the option should still be available.

4) Different guitars often require different settings. If you carry two guitars for gigging, the MFX parameters that enhance yo' Stratocaster are going to brown out when you change to a Les Paul. Conversely, preset sounds for the Lester will probably sound awfully thin with the Fender. Your options are to prepare MFX patches to suit each guitar or to add a level correction pedal. Once you have that extra pedal, you have defeated the object of the all-in-one processor.

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

I've tried both ways. The MFX now collects dust. IMO there is NO comparison in tone quality. Everything seems to be a compromise in MFX...not bad, but also not great.
Wanna ago inexpensive? JOYO Sweet Baby for mild OD; JOYO Deluxe Crunch for heavier crunch.
More to spend? Fulltone Fat Boost FB-3 for the mild OD, and either the Boss Fender Bassman FBM-1 or the Mad Professor Simble for the Heavy Crunch.
And, swap out that V1 12AX7 for a 5751 in the HRDlx and you may/probably will only need the mild OD pedal.

 

[Mukobi]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

Thanks for all the help guys! I think right now I'm going to go for a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet and an MI Audio Crunch box.

I've heard lots of people saying that they liked their HRDx more after switching V1 with a 12at7 to smooth out the preamp gain and make it overall a bit quiter. Do you think it would be worth it for my scenario, or should I stick with a 12ax7? Also, what effect does a 5751 in V1 have on the HRDx, and would you advise me to put one of those in?

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

Thanks for all the help guys! I think right now I'm going to go for a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet and an MI Audio Crunch box.

I've heard lots of people saying that they liked their HRDx more after switching V1 with a 12at7 to smooth out the preamp gain and make it overall a bit quiter. Do you think it would be worth it for my scenario, or should I stick with a 12ax7? Also, what effect does a 5751 in V1 have on the HRDx, and would you advise me to put one of those in?

I think, considering the price, that a swap would do wonders for the HRDlx, which sounds harsh to me stock. The 5751 is mid way between the 12AX7 and the 12AT7. It's just plug and play (no re-bias) so worst case is you blew $30...but you'll like it I'm 95% sure.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

Thanks for all the help guys! I think right now I'm going to go for a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet and an MI Audio Crunch box.

Outstanding choices. The MI is one that a lot of other Marshall in a Box are based on, and the FD2 pairs exceedingly well with Fender amps, and will boost the Crunch Box well too. Enjoy!

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: A few pedals or a multi-effects?

Thanks for all the help guys! I think right now I'm going to go for a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet and an MI Audio Crunch box.

I've heard lots of people saying that they liked their HRDx more after switching V1 with a 12at7 to smooth out the preamp gain and make it overall a bit quiter. Do you think it would be worth it for my scenario, or should I stick with a 12ax7? Also, what effect does a 5751 in V1 have on the HRDx, and would you advise me to put one of those in?

nah not a 12aT7 for V1. They do reduce the gain a little (similar to simple turning down the input volume by one knotch) but they also sound colder and thinner than 12ax7s.
I don't know how old your hot rod is, but there is a simple mod to tame the seemingly scary volume of the HRD which is changing the volume pot from Linear to Audio. This gives you the same max volume, but allows much easier fine tuning at the lower end of the dial. Stock hot rods seem to go from zero to 100 in the first 30% of the knobs range , with not much happening in the last 70%. An audio taper pot will alleviate this.
IN fender's defence, i know they have fixed this for amps made in the last year or two, so it depends how old your amp is.

You could go for a 5751, which is more or less a lower gain 12ax7, but despite claims of mystical mojo, it wont do anything for you that turning the volume down a little wont.

The other much more effective way of taming the beast is using a lower efficiency speaker. A difference of 3db on a speaker's max sound pressure levels will feel more or less like cutting the volume in half. So, a 100db speaker will seem to blow the doors off your house compared to a 97db speaker. The other thing that makes an amp seem uncomfortably loud is a speaker that tends towards bringing out treble frequencies and not much low end. My fave speaker (as i mentioned earlier) for taming loud clean big tube fender amps is the eminence texas heat, but if you want something more in line with the midrange honk of british style speakers, the G12M creamback will also attenuate the volume a little and smooth off the low end. Stay away from the G12H creamback cos that will make you amp louder.
Having a less efficient and less bright speaker will let you run your amp a bit hotter than usual, giving you a fuller fatter sound without making your (or your audience's) ears bleed.
What you need is a speaker with a high wattage rating (preferably double or more what the amp can produce) but a fairly low SPL (measured in db's). Different manufactireres all measure their speakers differently, but comparing the spl pf various speakers from one manufacturer will give you a good idea of whether the speaker is efficient or not.
ANywyas to keep it simple, either a texas heat or a G12M creamback would both sound excellent in your amp, making it fatter and warmer, sweeter and less "in your face" and loose.