Multi-effects suck

Bfeeney

Bfeeney

Active member
I've noticed that the all-in-one multi effect pedals are not practical for anything other than jamming in your room. They seem to be way over complicated for anything else. 2 sounds you like are never next to each other so you have to scroll through to find it- can't do that on stage. There seems to be a limit on customizing so you might not get 'your sound'. I know I would rather have a distortion, chorus and delay pedals rather than my Digitech RP255. I had a DOD multi effect back in the day and ran into the same crap. They're kinda like Swiss Army knives, does a lot of things 'ok'. that's my rant for the day.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

I don't think those 2 multieffects you had is a good representation of what is out there. The line6 m9 and hd500 I use for different rigs are easy to set up and easy to get whatever sounds you want right next to each other. I have no need to ever go back to individual pedals.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

I have an old Korg AX1g and it's a pain to set up, but once you save the settings into a user preset it works fine. Newer ones apparently are really nice. The trick is to do your homework to make the gigs go seamlessly.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

I had an ART SGX 2000 that I absolutely loved, should have never sold it.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

They're just like anything: good ones are good, bad ones are bad. You have only experienced bad ones.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

Been using a Vox Tonelab LE for years now, and its great live. I can program where I want the patches so they're only a click away. Really nice for live playing.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

My old Boss ME-6 had every pedal you could want, all classic Boss stuff, and had every parameter any pedal has a nd a few they didn't. Plus 25 presets. I programmed some sweet @$$ sounds.

But yes - there are a bunch of pedals that really hinder your ability to mod stuff. Like a chorus that lets you set only depth or only rate. That would blow.

But even a Boss GT-6 can be had for around 100 these days. I'd get that or a used POD Floorboard. You can mod way more than you'd ever want.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

Bad-sounding multieffects units can really turn a player off to the genre. A lot of the more popular ones out there just stink. The balance has shifted, though, just in the twenty years or so that I've been playing. There's a lot more good stuff than there used to be. But the bad ones -- new or used, old as dirt or in this month's guitar mag -- still suck royally.
 
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Re: Multi-effects suck

I know Kings of Leon use the old Boss ME-50 and get good results.

As for anything Digitech and similar quality pedals... they suck. they're usually thin and cheap sounding. A lot of them aren't really built to last to boot.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

I disagree. Thanks to the generosity of one of our stalwart forum bros (Stratman :bigthumb: ), I've been using a Boss ME-70.
Boss-ME-70-Pedalboard-e1304264708962.jpg

Some decent amp models, several good overdrives, phaser/flanger/chorus, a solid-state wah that rivals any hardwired I've used, and delay that's clean and natural.

Built in a thick-gauge steel case; using it once a week for a year for live local gigs, and it's still going.
 
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Re: Multi-effects suck

There are some good multi-fx out there, but you do have to spend a lot of time tweaking them before you can use them in a band setting. I've found a few units that don't cost much, sound pretty decent, and are relatively intuitive to set up on-the-fly. The Digitech RP20 is a good mix of versatility and great tone. All of the Vox ToneLab stuff is useable. And the Line6 M13 is the only L6 product I lust after.

I play mostly in jam bands, so there's no time to go digging for the right patch, and by the time the band is playing, it's too late to dial in a sound that will cut through the mix. So I've migrated back to individual stomp boxes. It was a long round trip back to basics, but I get better use out of a stable of one trick ponies than I did out of the digital kitchen sink.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

astrozombie said:
I know Kings of Leon use the old Boss ME-50 and get good results.

As for anything Digitech and similar quality pedals... they suck. they're usually thin and cheap sounding. A lot of them aren't really built to last to boot.
Click to expand...

The older DigiTech stuff is good, and I've heard good things about their GSP-1101 rack. And I used to have a RP-20 that flat out kicked ass. That thing was very tweakable, and it sounded great. But I agree that the newer stuff isn't that great.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

Gone_Shootin said:
Yep, and you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

Well I shouldn't complain too much since the Digitech was free (DOD wasn't).

BUT......

If the company is making a multi-fx pedal that you can use on stage, whether it is a p.o.s. or thousands of dollars, the thing still need to be somewhat easy to get what you want. If not then it kinda defeats the purpose and forces you to keep it in your bed room (or the trash).
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

Bfeeney said:
If the company is making a multi-fx pedal that you can use on stage... the thing still need to be somewhat easy to get what you want. If not then it kinda defeats the purpose and forces you to keep it in your bed room (or the trash).
Click to expand...

Look for something like this: Digitech RP14-D. It s a digital multi fx (with a real tube stage) that has individual footswitches dedicated to each effect. So it's easy to bring a delay into an existing patch or switch off the chorus. It keeps you from having to dig into menus to tweak the patch for a particular situation.

RP14Dlg.jpg


Sounds great, too.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

Multifx aren't really hard to use though. Read through the manual, watch a few videos and know what you are aiming for, that's about it. If you need really long delay times, or several delays at a time, it is easy to research that kind of stuff before you buy it.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

I've been using a Line 6 M9 for a long time and it's a badass unit. It has a lot of applications, simple stomp setup, and the effects actually sound pretty good. I had a TC Nova system before but could never get it to hook up to things the way I wanted. It had probably a little bit better effects quality, but my M9 made it so much easier to use and hook up. I want to find or build a hub so that I can have all my amps plugged into it and my M9 on the other side so that way I can A/B/C whichever amp I turn on and use my effects without having to replug my cables.
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

I have a Boss GT-6 thats been lying in it's box as good as new since I bought it back when they were first released about 10 (or more) years ago. Just too many parameters & sub-parameters etc. It's solid, looks pretty cool & is built like a tank, but there's just too much trouble & messing around to be done to get a decent tone going. Someone just offered me about $225 for it so I guess it's good-bye time at last..
 
Re: Multi-effects suck

Many musicians do wonders with multi-fx. The fact that they don't work for you (and for me, to be honest), doesn't mean that they suck or are "not-as-good"...
 
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