Effects unit???

[indierik]

Hello all,

I want to purchase a Guitar effects unit. I use the MBR as my primary effects unit and I do like some of the effects available such as: Comp Lead, Comp Delay, Twang, and some of the DRY distortion effects. I like some of those vintage sounds, but not limited to... Anyways I don't have much experience playing with pedals and feel I need to gain this experience if I am ever to play live. Besides, effects can be really inspiring for me. I want an all-encompassing unit with various effects (delay, distortion etc..) of which I can program in certain effects for specific songs. I like user friendly. I don't want to spend a fortune but a three hundred dollars wont break me.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Erik

[peterp]

Some of the DigiTech guitar multi effects pedals might be worth a look
http://www.digitech.com/multieffects.php

I have the RP155 it has 50 factory and 50 user settable preset slots.
and you can download presets made by other.
There is even a freeware preset converter that allows you to use setting files made for the other models.
http://sites.google.com/site/rppatchxplor/  (rpXplor is freeware so be careful)

But live it would be a pain unless you had it tethered to a laptop so you could  go directly from one preset to another. Without a PC connected you need to tap the up/down buttons until you get to where you want next.  

[indierik]

Thanks man. Could be fun to play with. I'll check it out.

Much appreciated.

[Greeny (No longer active)]

I only own one multi-fx pedal / unit, and that's a Zoom acoustic one. I rarely use it, as the sound of a good acoustic recorded on the MBR doesn't need any enhancement. I've never tried it live either.

I do like individual stompboxes a lot, and each one has it's own character. I think they're nice things to collect even if they only come out once in a while. I have a few now, but it's the wah and big muff fuzz pedal that get most usage.

If I was playing live with a band, I'd go down the pedal board route with individual wah, overdrive, tremelo and chorus pedals (plus maybe a phaser and a fuzz pedal). But I can see the attraction of having one of the line-6 pods that does all that (and a lot more) in one small unit. I know Zoom do a very resonably priced multi-fx pedal too, with the option of a built-in wah / expression pedal...

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=352051&C=Froogle&U=352051&T=Module

I'd like a Memory Man analogue delay pedal too, but will have to save up my pennies for that.

[Geir]

At the price you're willing to give, you're pretty close to getting a BR800, that is if it's only for recording purposes you're gonna use it!

If you want something cheap, with lots of options and easy to use I can recommend Behringers V-amp 2 (or pro if you're after a rackmounted device) You can control it with a midi foot-controller like the FCB 1010. I have the amp-version (Vampire) and I think Blooby uses it too.

[Blooby]

I have had a load of these: Behringer V-Amp 2, the V-Amp Pro, the Line 6 Pocket Pod, A Korg PX 4D, A Johnson J-Station, an M-Audio Black Box, and most recently, a Line 6 Floor Pod XT Live.

Many of the units say they'll alow many effects at a time, but this can be misleading.  I find this isn't often an issue with me anyway.  I guess if I wanted some compression on a slightly overdriven tone with chorus and delay...

The Behringers actually have some pretty good sounds, but the V-Amp 1 and 2 are flimsy, especially where the cable connects to the unit.  Limited effects tweaking on these units.  The V-Amp Pro goes for under $200 new (American).

The Korg I sold within a month.  Couldn't stand the sounds on it other than some novelty tones.

The Johnson J-Station has probably the best tones I've heard from a Pod-like unit.  Ridiculous how these never caught on, but I understand they have a bit of a cult following.  These aren't made any longer, but you can pick them up on Ebay for about $100 American.

The M-Audio Black Box is cool because it has time-based effects.  For instance, if you want a tremolo to warble at 100 bps, you just dial it up.  It also has some of the same programs (random flangers, filters, etc) as some of the Adrenalinn products, which cost an arm and a leg more.  The amp models are good as well.  Also not made any longer, but don't know how much they are going for.  I only break this out for the Adrenalinn oddball effects that are on it and to sync up the occasional delay or tremolo.

I now use the Line 6 XT Live and couldn't be happier.  It has the built-in wah, volume, and you can also hook up a second expression pedal to control whatever.  I've only exploited this a couple times, but I set it for amount of reverb, and it worked well.  The tones on it are pretty great if you are willing to sit with it for a bit.  You can get them used for under $300.00 American.

For the money, I think the Pocket Pod (NOT the Pocket Pod Express) is phenomenal for the money.  Many of the presets are by contemporary bands, which I couldn't care less about, but in addition to the normal presets, there are some song presets that are great starting points.  It also has a few vocal and bass presets.  All of my MoO posts have our bassist playing through that direct.  Not great if you are into stacking multiple effects.  I think they are hovering at just over $100 American.

Would never get another Korg unit, can't speak to the Boss or Digitech ones, and I have heard some pretty wonderful things about the Vox Tonelab units.  I was researching all of these when an unbelievably great deal popped up on the XT Live that I just couldn't pass on.

If you are happy with your "amp" settings and just want some effects, I might look into a cheapo unit from Lexicon, Zoom, or TC Electronics.

Much as I like tone-shaping, when I play live, I only use an additional overdrive (love the pedals by Xotic but haven't bit the bullet yet) as a subtle boost and a rotary speaker simulator.  On a hippie-ish gig, I might pull out an envelope filter.  

Back to work now.

Blooby

[upsetminded]

I have nothing but good things to say about my Korg AX3000g.  It's tough enough to use for gigging.  It has huge amounts of guitar, rack and amps and a bunch of other fun stuff, built in pedal for wah and other effects which is very sturdy too.  

The presets are just okay (as with most processors).  But you can program your own sounds and people have posted how to dial in combos to get sounds of certain guitarists on the net.  The only downside is that the learning curve is a little high because it has a ton of gadgets

I think it's under 300 Canadian Pesos when I bought it in the fall.  Reviews of other people have been very positive as well...Worth checking out...Actually youtube it because you can hear some of the pro sounds you can get....And they are not doctored because I've personally got those sounds without too much effort.

[64Guitars]

I think floor-based effects units are an ergonomic disaster. Why are hand-operated controls placed at my feet? I'm not a monkey! The only designs that make sense to me are those where the foot-operated controls (switches and expression pedals) are separate from the hand-operated controls, so that the hand-operated controls can be placed at a suitable height for easy access. The best design I've seen is the Roland VG-99. Unfortunately, it costs $1,300 US!

The Roland GS-10 was also well-designed.

It was meant to sit on a tabletop for easy access to the controls and could optionally be controlled by a midi foot controller such as the Roland FC-300.

Unfortunately, the GS-10 is no longer available.

The next best thing, ergonomically, would be a rack-mount effects unit connected to a FC-300 or similar foot controller. Some rack-mount units that come to mind are:

Roland GT-Pro

Line6 POD Pro

Behringer V-AMP Pro

Unfortunately, most of these rack-mount units are outside your budget. However, you can get the Behringer V-AMP Pro for about $170 which seems like a real bargain. Of course, you'd also want a midi foot controller for it. Fortunately, the Behringer FCB1010 is available for $149.99. So, the total price of $320 is pretty close to your budget.

A few years ago, I bought a DigiTech RPx400. Seemed like a good idea at the time. But, when I got it home, I sat on my living room floor and played with it for a few hours. When I finally tried to stand up I could barely manage it. I thought - this isn't for me. I need something I can operate from a tabletop or rack - not the floor! So I took it back to the store the next day. I don't know how old you are but ergonomics might be important to you if you're not as strong and flexible as you once were.