Individual Effects Pedals or Multi-Effects or ?

[Bogner]

When it comes down to your use of effects, what do you prefer?

 

[JasonE]

I am an individual pedal guy when running a tube amp. I also however have a couple of digital devices and use what is in them without any extra pedals when I am using those devices. I chose both...

 

[László]

Depends on the gear. There's good and bad of each type.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

When I joined TGP, I was exposed to a whole world of pedals I'd never heard of. I rode the pedal-go-round hard and heavy for about 10 years, trying and flipping pedal after pedal of all types. Once I got great amps, I buy and sell very few pedals, but I remain an "individual pedals" guy for the most part.

 

[aamefford]

New player, not a lot of pedal experience. I have a nice tube amp, and a line 6 pod go. Plugging straight into the amp is easy. Using the pod go has lots (to many?) of choices. I’m bordering on dumping it and going for a few pedals. I’ll probably work through figuring out the pod go as a multi fx, in order to learn my way around effects a bit. So, I guess I choose multi-fx for now.

 

[Bogner]

Depends on the gear. There's good and bad of each type.

Of course.

 

[Bogner]

New player, not a lot of pedal experience. I have a nice tube amp, and a line 6 pod go. Plugging straight into the amp is easy. Using the pod go has lots (to many?) of choices. I’m bordering on dumping it and going for a few pedals. I’ll probably work through figuring out the pod go as a multi fx, in order to learn my way around effects a bit. So, I guess I choose multi-fx for now.

Gotta go with what works for you. There is no wrong way to do things. That is why I like creating these threads and talking about this stuff. Hopefully the information shared and questions asked/answered will really help people and expedite the learning curve without people spending money on things that won't work for them. I wish I had that in my early days.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Uhhh… depends. For dirt and dynamics I prefer single purpose analog stuff, mostly.

But as soon as it hits that first converter I almost prefer multi effects. Each AD/DA conversion adds artifacts, some pleasing, some not as much.

I will willingly look beyond something with lesser fidelity if it’s more practical, convenient (within reason), or if it’s way too f@ckin’ fun to ignore.

 

[Prs Mods too]

I only use tube amps if it matters and when I actually use pedals I use both.

I plug them into a loop switcher or whatever you call them. My rhythm effects are individual pedals because I vary the tones quite a bit and it's just easier. I hate scrolling through menus.

As for leads, I use one multi FX box with about 6 custom presets. I do it mostly to save room on the board since I like to have one loop for rhythm and another for leads. I don't want 6 more pedals on there just for a lead here or there for certain songs.

 

[vchizzle]

I use both. I like the H9 as my in the loop pedal mostly for verbs/delays. I like the H9 because of the app. It’s set up like a pedal and I don’t need to bend down to tweak settings. Especially handy with the band. I hate menus and programming so the pedal style format appeals to me.

I usually prefer individual pedals for most things. I think it’s because I’m old.

 

[JasonE]

When I joined TGP, I was exposed to a whole world of pedals I'd never heard of. I rode the pedal-go-round hard and heavy for about 10 years, trying and flipping pedal after pedal of all types. Once I got great amps, I buy and sell very few pedals, but I remain an "individual pedals" guy for the most part.

I got on that TGP pedal-go-round but only stayed on for a short while. I found some pedals that I had not heard of that I liked and some I really didn't like. Two that I still have are made by Barber. I have a Gain Changer and a compact Direct Drive. I like both of those. Two that I remember that I didn't like were the Suhr Riot and Skreddy Top Fuel. Those pedals were how I learned that I am much more of a fan of a rounder sounding OD than a higher gain distortion. I have a Friedman BE OD but only used that for a short while, until I got my hands on the Dirty Shirley. That instantly took the place of the BE on my board.

Another one that I found that I like that I had never heard of is the Dawner Prince Red Rox Distortion. That is AC/DC in a box.

 

[bodia]

Mostly an individual pedal guy. I do have 2 H9s, that I really like. But, if we're talking about pedal board sized multi units, pass. Too many settings for this guy.

 

[Woggers]

I’m still rocking the AxeFX II over here. And it still kicks ass. Probably saved me $1000s on pedals over the last decade.

 

[Bogner]

I’m still rocking the AxeFX II over here. And it still kicks ass. Probably saved me $1000s on pedals over the last decade.

I don't doubt that a bit.

 

[aphantomvaper]

Moved back to a Modeler this year and have been a pedal guy for 10 years, modeler before that, pedals before that. So I switch back every 5 - 10 years or so.

The modelers are really sounding good these days!!

 

[Bogner]

Moved back to a Modeler this year and have been a pedal guy for 10 years, modeler before that, pedals before that. So I switch back every 5 - 10 years or so.

The modelers are really sounding good these days!!

Which one are you using now?

 

[Senor Verde]

I've played through a few and heard many multi-effects pedals and have not been impressed. I have, however been interested in the Tech 21 Fly Rigs, but since they don't have built in tuners, I'd still have to have a separate tuner, which kind of eliminates the simplicity factor for me. My pedalboards are all set for me and I can customize if/when I see fit.

Racks are more work than I want to deal with as a part time gigger that needs to setup my own gear and help with PA/lights.

I just haven't warmed-up to the modeling and digital stuff yet. maybe someday...

 

[CandidPicker]

A young lad, unexperienced in effects, began a journey towards finding his signature tone. Never satisfied with what he had, he often did away with pedals, selling them to people more desirous of what had been previously revealed to him through his personal research. His effects board expanded and contracted, grew greater and smaller, according to his whim and stage of amusement at any given time. His preference was for the most cost-effective and efficient high-quality tone that he could afford.

This past year, his journey was brought to an oasis of technology and quality that amazed even his curiosity and imagination. He found Fractal Audio Systems. Although far from analog, the quality of amps, effects and cabs for the price point would be comparable to owning over 250 amplifiers of various types, 450 effects of various types, and over 1024 various types of guitar cabinets.

If he owned each of the real amps, effects, and cabs, he would need a literal warehouse to house all of these.

By contrast, he owns a simple modeler unit on a pedalboard with a tuner for acoustic sweetened tunings and expression pedal, that resides next to his workstation by his feet, where he can access it at any time he chooses.

He has to thank someone who shall remain anonymous that introduced him to Fractal, and eventually made it so he could maintain a cleaner standing by offering up his purchase invitation to an inquisitive older man now, still inexperienced in effects by comparison. To the anonymous individual who has provided me with countless hours of joy regards Fractal, you were indeed very kind.

Would it ever be necessary to consider analog/digital stomp boxes again? Likely not, given the fact that there is so much flexibility and versatility with Fractal, why would anyone ever need to collect amps, effects, and cabs, if Fractal has just about everything a guitarist might ever want or need?

 

[aphantomvaper]

Which one are you using now?

Currently the Headrush MX5 is my main stomper with an M-Vave Chocolate bar outboard MIDI pedal for Looper control. Pedal type interface with a modelers platoon of offerings. Really outstanding for the price.

The M-Vave is a cool unit that only requires a stereo 1/4 to 3/8 cable for the MIDI connection and no dongle and also has 4 buttons for short or long press....a functionality of 8 different switches in a teeny package! Also it's $30 like how can that be beat???

 

[RickP]

I use pedals (usually) with my amps, and when playing my Axe Fx I use the excellent effects in the box. It’s likely that, if I ever returned to gigging with tube amps, that I would convert to using the Axe Fx in a 4-cable-method setup with the amp, placing effects both in front and in the loop.

I’ve used the Fractal Audio gear for gigging since 2011, so I guess you could say that’s my usual choice, but I do still love regular amps and pedals too.