Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: Frej10 Aug 23 2009, 01:08 PM

Hi guys !

I've bought a new guitar recently, but I also need som effect pedals, because of my small Fender amplifier that cannot produce any good sounds with it's clean and overdrive channel.

Is it worth the money to buy a multieffect box with plenty of effects or should I only buy a couple "single-effect"-effect pedals ?

Thanks in advance,

Frej

Posted by: Matt23 Aug 23 2009, 01:22 PM

Do you have a budget, because generally it is cheaper to buy a multi-fx than all the individual pedals, although it may not be quite as good.

Posted by: Frej10 Aug 23 2009, 01:26 PM

I have about 250 euros to spend !

Posted by: ZakkWylde Aug 23 2009, 01:27 PM

Why buy pedals if you are not satisfied with the sound of your amp?
Get a great sounding amp first before you worry about effecst to enhance the sound would be my piece of advice!

Posted by: Frej10 Aug 23 2009, 01:30 PM

The thing is that I can't have a very big good souning amplifier since I live in an apartment and don't want to disturb my neighbours ( and the rest of the family )

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 23 2009, 01:38 PM

Hmm effects pedals won't make your amp sound better. When it comes to stomp boxes vs multieffects I always go for individual high quality pedals. Now the question is what kind of effect you need? Wah wah, delay , chorus, overdrive etc?

Posted by: Frej10 Aug 23 2009, 02:02 PM

I allready have i Cry Baby. What I'm looking for is some overdrive, reverb, and delay !

Posted by: Emir Hot Aug 23 2009, 02:25 PM

Some Boss overdrive used to do a great job for me. I don't remember but I think it was OD-2 or 1. Now I use plugins for that.

Posted by: Fran Aug 23 2009, 05:39 PM

With that budget you can get a couple nice stomp boxes, like a delay & distortion.

Or you can get a Boss ME-70 for justa bit more, and it has a lot of effects plus patches etc.

As our members already stated if your amp is not good a ME unit or stomps won't work magic, it probably won't sound too good.

another option would be to get a line 6 POD, and hook that up to your computer, then play through some decent 2.1 multimedia speakers. That sounds really good and will give you recording options too.

To sum up:

- Amp + Effects:
You probably should get a better amp before getting stomp boxes. Either a low wattage valve amp (5 Watts or less), or a Solid State 50Watts (they sound good no matter the volume). 12'' speaker if possible.
Individual stomps sound better but are expensive
Multieffect units are also nice & versatile (but tone isn't as good as with individual stomps)

- POD
There are versions that need a computer (Pod Studios, which are cheap and have great tone), and Pod Xt/X3 which work standalone too. Both can be used to record through a computer.
Pods can be heard through an amp, but they sound better through regular speakers, like a Hi-Fi, or some decent computer speakers (2.1 system for example). Studio monitors would be the best choice but those are pricey too.


Hope that helps!

Posted by: Frej10 Aug 23 2009, 06:33 PM

Speaking of my amplifier, it's a 38W Fender Frontman. Does that kind of amplifier work with the Boss ME-70 ?

Posted by: Fran Aug 23 2009, 06:54 PM

Yes, it should work fine. But the better the amp, the better the multi effect unit will sound trough it!

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Aug 23 2009, 07:39 PM

Sure it does, it's an amp with a nice clean sound so it will handle effects pretty nicely. If you are first timer with effects, buying a multiFX unit is not such a bad investment. This will enable you to experiment with effects and see how they react and enrich the sound. When you find your sound, then you can look out more quality effects.

Posted by: Frej10 Aug 23 2009, 07:51 PM

I checked out the Boss ME-70 and it looks really nice ! I'll go to a musicstore tomorrow and try it, thanks for your great advices !

Posted by: synfection Aug 23 2009, 08:01 PM

Thought about buying a line 6 spider III 15 watt? its not loud enough to annoy any one, it has quite a few effects and is 65 pound ish i have the 125 watt version and i quite like mine.

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/line6-spider-3/71375

Posted by: Frej10 Aug 23 2009, 08:06 PM

I've tried that amplifier many times. The problem with it is that all guitars sound the same when plugged in. I can't hear an difference between my old budget stratocaster and my new SG...

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Aug 23 2009, 10:36 PM

Let us know how it went man. Cheers

Posted by: fkalich Aug 24 2009, 12:45 PM

Good advice. I grew to hate my multieffect device, which was a large one that cost me $400. As good as any in that price bracket. But they all suck in fundamental ways, they sound awful after awhile. You just can't do everything well in one box on the cheap, they have to make compromises. And each will have weak and strong points, you won't like the weak points.

I did keep a small multi device, Zoom G2 with an expression pedal that plugs in (another reason multi effects suck, most have built in expression pedals, which are not as good as ones you buy and plug in.).

My devices are

1) Boss Compressor
2) CryBaby Classic with red Fasel (these don't suck tone).
3) Boss Metal Zone
4) MODIFIED Boss SD-1
5) Boss DD-7 with expression pedal.
6) Boss OC-3 octave pedal
7) Boss Loop Station with FS-6 dual switch
8) And lastly my Zoom G2. I DO NOT USE ANY AMP MODELS on the Zoom, I bypass all that. I only use it for maybe three things, harmonizer, high octave, a second delay, and maybe the noise gate. But not modifying the sound with models, just those effects. It has perhaps the best cheap intelligent harmonizer around (I have looked into it, and it has advantages over both the Boss PS-5 and Digitech Harmony Man (basically the latter does not take an expression pedal, and the former only uses it in one useless way). The Boss PS-2 is pretty bad I think. It just has a bunch of silly video game like features that I would never use, and what is important the harmonizer, is weak in controls. You can't shift scale/key, or change the mix of effect to original signal with your foot, both of which functions the Zoom will do.

This goes into a tube amp, all tube, either Carvin Belair, Legacy Combo, or Modified Epiphone VJ. I don't believe in digital effects or equalizers in a tube amp, that means that it has to have solid state components, tubes don't "do digital". Unless someone builds an amp with a million or so tubes. I don't want an amp that starts getting obsolescent as soon as I get it home.....that goes against my grain. To me solid state means disposable, I prize and value my amp, don't want it to feel like a disposable commodity item. Oh, I am also looking into attenuators.

Here is a post I found that describes why the Zoom G2 is a decent low cost device for the above purposes. I agree with all of this. I will replace it later, when somebody comes out with a good affordable harmonizer that is designed by someone who is not brain dead. But the Zoom for these purposes is fine for now. Oh, it goes though the effects loop.



I quote.....



"i'm dead serious in saying this because i was going through the same thing you were....

zoom g2

i personally own the zoom g2.1u which is the same thing with an expression pedal and was $170 compared to $100 but it's pretty mucht eh same thing.

regardless, you can bypass all the amp models and other effects and use only the harmonizer.

i work at a music store and compared it to an older boss harmonist, boss pitch shifter and a digitech whammy.

it tracks so much better then these units, i was really surprised. plus it not only has a harmonizer, but a pitch shifter too (can set it so it's not affected by what key your playing in).

i actually have been using the delays also because they're pretty decent.

you can setup a ton of presets also which is cool so you don't have to fiddle with the pedal everytime you want to harmonize ina differnt key. the whammy pedal is actually pretty decent too.

sounds great with my splawn. it's a little tricky at first to set it up but after i "got it" it's very easy to use.

get it. you're not going to find anything decent that's cheap."

Posted by: Frej10 Aug 26 2009, 02:24 PM

I finally bought it !

I've allready have a Cry Baby, is it worth to keep it?

[attachment=17427:IMG_8491.JPG]

Posted by: jafomatic Aug 26 2009, 02:50 PM

Unless you need the cash from selling it, I would keep the crybaby in case you want its effect while using the expression pedal on the Boss device for something else (volume, or pitch bend, whatever). Further, a crybaby without extra overdrive will be fine to put on the signal BEFORE the ME-70.

Also of note: if you have a good pair of headphones, I suspect you may enjoy those instead of sending the ME-70 to the small amp.

Posted by: Frej10 Aug 26 2009, 02:52 PM

Allright !

Yes, i have a pair of Sennheiser HD 202 that works great !

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Aug 26 2009, 09:06 PM

Great man, congratulations!

I suggest that you keep the wah for the time being. After a while if you catch yourself not using it for some time, and you are in need of money or some other effect badly, then sell it/exchange it.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 26 2009, 11:18 PM

Congrats on getting the unit! May it server you well! I would keep the way for now!