Favorite Effects Pedals?

[karine_plays]

Here's a demo of my mostly BOSS pedalboard:

 

Nice demo! You're a good player and know your settings too which helps, g/j! I use BOSS exclusively with the exception of the Ibanez TS9 which (IMO) deserves honorary BOSS status -lol. It's cool to see someone else out there using the FDR-1.

 

I recently used the FDR-1/TS9 combo to play a Broadway revue, the range of styles went from Doo-Wop to Blues to Country to Sondheim and the 2 pedals handled everything. I even got to bust out the vibrato effect for "Hopelessly Devoted" -lol. And I'm sure anyone who took a peek at my headstock was very surprised to see anything other than Gibson. I love that. $700 plus some minor upgrades. B)

[denthevetteman78]

The only pedal i've been using in the last 30 years is a original TS9 tube screamer 1981.

[boss gt8]

Im happy with my BOSS GT 8

[Anthony_J]

I LOVE pedals!!

 

 

Hey JC, quick question. Why do you have two Tubescreamers side to side like that?

 

I just use a Tubescreamer for Stevie Ray sounds and the Boss Blues Driver to push the amp into a natural overdrive. Oh and a Vox wah. I'm more of a tone guy than an effect guy.

[rdsmith3]

I just bought one of these, and I really like the possibilities. I am still exploring what you can do with it, but there are amazing possibilities for making changes to tone.

 

[jcwillow777]

Hey JC, quick question. Why do you have two Tubescreamers side to side like that?

 

I just use a Tubescreamer for Stevie Ray sounds and the Boss Blues Driver to push the amp into a natural overdrive. Oh and a Vox wah. I'm more of a tone guy than an effect guy.

 

I have the one on the right set to a SRV sound and the one on the left set to a creamy Santana overdrive. If I want a little more bite while using the Santana setting I kick on the SRV and I'm in overdrive heaven. I modded both of my TS9s.

 

I picked up the MXR Classic Overdrive from GC for $30, next to the TS9s. It really is a very good overdrive. A little brighter than my TS9s, so another one for a little different timbre. It is a little noisy though.

[bigneil]

I want to revive this thread because i would like to buy a multi-effect pedal of some sort... what brands or models are good value for money. I'm not bothered about distortion but i would like it to have stuff like tremolo and waah and chorus and delay. I haven't used an effects pedal for over 10 years so some opinions would be great.

 

 

Neil

[Supersonic]

I really like this one. It's crazy how many tones you can get. You can also download tones for particular songs from their website directly to the pedal. All of the amp and effect settings are based on actual models. They make fancier versions of it with expression pedals and whatnot, but this one is just fine for what I need. Drum machine, looper, ect. Great for recording with the USB too.

 

[karine_plays]

For multi-effects you are better off with something from Boss (IMO). Every digitech I've heard sounded like a toy, especially at higher volumes...

[Hockeygrad]

Big fan of the BOSS ME 70. From on the fly tuning, to Amp modeling, to Phrase Loop, this thing does it all, and it sounds great through a mixer board (no amp miking needed).

[Supersonic]

Every digitech I've heard sounded like a toy, especially at higher volumes...

 

 

Hmmmm, I think mine sounds great. However, the only Digitech multi-effects unit I have ever owned is the one I posted above so I don't have another Digitech model to compare it to. It has stereo outputs and I run it through 2 tube amps at the same time and it definitely gets the job done for any sound I want. If the one I have sounds like a toy, then I guess I dig pedals that sound like toys.

[karine_plays]

I honestly haven't seen anyone using Digitech multi-effects in ages, maybe they've improved. I'll have to check one out next time I get the chance. The Vox Tone Lab (quoted earlier in the thread) definitely looks interesting. Nice clean design.

 

 

[stein]

Hey JC, quick question. Why do you have two Tubescreamers side to side like that?

 

I just use a Tubescreamer for Stevie Ray sounds and the Boss Blues Driver to push the amp into a natural overdrive. Oh and a Vox wah. I'm more of a tone guy than an effect guy.

Just thought I might add, I seen this guy here in town who had absolutly NAILED some aspects of the SRV tone and he also had 3 tube screamers set up.

Turns out, he was using then very judicously, with very slight settings. I have no experimented myself with this, but what I heard and what he told me was that (maybe different words) was that there is an interaction thing when using more than one at slightly perceptable levels that get something, and that SRV used them this way as well.

[sdjjadk]

I was using a Digitech RP-90 but now I am using a GNX4. IMHO, the GNX4 is the most versatile effects processor that Digitech ever made! Too bad they discontinued it.

 

Shawn

[DoubleWide Revival]

I started with the Boss ME-50 but I did not like the compression. So I got a T-Rex CompNova and the downward spiral began. I got a few Keely moded pedals: SD-1, AD-9, BD-2, TR-2 and a TS-808. I also have a Maxon AF-9, Ibanes CS-9, Boss RV-5. a DOD Phaser and a ZVEX Ohh Wah 2.

 

I have a Tech21 Sansamp Programmable for bass. The obligatory Boss Tuner and Boss A/B switch.

[tweed2]

I want to revive this thread because i would like to buy a multi-effect pedal of some sort... what brands or models are good value for money. I'm not bothered about distortion but i would like it to have stuff like tremolo and waah and chorus and delay. I haven't used an effects pedal for over 10 years so some opinions would be great.

 

 

Neil

I went through several multi-effects pedals before deciding on a used, first generation Tonelab (the so-called Blue Model). I especially liked the tremelo, the leslie speaker effect (best in the multi-effect unit arena), compressor and the excellent amp and speaker simulations. The rest, I don't need or use. I use it more with headphones than through my amp, but it works well with tube amps, too. Different tubes as the driver really do affect how it sounds. I've settled on an old black plate 5751 (70% gain) for smooth, but ballsy tone.

 

I tried the Boss unit, but I'd never use 95% of what it has with the type of music I play. Others were in the same category. The beauty of the ToneLab is now that they've been around for a while, and there are several subsequent models, the 1st Gen units can be found used, in great shape, for under $100. The Vox VC-4 pedal works to actuate it while the unit sits up off of the floor, where you can easily access the controls and not trip all over it. Lots of downloadable additons to what it already has. Pretty hard to beat if you want a simple, solid multi-effect unit.

[bigneil]

Thanks for your comments. I have been off googling and ebaying and they are quite expensive items, although i never really gave cost much consideration i was looking more at what function it can perform and to what degree of sound quality.

 

What i am aiming for would be perhaps 3 0r 4 programable stomp buttons and a foot rocker for wah/volume. It doesn't need to be high quality, but i don't want a crap one either.

 

some of the pedals that have interested me so far are these~~>

 

Boss ME-50

Boss ME-25

Korg AX3000g

Vox tonelab ST

Digitech RP355

ZOOM G2.1u

 

all can be found online for about £150 GBP.

 

My local guitar store is very small and only ever have a limmited stock, i would have to drive 40 miles to go and try a few out. So if any of you guys have tried out any of these or have suggestions for alternatives then i would love to hear what you have to say.

 

[DoubleWide Revival]

Hey Bigneil.

 

My personal experience is limited to 3 of those pedals. I owned the ME-50 and really liked it. But I like knobs. Lots of very usable patches and plenty of room for me to make my own. There are days when I wish I had not sold it, because it was just easier than a bunch of single stomp boxes.

 

I played with a guy who used Digitech and we may be able to blame his musical tastes, but everything he played sounded like 80's hair metal. It was either screetching or it wazs off. I sure there are some more mellow tones in that one, but he never bothered to find them.

 

I have played a friend's Vox Tonelab a few times and it seems like a great pedal. Easy to use with a bunch of great sounds. It also seems very well built.

 

So with my limited knowledge and experience I would rate the 3 I know about like this:

 

ME-50

Tonelab

RP355

[karine_plays]

I played with a guy who used Digitech and we may be able to blame his musical tastes, but everything he played sounded like 80's hair metal. It was either screetching or it wazs off. I sure there are some more mellow tones in that one, but he never bothered to find them.

 

Exactly the same story here, maybe we were just playing with the wrong players at the time

[bigneil]

Hey Bigneil.

 

My personal experience is limited to 3 of those pedals. I owned the ME-50 and really liked it. But I like knobs. Lots of very usable patches and plenty of room for me to make my own. There are days when I wish I had not sold it, because it was just easier than a bunch of single stomp boxes.

 

I played with a guy who used Digitech and we may be able to blame his musical tastes, but everything he played sounded like 80's hair metal. It was either screetching or it wazs off. I sure there are some more mellow tones in that one, but he never bothered to find them.

 

I have played a friend's Vox Tonelab a few times and it seems like a great pedal. Easy to use with a bunch of great sounds. It also seems very well built.

 

So with my limited knowledge and experience I would rate the 3 I know about like this:

 

ME-50

Tonelab

RP355

Thank you great information there. +1 kudos point for that i think.

Often with online reviews folks will just write a great review of the pedal that THEY have because it's THEIRS and it's their first pedal, so collecting information from the knowledgeable and seasoned players here on the forum is 100 times more helpful.

 

There appears to be a pattern emerging ~Boss are coming out tops as a tried and tested favourite amongst the majority, with many also speaking highly the Vox tonelab.

 

anybody have any experience of the Korg pedal?

[rdsmith3]

I want to revive this thread because i would like to buy a multi-effect pedal of some sort... what brands or models are good value for money. I'm not bothered about distortion but i would like it to have stuff like tremolo and waah and chorus and delay. I haven't used an effects pedal for over 10 years so some opinions would be great.

 

 

Neil

 

I bought a used Digitech RP 350 from GC for $70. I think that was a pretty good price to learn how to use these things. It's discontinued but you can still buy them new

Digitech RP350

 

I've never used a pedal until a few months ago, so this thing is a bit overwhelming to me. There is a lot to learn. I have no experience to compare it to other multi-effect pedals. I bought this just for home use. However, if I were an actual performing musician instead of a wannabe, I think this might take some getting used to. Some controls are foot operated, and some are hand operated. I think you have to take a lot of time to figure out the sounds you like, and then save them as user presets so that you could easily recall them while gigging.

 

A lot of the tones are not my taste, which runs more to blues and classic rock. However, some of the amp models sound good to me.

 

You can also plug headphones directly into it.

[The.Traffic.Lights]

What i am aiming for would be perhaps 3 0r 4 programable stomp buttons and a foot rocker for wah/volume. It doesn't need to be high quality, but i don't want a crap one either.

 

some of the pedals that have interested me so far are these~~>

 

Boss ME-50

Boss ME-25

Korg AX3000g

Vox tonelab ST

Digitech RP355

ZOOM G2.1u

 

all can be found online for about £150 GBP.

 

 

I'm a proud owner of a Zoom G2Nu - an updated version of the G2, and my band's solo-guitarist uses a Boss ME-50.

First, some minor comments on the ME-50:

 

+ really nice juicy overdrive sounds (which you do not care too much for)

- patch change time is rather noticable

 

 

Now, more thing to say about the Zoom G2Nu:

 

+ Modulation effects are quite nice

+ Many reverb types offer a lot of versatility

+ Delays are good as well

+ Wah seems to be a proper one, but mine doesn't have an expression pedal, and I use autowah

+ Fast patch change - not noticable at all

{+ This is the feature NOT found on the G2: USB audio interface - really useful for recording on-the-go}

{+ Not on the G2: high-def display simplifies working with the unit}

{+ Not on the G2: possibility to name patches, and to save them on the PC}

+ The price! I got mine for 120 EUR new online, and a simple G2 would be even cheaper

 

- You said you don't care about overdrives? Neither does the Zoom. It sounds good on either extremely low overdrive settings or extremely high ones. I was able to find only a couple of useful overdrive sounds, and just for reference I try to get something close to Oasis/R.E.M. sounds

- Acoustic simulator is cr@p, in case you need it

- I cannot play around with guitar volume at all - as soon as I tweak the volume knobs a bit, the unit has a tendency to cut the sound off

 

 

If I were you, I wouldn't be looking at the G2.1 - for a bit more money the G2.1Nu offers some additional useful features and, as they say, reworked and improved effect algorythms.

That's as much as I can recall at the moment, hope it's useful :)

[bigneil]

I bought a used Digitech RP 350 from GC for $70. I think that was a pretty good price to learn how to use these things. It's discontinued but you can still buy them new

Digitech RP350

 

funny you should mention that pedal, i tried one out today. there were some quite good sounds but it was very complicated, i would definitely need time to figure it out. But i have scored it off my list because of the wah, not because of its sound, but because the method by which you toggle between wah and volume, to change mode you tilt the toe end down until it bumps against the base .... I constantly kept changing it without meaning to.

 

 

 

 

If I were you, I wouldn't be looking at the G2.1 - for a bit more money the G2.1Nu offers some additional useful features and, as they say, reworked and improved effect algorythms.

That's as much as I can recall at the moment, hope it's useful :)

 

Yes, it is very useful. these are exactly the sort of insights that are very helpful.

 

I may have to bite the bullet and do the 80 mile round trip to try some out, the Zoom will definitely be on my list

[The.Traffic.Lights]

Yes, it is very useful. these are exactly the sort of insights that are very helpful.

 

I may have to bite the bullet and do the 80 mile round trip to try some out, the Zoom will definitely be on my list

 

By the way, you can listen to samples of Zoom G2Nu on my Myspace profile - The Traffic Lights Band. All the guits on all the songs but "Her Velvet Glove" and "Raga" are recorded through the Zoom USB interface, using ONLY Zoom with a combo-sim on, though the interface doesn't provide with a full tone of the device and somewhat darkens it. I must say that playing it with the sim off through a Fender Deville really opens the thing up and makes it more responsive, especially speaking about the wah-wah.

 

There are quite a few songs there with effects other than overdrives.

[The.Traffic.Lights]

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