Are multi effects BETTER than singular effects?

[Lammas Day 4]

this just comes off the back of swleary's thread about effects.

 

I just use Boss, almost always, but sold all my pedals awhile back to get the Boss ME50... which I liked a lot.

 

I sold that a little later to get the ME70 (...what happened to the ME60?... look, it's not important) mainly to get Octave back (bow Bow bow BooOOoOw - f()uk yah!)

 

All in all I'm happy, but it's been so long now I can't remember what the individual stomp boxes were like.

 

Mainly what I'm asking is:

 

IS there much difference between stomp boxes and their mother companies multi-effects pedals? (in my boyish ignorance I kind of think, it's Boss, it's Boss, it's Boss)

 

and while I'm at it, is Boss OD1 much different to Boss OD2, OD3/

[damian 1,582]

This has been asked before.....Always interesting......Multi effect units are frowned upon because the "lessor" ones do s*ck.....

 

High end one's don't.....However, the general consensus will be (again) single units are prefered.....I use both types, and often none.....

[Silenced Fred 2]

Single boxes. That way they're all awesome

[Jeff-7 193]

I prefer single boxes myself, this way you get to pick and choose to allow your sound to be more tailored to your needs/desires. I can see the attraction to a multi-effect unit, but in the end I'm out to take the best(to me, totally subjective) from companies I like and bring them all together. The only boss pedal I would truly love to have is a CE-1. Then again just about every company has one box that I like. Waiting on a Malekko 616 lo fi delay, just got a polytune, and the man Dub is making me a soda meiser. After that I'm retubing then looking for more delay, fuzz, a chorus pedal (I know, some like 'em some hate 'em), then probably a wah and a gnarly overdrive.

[S t e v e 185]

multi effects and me don't agree with eachother...

 

singular effects and me do agree with eachother... B)

[Jeff-7 193]

I figured you'd be in the I hate effects club.

[S t e v e 185]

I figured you'd be in the I hate effects club.

 

me?

[LarryUK 343]

If it's got the sound 'you' want. It's the pedal for you. I can't see the difference between Boss single units and Boss multi boards. It must be the same tech.

[Riffster 346]

I used to have a Boss GT-6 and while all its effects sounded good Overdrive and Distortion didn't, "pretty good" was not good enough for me so I sold it.

[S t e v e 185]

in all honesty...i can't work the bloody things!!!!, last one was a digitech rp350 multi and all i used it for was the drum machine effect in the end...too complicated for my liking.

[FirstMeasure 273]

Singles for me, haven't found a package deal with everything I like in it. Besides I only use effects to color my sound so Multi effects are a little overkill. Third reason, you get a setting all dialed in to sound perfect in the living room, you get it to the gig and it doesn't work with the room. Instead of just backing off the reverb or echo you have to reprogram a preset. More trouble than they save.

[Morkolo 233]

I use a Boss GT-10 which I find great. When I started off I used a Zoom pedal which wasn't bad considering the gear I was using at the time, but as I bought better amps the cheaper pedals really seemed to drag the quality of the sound coming from the amp down a lot. That can't be said with the GT-10 though, I currently play through a Peavey Valveking 212 and it makes it sound 100x better than without the pedal. That said my individual Boss Chorus does a great job on it's own as well.

[krock 147]

I use both. Mainly because I cant afford individual pedals for everything and because I dont want to have to do a little dance just to turn on and off the pedals due to not having switching systems

[duane v 518]

I'm selling all my single effects, with the exception of two..... IMO they're just too noisy, and it's a wiring night mare

[DAS44 92]

First off, I've only ever owned one pedal (a looper pedal!), but I must say...

 

Sometimes it may be about customization to one's preferences. With an all in one board, you're stuck with it, whether you like the way it molds your tone or not. With single units, you can research, buy the ones whose sound appeal to you, and insert/remove them as you please.

 

Basically mirroring what FM said.

[milod 665]

I think it may depend on what you expect.

 

I have an old Zoom 707II that's almost hardwired into my little carry-out amp. I have one setting that works well for electric or an AE that mostly adds a bit of push to the little amp. I use the tuner on it too. That's about it.

 

The thing is that although I only use that one setting 99.9 percent of the time, the multi-effect pedal does offer more options if you're not going overboard on any. It's kinda like cooking where you can make a perfectly decent hamburger on a steel grill, but adding a bit of this and that spice, using a charcoal grill, etc., can add bits of flavor that may not seem strong, but definitely add to the taste and enjoyment.

 

OTOH, pouring on hickory smoke sauce to the point that it no longer tastes like hamburger may be fine for a one-off, but it ain't how I cook - or play guitar.

 

m

[Guest farnsbarns]

I think it may depend on what you expect.

 

I have an old Zoom 707II that's almost hardwired into my little carry-out amp. I have one setting that works well for electric or an AE that mostly adds a bit of push to the little amp. I use the tuner on it too. That's about it.

 

The thing is that although I only use that one setting 99.9 percent of the time, the multi-effect pedal does offer more options if you're not going overboard on any. It's kinda like cooking where you can make a perfectly decent hamburger on a steel grill, but adding a bit of this and that spice, using a charcoal grill, etc., can add bits of flavor that may not seem strong, but definitely add to the taste and enjoyment.

 

OTOH, pouring on hickory smoke sauce to the point that it no longer tastes like hamburger may be fine for a one-off, but it ain't how I cook - or play guitar.

 

m

 

I have one of those, it's more of an amp modeller than multi effects if you ask me, yes it has multiple effects but you can only apply one amp tone and one effect plus wah to a patch. I use the drum rhythms from time to time just for practice and the sampling/looping function can be useful.

[rocketman 176]

I have single pedals that I use with other amps, but right now I'm pretty much sold on my Vetta II amp that's got every effect added on the planet. It's really easy to use and sounds great.

[djroge1 51]

I prefer single pedals. I don't use a lot of them - 5 in all and that includes a reverb and a delay. My most used pedal is a Tim and I have never found any multi-effect unit that sounds like Tim.