Multi FX or Stompboxes??

[SAN_TREMONTI]

Hey fellow softies, i was wondering if u guys could give me any advice on what sort of effects i should have.. So my question is should i get a multi effects unit or separate stompboxes.. Here are some of the effects i'm looking to get..

Multi FX: Korg AX5G / Zoom G1X

Stompboxes: Danelectro Cool Cat Chorus, Cool Cat Metal / Biyang DS-7 / Beta Aivin HM-200 Metal , An affordable and decent wah and tuner pedal and some other stompboxes.. Too many to name.. Haha..

So hope u guys could give me some advice on whether i should get a multi fx unit with an expression pedal or just get several stompboxes.. Thx!

P.S. If u guys have any recommendations for affordable and decent effects units, do tell me about them too..thx

 

[J.custom]

Well, it really depends what you're looking for. If you are very particular with tone and want it to sound exactly the way you want it, I would say get individual stompboxes, which of course will be more expense. However if you an arsenal of effects and sounds and your finger tips, go for multi efx. Honestly, my first pedal was a boss gt-8 and after a while i found it difficult to get a specific tone i was looking for in it and i probably didnt use 80% of the effects in it, but thats my opinion, ultimately its up to you.If you want a good and affordble OD/Dist pedal, which can go from nice tube overdrive to fat, screaming leads, go for Sound Alchemy's Punch Tone!

 

[Stan_Kumar]

I'm abit biased when it comes to this topic but I would go for individual stomp boxes as opposed to multi fx any day. The reason being that if you were to get a cheap multi fx, you might not be totally satisfied with all the in-built effects.

And do you think you'll be using all the effects, including the quirky ones? That's just my opinion, though. Also, I still think the best distortion tones and wah tones come from individual pedals as opposed to multi fx pedals.

So to answer your question: Get individual stomp boxes.

And as for decent, affordable units, they could range from the Dan Electro Series to the MXR series to even the Zvex series, dude. Have a budget in mind?

 

[EugeneSmasher]

You could run a hybrid rig. For example, use a small multi-effects for your effects, and distortion pedals for your tones. I do that sometimes. A small multi-effects doesn't take up too much space on a pedalboard. A big one would probably occupy the whole board and you might be unsatisfied with its tones besides.

Personally, I use a small multi-effects processor. So much more convenient. I used to use single pedals but after awhile I got tired of how troublesome they are. They're fine when you've got just one pedal between the guitar and the amp. I love that kind of rig. But having more pedals, just kills me haha.

 

[marlonmm]

If you choose multi-fx, you should opt for models similar to boss me-50, ax300g,zoom g7.t(?), zoom g9.t(?) - the kind you can turn on/off your gain, modulation, reverb. That way you'll have the flexibility like those of stompboxes.

Me, I prefer stompboxes coz I can tweak them the way I want it to sound.

 

[marlonmm]

Hybrid rig is also a good idea. As suggested by sir EugeneSmasher.

I'm actually trying to experiment with g1x for clean/chrorus sound and let DS-2 run thru g1x for dirty sound.

 

[junkiemanxl]

I'm using a hybrid setup as well.
M13 for modulations and i'll go individual on the dirt pedals.

Some things sound better on individual stomps.
Multi-FX's just makes life easier and less costly as well.

 

[lemonade93]

same here, use a Korg AX3000g for effects. Then a Beta Aivin HM-100 and sometimes a Boss DS-1

 

[mightyboy88]

I tink it is not a bad idea to combine multi w individual pedals.

I have found the need to supplement my zoom G2.1U with a wah pedal and a clean boost for solo's. I think i would oso get a dedicated volume pedal soon.
I have a biyang od-8 as well as a beta aivin hm-200 pedals as well. I find that however the most useful distortion sound still comes from the g2.1u from the marshall jcm simulator. Its not a perfect amp sound but i think its really useful and thick and its safe to have an arsenal of sounds at your disposal if u get to gigs n you find yourself with a less than stellar amp.

Btw. Could anyone recommend me a good distortion box that can do a better job at giving me that big marshall amp sound than my zoom g2.1u ? SLightly on a budget

 

[theblueark]

Multi Stompboxes.

 

[mightyboy88]

Wahahah tts cute

But stompboxes on its own look nicer lah LOL colourful ma

 

[EugeneSmasher]

A hybrid rig also depends just how much the multi-effects will 'colour' the overall tone, if it 'colours' the overall tone too much, it defeats the purpose of using separate distortion pedals too.

I suppose most multi-effects have an option for turning off the amp models and running as bypass? At least, my Floor POD has that, and although it doesn't colour my distortion pedal's tone, it does colour my amp's clean tone a little, however.

 

[kernelspy]

Multi Stompboxes.

+ 1

I keep on coming back to my stompboxes no matter what... and then I see those church guitar players with amazing tone and when I look on the floor, it's a BOSS GT-8/ POD XT Live... and I was like..................

but what the heck.... it's me and my sound that matters anyway so.....

 

[loldude333]

If you're new to guitar and don't exactly know what tone you're after, i do suggest a multi-efx. Besides giving you a wide range of tones and effects to choose from, its also a little easier to tweak if you need quite a few effects in one patch. I've absolutely no complaints about my PodXT Live, its been a faithful servant to me since 2006. Try to get 1 that's more user-friendly (Line 6 models are probably the best IMHO).

However, if you're sure exactly what sound you want, multi-efx probably won't satisfy you. Get the pedal that you want.

The hybrid rig thing is a good idea IMHO. Besides giving you the best of both worlds, it also allows you to use the multi-efx as an amp in places where there is only a PA and no amp. I think pedals straight through to PA sound absolutely terrible.

Bottom line: go for the hybrid if you've the cash, else go for one or the other.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Yup, that's another advantage of multi-efx. You can run it direct to a PA system's mixing console by DI Box. You don't need an amplifier in the loop, since the multi-efx is actually a pre-amp... In fact, they actually sound better used in that application than through an amplifier.

 

[loldude333]

And with the latest multi-efx units like the Pod X3 Live you won't even need DI, they have XLR outputs too. Amazing things, multi-efx. I'll personally never sell my Pod even if i do go down the analog route, the thing's just so fun to play with and too many of the places i go to don't have amps to use.