Effects Pedal

Jay P

I'm thinkin of getting an effects pedal, and was lookin at the vox tonelabs, the Vox Tonelab LE. I was wondering if anyone knows if they're any good and are they worth the €350 id be paying from playback europe. Or, are there any good alternatives?

feylya

There's a few lads here with the Tonelab and they seem to like it. Two alternatives are the Line 6 Pod XT Live and the Boss GT-8. I have the GT-8 and I absolutely love it. Has better effects than the XT Live. On the other other hand, the XT Live has better amp simulations and can also accept a Bass input. It really depends which you want. Are you looking to run them into an amp or directly to a PA?

Jay P

Cool, just an amp.

feylya

In that case, I'd be inclined to go for the GT-8 but I am slightly biased

Rick.N.Backer

I have a tonelab SE and I think it sounds amazing - so much so, that one of my mates went out and bought one for himself after trying it out. It has midi connections and there is a website where you can download other users patches and try them out on your own pedal, so it might save you some of the hassle of editing patches (which I found a bit tricky to start with).

When i was buying, I also tried the Boss GT-8 and it was a close call between the two, but the second expression pedal on the vox (along with a slightly warmer sound) sealed the deal for me on the vox.:D

I would recommend trying out all three of the pedals Feyla mentioned - i.e. the vox, Boss and Pod and see which suits your needs best.

Karl Hungus

With reguards to the Tonelab, GT8 and Pod XT Live, I don't think you can go wrong, I've rarely heard anything bad about any of them.

If you're looking for mainly effects though, the GT8 is the one to go for I've heard, as it's got an effects loop, so you can route effects before and after the amp you're running it with. The new Pod X3 can do this too, so that might be one to consider. Don't know if the Tonelab can do that though.

Anyway, trying them all out would be a great idea.

Voodu Child

Yeah, if you're happy with the sound of your amp, the GT8 is a brilliant choice. It's pretty much a complete effects solution - you've got all your usual delays,wahs,chorus, reverb,noise gate,pitch effects etc, and you can put them all either before the amp, or in the f/x loop. This is the clincher IMO.

Great unit.

Like Karl says, the new PodX3 Live has this ability too (to put effects either before the amp or in the f/x loop). Pricier than a GT8 but the extra features might be worth it to you.

Jay P

Rick.N.Backer wrote: »

I would recommend trying out all three of the pedals Feyla mentioned - i.e. the vox, Boss and Pod and see which suits your needs best.

Im not exactly in aposition to try them out cos I plan on getting it off the internet

feylya

Just go into a guitar shop and ask to try them. Try them out then leave, saying that you have to think about it.

That said, when you go into the shop, know how much the pedal costs from internet retailers. Ask the shop assistant for the best deal. If it's less than €30 more than the it'd cost from the internet, I'd be inclined to buy from the shop.

Denalihighway

howdy all
i use this http://www.thomann.de/ie/digitech_rp80_guitar_fx.htm

its a very cheap option, very versatile and very fun. Tricky enough to get used to playing with live but I'm used to it now and love it. You'll hear a lot about multi-effects pedals providing dirty, artificial tones n stuff - I agree with this but there's a lot of modelling you can do to make it sound all lovely and anyway I find that if your song cuts the mustard it doesnt make a lot of difference...its been a revelation to our 'sound'

thought i'd throw a curveball in, all the others are quite expensive buys especially if its your first multi-effects. Its the only one i've ever used so cant comment on any others..

Stompbox

Don'tmean to stray off topic but was listening to the new single by Kings Of Leon,Charmer, and in the second verse,the lead guitarist plays a harmonic I think but gets great sustain and emphasis fromit. I think he uses a pedal playing live,just wondering if anyone would have any suggestions as to what it may be?!

John

Denalihighway wrote: »

howdy all
i use this http://www.thomann.de/ie/digitech_rp80_guitar_fx.htm

its a very cheap option, very versatile and very fun. Tricky enough to get used to playing with live but I'm used to it now and love it. You'll hear a lot about multi-effects pedals providing dirty, artificial tones n stuff - I agree with this but there's a lot of modelling you can do to make it sound all lovely and anyway I find that if your song cuts the mustard it doesnt make a lot of difference...its been a revelation to our 'sound'

thought i'd throw a curveball in, all the others are quite expensive buys especially if its your first multi-effects. Its the only one i've ever used so cant comment on any others..

The quality of the effects on the Digitech pedals tends to be fairly low, less ability to tinker and I've found that they jump up and down in volume depending on how you switch between them. The other pedals are more expensive because they are better in all capacities: better effects, easier to use, more versatile, more reliable (those Digitech ones break very easily) and just all round a better investment. I'm not a fan of multieffects pedals, I find it easier to work with a bunch of singles, but if I was going for one I'd look at one of the ones mentioned above over Digitech.

Denalihighway

all I know is I've had it for over 2 years without any hitches with medium/heavy usage. The volume thing is tricky at times - to get it right live you have to set the volumes just right on all your individual edits so that transition between effects or from pedal to clean is seamless enough but w practice its no problem, i'm sure if I was playin the Point (or the Big Top ) i'd go for something more expensive but until then she's ma baby! I must say I'd be v interested to see what the more expensive ones are like but i'm happy for now

John

Well if it works for you, don't fix it but I know an awful lot of people who buy those RP-xxx series multieffects pedals and end up upgrading within a few months.

Jay P

Denalihighway wrote: »

howdy all
i use this http://www.thomann.de/ie/digitech_rp80_guitar_fx.htm

its a very cheap option, very versatile and very fun. Tricky enough to get used to playing with live but I'm used to it now and love it. You'll hear a lot about multi-effects pedals providing dirty, artificial tones n stuff - I agree with this but there's a lot of modelling you can do to make it sound all lovely and anyway I find that if your song cuts the mustard it doesnt make a lot of difference...its been a revelation to our 'sound'

thought i'd throw a curveball in, all the others are quite expensive buys especially if its your first multi-effects. Its the only one i've ever used so cant comment on any others..

Thanks, but im after something something more versatlie and bigger.


I'll probably plump for the vox tho. BTW, Its the LE version, not the SE. The LE has the 2 expression pedals, the LE has one.

ThOnda

So any recommendations for multieffect about 200 Euro mark?