Many Pedals or All In One

CiaranK

I know nothing about pedals. I never needed them before because my amp has different effects on it already. That amp has seem many better days so I am going to invest in a new one. A Marshall probably. I was wondering would it be better to buy lots of pedals or a single one with lots of effects on it? I find it annoying changin effects manually if i want it changed during the song, some parts with delay etc. If I had many pedals would I be able to use them together, all connected? I really have no idea about it. I was thinking of Delay, Distortion and Wah, Wah to start off with. It won't be untill after christmas, but I just want an idea of what my options are. You know?

Thanks,

C.

rcaz

Get individual pedals. Better sounds, more flexible, higher-quality, more choices available. After that, I can only speak from my own experience and taste, so here goes.

I have a Zoom GFX-5 multi-effect pedal, as well as this pedal board;



The Zoom pedal is not a patch on individual pedals. Okay, fair enough, Zoom aren't the highest-quality pedals, but my point still stands. On my Zoom pedal, you can only put effects together in a certain order (so you can't get distortion-after-reverb sounds), only one of each type at a time (so you can't have a booster or overdrive pushing another distortion pedal, you can't layer a number of fuzzes, can't have a few delays on at once, etc.).

All the effects on my Zoom (save distortion AFAIK) are digital, which can be cool sometimes, but also can't be cool. I like digital delay and reverb, but I also like analogue delay and spring reverb. And then effects like the phaser and ring modulator, which really sound much better in their proper analogue form, are digital. This is all taste of course, maybe you love digital everything, but I think there are special cases for everything. Individual pedals allow you to make those choices yourself.

Yes, individual pedals are more expensive. Obviously it's bad news for your wallet, but I think it's sorta good news from your musicianship's point of view. I had to save up for a while to get my ring modulator, so when I was saving up, I had to make do with the pedals I had while still aspiring to the tones that new pedals would give me, so I figured out some new stuff with the pedals I had to get new sounds. Then when I had the ring mod, I really appreciated it, played it loads, and found out a load of its nuances. And since I had just spent mostly all my money on it, I again had to make do with what I had till I could get another pedal. etc. (just read over that paragraph, sorry if it sounds patronising.)

What sort of music do you want to play?

Banjo

3 things to consider :
1. How much are you willing to spend?
2. How fussy / particular are you?
3. Will you be gigging with this equipment?

#2 is the important one to start with. If you are *very* particular about your tone, you're going to want to spend a lot of time getting exactly the right pedal(s) for the job (although really depending on what type of music you're playing, your amp should be doing the talking here...) and it won't matter what your answer to #1 was, you'll find a way. You may also find that multi-effects pedals sound too "digital" and are counterproductive.

If you don't have a very specific sound in your head that you need to recreate with your guitar, and if the answer to #1 is somewhere between "not much" and "I want to keep both of my kidneys, thanks" you could do a lot worse than to pick up a modeller like the Line 6 Pod II or a Digitech RP500. You get a bunch of effects and amp models in a single economical package that doesn't take a degree to wire up, and that you can play with to get an idea of what you sound(s) want. The higher end RP units have expression pedals for wah/whammy and are in road-proof metal casing. If you're looking for a specific artist's tone, chances are someone has already developed a patch for it that you can download to your box. If you decide you want to take things further, at least you'll have played with simulations of a few pedals to give you an idea of what they can do even if the sims can *never* give you a full appreciation for the real thing.

With regard to #3, if you're taking your stomp boxes on the road, make sure they're not in delicate plastic cases that can't stand up to being jumped on night after night, otherwise you're going to have to factor in the cost of replacements and backup units into the cost. On the other hand, there's a lot to be said for the backpackability of a pocket pod, 2W marshall MS2 and a kid-size spongebob strat

CiaranK

Thanks for the response. I play mostly Rock and Blues but I also mess around with other genres (Jazz, Metal and a few others). I don't have any gigs at the moment in the future I will hopefully get a few. I wouldn't spend more the 100-120 on a pedal. Not sure if that limits my options. I think i will be going for lots of single pedals. Well not lots at the start one or two maybe and then build them up.

Lands Leaving

If you only have 100-120 to spend you won't get a lot in terms of single pedals. A decent one generally comes in near €100 and a lot are way more.

Have you considered getting a footswitch for your new amp, most bigger/pricier marshalls come with one and have overdrive/distortion on board. Then you could just get a single delay pedal as well.

I had a boss me-50 but replaced it with single pedals because I just couldn't make it sound the way I wanted, but it got close and it's more user friendly. Having a string of pedals with different levels on each can be a bit daunting when you want to keep voulme constant while making adjustments.

Totally agree that it depends how particular you are about your tone. If you dont really know what you want your music to sound like now go for a multi because it'll give you an idea what you like and you can try effects you'd never touch otherwise. Great learning experience and if you get 'your' sound from it all the better.

I just personally prefer my individual pedals!

-=al=-

i preferable favour single pedals my setups simple enough, if i had a few grand id invest in rack units and a nice all in 1 midi floorboard but i dont so my setup of single pedals is aok for now, i prefare it too

CiaranK

Thanks for that everybody. I think I will see what they have in the shop. Compare prices etc. Thanks!

rcaz

Would you go second hand? Save money, and maybe even pick up a cool pedal that isn't made anymore.

MetalDawg

Man, try secondhand first. Boss, Marshall pedals are very sturdy, so you could pick them up for very little. Go online, look at the reviews, then go try 'em for yourself. Hope you get some good ones that you like.

Denalihighway

summing up some of the better advice...

1. decide on your 'core' effects - probably 2, 3 or 4 effects you will use all the time.
2. Try out various pedals in x-music or wherever, with an amp similar to what you'll be playing and see what ones you like.
3. Go shopping! Check out the 2nd hand market, well worth it - like someone said, you generally can't go wrong with pedals like Boss/Marshall for sturdiness, but let your ears guide you.

You can then do what lots o people do (incl myself) and throw in a multi-effects pedal for when you want to experiment with wackier sounds. Something like this one could be fun. Strictly speaking, the effects aren't great but it's good craic and I've got away with it gigging...up to now anyway

enjoy

Quattroste

I would say that instead of multiple pedal approach you should go for the TC Electronics Nova System. If you shop around on the net you can get one for less that €400. That's expensive I hear you say!!!

Well not really for what you are getting. The Nova system has all the TC Electronics digital effects (very high quality) that you would need and it has true analog Overdrive and Distortion. This is the most smooth sweet sounding drive I have heard in years. I have a Marshall and a Mesa both with drive channels but I still prefer the Nova drive. The delays, modulations, compressions and reverbs are also excellent quality.

You can choose to use the presets(not for me) or you can set each effect the way you want it and then make this a preset of your own. You can then switch on or off the effects you have included in the preset as each group of effects has its own stomp switch. Sweet.

Only downside is that there is no Wah effect.

-=al=-

always better to have a seperate wah, but the tc electronic nova multifx thing is friggin amazing looking, like you said same high quality effects found in the fancy tc stuff

CiaranK

I was gonna go for a Line 6 stompbox and then get another one. I decided to spend about 300-400. I was gonna get a delay pedal first.

http://www.xmusic.ie/product.php?productid=29487&cat=527&page=1

But then they had all 4 of the Line 6 stompbox in a board in one in Musicmaker. It was originally 459, then it went to 359 and then I got it for 299! I am delighted with, really really cool!

http://www.xmusic.ie/product.php?productid=29494&cat=331&page=1

Kenny_D

An M13 for 300? That's very good. Do they have any left?

CiaranK

Not sure if there is any left. I got it on Monday. I got it for the sale price, the sale is happening next week. Could be already on. Well worth checking out!!!

rcaz

CiaranK wrote: »

Not sure if there is any left. I got it on Monday. I got it for the sale price, the sale is happening next week. Could be already on. Well worth checking out!!!

Thanks for the heads up! I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a Memory Boy, specially if there's a deal on... :cool:

Kenny_D

Might head into Musicmaker over the weekend cheers. Xmusic sale starting this weekend too so will be interesting to see what price it is up there.