Pedals or All in One Box?

I just traded in a Line 6 Spider 3 modeling amp for a Deluxe Reverb Reissue. Now that I have the sweet tube amp, I need effects. The question is this. Do I go with pedals or a all in one box? I play a lot of different types of music. Stones, 80's progressive, AC/DC and surf rock. The only type I don't play ( or attempt to play ) is jazz. The cost of the boxes or pedals is not a huge factor, but I would prefer not to purchase really expense custom pedals as my playing ability likely does not deserve that yet. Please impart your Tele tone wisdom on me and help a newbie make good decisions on effects. I play multiple Teles and a G & L Legacy if that makes much of a difference.

Personally I prefer individual stompboxes because multi-units tend to remind me of Swiss army knives where you get a little bit of everything, but nothing that is really useful in any non-emergency situation. I mean I'd use the saw on the Swiss army knife if there was no other option, but I'm not going to do any major project, like redoing a deck, with the saw on the Swiss knife...

Any preferences on stomp box type and manufacturers?

pedals. I have both, but pedals are it for me.
I like that you can turn on as many or as few as you want, where as multi units, you can usually only run one effect.

Plus, you can choose the best pedals for each effect. Multi units usually do everything ok... but not the best.

Plus, if you jam or gig out, you will kill your back with a multi unit, doing the "cyber-hunch".

There a lot of great manufactures. Boss does everything pretty well.

I like MXR DynaComps, and Phase 90's. I like the Digitech Bad Monkey, and I also like my Tubescreamer. The Boss DS-1 is sort of a have to have standard.

I have a Weeping Demon Wah, but it is too tweakable. You can get some great sounds, but not what I really want.

I personally did not like the all-in-one-box that I had (Boss ME-50). I sold it and went all pedals. I am happier with the pedal setup......but, I figured out I had too many pedals and was getting frustrated with not being able to figure out the best settings, combinations, etc. I unhooked most of my pedals and now just play through my amps and find those really do give me the best tone. Occassionally I will use my modded Blues Driver pedal for overdrive, or my fuzz when the song calls for it. Other than that I like keeping it simple these days - and much less "tone suck".

I use separate boxes but sometimes I don't know why. If you pony up the dough for a good multi unit, you'll save money in the long run. The new Boss unit has just about everything. I like the Vox Tonelab a lot, too. Carl Martin has a pricey multi unit that is all analog.

I guess I use single pedals because it provides flexibility. I can go with just a couple pedals if I'm feeling minimalistic or load up all of them when I'm in the mood. Plus, you can mix and match different brands.

As far as brands, Boss and Ibanez probably have everything you'll need. But, come on, when was this ever about need? Check out MXR, Maxon, Barber, Electro Harmonix, Nobels, Visual Sound, etc.

Take it one pedal at a time and pick out the best ones to your ears.

Ibanez seems to have a few models of Tube Screamer. Which one do you folks use?

Have to say pedals, by far.

Just to reiterate the point: Multi-effects units are more concerned with giving a butt-ton of effects, while a stomp box is more concerned with giving you one really good effect.

I'm a pedal guy but the New Line6 m13 is very tempting as it puts all the stompbox modelers into one square of footswitches.

Ibanez seems to have a few models of Tube Screamer. Which one do you folks use?I have a TS9DX, but honestly, I never use the extra modes. So a regular TS9 would have worked for me.

It was a gift, so I did not pay for it or my DS-1 anyway.

I'll soon be getting a Dunlop Wah, MXR Phase 90 and an MXR DynaComp in trade for my 1977 MXR Script Logo DynaComp.

Pedals over multi-effects, for sure!

I've tried a few mult-effects over the years, even giged live with one for a while. It was ok, but never just so. The only one I have now is a Korg Ampworks for practice. It is REALLY compact and has lots of tones.

But... for the real world, get pedals. Find the ones you like and can afford, then invest in a pedalboard/case.

My trick was to try out the pedals at GC, then hover on ebay until I could get what I liked at a discount. I quickly filled my board with the pedals I liked/needed in about 2 months.

I hate the hovering. It is the smart thing to do to find a deal ( and I always screw it up ).

Some of the multi units sound really, really good, and when using them on stage no one but you will likely be able to tell the difference.

As far as that "cyber hunch," I've never seen a multi unit that weighed anything like what my pedalboard does. I've got 8 individual units and a power supply, and it weighs quite a bit.

If you really like line 6 already then I still say try this guy out.

http://line6.com/m13/

I use a TS-10 that I found on ebay. Love the Ibanez 10-series pedals!

There's lots of variations on the Tubescreamer out there. The Nobels ODR-1 is worth checking out. As is the Bad Monkey. Both are pretty affordable.

Use sparingly.

DRRI has a great tube sound, reverb and tremelo...what else would you need?

If you brought it to your friends living room, you would want to turn it way down - so I like to use the Hot Cake Bluesberry - to make it sound like it was at ten.

What do you want to use Chorus for?

What do you want a Flanger for?

What do you want to use Delay for?

What do you want a fuzz unit for?

What do you want a tone or manual wah for?

Another vote for pedals... ease of tweaking on the fly, changability of sounds in the future and staying in the analog realm are big pluses for me - AD/DA conversion on my guitar signal is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

Having 3 or 4 great fx trumps 99 mediocre ones. That said, the above mentioned Carl Martin (i believe its the Quattro) wouldn't be a bad choice at all - I wish they'd kept the tremolo thought, it was replaced by chorus in later versions.

Now that you got a nice DRRI, for the styles you list the trick is to find a couple well-voiced OD pedals that are happy to work with the bright capacitor in the amp's reverb channel... definitely try before you buy scenario. A DRRI can make many ODs (but not all) really shrill, esp at lower volumes. If you're cranking the amp, ignore this consideration.

A good Brit-voiced pedals for not much coin is the MI Audio Crunchbox, maybe try something tweed-esque for early Stones vibe. 80s prog? I draw a blank there! Get a decent analog echo for the surf, the red maxon/ibanez is a good start.

Some of the multi units sound really, really good, and when using them on stage no one but you will likely be able to tell the difference.

As far as that "cyber hunch," I've never seen a multi unit that weighed anything like what my pedalboard does. I've got 8 individual units and a power supply, and it weighs quite a bit.


I couldn't agree more!
however, I'll still keep my individual pedals...

have you seen the show us your pedal board thread? My guess is not only will 95% of the tdpri advise you to go pedal, but 95% of tdpri have huge multiple pedlapboards, which really astonished the crap outta me.

FX are cool but some of these pedalboards are Nasa mission control.

I can barely remember the song, never mind tap dancing!

Robby Sturgis has a great answer - basically, "why"?

You don't NEED effects...and if you don't know if you need a boost or overdrive you need to do a LOT of reading. Posting a "what should I buy?" note on a forum will get you nothing but a list of player's favorites for THEIR style, which may be totally irrelevant to your style.

THINK about what you want to sound like. Turn your new TUBE amp WAY up and learn how top use the guitar's controls and pick attack to manipulate it to play quietly, and then make it scream - all with your hands, one switch and two knobs.

Forget effects COMPLETELY until you know how to "play" your amp. Otherwise, like many players, you will simply be another victim of "clone tone" - just sounding generic and like an unidentifiable player, as you never learned how to properly use your BASIC equipment.

But again - READ. A LOT!. Go to websites and listen to samples.

A "boost" and an "overdrive" are different animals, although makers overlap the descriptions a lot - and you won't know what those overlaps are.

Save your money, learn to play your guitar and amp...THEN cautiously start with one or two things MAX that will enhance YOUR music.

Hope that helps -

Jim

Save your money, learn to play your guitar and amp...THEN cautiously start with one or two things MAX that will enhance YOUR music.


Alternately, go by a cr@pload of pedals and sit in your basement twiddling knobs till you figure out what they all do.

hee hee~

Pedals here as well. I had two multi-effects units and sold them. Too slow, unintuitive and, when you are under the pressure of playing in front of people, on/off is the best and most immediate way of accessing a sound.

If you hit the wrong button on a multi-effects box, you can spend 15 seconds or more trying to back out of the sound you ended up with.

I am completely sold on using pedals over multi's. I find that even if they try to copy the original, such as Line 6, it never is the same. If they offer their versions then they may get the distortion right but the delay stinks.
So I have a POD XT Live and I use it to record, but on stage it is all pedals.

It is possible to use pedals and not be a "tone clone" - go try out some in a store. Do it without a manual. Find one or two that you like, take them home, and continue without the manual. Try not to imitate what you hear on recordings. It's hard, but try.

I'm a fuzz pedal freak, but most folks will tell you that it's a whacked out effect that should be used sparingly. I just can't adhere to that rule. Sometimes I do use it judiciously, other times not. I'm not telling you to go try this specific effect - more along the lines of just try stuff and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

As far as multi versus separate, I don't really care any more. If the price is right and there's at least one sweet spot in the box, it's good for now.

You'll never know if you're a guitar->cord->amp player, a multi effect player, or an indie stomp tap dancer until you've tried them all.

This is the kind of thing where IMO you have to jump in with both feet. A little research won't hurt, but it's simply not really experiencing anything.

I use both. The multi's I use for playing with heaphones or recording and for trying out new sounds, I have used tem live as well though on the odd occasion. I use my pedals live. It originally had about 7 pedals on the board and it now only has 2, boost and an overdrive. I play country and southern rock.

if your looking for a acdc tone the marshall governr delivers some close matchups. but thats on my ac15 i dunno what it will do with your fender amp. Angus played with an sg and a marshall (brittish amp) amp. my friend has a fender but plays with an sg and i have a tele but play with the brittish amp and we can both get pretty close I use a pick up booster to thicken the tele tone.

on the other front I say individual pedals. Do your self a favor and and buy with a variety so you get a taste what each manufacturer is like. I hate how many boss pedals I have but thats just me. I think they suck more tone and if I could do it all over again I'd buy all true bypass pedals.

To get started I'd buy an overdrive an distortion, then buy as needed. A volume pedal has alot of uses as well.

THINK about what you want to sound like. Turn your new TUBE amp WAY up and learn how top use the guitar's controls and pick attack to manipulate it to play quietly, and then make it scream - all with your hands, one switch and two knobs.

THEN cautiously start with one or two things MAX that will enhance YOUR music.

great advice there from silverface...definitely take it slow and add one thing at a time in the direction you want to go...you don't want to lose the good tone you're getting from your guitar/amp by adding a ton of stuff (that you're not familiar with tweaking on) and get frustrated by all the options...honing your guitar chops can be frustrating enough without gear distractions :wink:

i think from the "tubescreamer" group of pedals that a boss sd-1 "super overdrive" might fit your stones and ac/dc stuff a little better...it has a little more crunch/bite like those bands used...AND it's cheaper :grin:

most of the BOSS stuff is good for getting familiar with stomp boxes and the sounds of each effect and tweaking its parameters -- aaaaand they're built tough so they're probably going to last you as long as you care to use them. you may not love them 5 years from now, but you'll get money back on them if/when you sell them OR you could get them modified pretty cheap and start chasing sounds that way too. one thing is sure - the options are endless with guitar fx these days...

what FX did you like on your spider amp? any sounds you know you'll need to replicate from that rig???

Diamond compressor (freakin' WOW)
Holy Grail + reverb (I have trem, but no no reverb on my amp)
Ibanez TS-9 overdrive
Boss RC-2 loop station

all through your tube amp of choice
(I am GASing for a MXR Carbon Copy!!)

I have a Digitech GNX3000 that I use for recording and then individual pedals for playing live. The multi pupose boxes can sound very good but live can be a little less versatile.

Ok. There seems to be a lot of people here who are into the “pedals only” camp which is all well and good. A lot of people here who have been playing for a very long time have seen every effect pedal that has ever come down the pike and it’s the real world opinion that matters for most people.
Myself, I have a pedal board and a Line 6 PODXT Live floorboard and both do have their plusses and minuses but they both serve a purpose.
I have read from members that the multi-effect stuff either sounds “cold” or “digital” and not as good as an analog pedal. That maybe true of some but not all. My experience has been with the Line 6 products and I have found with a some tweaking and a little patience you can make a POD sound just as good as a pedal especially when you deactivate the amp modeling functions and feed it into a tube amp.
There are a lot of misconceptions about multi-effects. You can run than more than one effect on the PODXT Live. In fact you can create four separate patches for particular songs. Have one patch with OD and a short delay; the next can have fuzz with a long delay and so on. It does give the guitarist a lot more flexibility and consistency from gig to gig. This is helpful if you are playing in a cover band and doing songs from different eras.
There is also the cost factor to consider. For the cost of say 4 really good individual pedals you can buy 1 PODXT Live (or Vox Tone Lab) and have way more flexibility and also have a decent recording I/O to boot. You also have the opportunity to try out different configurations of sounds and effects and, for the uneducated, how different effects like compression and mic placement effect tone without breaking the bank and waking the neighbors at 3am.
Now I do have a nice selection of pedals also and a few that we would never part with because there is nothing else out there that sounds like them in my opinion. I have gigged with both a pedal board and the Line 6 and I have the say for constant gigging I have to go with the Line 6 hands down. Set up is quicker, the tones I have set up sound great through my rig and the audience cannot tell the difference nor do they care. And if your amp goes south you can always plug into the PA and be OK. But I also use pedals if the need arises and I don’t need a lot of bells and whistles. Maybe an OD and delay is all that is required for the set or maybe nothing at all, just a guitar and amp.
There is a big buffet of toys out there to enjoy and it would be foolish to lock oneself into any one thing. You should try everything out there available and find something that works FOR YOU. You also have to keep in mind that there have really not been a lot of great innovations in the guitar pedal market. I would call it more evolution. Most of the ODs out there are clones of the Tubescreamer. Most of the compressors out on the market are either a rehash of the Ross or the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer circuit. Yes, there is something to be said about “tried and true” but there has to be somebody else out there with a new original idea and a public willing to try it.

I'm with VJF1968 on this...I have a Boss GT-8 and it can run many FX at once if you need it. I've seen mnay Professionals use it plus you can straight into the PA and not have to carry an amp and it will sound great. As many have noted 99% of the audience won't know the difference between stomps and boxes. once you get the hang of it you won't either as far as tapping a switch...not much different tapping a box switch and a multi switch.:grin:

BTW I have many boxes too and use both for different things but I am completely comfortable gigging with either set up.

Cheers
ce24

I got a TS-9 Tube Screamer and a Dunlop Cry Baby this weekend. I tried quite a few pedals before buying these. The only other pedal I see myself buying soon is a delay pedal for the 80's alt rock I like to play. I am leaning towards the Carbon Copy. Any other opinions?

Either one will work, depending on the type of person you are. Pedals are more plug and play. Multi-effects have a learning curve, and can take a while to learn how to program.

I have gone the MFX route, because I use it as a tuner and in place of a back-up amp. I have created my own modeling patches, and have the ability to turn everything off.

That being said, I still want a separate pedal for a WAH or looper, where I do a lot of dancing on it.

To each his own--------I like individual pedals,as they sound more organic and immediate to me.However,for a live situation with no backline (or recording direct-inject) I like my old J-Station.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I went the pedal route, bought a ton of them and learned what each one did in isolation from each other. Less confusing that way. Armed with the knowledge of what each pedal did, I could decide what tool was needed for the job and bring only the ones I needed.

I try to keep it to 3 at a time. Mostly I use a MXR phase 90, a Bad Monkey OD, and a delay. I power them with my Boss TU-2 tuner. More than half the time I play without them but they are nice to have when I want a different sound.

The trouble with a pedal board is that you end up playing the board more than the guitar. Once you've mastered the pedal board the possibilities are endless.

The trouble with pedals is that I hate plugging and unplugging them in, packing and lugging them around. A pedal board is bigger but seems to me to be easier to carry around and set up.

Lots of truth and opinion. True about the learning curve on the multis. True they're loaded up with a bunch of stuff I can't bear to hear, let alone use. But having spent all weekend with a Pod X3 Live, I was awakened to a couple of tones I've been after for a long time and ready to explore more.

I can do a lot of good without any pedals at all. I can do more with a Tubescreamer and a Keeley Comp. I can do all that plus more with a multi. If I can recreate live some of those tones I found over the weekend, I may have to vote multi.

i think any effects enjoyed in moderation (my opinion) are going to sound nice through that tube amp you picked up. i would go multi-effect. especially if your music genre calls for different tones. for the price of two of three individual pedals, you could give yourself access to a vast variety of effects, some units including tuners, compressors, etc. i would suggest going to the guitar shop and see if you can find a multi pedal that would cover your basics(to your liking)---overdrive, distortion, delay, reverb? if you can find a multi that will cover your basic "tones", the rest of the bell and whistles are icing on the cake, and after playing around with a multi, you may find some more stuff in there to use. just my opinion...

and I'd rather be gigging with single effect pedals instead.

I have an old J-Station. It does rock. I can get a broad spectrum of variations including amp/cab simulation, clean twang/quack to dirty growl, acoustic to nu-metal. It is very cool for quick, on the fly plug and play into a low watt PA for a quiet gig with the "big" sound. You can find 'em on ebay for around $100. Way worth the investment for what you get back.

That being said, I truly enjoy the control of the stompbox set up into my low watt tube amp. I just picked up a loop station and I'm having a lot of fun with it...

Try it all - find what you love.

I got a TS-9 Tube Screamer and a Dunlop Cry Baby this weekend. I tried quite a few pedals before buying these. The only other pedal I see myself buying soon is a delay pedal for the 80's alt rock I like to play. I am leaning towards the Carbon Copy. Any other opinions?

awesome! if you stick with pedals you've probably got your first two "keepers" right there...good choices...

heard good things on the carbon copy too...let us know how it works out!

Actually, that new Delay Pedal from Digitech looks and sounds pretty good and has a lot more features at the same price point as the Carbon Copy.

Which can been seen here:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/stomp-box/113151-hardwire-digitech-stereo-reverb-stereo-delay.html

If I were to replace my delay, I'd probably go with an Ibanez AD9. I like the stereo option. Carbon Copy would probably be my choice if I didn't care about the stereo thing...

I just got a greta deal on a Boss GT-8 Multi FX box. Personally I love it. Granted, theres so many bull**** effects that are unnecessary, but what could possibly be more enjoyable than crafting your own effects from scratch? The only thign i ahte abotu the whoel package is the Preamp and Speaker modellers... such pointless thigns they are. I bought a Fender Blues Deluxe so it sounds like a Fender Blues Deluxe, not so it soudns liek a mock-up JC-120. The moment one of the preamps modellers is selected you lose ALL the original tones that you spent good money for. Other than that its a great unit and i recommend it.

Pedals!!!!!!!!

Ten times the fun!

Ten or more times the cost!!

Pedals set you on a life-long mission from which you will never return!

See ya!:mrgreen: