Yamaha Magic Stomp pedal, check it out

Just thought I'd share some info about the Yamaha Magic Stomp, it's a multi effects pedal about the size of the Visual Sounds dual effects pedals.
It's real simple to operate, bank up , bank down, on/off, has knobs to adjust parameters and volume on the fly.
And if you want to get deep into editing you can hook it up to your computer via USB, and you can download new patches etc... 99 presets, 99 user presets. Also it's 32 bit, so the sound quality is great IMO.

I got it mostly just to use for modulation effects, the reverbs, delays, chorus, flange, phase are all great, it also has tremolo, auto wah, etc... and OD/Distortion/Fuzz effects and amp models too, though that's not what I really got it for.

I've used this with my 68 Deluxe Reverb and a Bassman head, and it works real good, doesn't seem to color the signal when bypassed, again the modulation effects are killer IMO, and some of the presets are pretty cool too.

MF has these for $166, if you get $200 worth of stuff
(buy some strings, a strap etc...) you get free shipping, AND now they have a $40 mail in rebate.

Just thought some of you might like to check it out. Considering that you can drop a couple hundred on a reverb, delay, phase, chorus, etc... real quick, with a $40 rebate this pedal would only be $126.

I've had other multi effects , Boss, Ibanez and they were ok, but this one is easy to use, compact and it sounds great!
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/search/detail/base_pid/151558/

Thanks for the great review. Are there any momentary time lapses/glitches, or volume jumps, between patch changes?

I haven't noticed any lag in time when changing patches, obviously some patches are louder than others if you use the OD/Dist/Amp models, but you can adjust the patches to have relatively the same volume and save them as user patches.
I haven't tried it but another option is that you can set it up in perfomance mode where the 3 switches select 3 patches.
Mostly I'm using it like a stomp box, for delay, chorus, etc....

i checked out the pdf manual on this gizmo, really tempting as a compact lower noise alternative to some pitch/verb/echo toys I now have.

Can you run more than one effect (outta this box) at a time, like run the Yam's verb and echo simul?

Mik

Okay, maybe I need to take a closer look at this box. I've read that the tones are very good (supposedly better than the Line 6 stuff), but that there are lags between patch changes, which would shoot it out of the saddle for me. For live, I'd preset the three switches, as opposed to scrolling. I wonder if it's in setting up presets for stomp switches that the supposed patch change glitches occur - or not?

Personally I haven't noticed any time lags when changing patches.
In the Harmony Central reviews some folks complained about that and others said they didn't hear it.
Also there is a download from the Magicstomp site to fix that problem if you have an older version.
That's one cool thing about some of the newer multieffects gear, it won't necessarily be "obsolete" in a few years, since you can upgrade online.
The way I use it is mostly for one effect per song anyway be it reverb, delay, chorus, so the lag factor if it exists isn't an issue.
Several of the patches have more than one effect, as mentioned I haven't gotten around to deeper editing with the computer, but I'm pretty sure you can combine reverb/ delay, chorus etc...

No use for me. The only computer editor they support on the Mac is the old OS. This is pretty useless, since Mac switched to OSX a few years back. And you can't run Yamaha's editor in Mac classic mode according to their spec.

It's sort of like being told you can only edit on Windows using a Pentium II and Windows 2000 or earlier. They've designed it for an obsolete platform.

And as far as investing in this stuff because the software is upgradeable, I fell for that line once with my Johnson J Station. There was a minor upgrade, and then support for it disappeared along with the Mac editor they promised for a long, long time.

Sorry, but as much as I love and embrace technology, I discount the support and upgrades for this stuff.

Hey Bill
I'm certainly not a technophile,really I'm barely computer literate! I haven't even tried to do any downloads or serious tweaking yet and I didn't buy it as an investment by any means - I don't know of any "new" gear that would be an investment, all of the computer driven stuff depreciates pretty quickly as new processors come out.
I just got it to simplify my pedalboard, now I have one pedal to do reverb, delay, chorus, flange, phase, and it can do a whole lot more, simple to operate , sounds good, real good, for $166 with a $40 rebate, it was a no brainer for me.
If you are into all the tech stuff, I'm sure that there are other items that will suit you more, Line 6 has a new floor pedal that has all the POD features, I don't need all that.

For any users of the Magic Stomp - what happens when you really drive the input of it? I use a Z Vex Super Hard On to kick the front end of my amps, and although the idea of the MS is appealing, I'm afraid of how it will react. Does it play well with other pedals?

I've used mine with a Tube Screamer and wah in front of it, sounded fine. I have a SHO clone that I hardly ever use but I'll try it and let you know how that works.

I don't have any amps with effects loops, if you have that option it's possible the MS could be used there with good results. I'm thinking just for modulation effects?

Hi Ringo,

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound negative about your purchase. I think it's a great deal, especially for the price. It just doesn't work for me because I have a Mac and am dubious about upgrades. On the other hand, they don't upgrade TS-9's and other analog pedals (well, unless you want to rewire them yourself that is).

Anywho, I expect it's a neat pedal and would consider getting one under some circumstances. But I'm not thrilled that this is the third company I've seen to only support out of date Macs. And I think you need to like the pedal as is, without counting on there being upgrades.