Anybody here use a Magicstomp?

[BiggerJohn]

Your thoughts?

[Ringo]

I had one a few years ago, there are some great tones in that box, especially the reverbs and delays. BUT it is not a true bypass pedal,it definately colors your tone even when you're not using it, and it is not the easiest multieffect to program IMHO.
Also they don't make them anymore , so not sure what kind of support there is available. They used to have a user forum to share patches etc..
I also had the Yamaha DG Stomp, which I think is a better unit, more footswitches, knobs to adjust parameters, you can find them used for around $100.

[BiggerJohn]

The magicstomp forum is still there at magicstomp.com. Still have drivers even for Win 7. The editor lets you program it on your PC and then download the patch to the unit via USB.

[Ringo]

As I mentioned, the unit has some great tones, but it only has an on/off switch and switches to change patches, so scrolling though the various patches can be tedious, especially if you were going to use it live.
For home or studio work it could be great.
I still liked the DG Stomp better.

[fly135]

Reverb and delays are the best part about the Magicstomp. Editing the setting on the Magicstomp itself is nearly impossible so you need to hook it to the computer. The setting of the FX chain is not very flexible and the parameters are numerous and confusing. But it has an awesome reverse reverb. Check out the song "Early Reflections" in my link below. It's a Magicstomp using the early reflections (reverse reverb) effect and a strat.

[BiggerJohn]

I can imagine programming and tweaking it with the small screen must be a nightmare. I definitely plan to use the editor on my laptop and hook the thing up via USB. I was just foolig with the editor on my POD XT last night and it makes tweaking up the patches real easy.

I have heard several Youtubes with this thing and it really does sound good. Plus it is fully capable of running the EFTP patches.

I just bought an Acoustic version on ebay for a good price, "near mint", as soon as I get it I will re-flash the firmware to make it an electric version.

[Rich_S]

Wow, I'd forgotten I ever owned one, sold it years ago. The mistake I made back then was trying to use it to do multiple effects. I just don't get on well with large, preset patches and yes, the editing (and patch-selection) were terrible.

However, I think a great purpose for a Magicstomp would be as a swiss-army stompbox - use it for one effect at a time, but only those effects you don't use often. My pedalboard has my basic needs covered with individual stomp boxes - overdrive, distortion, chorus, flange, phase, trem, two delays - but there are times I want an effect that I don't have a box for, and wouldn't use it enough to go buy one. Hindsight is 20/20, but the Magistomp would be perfect for that.

What are some modern effects units that would do that sort of job? Seems these days, most of the multi-effects units are designed to do many things at once. Are there any devices out there that are more like a stompbox than a pedalboard, but still give a selection of effects?

[metulmykul]

Great reverbs and delays but the number parameters within the individual effect itself can be mind boggling. I really should set my laptop up for it so i can set up in my music room.
The lcd display on mine is heading south so i have to try and get that fixed...

[kp8]

I have been gigging & recording with mine for a long long time. It has been on my board continuously since 2006, last in line. I live in constant fear it will give out since i have my own patches for it that I love and depend on and the box has a couple of very unique features never seen before in a stomp box. For example, the versatile 3-band 24 dB per octave multi-filter that does high pass, low pass, band pass with a very wide freq. rage (20 Hz-16 kHz) and 0-100% Mix Level. Would pay a bajillion dollars for any stand alone box that does this. Far as I can tell nothing does.

I love the delays, the verbs (big fan of plate), the excellent ring mod, the 100%-0% wet dry mix on all effects, pitch shifting, the multi filter, the chorus.

Wierdly there is no expression input and also amazingly no reverse delay.

It is not that robust a unit, hence the worry. The switches suck, the power supply is annoying and not universal voltage (why? why?), the jacks are wimpy, & the left output tends to go to half vol. after a couple years use.

I wish Yamaha would not have given up on this project. I would easily pay the MSR for a MG III that was more robust and had a better interface. Great box. Would love to pick up a spare.

-kp-

[cowie86]

Yeah I use one last in line on my pedal board. The bypass signal isn't great but you can always put it in its own loop to bypass it when you're not using it. If someone found a mod for removing the stupid master volume konb, I think that would improve it greatly.

Apart from that - it's fantastic. Like everyone says, the reverbs and delays are excellent, I chose it over a Deluxe Memory Man and a RE-20 for sound quality and variety.

Patch editing on a computer is made a lot easier as you can plug your guitar in and as you edit the patches on screen you can play the guitar to see how close you are to the sound you want.

There are a huge array of parameters to set when you edit patches, but this means you're able to duplicate the sounds of a Small Stone/ Small Clone/ Phase 90/ Boss CE-2 almost exactly. And you've always got the three knobs on the pedal for fine-tuning on the fly.

I use it on a board with a Boss TU-2, Vox V847-A, Digitech Punkifier, EHX POG2, TC Electronic Nova Modulator and Boss DD-7 (got the DD-7 before I got the MagicStomp).

[Dr. Pants]

Doesn't Allan Holdsworth use a MS?

I wonder what his thoughts on the unit are.
I know he has always had a great chorus sound,
so I wonder if his chorus sound in the last so many
years is from the MS.

[Berek Halfhand]

I own three Magic Stomps (two acoustic and one v II eggplant), two DG Stomps, and an AG Stomp. Just missing the UG Stomp but those are still very expensive on ebay. Some things I have learned...

On my pedal board I use one MS last in the chain for amp modeling (since I go right to the PA) and another for reverb, or other miscellaneous modulations. I keep the eggplant MS near the computer (and old PC laptop which i just keep around as a front end for the MS), for editting patches and recording. There is a freeware patch organizer program for PC available at the yahoo groups (magicstomp and magicstomppro) that is helpful in maintaining groups of patches.

When I am playing electric guitar and traveling light I just take a DG Stomp. It is *MUCH* more tweakable on the fly than the MS (many chicken head knobs). I would never try to do deep editting live on the MS. If I am just playing acoustic, the AG Stomp is a great pre-amp/chorus/delay/reverb/mic-modeling unit.

All of the guts of the DG, AG, and UG stomps are inside the Magic Stomp. Just harder to get at the controls.

The Acoustic and Bass Magicstomps are identical to the version II eggplant MS, except for the preloaded patches. You do not need to flash the ROM in those, they should already have the latest version of the firmware (1.2 I believe). If you want the factory patches, you can download them from the Yahoo groups (or other places) and install without flashing the ROM. (Something that always makes me nervous).

If you have the original version 1 eggplant MS (without a headphone jack) you can flash its ROM to make it exactly the same as the latest version, including automatic feedback controls like the AG.

I love the clean fender amp tones I get out of the amp modeler into the PA at church.

The MS's can suffer from a common failure in an output transistor. The purpose of the transistor is just to mute the pops you get when the unit turns on, but when they fail they can put a +5v bias on the output signal. An easy fix is to just remove the offending transistor from the circuit. There are detailed instructions here http://groups.yahoo.com/group/magicstomppro/message/928 .

Yes the input power is unusual. 12v AC. I just purchased my second DG from ebay and plugged it in using the power supply that came with it without looking closely at the power supply first. The seller had put a 12v DC adapter in the box by mistake. The DG did not like the DC power. I was in a dark room when I was trying this, and so didn't notice the problem until I got home. When I plugged in the correct 12v AC, it worked fine..... so far. It did start making some noise after about an hour of use. I will have to run more tests. If you are buying one make sure to ask if the unit has been audio tested, not just plugged in and turned on to see that the lights work.

Join the yahoo groups. They are not very active, but there are lots of good patches saved there.

-bhh

[Berek Halfhand]

Perhaps some TDPRI'ers would be interested in a patch exchange? Are there facilities for that here?

-bhh

[metulmykul]

Good info Berek.
Dr. Pants, i think that there is a swag of Holdsworth patches on the main Magicstomp site. If not, try the yahoo group page.

[Anchoret]

Originally Posted by BiggerJohn

I can imagine programming and tweaking it with the small screen must be a nightmare.

It's as close to raw impossible as you're going to get. I believe there are something like 3200 (!) adjustable parameters on the device.

The thing has staggering potential -- the problem is getting to it.

There's semi-adequate editing software, but I dunno if it works in W7.

If you get the last firmware, you can do all three MagicStomps on one, so that a great value.

The main problem with this potentially great unit is its obscurity; there's no clear description of models and effects, so you're just struggling in the dark, and with marginal editing capabilities.

There was also a real problem with the Yamaha MIDI/USB driver the thing needed to run the editing software that not only had murderous fatal conflicts with other devices (especially DigiTech/Johnson), but it could not be uninstalled. Maybe by now Yamaha has a new driver that isn't such a nosebleed.

I got the last one released and just could not get started with it. I happened to see it in the studio this morning and felt bad about it never going anywhere.

If anyone wants to work with these, I'm game to participate in a thread on them, but for recording I'm using VSTs anyway.

[Anchoret]

Originally Posted by Berek Halfhand

The MS's can suffer from a common failure in an output transistor...

Is this common to all runs of the device, or just earlier ones?

Thanks!

[kp8]

Originally Posted by Anchoret

Is this common to all runs of the device, or just earlier ones?

Thanks!

Had 2 MS IIs that did it so no... late models too it would think. Unless (always possible) I am just exceeeeeeedingly unlucky.

[Anchoret]

Originally Posted by kp8

Had 2 MS IIs that did it so no... late models too it would think. Unless (always possible) I am just exceeeeeeedingly unlucky.

Sounds like I ought to dump this one while it's still good, then.

[cowie86]

Should we open a Magicstomp Owner's thread in here? Sometimes the Yahoo group can be a little hard to navigate.

[kp8]

I don't know if there is enough interest but you are right about Yahoo groups. H A T E.