New to Pedals

[Jslob2003]

Hi everyone, I'm pretty new to the whole FX pedal idea so I have a few questions and some things I think would be great, but don't know if they can even make them. Ok, I am first off looking for a pedal that does artist presets. I have read about the Digitech pedal, but have heard from many people that they are cheap and the wrong way to go. So I am wondering if anyone knows any other brands that have artist presets on them.

Ok here's the one I'm really not sure about. I was wondering if you can buy anything where you can have drum patterns from certain songs play. The reason I ask, is I like to play cover songs, but I don't know any drummers in my area. Many of the songs I play just don't sound right without the drums in the background. I think if you could get a machine that you hook up to your computer or something, and download songs into the machine to play the drums, that would be worth a fortune. Let me know if you have seen/heard of anything like this. I greatly appreciate any help, and please don't laugh, like I said, pretty knew to this idea!!

[Oldschoolwax]

You're really going to have to check out pedals in person with your guitar and amp setup. Two pedals that look the same can sound different. One person will love a pedal another will hate it. It really depends on your rig and how you play, anyone who tells you different is not being quite honest with you. Try checking out the pedals that you would like to hear and don't let anyone tell you your ears are wrong.
As far as effects units with programable drums, spend an evening going through the on line specs. I'm sure people "in the know" will chime in with plenty of info for you on that shortly. Whatevery you decide on, have fun and try to keep in mind that your picking and fingering will have a huge impact on your total sound. Try to get as close as you can without effects, then you'll be on the right path!

Mike

[Jslob2003]

Thanks for the input. I will definately take my guitar with me when I go to purchase a pedal, if I decide it is necessary.

[maestrovert]

from all you've described, a Digitech GNX4 should fill your requirements quite well.....
i have one myself, i only use it for late night recording when even my Champ is too loud.....

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20.../Gnx4Rp7-1.jpg

i normally use a small board with only a few effects, mostly preferring my Teles straight in to my amps....

The GNX4 is definitely NOT "cheap"...it's well thought out, and VERY well constructed.....most importantly, the tones are the best of the modelling units to my ear, they're more "organic" than the Vox units and the Line6 PODs and much more versatile too, with MP3 playback, the onboard drum functions, the onboard 8 track recording capability, AND the bundled 32 track computer recording software suite....

not to mention, if (God forbid!) IF i had a major malfunction/breakdown, i could happily gig with the GNX4 taking the place of my entire rig, and STILL sound good too !

[Jslob2003]

I was looking at those on Musicians Friend and figured if I buy one, I'll buy from them since they are much cheaper that way. They look pretty complicated. How long did it take you to "master" the piece of equipment?

[maestrovert]

i'm still figuring out all of it's capabilities and functions....it IS simple enough to use straight outta da box, but due to it's advanced functions/capabilities, it can get pretty involved too.....there's a comprehensive manual included, and there's a couple of websites devoted entirely to it, ie: patches, downloads and user groups etc....

here's a couple of links.....the first is Craig Anderton's GNX4 Operation Tutorial section....check 'em out, they might be helpful to you in your purchasing decision.....

http://www.guitarworkstation.com/tutorials.htm

http://www.digitech.com/soundcomm/

and a soundbyte demo of the GNX4:

http://www.guitarworkstation.com/resources.htm#

[Jslob2003]

Wow, i went to the sound community pages and some of those songs were excellent. Do you know how they got the drums to match the songs exactly. Did theyhave to sit and match parts together or can you download the drums from songs to the machine so it plays them perfectly? Thanks again for all your help!

[J-man]

I reccommend a Boss ME-50, it's not TOO expensive at about £200, and while it doesn't do artist presets it can do pretty much any sound on earth as it recreates (very well) many big name pedals, including DS-1, MT-2, BD-2, Rat, Big Muff, Tube Screamer, wah, picthshifters (both plus an octave and minus an octave) Choruses, phaser, flanger, compression/sustainer tone mods (these can make your pickups really shine), Noise Gate, loads of delays + a whole lot more!!

And best of all there are new annyoing menus to skip through! The whole thing is operated like many single pedals built into one.

I love mine! :D

http://www.muzyczny.pl/pdf/boss-me-50.jpg

[maestrovert]

i'm unsure how to answer your question Jslob.....it might be best to try contacting some of the guys who posted the music you heard and ask them how they went about it.......
i haven't really used the drum function on mine yet, i have a good drummer/band member available and i also have a Roland programmable drum unit for "scratch" parts for when he's not around.....
the GNX4's drums do sound very good though !

[Jslob2003]

Thanks Maestro for all your help!