Lost in a sea of rackmount processors.

[Inverness]

Okay, so I'm not really into the whole pedalboard thing. I have an EHX Russian Muff for the fuzz, a Polish Love for some overdrive, and a Sansamp PBDI if I'm really in a pinch or want some grind (may consider a VT bass in the future, though...). That's it. I don't really want any more pedals unless it's a MIDI footpad controlling a rackmount FX processor. As per my sig, this will go into the pseudo-effects loop of my SVT-II after a dbx compressor (currently a 266XL, but looking to upgrade to a used 160a as per Bongo's rec. in a thread previous) and sandwiched between two channels of an incoming Aphex 204. I just need mono to mono - this is entirely for my rig.

Effects:
I'm really looking for good reverb and chorus - the sound of the '80s. Flanger, phaser, and delay are nice additions, but they do not need to be of the highest quality. That's not to say that they should be godawful. I don't need a compressor, since I have the dbx. I do not need a tuner, because I am XLR-ing out of the II into a Korg DTR. I don't really need distortion because of the pedals and because the natural overdrive on the II is super sweet. Finally, I do not need phase shifting at all, so if that's crap in the processor, so be it.

Price range:
The drummer in my band has a contact at Yamaha and can get things at direct prices. If you connect those dots, that would yield a Yamaha SPX2000 for about $625 or so. Let's call that the absolute upper limit. Lower limit is of course, free. Well, no, if someone wanted to pay me to take an FX processor off their hands, that would probably be the lower limit. Ideally, I would like to spend no more than $400. This includes used items!

Ideas:
Okay, so my first stop was investigating those Yamaha SPX boxes that McKagan and Entwistle used - 90 and 1000, respectively. I like the fact that the SPX 990 has split pre, main, and post effects, so that was in the top running for a while. I cannot seem to find, anywhere, sound clips or anything with this FX processor on bass. And, of course, no store around here as any of these in stock. If anyone has any experience at all with any Yamaha SPXs, that'd be really cool. Their reverbs get glowing reviews everywhere.

The guitarist in my old band used a TC Elec. G-Major and he absolutely loves it. I did read a thread on here about someone who really didn't like the thing, and it gets questionable reliability reviews on Harmony Central. If anyone else has experience with the TCEGM, then please share!

I have seen the TCE M-One, which seems like a no-frills G-Major... but they're the same price at Musician's Friend...? What...? Mebbe it's just for in-studio stuff.

Some older threads speak well of the Boss SE-something and the VF-1. What is unappealing to me is that those FX processors are only half a rack space.

There are the Lexicon MX400s and MX300s, and all the stuff is starting to make me go cross-eyed.



Help?

[Bryan R. Tyler]

What's unappealing about a half rack unit? It allows you to put another one there if you wish, or you can use the space for storing/wiring your cables, etc.

I use a Boss VF-1. I've owned a couple in the past, sold them, and twice went back to one. It really is a fantastic unit once you do some patch editing. The G-Major and some of the Lexicon stuff (the MPX-1 I think?) were really nice multieffect rack units. Unfortunately, good rack multis are getting fewer and fewer these days.

[Inverness]

Well, I've got a 12-space rack case, and 3 of those spaces are going to be occupied by a drawer for said storage of pedals, wires, wireless unit, etc. I think it's just a symmetry thing. I also have horrible metalworking skills (or totally, completely, utterly lack thereof).

[bongomania]

Well they do make rack shelves for mounting half-rack gear, but TBH it never works out in reality- there is always something causing the overall unit (plus shelf and mounting materials) to be more than 1RU high. I love half-rack units except for that one totally frustrating fact.

In the price range you describe, I would push a midrange Lexicon or an older Roland SDD/SRV or Korg SDD.

[Mr. Pickles]

The Boss SE 70 and VF-1 are both very flexible and solid little units. The SE is 16 bit and the VF-1 is 24. They are very inexpensive these days on the used market. I'v seen two or three VF-1's for sale in the past month.

The VF-1 allows for some decent editing of effects chains (it truly is a multi-effect). Most are tailored to guitar (amp and cab sims), but tweaking for bass is pretty easy. You can probably pick one up for $150 used.

The Lexicon MPX 550 is an awesome unit for verbs and delays. They can be found for around $250-350 used. There are some decent chorus settings and pitch shifting. This is a great unit for ambient effects.

[Inverness]

I can see people really dig those Boss effects. If they were fully rackmountable, then I'd be jumping on them straightaway. Unfortunately, as bongo pointed out, they're not really just-one-space high because they sit on the shelf, and every single rack space in my rack is filled. The top of my rack will be holding the wireless unit. I'd also like to keep the patching cables in the rear of the case to as confined a space as possible (i.e., keeping the compressor, exciter, FX, and amp all packed together at the bottom). I thus have very little room for wiggling.

Wow! Three suggestions for the Lexicons! What you guys are recommending, the MPX stuff (now MX), are these really just different shades of the same color? I'm talking about the MPX-1, MPX-550, MPX-500, MX400, and MX300. I feel like I would be wasting the capabilities of the MX400, because it's 4-in and 4-out, and I'd really just only need the mono.

[Bryan R. Tyler]

The Boss VF-1 and SE-70 actually do fit easily on one rack shelf when you get the RAD-50 rack shelf- it was designed for those units, and there's a hump on it that fits into a detent on the bottom of those units where the screw attaches them.

[Inverness]

Does it really fit, though? I mean, the clearance, does it have the over-run problem?

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Not with the RAD 50 shelf. Mounting it on a different shelf can (I had this issue once when mounting a VF-1 to a Raxxess rack). I've got one in my rack right now, and have used them for years. The VF-1/SE-70 combo is actually quite popular with Stick players, so you'll see them rackmounted in the one space quite often with them.

[bkbirge]

SPX-90's have horrible reverb, you can do way better just by getting a Yamaha Rev-7 if you are into the brand. What SPX-90's excel at are/were 2 things: pitch shifting (very digital sounding by today's standards) and the *gated* reverb sound made famous by Peter Gabriel. No one does the gated 'verb too much anymore and there are much better pitch shifters out there. That said, I do have a soft spot for the SPX series of processors, the SPX1000 is darn nice. For your budget you can probably even find an old Lexicon or a newish TC electronics. 'course you did say you wanted the sound of the 80's, hard to beat the SPX90 for that. For my 'verbs I prefer 2 mics, a delay, and a nice room but that's not a really portable system.

[Inverness]

Well, I want the sounds of the '80s only so far as the chorus and 'verb. I don't necessarily need it sound like garbage! That's kind of why I was originally leaning towards the SPX990 and then the G-Major. I am leaning towards the Lexicon MPX-550. Or rather, I was, until BRT made mention of the rackability of the Boss units. Are they both (MIDI) footswitch-controllable? Or are they of the set-it-forget-it variety? I imagine it would allow for a great deal of flexibility, no?

[Bryan R. Tyler]

I haven't used the SE-70 (although I imagine it's the same as the VF-1), but the VF-1 can be controlled both by a normal external footswitch like the Boss FS-6 or by using a MIDI foot controller. I use a Rolls MIDIBuddy to control both my VF-1 and my Looperlative looper. Most of the units mentioned in this thread have some really great qualities though- you'd probably be happy with most of them.