Multi fx or pedals ?

[karamusic]

Hello,

After more then 20 years of playing keyboard, I'm a relativly new bass player.
Now, after a year of practising and concentrating on playing, i'm starting to concentrating on the sound.

For rehearsal I have a Roland Cube 30 amp, which sound ok-ish except for the cmos fx which i realy don't like.
A friend of me recently gave me a small multi-fx, the DigiTech BP-50. Some fx in there are way better then the cube but some of them realy have a big ground noise.

So where do I go from here ? Another multi fx or pedals, knowing that I don't anything about pedals or how to connect them....

My music style is (a lot of) blues, some jazz, allso some pop from time to time (french variété )
I play on a cort B4 artisan.

tia for answers

k

[Jazz Ad]

Well basically if you only use a few effects and know which ones, you'll be better with separate pedals.
If you use a lot or want to know effects better, a multi is a fine solution.

[Kenny Allyn]

It has been suggested before that a relatively inexpensive multi is a good starting point.

With a multi you get an idea of what many different effects sound like all under one roof so to speak. After using it for some time you may as an example decide you will not need an envelope filter ... better than buying a high $$$ seperate unit and having to resell it.

... Once you get an idea of your taste, the seperate effects buying decisions will be easier.

[Swift713]

I wouldn't think you'd want many effects for blues or jazz so single pedals might make sense. Since you already have some experience with effects on your amp and with the Digitech multi you may well have an idea what you want. I use a Zoom B2 multi which was far better sounding and less noisy than the Digitech unit I tried. Some of the amp models make very nice overdrives and would be great for blues I would think. Make a list of effects you might want to use and shop around. Compare the sound of various chorus pedals, for instance, vs a better multi. Multis are a great deal if they're right for you but they require some programming and they may not give you really lush analog modulation effects. I use mine for a touch of OD, and envelope filter, and compression mostly with a smattering of other things some times. I also use a couple other weird pedals and I just bought a better compressor on e-bay.

[karamusic]

Thanks for the answers so far
It is true that, in my style of music, i don't need a lot of fx or strange kind of fx.
What I do need I think :
- EQ
- Compressor
- Chorus
- Wah-wah
- OD
- Tuner

That's it
Some of them the digitech has, but...
- The EQ is very rough, more a toy then a EQ
- Compressor & chorus produces a lot of hiss....
- No Wah-wah
- OD is very digital
- The tuner in it is completly ridicules, doesn't even work correctly.

I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, that in general small budget multi-fx aren't very good. But i gues that's the same for pedals ? How are the BOSS series.
And allso the budget will be bigger with pedals, I suppose ?

k

[bongomania]

On the one hand, good-quality individual pedals may cost a bunch. But OTOH, a good-quality multi is not exactly cheap either, depending on your tastes. Boss is a good brand in general, but you have to be careful and read reviews (especially here in the bass forum) for specific pedals from them, as they are hit-and-miss in terms of usefulness on bass. Rather than thinking of "multifx vs. individual fx", I would suggest reading previous threads about each of the types of effect you mentioned such as EQ, compressor, chorus, tuner, etc. to see what people recommend, and see which of those are affordable.

[Kenny Allyn]

Originally Posted by karamusic

the budget will be bigger with pedals, I suppose ?

Yeah as an example the Zoom B2 mentioned is under $100.00 at online stores ... One Boss pedal can run around the same.

I play basically the same type of music blues and R&B with a little classic/garage band rock. This only requires me to have a relativly small number of effects. and then only because I cover some guitar and keys parts.

My board consist of

Compressor ... $199,00
Chorus ... $199.00
OD/Fuzz ... $249.00
Uni-Vibe (Micro Vibe) ... $149.00
Tuner ... $199.00
Power supply ... $179.00
Cables (George Ls)... aprox. $50.00
The board (hand made) aprox. $20.00



Even my small take anywhere mini board which has a used Boss compressor, used Boss chorus and used MXR M-80 set me back $200.00

... I do think pedals are better IF you know exactly what you want ... but it's a more $$$ proposition

[Sipuri]

After having tried a lot of different types, pedals and multis, I have come to the conclusion there are only very few things I really like.

What I kept was the Aphex Bass Exiter. The Sansamp BDDI ist also good, but didn't need it very often, so I sold mine some days ago.


What I am looking for is a good compressor, didn't find one up to now which satisfies my needs. Goin' to try the DBX and TC rack things.


In general I think if you need one, look for an analog device, not a digital one. Takes away attack & punch. Sound comes out of your fingers, that's what I have come to.

Steve
Bavaria/Germany

[Swift713]

I think that the Zoom would cover all of those effects pretty well except maybe wah. That is if you mean wah rather than filter. I like the filter on the zoom but I'm not sure about the wah. The model with expression pedal cost another $50 or so and I don't even use the auto-wah on the one I have, it sounds thin to me. I'm really pretty happy with the overdrive I get from the Bassman model but if I had a BJF Blueberry I wouldn't look back. OD is a pretty personal taste so maybe shop around $$. As for the chorus, I don't use it a lot but it's decent, comparable to a Boss I think. The compressor works fine for me, I keep it set pretty low.
I think the hardest effect to find is a good OD for bass. If a multi can get you that then the rest is gravy.

[BadB]

I used to own a Line6 and Boss multi-effect units. While some of the sounds were fairly decent, others sucked miserably. It also took quite a bit of tweaking, scrolling through menus, etc. I went back to pedals because there are far more choices, they sound better, and are way easy to use. That said, I mostly just dink around with them. They sound cool, but I have yet to find them necessary for live use.

[karamusic]

Looks like the solution is way more complicated then the question

After browsing trough the different threads here, here is how i think I'm gonna proceed.
I'll start with buying some simple but urgently needed pedals.
The most urgent is EQ, the 3 band EQ on my cube amp is a joke and the one in the multi-fx isn't a lot better.
Then I can chain this after the multi-fx and just delete the EQ in the presets.

Then I buy the next pedal and again don't use the fx of the multi-fx anymore.

All those pedals chain one after the other right ?

In the end, I'll have a couple of pedals that I want and use only a couple of fx of the multi-fx or perhaps no multi-fx at all.

How does this sound as a plan ?

k

[Kenny Allyn]

Originally Posted by karamusic

How does this sound as a plan ?

Almost to the letter what my guitar player did ... he is all pedal now ...

... He then sold the Line 6 on Ebay.

[Geddyfleaharris]

A cheap, used multi might be one way to start. A multi will at least be able to tell you what you don't want and you will be able to get back most of your money when you sell it. You can probably find a multi FX pedal here or on Ebay for pretty cheap. I made the mistake 1.5 years ago of buying a new multi FX pedal (Digitech BP 200, not one of the better ones) for $200 only to sell it a month or so ago for $60. Plus the multi that I had was full of useless effects and pre-programmed patches. When would you use a "fretless wah" especially when it sounds crappy? I never understood all the amp modelling that the multi I had did. I don't want/need my GK to sound like a Fender Bassman with an Ampeg 810. Maybe the chorus or delay on a certain multi might not be great but it should at least be able to tell you if you even like that effect.

My 2 cents.