Multi-FX question

[Loempiaketzer]

Hi!,

I have some questions about multi-FX pedals. *was looking at the digitech BP80*
And i am asking it because i dont have te time to travel all the way to the music store *45min away* and try 'em out for an hour or 2 in the store.

I am thinking about buying the digitech BP80 multi effect pedal for these reasons;
- tuner pedal
- expression pedal/volume
- EQ
- killswitch (if possible,... not a priority)

Why do i want it for this?
If i buy all the things seperate it will cost me about 3 x €70... and hopefully this way it will save me some money.

My thoughts,
a tuner is a tuner... might be a small difference between them but "o well"
Expression volume pedal,... mainly volume but is it usable as an expression pedal?
EQ, for the parts where i want my mids and highs to be boosted without opening volume. (duh) but does it "work well"? i know its not the 7band EQ that rocks... but, does it do ANY good at all?
killswitch,.. always comes in handy

and ofcourse everything must be foot-operated.

is this a good reason to buy a multi fx?
and if so, is the digitech BP80 a multi FX that does the job?

[Swift713]

I don't know the Digitech multis except to say that a few years ago when I compared them in store the Zoom B2 beat them for sound quality. Zoom B2.1u has an expression pedal.

I think your reasoning makes a little sense - but beware - you will be converting your signal to digital and back which may be an opportunity for noise to enter the chain. Also, some people seem to notice the compression inherent in the AD/DA conversion.

You might consider shopping the used market for used analog gear. A volume pedal will give you the kill switch and possibly a tuner out which could keep a cheap tuner out of your signal chain, and an eq pedal should be pretty easy to find used. All in all you could get all that for about the same price as a multi.

Then again, the multi has other things in it that you might enjoy.

[Loempiaketzer]

...And so continues the everlasting journey of a strugling musicians that need to learn the hard way.
sometimes math is so nice… its so simple… 2 plus 2 equals 4…,
.. in music that would be 2 plus 2 might equal 4,… but only if you like it to be 4…(catch my drift?:P,… its all about “what do you want to get out of it... sometimes i'm not liking that :P)

Thnx for the reply though!!
More replys are always welcome!

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally Posted by Loempiaketzer

My thoughts,
a tuner is a tuner... might be a small difference between them but "o well"

Only if you don't downtune a 5 string (or other extended range basses).

The POD I had only went down to the low B, and struggled with that. My TU-2 goes way lower than I would ever concievably go, and it picks up the low A (downtuned from the B) with ease.

[Erick Lam]

Originally Posted by Loempiaketzer

is this a good reason to buy a multi fx?
and if so, is the digitech BP80 a multi FX that does the job?

It's an excellent reason to buy a multi-effect. Can't help you with the digitech though. I had a Boss ME-50b and although many effects were crap, the volume/wah pedal, tuner, and headphone output for practice in a single box that fits in a small backpack were worth it. I also used a constant slight reverb and a bit of EQ. Then there are some effects that you might like or not (I used the phaser a lot and fooled around with sound-hold and slow-gear).

I wouldn't buy any multi-effect new. Used ones are MUCH cheaper.

[Stone Age]

I have a BP 200, which I thought had cool effects. I will say, I thought the tuner was horrible and unreliable. Switching between channels was cumbersome for me, so I stopped using it.


For a tuner/kill switch, I've had much better luck with the Boss tuner pedal.

The expression pedal is ok, I guess. It can be used as expression or volume, depending on how you set up the channel. I never used it's EQ so I can't help you there. Overall, I've seen no signs of noise as described in an above post.

For the things you want, I think you'll be happier with the separate pedals. The multi effects unit is great for experimentation though.

[Geddyfleaharris]

I would concur with Stone Age's thoughts on the BP 200. IMO it was not very user friendly and the sounds left a lot to be desired. Plus when I sold it after about a year I got less than 1/3 of what I paid for it new. There are used BP 80's and 200's in these classifieds. I would look there to buy and let someone else take the depreciation hit.

A Boss multi might be an alternate route.

[Loempiaketzer]

Hi, i still didnt buy the Multi-FX pedal. If I would add a drum machine to the list of requirements? that would leave me with the following needs
-Drum machine
-Tuner (5 string standard tuning)
-EQ
-express /volume pedal

still recommend the zoom / boss pedals that are referred to in this topic?

[Petebass]

Originally Posted by Loempiaketzer

...
EQ, for the parts where i want my mids and highs to be boosted without opening volume. (duh) but does it "work well"? i know its not the 7band EQ that rocks... but, does it do ANY good at all?

EQ in a multi effects is a MUST in my opinion. I started a thread asking about decent Multi effects with Decent EQ a while ago, and the BP80 was on that kept coming up as a good recommendation.

I ended up buying the Korg AX-1B, purely because one came available at a great price, but I probably would have bought the Digitech otherwise. It's the first multi effects I've owned which lets you set and SAVE the eq as part of the patch, and the difference is unbelievable!!! Suddenly, almost every single effect type in the using becomes usable. This is definitely not the case on most of the multi effects units I've used, where only 5 of the 100 effects sound musical and the rest sound like junk.

My 2c

[bassbrad]

Originally Posted by Loempiaketzer

Hi, i still didnt buy the Multi-FX pedal. If I would add a drum machine to the list of requirements? that would leave me with the following needs
-Drum machine
-Tuner (5 string standard tuning)
-EQ
-express /volume pedal

still recommend the zoom / boss pedals that are referred to in this topic?

The Zoom B2.1u may be what you are looking for. The rhythm section is quite nice with 40 patterns to choose from including metronome settings. It had either a 6 band eq or 2 band parametric eq section. Plus it has a built in DI and a usb interface to hook up to a computer for recording and such and comes with a copy of Cubase LE.