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Best bang for buck multi-effects pedal?

G

gai113

Apr 25, 2008
866
7
#1
Whats the best bang for buck for a good multi effects pedal?

I really am looking for effects that can do like flute and trumpet(midi sounds) but i know the whole midi thing needs separate pickups and complicated..

Im looking at the Zoom B3 which is at just 200$

my budget is around $500 give or take a few hundred..


Thanks
 
#6
I feel the $200 I spent on my B3 is the best two bills I've ever spent on any fx/outboard gear. In my situation, I was looking mainly for a USB interface for recording on my pc, and for jamming alone at home. Not so much that I wanted a multi-fx unit, as I already had the basics covered with my pedalboard. But, I love how the B3 practically covers every type of pedal you could want, and sounds damned good doing it.

One thing about this unit, it should be looked at as being simply three individual stompboxes. Well, fully programmable and interchangeable stompboxes, but only three at a time. It's very difficult to maneuver between patches during a song, but for 99% of the players I'm aware of, this shouldn't be a big deal.
 
#7
I'd definitely say the Boss GT-10B. First, I've had one for years so I know it can deliver on tone and flexibility. Second, the GT-100 just came out, and while there isn't a bass version yet (and may not be for another year or two based on past trends), it's resulted in a nice price-drop on the GT-10. You should find one brand new within your price range as a result, but failing that you'd definitely be able to find a second-hand one in mint condition.

The Boss ME-50B is a great unit, very usable, sounds good, and extremely cheap due to its age, but I wouldn't get one because they're showing their age now in things such as poor tracking. You'd only need to spend a couple hundred bucks more to get the GT-10B, and it's worth it IMO. Rather than get a newer, smaller unit, I'd recommend you aim for something larger (and thus more flexible), but just a bit older so that you can take advantage of the price drop. I bought mine when they first came out and I should have waited; the price dropped 20% within three months.

I have no experience with the B3 but it's getting recommended like crazy here at the moment. My experience with older Zoom units has been less than positive, as I found their effects to be either too thin for bass or too unsubtle. I also found the interfaces, while fairly quick and easy to use, to be very cumbersome when it comes to editing effects and switching between them, which was annoying considering the factory presents were mostly unusable (as they always are with multi-FX units). Zoom may have lifted their game recently, but Roland's game never dropped so I've stuck with them.
 
#11
.
Zoom B3 !

I procrastinated for months before pulling the trigger.
.... but to be perfectly honest if the Digitech BP-355 didn't have an expression pedal I probably would have bought one of them. (I can't see myself ever wanting/using an expression pedal).

But in retrospect, I'm glad I bought the Zoom B3 instead.
I like it so much that I bought a Zoom G3 recently too!

Greg
 
#12
BawanaRik said:
I seem to recall a GR55 with a GR-3B for right around 5 beans here on TB. A Bargina nd will do what you want better than almost anything else.
Click to expand...

^^^THIS^^^^

Other people are recommending nice multi EFX pedals but none will make them will make the sounds you specifically mentioned except the GR-55. It may run you $600 for pickup and all but it is the only one that an really change what your bass sounds like. Also, there is a simple mod so you can just plug in into the GR-55 and use it without the GK-3B pickup, but you can only play monophonically when you plug straight in.
The gr-55 is a real guitar synth and it has a GT-10B + built in.
 
#13
^^^^^^^^^^ This too, I have used the GR-55 for two years now, i have had a lot of MFX pedals come and go, but the GR-55 is definately what i have been looking for all along. Recreate virtually any instrument or synth sound, and mix together the sounds from four different tone sources for some really original sounds.
While playing your regular bass lines, you have a virtual keyboardist playing along too.
 

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