How was your experience with a multi effect pedal?

[DJ Bebop]

I've had and used only three pedals in my pre yelling at clouds days. All MXR, envelope filter, flange, phase 100. Still have them, all from da 70s.
Anyway don't always take them out as I don't always need them in the music I was doing a bit ago but I missed them. So I did get the old Zoom B1xon when they came out. I was using plug-ins in my DAW at home, so a new multi effects unit to me, seem to fill the bill. I like it and it works for me for now but I am looking at the higher end models out there. Might go with the B6 though.

 

[logdrum]

I had a TC G Major. I quite like it for guitar.. Currently have a Zoom A1X Four that has double bass patches, but I got it for my baritone sax. It is perfect for that. because of the XLR input.

I finally assembled a pedalboard. Mostly Source Audio.(EQ2 (also is a tuner, boost and Wah with an external pedal), Compressor, Env Filter, LA Overdrive, Gemini Chorus, Delay and Reverb, Looper The Soleman Integration is perfect for my needs as I mainly play a Charlie Hunter bass+guitar. The thing about SA pedals is how multi purpose they are and also stereo inputs.

 

[dickfitts]

The Boss GT-10b is without question the single most important and revolutionary piece of non-axe gear I've ever owned.

I've played whole live shows with it, for years, both in groups and solo busking in NYC for a living. Currently it lives alongside my other pedals on an A/B switch. More than 12 years later and I've barely scratched the surface of the thing, although the surface is suuuuper scratched up, and a few of the pots are tricky at best...but yeah. Absolutely essential piece of my journey.

 

[CaptainGreen]

I had an HX Stomp for about 6 months and really tried to like it but it was just lacking in too many of the areas that I wanted to use it for (mostly for a stomp box to handle all modulation & effects stuff, not so much for FOH or amp-less recording / DI stuff) Here is my opinion fwiw:
Synth - limited and sounds aren’t that great. with some tweaking there are some cool sounds but nothing that would touch a real dedicated synth pedal
Phasers - decent but could not touch the richness of my basic phase 90 pedal
wah & env filters - sound ok with a lot of tweaking…until I compared them to the real thing and realized how lacking they are
octave - There is an EBS bass octave model but it sounds pretty bad. however I was able to cop a decent OC-2 sound with a patch that I found from youtube I’ll try to dig up the link of anyone wants it.
Reverb/delay - the delays sounded great and the DM-2 model sounds just like my pedal. The reverbs are ok at best. not a big deal since I don’t use them too often.
Chorus - I don’t have a real chorus pedal to compare them to but I think they sounded pretty good. The Dimension model was kinda cool.
OD - I could get some decent tones for sure but not enough to justify the whole thing. I still liked using the OD pedals I had.
Amp sims - these were good as well but I don’t really use them, I already have a couple of nice amps so this wasn’t enough to justify it either. I mostly wanted it for the other effects.
Other - it did great with pitch shifting (mostly used to practice covers that we do in different keys), also had a freeze pedal model that was cool, and the tremolo models were good (rarely used though).
So in the end I was trying to make it work and supplementing pedals here & there but in the end not enough of the core effects I was after were super good and I decided that I just like the real pedals better.
Anyway, ymmv and it might work for what you need, it is a pretty cool piece of gear and lots of bassists rave about it, just didn’t fit what I was after.

 

[Zbysek]

I have owned two multieffects (Korg A5, Zoom) in the beginning of my carreer (90ties), I have been using separate pedals ever since.

 

[beefybassplayer]

I want to actually go the opposite way. I want to build my dream pedalboard, but had to "settle" with multieffects at the time. I found it to be very useful and it is now a big part of my sound. I'll get to the pedalboard one day. I started with a Boss GT-10B, which I will use till it stops working. I also now use a Boss GT-1000, which works just great for my needs. Its really convenient and fits everything into one place. Better if the manufacturer integrates tech that allows you to use your phone, iPad or laptop to interface and make changes with your multieffects pedal.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I guess it all boils down to the following three questions:

1) Do you prefer physical knobs or presets/menu diving?

2) Do you really need all the effects in a multi-effects pedal?

3) Do you like the sound of the effects that you're actually gonna use or do you prefer the character of specific individual pedals?

Personally I prefer physical knobs, I don't have the need for presets, don't need half the effects in multi-effect and usually find the effects that I do need a bit too generic sounding.

I've tried re-visiting multi-effects a couple of times over the years. I always ended up selling them.

It's simply a matter of tonal needs and what kind of workflow you prefer.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

tl;dr: how was your experience adding a multi effects to your board? Which type/kind of pedal(s) did you "let it go", which you did not?

Hello, folks. I'm thinking about transitioning from pedals to a multi effects (Line 6 HX Stomp). I've seen a lot of videos, read the manual, searched through posts, and I'm pretty confident that I understand how the HX Stomp works, the pros and cons.

What I didn't find enough was the experience of the "players", or feedback, about the transition from pedals to a multi effect. I really want to know from you, that tested / bought the multi effect, how it worked out at your board?
Did you regret? Which pedals you replaced by the multi effects?
Did you stay only with the multi effects or you board has a mix of it (pedals + multi effects)? Which pedals you couldn't "let it go" in your board?

They're alright. Anything you could dream up. But, that's the problem. There are so many options, that you're never happy with your tone. And, you're limited by the interface in actual real time use.

 

[Naigewron]

Big fan of the Line6 Helix line. Currently have an HX Stomp as my effects platform, and a Darkglass Photon as my preamp/distortion/DI unit.

The HX Stomp does everything I need from a pedalboard, but at a fraction of the size and complexity. I've currently got four presets that I jump between based on what I need for a song. My main preset is like a basic pedalboard, giving me access to an octaver, a chorus and a delay. Next preset is a synth-ish tone, then a fuzzed out filthy mess, and lastly an ambient preset with reverb and a freeze effect for laying down a constant drone tone.

If I were to set up a pedalboard with all these options, it would be massive, expensive and have some very complex routing, using parallel loop switchers and lord know what else.

The added bonus of my current board is that I also use it for other things. For acoustic gigs I'm using the HX Stomp as my effects platform for my acoustic guitar, for home use I use it to jam with my electric guitar, and I'm also starting to use it for my analog synth that I'm half planning to start using live for some songs. The HX Stomp is just the most flexible and powerful unit you can get for such a tiny footprint.

 

[Dave W]

I bought a multi-effect with sends/returns as a sophisticated clean blender for distortion (extensive pre and post EQ-ing of both clean and dirt) but I ended up using it for distortion itself as well. I only use an external pre-amp/DI after my multi-fx.

But I am a romantic and I like analog stomp boxes better so I might hook up some dirt boxes or even revert to stompboxes only in the future. I wouldn't be the first...

For now I really like the compactness/light weight and the switching convenience!

View attachment 4842876

Which expression pedal is that?

 

[el murdoque]

I went from tiny pedalboard (tuner, OD, dist, comp) to a large pedalboard (12+ pedals) to a multi, in my case a Headrush. Along the way, my band switched to IEM and ampless stage setup.
What I liked about the Headrush was how intuitive it is to use.
I tried out the Headrush of a friend and set myself the challenge to
-take an empty patch
-have a couple of effects on there
-plus a delay where the expression pedal controls the amount of repeats.

...within a couple of minutes and without outside help.
I succeeded.

What I liked about the Headrush was how easy it is to construct a pedalboard, then re-do the order of the pedals just by drag+drop.

Ultimately, I went back to pedals.

What I did not like was how limiting it felt.
I think it's more of a mindset thing. It's more geared towards guitar. You can get a decent drive sound out of it, after experimenting around with what options you have. When you look for a drive pedal, you get a bazillion options to choose from and when you spend some time and effort to find the one that's right for you (after researching hundreds and buying dozens), one that fits perfectly into your setup, you not only get one drive pedal that works for you, you also get the knowledge and satisfaction that this has been chosen from a myriad of pedals out there and there is no better one available to you.

My pedalboard is an ever evolving process where I can swap bits and bobs as I progress in my playing and my requirements change. I love it.

 

[RattleSnack]

I used a pedalboard with around 8-9 pedals and multieffects intermittently for some time. Pedals are great but too much hassle for me. Went trough several low to medium priced multies and settled on Boss GT-1B. Very underestimated because of interface, which can be easily solved by using great PC software. Does everything good.

 

[Just go for it]

however I was able to cop a decent OC-2 sound with a patch that I found from youtube I’ll try to dig up the link of anyone wants it.

Yes please!

 

[BEADist]

Which expression pedal is that?

DOD Mini Expression Pedal

 

[BEADist]

The only way I can be friends with a multi FX is using only ONE preset. This one preset I know very well so if I have to adjust something I know exactly were to go. Also I do not have to save the preset when I make small tweaks (most annoying: on stage make tweaks and lose them because you switch to the next preset to A/B .. without saving.. )

My multi FX has a lot of FX slots/blocks and for me it's just a big pedal board with a 'pedal switcher'. I am having 11 'stomp boxes' with the footprint of 2!

I do all the editing on the device itself so I know my way around really well in case I need to tweak on stage. My most important parameters are linked to 5 rotary's on the front panel.

 

[Naigewron]

My pedalboard is an ever evolving process where I can swap bits and bobs as I progress in my playing and my requirements change. I love it.

I loved that about individual pedals too, but it got to the point of being a very real addiction, and a constant money drain.

The HX Stomp has really helped me out in that area. I still buy and sell pedals (preamp pedals, MIDI switchers, patchbays, etc), but it's nowhere near how it used to me.

 

[Zooberwerx]

I truly don't know. I've dinked around with it (Zoom B3n) in my rumpus-room but never in a live ensemble setting. As of late, I've just been grabbing my Fly Rig. I just might take the Zoom this Sunday to see how it stacks up.

Riis

 

[sawzalot]

I have both setups. I’ve got an all-analog board that’s pretty simple, just a wireless, tuner, compressor, octaver, delay, and preamp. I’ve also got a Hotone Ampero that I bought for practicing guitar. I set up some bass patches on it and for such an inexpensive piece of gear it has some surprisingly good tones. I would use it for an IEM gig with confidence. It does lack a good octaver sound, but otherwise it’s really good and lets me have totally different setups for different basses. I do still like having knobs at my fingers at a gig—menu diving is really hard onstage and frustrating when I could just twist a knob on the analog board—but I definitely practice with it and enjoy it.

 

[39-Bassist]

I don't do much effects but I run a Line 6 Bass Pod XT...LOVE that thing...any tones or effects if needed. Easy to setup and program...but that's just me.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

I use a mix of both, but I use most "effects" pretty sparingly... I don't consider general compression, EQ, or tuners effects.

A Boss GT-1B replaced my time based effects, reverb and delay, and it also includes a volume / wah pedal. I originally bought the GT-1B ($150, mint / used at GC! ) because I needed an out of production Boss Slow Gear for one song, and used units are very expensive. The chorus, phase, flange, reverbs, and delays I use very sparingly are "good enough" for live use from the multi-unit.

I still use a standalone MXR M87 compressor, Tech-21 Q-strip, Boss TU-3, and distortion pedal, because I like having fast and easy access to the controls on those devices. The compressor, nearly always on, sometimes needs a tweak for different basses or special sounds, the Q-strip is used for specific sounds / basses and is also a DI, the TU-3 is my favorite tuner and mute, and the distortion is also quick to tweak on the spot. I don't like the tuner in the GT-1B except when using it as a headphone amp.

The bands I play with rarely use prearranged set lists, so building patches to replace ALL of the other devices hasn't seemed worth it to me. Most of the multi-units also make great headphone amps and decent USB interfaces, so they can also be useful in other ways.