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December 2009
Posts: 79
Location: So Cal | I am looking into various digital and analog effects boxes. What manufacturers or boxes do you suggest? Currently looking at the Digi Tech RP1000. The intended use is mostly for electric however, acoustic guitar use is also in mind. |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I have two multis (one on each board) along with numerous other analog pedals. My only advice is that if you are comfortable with digital devices, then a multi pedal may be of significant value to you. For me, most of the effects are wasted. I have created only a limited number of presets on each, so I use maybe only 5% of each pedal's capability. I also find that I don't like making programming changes on the fly, and the settings are not particularly easy to see or intuitive to work. The pedal is, of course, on the floor whereas the programming dials require adjustment with your fingers (once programmed, then you can, of course, use the stomp buttons). For this reason, it isn't likely that I will buy another multi pedal. I prefer separate analog pedals, even though their combined cost is significantly more when compared to most multi units. Just my $.02. One other minor note. Once you start collecting pedals and building FX boards, pay attention to the power requirements. Different DC power requirements can become problematic in managing the sources. 9 volt is the standard, but I also have 12 and 18 volt pedals, and some with proprietary power supplies. If your board contains a lot of pedals, then you also have to keep in mind the total mA requirements of the combined pedals. The multi FX units seem to be power hogs. |
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Posts: 133
Location: Ohio | Oh *** another passion of mine! I have many, many stomp boxes and pedals. You are really talking about two separate issues though so let me address each one individually.
First multi-effect pedals...
I have had a lot of them and have always gone back to stomp boxes. I just don't personally care for multi-effect pedals, they tend to be too complicated and rather limiting. I am also not a huge fan of Digitech I have owned two or their big dogs, the GNX3 and GNX4. I found the Line 6 products more versatile and easy to use. I had the Line 6 Pod X3 and the Pod X3 Live and thought they were fun and well suited for the home. I wouldn't trust one at a gig without a back-up though. They tend to be less heavy duty. The Boss GT pedals are built like a tank and sound great. If I were forced to have just one pedal I guess it would have to be a Boos GT 10. You can get the older ones like the GT 8 much cheaper used.
Now, my true love, stomp boxes! These are the bee’s knees but they are far from perfect. I love Boss pedals because just like their big multi-effect pedal the GT10 they are built like a tank. I have seen a few that have been through hell and still sounded great. The down sides are:
A) Many (including Boss) use buffered inputs, so if you are running a bunch of boxes you end up with a bit of tone suck. True bypass boxes are all the rage now and many manufacturers are going to this. Keep in mind tone suck is only an issue if you are running a bunch of pedals. 1 or 2 and no one will notice, 5 or 6 pedals though and a trained ear could probably pick it up. In short it’s rarely an issue just something to keep in mind.
B) Big complex pedal boards with 8 or more pedals tend to get a lot of signal noise. That's really not an issue if you are playing metal in a bar setting but it sounds like garbage in your living room at practice volume. The easiest and most effective way to combat this is with high-end patch cables. I used cheapies for a long time and was constantly trying to reduce noise then finally one day I made some changes to my pedal arrangement and discovered that It was much less noisy. It turned out that some of my patch cables were better than others. Rather than trying to narrow it down, I threw them all away and spent a small fortune (multiples of a hundred) on patch cables and have had no noise since.
C) Both analog and digital pedals have drawbacks. The only way to reduce the drawbacks is to go either all digital or all analog (including your amp) (Let the flame wars begin, I know there are people who will disagree with me all day long. Some of them may have owned as many pedals as me. It’s just my opinion.)
D) IMHO analog pedals sound way better than digital but only in an all analog rig. You can have a million dollars in analog pedals but if you have a digital amp (anything without tubes) or a single digital pedal in your chain, you end up with the drawbacks of both. Analog pedals (especially vintage pedals) make strange sounds sometimes and can be a little noisier. They sound warm and organic though. Digital pedals artifact sometimes and to me, they sound more sterile. Run a fact warm tone into a digital pedal and you lose some of it character.
All that said, I still occasionally put a digital pedal in my mix because they are cheap, reliable, readily available and do things that some analog pedals cannot. For example, I don’t feel like owning and maintaining a Roland RE-201 so instead, I use a Boss RE-20 when I need that sound.
Check this out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQjsoMJDxt8
These are just a few of the hundred or so pedals I own or have owned. I have a picture of most of them out and together somewhere I just cant find it at the moment. I think its on the memory card to my camera were ever that is.
Edited by aaronharmon 2012-05-25 3:00 PM
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | "Hey, soundman! There's a hum in my board. Can you fix it for me?" 
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October 2009
Posts: 133
Location: Ohio | I belong to the Bossarea.com board and there are more than a few guys there with setups like that. I can imagine the noise that thing generates. |
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November 2008
Posts: 400
Location: Northwest Arkansas | My Ovation and my Adamas overdrive the inputs in my Boss pedals. They make the speaker in my amp sound like it's blown. IF I turn the gain down on my guitar, everythings fine. I have a new speaker in one amp and another new amp. They are both the same kind. As long as I don't turn the guitar up too loud everything's fine.
Edited by AdamasW597 2012-05-26 8:33 AM
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October 2005
Posts: 4049
Location: Utah | True bypass boxes are all the rage now and many manufacturers are going to this. Keep in mind tone suck is only an issue if you are running a bunch of pedals.
Back in the old days before op amp chips when everything was discrete transistors, true bypass was the norm. Even the fairly cheap fuzz-wah pedal I bought in high school was true bypass. Funny how things circle back. |
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January 2006
Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago | For my acoustic rig, I find that the Fishman Reverb is world-class. Pricey, yes, but superior to all I've used (Boss, Yamaha, etc.) I have also words of praise for the Aphex Acoustic Xciter for live situtaions. And, course, my constant companion in the practice mode, the Boss RC-2 Loop Station. |
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December 2009
Posts: 79
Location: So Cal | Let's see...where did I put that fuzz box? Professor...that is exactly why I am looking at the multi-effect boxes! The cost of connecting cables alone in that rig could pay for a new Adamas. I do own several individual stomp boxes collected over the years and they work well. I purchased an Electro Harmonix Small Stone many years ago and thought it was built so poorly (at the time) I never thought it would last. Thirty or so years now and not one problem outside of a noisy pot on occation. Same story with the Micro-Synth. |
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February 2012
Posts: 58
Location: Triangle area, NC | I love my digitech rp500. Use it with my ova n les paul. Easy to use, great analog sound and easy to record right ito GB. i lije it a bunch more than my previous floor pod and lightyears better than any zoom! Check out my ovation review on u tube to hear it intgr recording at the end. Good luck. |
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April 2012
Posts: 25
Location: SoCal | Here is a pic of my Acoustic Board. The pedals are shifted a little more than shown because the XLR output of the Fishman is on the top right. 
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December 2001
Posts: 7224
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I think I've owned most of the above at one time or another... LOL...
My general rule is tone. These days, but anything time-based (delay, echo) I use digital. Everything else gets analog. There are a few exceptions. The BOSS CE-1 and Rockman Chorus analog units sound fantastic. As with most analog devices, the "warmth" we hear has a lot to do with all the stuff that is going wrong in the signal that digital cleans up. Not just noise. Analog circuits in general change their characteristics depending on the input. This "life" to most of us, just sounds better.
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Stomp Boxes...opinions