Multieffect Vs Single Stomp Box(s).

[Desopolis]

So my birthday is coming up, and my mother is going to be out of town on x-mas when I return to texas.(I currently live in Indianapolis). so she wanted to get me somthing nice.

she said a music store was going out of buisness or moving or whatever, but that location was closing. And she had figured I might want somthing.

Now shopping for a guitarist if your not a guitarist is like trying to buy a mechanic tools from wal-mart.

I have a amp, I have a hot-rodded strat, im making two more guitars. I have a accoustic, etc.

So I suggested maybe a effect pedal or strings.(I hate asking for anything even remotely expensive)

Now the last time I was at the music store I almost purchased a me-50

http://www.bossus.com/index.asp?pg=1&tmp=123

but after reading some reviews and talking to people I may not go that route.

I like it, and it sounds pretty close but I had(stolen a year ago) a regular os-2 and mt-2. but it sounds a bit off.

the Delay is pretty close to the DD-6 witch is about $100 less then this thing. and it has a ton of features..

but for the different banks, requires a seperate pedal.

AHHHHHHHHH SO CONFUSED!!!

Im curious to know what your guys opinions were in this...

BTW I just asked my mom for a RC-20xl

http://www.bossus.com/index.asp?pg=1&tmp=137

and a feel really guilty.. but whatever, she wouldnt let me say nothing...

[Daniel Sorbera]

Those me-50 are great units. The only problem (and it may be big or small depending on how you play) is you can't turn on too many effects at once. ie, you can only have one overdrive selected at a time without bending over and turning a knob.

[Desopolis]

well cant you save a entire board setting into a patch? then use the patch settings, so instead of indiviudal stomp box's there 3 patch controls?

[Daniel Sorbera]

I'm pretty sure you can't, but it's been a while since I looked at one so I might be wrong.

Edited October 31, 2006 by Godin SD

[biliousfrog]

I started with inividual pedals, moved onto multi-effects, then built up a load of rack gear & now back to stomp boxes....each has it's pro's & con's but individual pedals are the most versatile IMO.

I moved away from pedals & got rack equipment because I was gigging regularly & had it all configured so that my sound would be consistant night to night. The similarity to multi-effects is that one pedal can change the entire sound & an expression pedal could even morph between the two. For live work it's brilliant...no more tap dancing!

The down side is that when it came to writing new material I either kept the same sounds, worked on new ones at home or annoyed the hell out of the rest of the band whilst I searched menus & twisted knobs...sooo, I went back to pedals. It's so much easier to add some delay in the heat of the moment or to change from a distortion to a fuzz. It also means that I get more creative with what I've got because I can't change 10 effects at once anymore. They also make great presents because any pedal is an opportunity for a new sound.

[GregP]

With computers achieving such low latencies these days, I feel that the days of EITHER option are numbered. I use VST plug-ins and a barely-detectable amount of latency (4ms to be comfortable, though I can push it down further if needed). The hosted plug-in is easily a replacement for either traditional stompboxes OR multi-fx units.

The current downside is that it's not very giggable. When they come up with a rugged and portable computer with enough juice, that'll be the end of it for multi-fx units. Though, pedals will probably continue to be around for the foreseeable future. There's something cool about stomping on a nice rugged Boss pedal.

Greg