Multi FX or individual pedals?

[Murt]

I'm considering getting a BOSS multi fx unit for gigging. I'm used to our lead guitarist using individual BOSS pedals so I know the quality is good but I can't vouch for the quality of their multi fx boards. His view is that there's more of a 'digital' sound to their multi fx units. My main reason for using multi fx would be for simplicity and they generally work out cheaper than buying individual pedals. BOSS pedals in the UK are circa £80 each so four decent pedals would be in the region of £300 -£320 whereas something like the BOSS ME-70 is £230 for the same thing.

Does anyone have any recommendations on multi fx units (BOSS or otherwise) or should I go down the individual pedal route (assuming the quality is better). I mainly want a good chorus, overdive, delay and tremolo.

Thanks

[PBGas]

Line6 m13. It sounds great, works amazingly well and is super easy to use. I found the effects to be of excellent quality!
It's one of those things....some people prefer individual pedals, some do not.

I like something that has everything in the box with only 1 power supply to worry about and no issues with cables between the pedals.

:)

[Darryl Ramm]

You should play with them yourself of course and decide. If budget is driving this that's fine but otherwise if you want to think in general between individual effects pedals and multi effects then realize you can find stunningly good individual pedals. For example for a tremolo you mention try out the Fulltone Super-Trem it is a great sounding fully analog/optical based tremolo ( http://www.fulltone.com/ST.asp). Capable of nice clean light tremolo through deep rich helicopter thwack thwack thwack.... If you play this side by side with things like the Boss TR-2, other digital Tremolo based multiple-effects pedals, or the Tremolo effects in the Eleven Rack amps you will likely walk away wanting the Super-Trem.

[Murt]

thanks for the feedback guys,

PB
listened to the Line6 M13 sound samples on their website, sounds amazing but probably too complex a beast for me as I'll be singing as well as trying to play guitar and change effects. There's a lot of FX for your money there. The M9 might be a possibility though.

Darryl
correct, my choices are budget driven. Thanks for the link, looks amazing but probably out of my budget reach right now.

[richpjr]

Originally Posted by Murt

Does anyone have any recommendations on multi fx units (BOSS or otherwise) or should I go down the individual pedal route (assuming the quality is better). I mainly want a good chorus, overdive, delay and tremolo.

Thanks

Man, I have bounced back and forth along this path! I started out with the Boss pedals route, switched to the Boss and Digitech MFXs, switched back to boutique pedals, tried the M13 and GT500 and stuck with the boutique pedals. I guess my short answer is - do you want the best quality sound or the most flexibility with a large variety of sounds and presets?

[moff]

Murt - I bought both the M13 and the TC Nova in the past, but returned them both. I didn't like them at all compared to individual pedals (the Nova had the advantage of being extremely portable). Some time later (after a major firmware update), I decided to give the M13 another shot, and ended up keeping it - the effects that were added with the firmware update, like the Whammy and intelligent harmonizer, won me over. Some time after that, I gave the Nova another try, but while it sounded wonderful, it still wasn't my cup of tea.

The M13 isn't as complicated as it seems. And if you put some thought into "where" you put effects (what switch you put them on), it's really easy to use - no different than using a "normal" pedalboard - it's just much more powerful. When you think about it, functionally, it's like having four effects boxes, and on each effects box, you can choose one of three possible "voices" (effects of your choosing). One of the nicest things about the M13 is that ALL of the controls for each of the four "effects boxes" are on twistable knobs, right there in front of you; no scrolling through menus and submenus.

There are certainly nicer sounding (and smaller) multi-FX units - the Nova for example - but you get only one of each effect type in each bank, and it's routed internally. There is no loop onboard, so you can't use the 4CM. It's complicated to program compared to the M13, and much more expensive.

[Murt]

Originally Posted by moff

One of the nicest things about the M13 is that ALL of the controls for each of the four "effects boxes" are on twistable knobs, right there in front of you; no scrolling through menus and submenus.

thanks for the feedback guys. That's what I'm after i.e adjustable knobs - no menus, on the fly changes between songs. If I want a bit more chorus or delay on the next song I can reach down and twist a knob.Let's face it, no one wants to wait around for the next song while I'm tweaking effects, it's bad enough waiting for the lead guitarist to tune up while I'm thinking of something profound to say to the crowd. The only other unit I've found with this arrangement is the Boss Me-50. I think it' probably one of their older units now. They're selling on e-Bay for around £70. Does anyone have any experience of this unit?

@ Rich - I'm more after a small number of usable fx like chorus, delay and overdrive/distortion as opposed to a plethora of fx I'll never use. But I just like the simplicity of one box does all.

[PBGas]

The other thing with the M13 that you may like is that you can set scenes for each bank of effects you use. In essence, set up a scene for each of your songs and you are done. It is so easy to do!

The way I see it, not many people in the audience are going to be able to tell you are using boutique effects. Perhaps (and that is a small margin!) in the studio but it's not always easy to tell.

When I was doing a contract last summer, I brought in my Herbert and my M13. There was a phase tone required for one of the passages. I simply used the barberpole phase preset on the M13. When they had another gent listen back he said, that it was the most amazing sounding phaser that he had heard in a while. Is it an old phase 90 he asked? What year? When I showed him and played it back, he was in a bit of shock. Things are modelled pretty well these days. I think the wah pedals would be one area that can be improved on any of the multi FX units, though.

[Darryl Ramm]

And for all boutique effects pedals that we you can't justify/afford you can always get your Gearmandude fix at http://www.youtube.com/user/gearmanndude.

Darryl