Multi-effects pedal

I was going to get a Dunlop cry baby Slash wah but then I discovered multi- effects pedals. You have to remember you are dealing with a complete newbee here. I have looked around the web but I have not played any of them. The one I like the best from the demo vedios is the Boss ME-20. Give me your opinions on this or any other multi-effects pedal.

i dont like multi effect pedals unless they are very very good and expensive. the effects dont seem to work as well, and they arnt as clear, either u get separate pedals or u get a vox amp(like 15 billion effects on it). get a wah pedal, distortion pedal, and maybe one or 2 separte pedals, but i dont recomend combined effect pedals. (my teach agrees with me, and i tryed them, only one i liked was one tht costed like 200 bucks

The one I'm looking at is $200 in musicians friend but it says it retails for $279 (or something close to that I can't remember).

they all retail for more lol, i still wouldnt get it. even for tht high of a price, the effects on induividual pedals, and on the amps are just better

I agree with EMB. Cheaper ones tend to be bad. The effects aren't as good as single stomboxes.

I've used some Boss multi-effects boards, and they seemed to be really good. Think I remember seeing one at GC for about $300-$350.

Ok just thought I would add my 2. I have a digitech RP350, retail about $200 dollars. And I absolutely love it. Although I agree the single pedals sound better, this beast by no means sounds "bad". I would personally recommend it.

@Cata

Really? I was thinking about getting me one of them, but I wasn't too sure. What kind of effects can you get from it?

More then I will list lol. There are like upwards of 50 effects models, plus amp and cab models, 30 plus preset tones. And it uses USB :) Like I said I love it. Well worth the two bills in my opinion.

So multi-effect pedals sound ok but I would be better off going with single pedals... Another question, what setup does Slash use on sweet child o mine? I am working on the song now and I can play some of it but I just can't get the same sound. I know he is tuned down half a step and he uses a wah pedal for some of the song but does anyone know what else he has in his setup?

Zoom G1X That's my effects pedal pretty awesome, i think the only "effect" it lacks is a noise gate. I'll admit it costs like 70 bucks but it's definitly not a crappy pedal by any means. Tone is good. effects are clear and plentifull take a look at it.. oh and bonus it come with a effect list in Japanese...which just looks cool...

http://www.digitech.com/products/RP350/index.php

If you go there you can find a list of everything the RP 350's got if you wanna check it out.

Use single pedals=good sound. Try Boss.BTW I just heard Deathrider by Anthrax. That song kicks you in the teeth.

What amp do you use LP?

Marshall MG50DFX

I use the Digitech RP200a. Cost £110 a couple of years ago, which is about $220. Really good sound quality and wide range of FX. Very sturdy production. Also has drum machine built in, an expression pedal, 40 artist presets, 40 other presets, and room to store up to 40 of your own presets. The only downside of the pedal I think is that it's not easy changing effects when playing live. Some Multi FX pedals have seperate pedals for turning on chorus FX or delay, but this one doesn't so you have to create presets with what you want and cycle through them, or bend down and twiddle a few knobs to get what you want. Nothing stopping using the pedal for your basic sound, and then adding extra stompboxes for chorus and delay after the Multi FX pedal. I think a few of the newer, more expensive digitech models do have seperate pedals to turn on/off other FX, and I'm pretty sure they use the same sound chip inside them, and they will hav the same solid construction, so I would suggest trying it out.

They've discontinued the RP200a now, but here's the demo for the RP250, which is pretty much the same pedal I think.

http://www.digitech.com/RP250Demo/

Boss is a good brand to go with, but if your playing with active pickups, don't buy any kind of overdrive pedal (distortions are fine). If you play in a band scene, once you hit the drive, you will get the worst feedback from your pickups. Just keep it simple with your FX. Wah, Delay, Distortion/Drive, maybe an EQ. oh, dont forget about Chorus. And a noise gate.

Another point here is that in the end, single pedals will give you better quality, but theres several drawbacks.

A) The more pedals you buy, the more money you put in to get your tone. With a multi pedal, you wont get the same tone, but you'll probably end up putting less money in unless you buy a high end multi.

B) Signal strength. Unless youve got some kind of boost system set up, your analog tone from your guitar will flatten out by the time it goes through all your pedals to your amp. Would you rather have a dull sound or a digital sound? With a 4 to 8 pedal set up, with patches in between, your running up to about 5 feet of wiring for your signal to go through, not including the cable to your guitar, and the cable to your amp.

C) With a Multi, you don't have to worry about your signal chain. As in, where to put your pedals on the board in relation to each other. With a multi, you get to expiriment with your sound, and save that tone for later use. If you dont set up your Pedal System just right though, you start to find a lot of limits, and its a little bit more of a hassle to expiriment.

In my opinion, I do think single pedals are the best bet. I would prefer a multi in some instances, but for the most part singles are the best. But just be aware they can turn into a major hassle.

I have a line 6 floor pod plus, it has 32 amp models and 5 different speaker cab models, 16 different effects plus reverb and 6 different types of delay. It also has a compressor, noise gate, and a wawa/ volume pedal. It has a volume knob, an overdrive knob and the normal bass, mid, and treble. All the effects are nearly infinitly adjustable. One of the "amp models" is based on the Arbitor Fuzz Face. It has a bunch of pre set sounds which i dummped and has 31 banks with 4 channels each (132 places over all)to store my own sounds. Its a nice prossessor but it cost $300.00 My wife got it for me about 6 months ago and I'm still messing around trying to figure it all out.

I like it enough but you can't combine effects like you can with individual stomp boxes, and as far as tone, it sounds alot better then the Danelectro boxes I had before which were ok for what I paid for them. and it is easter to haul around and hook up. 1 cord from guitar to prossessor and one cord from prossessor to amp (or direct box and another to sound board)

Line 6 is great for the adaptable personal play, but I've come to find that digital sound bums you out at high volumes.

I think I will buy the Boss ME-20 multi-effects pedal and upgrade to single pedals when I can afford it.

What does a noise gate do? I don't think I've seen one.

Blocks out unwanted noise and hum coming from your amp if you have any. It's a good thing to have, because it can clean up your sound.

About what Brody said: I agree that you shouldn't use effects for the sake of it. Keeping it as simple as possible will mean the amps sound isn't drained by the pedals as much... and about EQ pedals: I reccomend one I still need to get one myself, but more control over different frequencies in your tone will set a better foundation for effects to be built upon.