Greetings from Seattle!
I wanted your guys opinion on what you thought would be a good choice, having individual pedals mounted on a pedal board, or getting something like the Boss Gt-100 or Line6 type all in one. Thanks

Hey there!

I'm a bit of a pedal junkie, and I have to admit that while multi-effects are cool, I have always preferred to use individual effects in a chain. My experience, however, has shown me a couple of things to consider:

1.) If you use individual effects, you probably want to keep your signal chain (i.e. the number of things you run through) smaller rather than larger. If you use too many pedals in a sort of "daisy chain," your signal/sound can deteriorate. I also find that there is always the danger of signal noise too. Ultimately, at the end of a group of pedals, I like to use a noise gate like the Decimator.

2.) If you want a LOT of effects simultaneously, go with the multi-effect. You won't lose the signal, but there is a downside - it tends to sound more "digital" or "inorganic." My friend, an avid analog synth fan, noticed this a lot too.

Anywho, that's my two cents for now. What pedals are you thinking of using? I would recommend MXR and Electro-Harmonix as excellent options for individual stompboxes. The Digitech Hardwire series is really good too.

Best,
~Klaus

@k.graz - thanks for your time.... I was thinking chorus, delay, ( I have a Memory Man w/hazerai), distortion, compressor... I was thinking of brands such as the stuff you mentioned and also pigtronix and exotic...

No probs!

I love the sound of a stick through a chorus pedal. Actually, they're really great for tapping in general. For example, when I tap on my Fender Jazz, a chorus really brings out a lot of the tone!

I can't speak for exotic, but I know that Pigtronix makes some excellent pedals. I have a Polysaturator, and it provides a wonderful fuzz/eq effect. It's probably better for the higher ends, though, because it definitely cuts a small bit of the really "boom" that basses have.

Best,
~Klaus

I like the of all in one myself. Less cabling requirements and power adapters.

Kev

If you like to change your sound a LOT (I mean a specific sound for each song) a multi-effects might be a much easier choice (hundreds of patches & banks). If you are looking for your sound + a few variations (distortion, wah, delay) high quality individual stomps might be the answer.

There are of course some exceptions:
- some high end stomps are midi controllable so you can always do some programming and end up with switchable patches.
- some high end multi-effects will sound really in par with the any good stomp (think of eventide, fractalaudio, etc).

I guess a good approach is to buy a multi-effect and use it for experimentation; you will see what effects you use, in which order and learn how each of their parameters works. Later you can buy good stomps that will end up replacing your multi-effects.

Cheers, Daniel.

Hi Randy,

The best thing about multi-effects is that you can create very dramatic changes in your sound just by hitting one switch, whereas, when you have individual pedals, you have to make lots of individual changes.

Most multi-effects have things they do really well and things they don't do as well, so if you are choosing one, I'd suggest figuring out what the most important element is to your overall sound, and make sure the unit you want gives you plenty of flexibility and good performance there.

From my perspective, one of the most important things is good implementation of controlling the effects in real time within the patch through on-board switches or via MIDI. So a MIDI input is a really useful feature to have.

If you're getting a foot-pedal unit, make sure it's built like a tank. If it will be on the floor, this is a perilous environment. Don't buy anything with PC-mounted jacks if you can avoid them as they can be easily damaged by one miss-step, resulting in expensive repairs to cracked circuit-boards. Get a unit that has metal jacks on it.

If you're running through full-range systems, then speaker simulators are essential for any kind of distortion processor, but if you're running through guitar amps, then speaker simulators aren't so important.

Having the ability to plug in external control pedals is a big plus, unless you get something like the zoom G9.2tt, which has lots of controls on-board.

Thanks all for your info and time... much appreciated.

Hi,

I have moved from a pedalboard with many stomp boxes to the Line6 M13. For me that one provides the best of both worlds. You have integration into one box, you can change your setup with one step on a switch, you can change parameters with expression pedals, and at the same time you have all the parameters accessible via individual knobs.

I like very much how the effects sound, even the overdrives and distortions (which some people don't like so much) although there is one thing missing: a decent touch wah. I'm still hoping that they'll add one in a product update.
It gives you all kinds of effects, from standard (overdrive, chorus, delay, etc.) to exotic (pattern tremolo, guitar synths, particle reverb), and you can get all the range between subtle and crazy.

I've owned it for several years now, and still am in love with it. I'm still discovering new sounds with it.

Hi there, here my 3 cents: if your budget allows for it, and leveraging the fact that we are in year 2012, I would suggest a firewire-capable (MOTU mkII) module with a computer (Mac running Logic or Live) and a bunch of software effects (Guitar Rig). While software based devices may be considered by some players as less robust and difficult to keep value over time, the possibilities are endless.

Cheers