Anyone else just in awe of what a multi-FX unit can do?

Roland · April 2023

DuploLicks said:

Agree with @Yorkie & @Keefy above. … the penny dropped that I’d spend more time twiddling settings than playing

… I can absolutely see their benefits for gigging, recording & home noodlers who have time & knowledge to get the right sound

One of the challenges of multi-effects is that it presents the opportunity of a lifetime’s learning in one box. Historically we would have bought and traded individual amps or pedals over a period of years, spending £000s in the process. For less money we can now buy a box of electronics. The trick is not to try to use all of its features all at once. I use one amp type, one speaker, one reverb, two delays, and two chorus. The big benefit comes from the way they are controlled and switched. Tempos are synchronised across all effects. One button will make multiple changes in the space of a beat between Verse and Chorus, and fire off MIDI messages to change the colour and tempo of the bands’ lights.

Keefy · April 2023

Roland said:

DuploLicks said:

Agree with @Yorkie & @Keefy above. … the penny dropped that I’d spend more time twiddling settings than playing

… I can absolutely see their benefits for gigging, recording & home noodlers who have time & knowledge to get the right sound

One of the challenges of multi-effects is that it presents the opportunity of a lifetime’s learning in one box. Historically we would have bought and traded individual amps or pedals over a period of years, spending £000s in the process. For less money we can now buy a box of electronics. The trick is not to try to use all of its features all at once.
…

But… FOMO! What if you are overlooking some awesome toanz?

downbytheriver · April 2023

My first experience of multi fx was back in the early 80s with a Boss ME-5. Essentially this was a combination of straightforward effects with which I was familiar with the added ability to program patches - I understood this but still fell back on stomp box mode too much - I guess multifx didn’t really suit the type of partly jammy bluesy rock I was gigging then, I just used the ME5 as a smallish box of stomp boxes. At home or recording I could get more adventurous and really enjoyed it. I was perfectly happy with the interface which I understand wasn’t regarded as easy. Eventually I fell back to individual effects boxes (after a dalliance with a GP-8).

Later I tried various multifx (TC G system, TC Nova System, TC G Major. Theme here?) and was happy with the sounds and the interface but come gig time, or prep for gigs, I couldn’t wrap my head around the attitude to use multiple patches (and perhaps lacked the imagination to integrate different sounds into my gigging). I had more affinity with the G Natural for acoustic gigs but it was still stomp boxy.

I’ve subsequently tried an ME50 (guess whose influence…) which works excellently but is basically stomp box mode for me (still got it in the music room). I’ve had a Boss GT-001 (home use desk top Multifx which was fine as I didn’t need to get the gig head round it), GT1000 core which has incredible sounds (quality and quantity) but had an interface that utterly defeated me (and the app seemed to exaggerate that for me) a Boss MS-3 which I gigged for ages but mostly for the bypass loop aspects and I used the internal sounds less and less until I couldn’t justify it any more. Probably some other ones as well.

I don’t know why I have persisted for so long - the failures are clearly mine and the utility of these devices hasn’t really been required anyway…

BUT…

a couple of weeks back I bought a Hotone Ampero One multifx (used, mint, cheap!) to integrate in to a looping setup (is the world ready for the Ed Sheeran of ambient blues?) and it’s brilliant! Yes, my head is still essentially stomp box friendly but I think the way I’m using it (relatively few patches but wildly differing in sounds) can only be achieved with a setup like this. It’s tiny but perfectly usable and the interface is staggeringly simple (even to an old head like mine).

Once more I am enjoying a multifx but for my blues band gigs (if I ever start again) my standard pedalboard awaits.

chrisj1602 · April 2023

I had a Helix and the switching and routing options were insane. I do prefer and amp and pedals in a small gig situation though.

Vintage65 · April 2023

Beexter said:

I picked up an FM3 towards the end of last year and the level of customisation you can do is phenomenal - even on the effects side of things.
By adding filters or adsr controllers, the stuff you can do is only limited by your imagination and means you can do things that would be virtually impossible with conventional pedals.
Definitely a fan.

Can it do 4CM?

RichAC · April 2023

Sporky said:

stickyfiddle said:

Sporky said:

Also being able to go from "this might be nice with a bit of phaser" to "this is nice with a bit of phaser" in mere seconds.

I like the new-fangled "this might be nice with 4 different modulations all in time with each other"

Or all at slightly different speeds. Depth low just to have some movement, or up high to make the audience feel ill.

I don’t need any FX to achieve this…

nero1701 · April 2023

Vintage65 said:

Beexter said:

I picked up an FM3 towards the end of last year and the level of customisation you can do is phenomenal - even on the effects side of things.
By adding filters or adsr controllers, the stuff you can do is only limited by your imagination and means you can do things that would be virtually impossible with conventional pedals.
Definitely a fan.

Can it do 4CM?

Yep. One down side is lack of relay for amp channel switching, but that can be done via midi

Beexter · April 2023

Vintage65 said:

Beexter said:

I picked up an FM3 towards the end of last year and the level of customisation you can do is phenomenal - even on the effects side of things.
By adding filters or adsr controllers, the stuff you can do is only limited by your imagination and means you can do things that would be virtually impossible with conventional pedals.
Definitely a fan.

Can it do 4CM?

Yup

swiller · April 2023

Agree they are great. Still own a boss me70 and love it, apart from wah wah and delay. Lexicon MPX1 rack as well which has great verbs, flangers, delays, pitch shifters. Not just a guitarist, but hobby studio.

I grew up with an rex50 and a JV squier going through a v good AC30. A bit later, had a VG8 which was imho an incredible box and still have medium gas for it as well as the rex50. Various pedals along the way, but never understood the separate pedal argument.

I think today, Amplitube 5 max is well worth the often on sale price for under £100, maybe a controller of pedals are your thing.

Kebabkid · April 2023

I love the concept, development and progression over the years and I've had quite a few of the Boss GT units, a Fractal FX8 and an FM3, but I couldn't be bothered to invest the time, especially with the Fractals, even though I could hear the great results people were getting and so I've stuck with pedals and a Gigrig switcher. It's probably why the ME-50 lasted the longest with me because of its simplicity and the effects sounded more like the Boss pedals they were based on.

I do use the Zoom MS-70 CDR on my board and love that and i have both the Zoom B1xon (my bass backup rig) and the G1xon and they're good units. In fact, today I was playing with the latter and whilst the overdrive sounds are just ok, the clean sounds are fabulous and I'm currently trying to replicate them in my MS-70 CDR.

I wish I liked the Line 6 effects as the Stomp would be ideal but I just don't find the feel under fingers of these things or the interaction quite real but we're getting closer and a friend gets fabulous results from his Helix and Stomp and produces some of the most realistic and organic sounds I've ever heard from a modeller.

I must say, the Hotone Ampero II sounds good and more me but I've been down that road before and 75% of the pedals on my board have been their for a long time and so there must be a reason for that. That said, my newest pedal is a Keeley Halo and that has presets and that's my compromise

NCo · April 2023

Roland said:

DuploLicks said:

Agree with @Yorkie & @Keefy above. … the penny dropped that I’d spend more time twiddling settings than playing

… I can absolutely see their benefits for gigging, recording & home noodlers who have time & knowledge to get the right sound

One of the challenges of multi-effects is that it presents the opportunity of a lifetime’s learning in one box. Historically we would have bought and traded individual amps or pedals over a period of years, spending £000s in the process. For less money we can now buy a box of electronics. The trick is not to try to use all of its features all at once. I use one amp type, one speaker, one reverb, two delays, and two chorus. The big benefit comes from the way they are controlled and switched. Tempos are synchronised across all effects. One button will make multiple changes in the space of a beat between Verse and Chorus, and fire off MIDI messages to change the colour and tempo of the bands’ lights.

Great way to look at it.

I was perplexed by the complexity of my mate's GT-1000 Core, but I will take the plunge at one point with this mindset.

noisepolluter · April 2023

I bought a GX-100 at the beginning of the year - fabulous sounds especially direct/through headphones, and fairly intuitive once you get the basics, but I am finding that I’m not using it as much as I thought I might, and I am suffering a bit from option paralysis.

I may end up moving it on, we shall see.

ThePrettyDamned · April 2023

The line 6 m3 was honestly one of my favourite pedals of all time. May pick up another - it was really easy to use, you could set expression on all sorts of weird stuff and it sounded fantastic. OK, trying to turn it into a whammy pedal was a bit hit and miss, but the thing plus the expression cost less than a real whammy, and had a lot of other great stuff in it.

We're spoilt rotten!

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Anyone else just in awe of what a multi-FX unit can do?

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