Tu Tuner
Guitar Multi Effect Pedals: Choosing the right one to suit your sound and budget by Steve Gray
Like they always say, you get what you pay for. Except in this case, you get more.
Just saying “multi effect pedal” a few years ago would have got you thrown out of most bands, but oh, how times have changed. My first guitar multi effects pedal was the Zoom 505. Honestly, it was a piece of hissing, digital crap, but it made me realize the potential that lay there within its cheap, semi-transparent blue housing. I actually brought it to one of my band practices, and I can tell you , that pedal combined with the roaring power of a cranked, 70′s Fender Twin Reverb was painful to say the least, especially for my band mates. So I went back to my “snake pit”, home-made pedal board consiting of the usual guitar pedals (distortion, tuner, delay…).
Then, last year I started researching new guitar pedals on the internet, and found a new opinion developing regarding multi effect pedals. Experienced guitarists, with a large collection of expensive, boutique single effects pedals were starting to sing the praises of multi pedals by brands like Digitech, Line 6 and Boss. Either these players had reached an advanced stage of hearing loss, or they really liked these multi effect pedals!
I was particularly surprised with reviews of the new Digitech RP line of pedals (RP500, RP1000). Guitarists were going off about how great the sound was, the quality of the effects, and the ease of use. None of these qualities had previously been associated with a multi effects pedal. These pedals (and others by Line 6 and Boss), have such a wide palette of great sounding effects, that its hard to understand why you would by single guitar effects any more.
With this thought in mind, I did a little research on single effect pedal prices. I picked 9 of my favourite single effects, that are also produced by most new multi effect pedals, and priced them out. This is what I found:
Dunlop Crybaby 535Q multi wah: $125.44
Visual Sound Volume Pedal: $139.95
Proco Rat Distortion: $67.49
Boss CH1 Super Chorus: $89.00
Boss FRV-1 ’63 Fender Reverb: $129.99
Boss DD7 Digital Delay: $169.00
Boss RC-2 Loop station: $189.00
Boss TU-2 Tuner: $99.00
MXR M-102 Compressor: $69.95
Total price: $1077.83
This would give you a pretty impressive pedal board! Especially in size. My old pedal board had half this many effects, and it was a beast to deal with. You would be looking at 11 patch cables, 9 power connections, and the board itself.
I now own the Digitech RP500. It has all of these effects built in, with a total of 125 effects, a looper, all metal construction, and stereo output. But honestly, the best thing of all is its ability to shut off all digital modeling, and simply become a pedal board. This feature, through my old Fender Twin Reverb tube amp sounds awesome. Better than any single pedal, or combination thereof I have ever owned. The only thing that sounds better than my RP500/Twin Reverb combo, is an RP500 through two Twin reverbs in stereo! Huge, lush, shimmering sound.
All that, for $300 bucks (the pedal that is).
So if your looking for a single, or multi effect pedal, do your research. Despite their digital sounding names, the latest in multi effect pedals can produce amazing sounds, at a reasonable price. They simply allow you to explore more creative sound ideas.
About the Author
A great place to start your search is at http://www.multieffectpedal.com where you will find reviews and guides on the latest guitar multi effect units by Boss, Digitech, Line 6, and more.
TU-3 Chromatic Tuner Overview
|
|
ILLEST LOGO – 8 YELLOW Decal – JDM clothing – Vinyl Decal/Sticker – WINDOW, WALL, CAR, TRUCK, MOTORCYCLE, NOTYEBOOK, LAPTOP, IPAD, CELLPHONE $6.99 Made from High Quality 6 year Outdoor Vinyl. Will Stick to almost any smooth, clean, dry surface. Made Custom By Ikon Sign….. |
|
|
Sebastian Shaper Plus Hair Spray, 10.6-Ounces Bottle $9.25 … |
|
|
Roland Smoked Kippered Snacks, 3.25-Ounce Packages (Pack of 24) $40.11 King Roland kippered Snacks are fillets of kippered herring with no oil addedThey are naturally smoked and are a product of Canada… |
|
|
YuGiOh 5Ds Storm Of Ragnarok: Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En Ultra Rare Single Card $7.95 1 Warrior-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner “Six Samurai” monsters Once per turn, when your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card, you can negate it’s activation and destroy it. If this face-up card on the field would be destroyed, you can destroy another face-up “Six Samurai” monster you control instead…. |
|
|
Transformers Deluxe Movie Collection – Turner Skids $5.27 OIL PAN may have crazy good driving skills, but he’s not used to dealing with someone as unpredictable as AUTOBOT SKIDS. The AUTOBOT is more than happy to cause total chaos on the freeway, as long as it means catching his quarry. The other AUTOBOTS might wish he was more careful, but at least he gets the job done. Turn the tables on enemy forces when you throw this warrior into the fight! Your TUN… |
|
|
Boss TU-3 Chromatic Guitar & Bass Tuner and 6 In Sonic Sense Patch Cable $99.95 This Package Contains One Boss TU-3 Tuner Pedal; One Hosa 6 Inch,1/4 Patch Cable… |
|
|
Boss BV7350T In-Dash AM/FM DVD/MP3/CD Receiver with 3.2-inch TFT Widescreen Monitor and Built-In TV Tuner $274.95 3.2″ TFT widescreen monitor and built-in TV tuner Single DIN mounting with full detachable front panel DVD/MP4/MP3/SVCD/VCD/CDR/CDRW and SDVD compatible USB port and SD/MMC card port with front audio/vedio input Compatible with audio output of ipod or any other MP3 players 1152 x 234 pixel resolution and brightness of: 400 NITS… |
|
|
New Trendnet Accessory Tu2-Hdmi Usb To Hdmi Tv Adapter 1920×1080 Retail Top Grade Components $171.86 Reminder: CPU, Memory, Systems, Notebooks, and Software products are not returnable for Credit. A 15 days from date of invoice; during first 7 days no restocking fee will be charged in most cases, provided item(s) are returned as new, unopened, complete and in re-sellable condition. After 7 days a 15% restocking fee will apply. The customer can have a replacement of items purchased during first 30… |
|
|
Sony Cdx-gt550ui In-dash Car Cd/mp3/aac/ipod/usb Player Am/fm Receiver with Detachable Faceplate, Aux Input and Remote $79.00 Brand New Sony CDX-GT550UI In-Dash Car CD/MP3/AAC/Ipod/USB Player AM/FM Receiver with Detachable faceplate, Aux Input and Remote Features: In-dash AM/FM, CD, MP3, AAC player with Remote |
|
|
Toshiba SD-V296 Tunerless DVD VCR Combo $72.48 Fitting more entertainment value into less shelf space just got easier. With the SD-V296 DVD/VCR combo player, you get the connectivity and features without the clutter…. |