Digital FX or Pedals?

[Fueled4Fire]

I have tried using a few FX pedals, and I have also used a digital FX processor. I don't know much about gear, but what is the best way to go? I absolutely LOVE all of the features that digital FX have to offer, but sometimes it seems complicated. Can a digital FX processor be used effectively live? What is the best way to go? Pedals, or Digital FX? Please help me because I am a MORON when it comes to this kinda stuff! Thanks!
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[StuTDavis]

Re: Digital FX or Pedals?

Just like anything and everything that has to do with guitar gear, there are no hard and fast rules about "what's best". It's all opinion and preference.

Having said that, what you will find in any situation is, for one, the unit(s) you get will be limited on how well they "meld" with your other gear. Some pieces of gear just don't like each other too much. In general, I would hazard to say that pedals are generally more widely used with amp heads and combos, whereas rack processors are more widely used in rack gear. Those would be the applications that pedal and rack units are generally made or designed for, respectively. But, it in no way means those are the only ways they can work. Rack units can work great in the loops of heads, and pedals can be made to work in rack setups, too.

To begin to move toward a decision, here are a few questions to ask yourself...

(1) How many effects do you need, how many do you need "on" at any one time, and how fast do you need to be able to switch multiple pedals on and off within your songs. In general, multi-effects units are going to be cheaper if you need lots of effects, for one, easier and faster to turn on/off multiple effects, via patches changes that allow multiple effects changes with one toe tap.

(2) Are you completely adverse to having to program units? That scares some people off from anything they might have to program. But, if you are cool with learning to program a multi-effects unit, and get one that works well with your setup, they could be even easier and more flexible than pedals, though there are switching systems (kinda pricey but there are) to make pedals easier to use.

(3) How are you at tapping your foot on possibly multiple pedals to get the sounds you want? If you need to make Korn-like immediate changes of mutliple effects on and off simultaneously, that's going to make the single-pedal idea much more complicated for you. Again, there are switching systems to help with this. Some people prefer pedals for their sound than multi-effects, and will put out the extra $ and hassle to program a pedal switching system, whereas they wouldn't own or want to program a multi-effects unit.

(4) What all do you want to be able to DO with your effects? If you want to have some fun and "play" with effects, just goof around with them sometime, a floor multi-effects or rack multi-effects unit can be loads of fun to mess with. You can use an onboard expression pedal (on a floor multi-effects) or MIDI expression controller (on a rack multi-effects) to control effects parameters in real-time. Personally, I LOVE to do this with effects. Music, for me, is about having fun and experimenting, as well as playing songs. I can sit with my TC G-Major and goof around with different effects and controlling them in real-time for hours. And you can find a lot more variety of effects sounds you could control by controlling effects in real-time like this. Some people aren't like that, to each his own.

Hope this gives a decent starting point...I'm sure others will chime in on some info. Feel free to ask other questions.

[Fueled4Fire]

Re: Digital FX or Pedals?

All I can say is...WOW! I didn't expect that good of help. Damn, the JCF never ceases to amaze me. Thank you very much. I've been fiddling with my DOD FX processor and I'm learning how to program it. It's not very hard at all once you get the hang of it. I'm getting the tone and FX that I want as well. And if I want to screw around, the possibilities are endless! Thanx again!!!! [img]graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img]

[StuTDavis]

Re: Digital FX or Pedals?

You're very welcome. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

I'm always of the opinion that, if something like a simple multi-unit works for you, that's overall a great solution. They're relatively very cheap, not too hard to program, and give tons of variability. Have fun! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[rodrigo_echeverri]

Re: Digital FX or Pedals?

Nice reply up there...

Quick and dirty: I have an RP-20 unit. It was cheap (ebay: $150-$250) and it sounds pretty decent. Programming it is not too bad... its got a large LCD display which is nice to see what is going on. It even shows you how the chain of effects is setup. The pre-amp section is got a tube in it, which is nice!... I have owned about 5 of these pedal units and this one I find to be the best value. I would probably try one if I were you. I owned a Boss GT-3 unit before this one and I thought it kind of didnt fit me... the EQ was only a three band which I found unacceptable and the delay was pretty marginal. Anyway if you buy the RP-20 and try it you probably will have a nice start.