FX woes.. first venture into stompboxes

[Thor Von Clemson]

I've been playing my 5150 and using a POD XTL in front of it for a good 5-6 months now. I use the XTL as a gate, tuner, boost for distortion, and chorus/delay for solos and clean as well as direct recording and other fx.

I did not hear it at first but lately I am noticing that the POD sucked the tone out of my 5150. It really took away the "balls and chunk" and made it sound more harsh. I've been playing straight into the amp lately and it sounds much better sans the feedback at high volumes that is most likely due to the fact that I don't have a gate.

I am thinking about picking up a boss N-2, the boss tuner (I forgot exactly what it is. I know it is white with orange lettering), and I will need a delay and chorus for cleans and soloing.

I could always pickup a GT-6 and four cable method it with my amp ( and I could use it for direct recording so I don't loose anything there) but I am thinking about simplifying my rig a little without sacrificing tone. I am sure many of you have been through this as well.

Also, right now I have to dance around to switch channels with my amp footswitch and the patches on my pod. It is really quite annoying. Having a gate and tuner with a bypass would be huge. All I would need to do is switch channels with my amp footswitch and kick in any chorus/delay for cleans or solos.

[quiksilver]

I just got a Visual Sound H20 Liquid Chorus & Echo, and it sounds great and is very simple to use.

[Inazone]

We've talked about my setup before I think, and the single most important piece of effects gear I have ever owned is a Boss DD-2 or DD-3 Digital Delay. The reason I like the old models is that I am able to get a subtle volume boost out of them for leads, in addition to the obvious delay effect. It is a little "dirty" in comparison to the sterile signal of the DD-5 I bought (and traded) recently, but the DD-5 didn't give me the boost I was accustomed to. Some local shops (GC?) still carry the DD-3, even though it's 10+ years old. That may not matter to you if your amp has a level control for the loop and you are going to use the footswitch to operate it, but the boost has been perfect for me.