Good Effects Board ???

[Diesel]

Hi,

I'm looking for a decent effects board that isn't too gimmicky or to pricey.

Ideally, it'll have volume & expression pedals (possibly one dual-function pedal) and Echo, Phaser, Flanger effects - maybe a few others.

I used to have a Boss ME-50 - that was OK, but a bit tinny.

It'll be used through a JCM 2000 TSL-100 & 4x12 cab.

Any recommendations ???

Thanks in advance

DZL

[Old Gold]

Only one that comes to mind is a Line 6 MM4.

General oppinion (harmony central) seems to be that they're good combo pedals. You can pllug in an expression pedal too. Kinda considering getting one of these in the summer myself.

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/options.php?id=8209

Maybe a bit pricey at 200 quid though.

[Guest DustyDeviada]

If you're going Line 6 get an XT Live.

[Diesel]

If you're going Line 6 get an XT Live.

Expensive as f*** tho'

I had a POD XT and have a Flextone III XL 212 & FBV Shortboard that's getting punted.

Line6 stuff is pretty good but is affy expensive.

DZL

[black_matter]

Line6 stuff is pretty good but is affy expensive.

DZL

so true man. In some cases it's worth the saving but again sometimes looking around for a cheaper alternative is the key.

[Preid]

If its for liveness get the Boss Gt8 from www.gak.co.uk

You'll need to run it with 4 cables to get the best results.

[Guest DustyDeviada]

Rory from Midnight Noise Collective (Sultan of Swing86 on here) is selling a Boss GT6 just now.

[palmer_eldritch]

Yeah 150 for Boss GT6, boxed with manual n all that jazz. Good as new.

Also selling Pod XT with floorboard if anyone is interested.

[Guest lime ruined my life]

Expensive as f*** tho'

I had a POD XT and have a Flextone III XL 212 & FBV Shortboard that's getting punted.

Line6 stuff is pretty good but is affy expensive.

DZL

it's not that expensive compared to buying brand name single effects.

[HairyScaryMark]

Boss GT-8 is good but is a toy in comparison to the TC electronics G system. The G-system is 900 so you woudln't expect anything else less for the price.

The TC electronics G major's (cut down rack unit) are going for a lot less now that the G-system is avaialble. You get a G minor to control it with but if you want to do more complex control functions you may want to another floor unit.

What exactly do you want your effects board to do and how much money are you willing to spend? Why does the idea of a multi effects floor board appeal to you also? Personally, if I was going to go for a relatively small system. I would get a high quality combo amp which sounds good on it's own then add a high quality effects unit such as a TC electronics or Lexicon unit at a later date.

[Diesel]

What exactly do you want your effects board to do and how much money are you willing to spend? Why does the idea of a multi effects floor board appeal to you also? Personally' date=' if I was going to go for a relatively small system. I would get a high quality combo amp which sounds good on it's own then add a high quality effects unit such as a TC electronics or Lexicon unit at a later date.[/quote']

I play an eclectic mix of rock (blues, hard/heavy, prog, metal) and want to be able to set up and easily access my presets when playing live or recording.

Basically, I want to be able to play guitar and make it sound the way I want it to without descending into techno-geekdom by buying a rig where I'll only going to use 20% of the functionality.

Configurability, reliability, accessibility and good sounds/effects that aren't too artificial.

DZL

[HairyScaryMark]

Basically' date=' I want to be able to play guitar and make it sound the way I want it to without descending into techno-geekdom by buying a rig where I'll only going to use 20% of the functionality.

[/quote']

In that case, I wouldn't bother with a multi effects processor. A decent (combo) amp plus a couple of high quality pedals should do the trick.

Something like the BOSS GT-8 has a lot of fairly useless functions which you are never realisticly use in addition to the standards effects i.e reverb, delay chorus which maybe aren't as high quality as available elsewhere. The TC electronics G-major only does 6 effects (if i remember correctly), but it does them very well, so that might worth concidering. None of them are really useless either. It is also going for around 200 on ebay, these days. You will spend more on a GT-8.

[Preid]

In that case' date=' I wouldn't bother with a multi effects processor. A decent (combo) amp plus a couple of high quality pedals should do the trick.

Something like the BOSS GT-8 has a lot of fairly useless functions which you are never realisticly use in addition to the standards effects i.e reverb, delay chorus which maybe aren't as high quality as available elsewhere. The TC electronics G-major only does 6 effects (if i remember correctly), but it does them very well, so that might worth concidering. None of them are really useless either. It is also going for around 200 on ebay, these days. You will spend more on a GT-8.[/quote']

Dont bash the GT8, their versitility is amazing. So far ive found nothing useless about it. The crazy patches that are high up and out the way are to give a demo of what it can do. If you have a great preamp and you dont want the boss's one you can simply turn it off and just run it through the effects loop. that TCG thing, 900!! Wtf?

As for effects the boss comes with everything you need. Synths, 7 wha's, some strange chorus's and a funk patch which always makes people smile.

Boss GT8 is a superb pedal for the money and it can do pretty much anything asked.

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/options.php?id=66932 <285 inc P&P

[britheguy]

The Boss multi's are good. I had a gt5 and thought the the sounds where ace. However, I did find that I ended up using only 9-10 of the patches (which I edited myself) so felt that I was under using the units abilities. I ended up selling the unit and getting a few single pedals which I felt was going to be enough for me.

To be honest I felt that a unit with 150 user patches is a bit much. If you go for a multi-fx bear that in mind and go for one with fewer patches and save a bit of money.

[Alkaline]

I used to use multi effects units but i always felt they took something away from my overall sound which frustrated me somewhat. Now i just use a Boss DD3, a Boss TU-2 Tuner and occassionally an Ibanez Tubescreamer TS9DX through my Marshall JCM2000 DSL100 Head.

If i'm not using my head i use a Marshall Jackhammer to recreate my tone.

I can see the use of multi effects when you're recording though.

[HairyScaryMark]

I wasn't bashing the GT-8 as such. I simply just don't believe it to be as good as TC electronics and probably overpriced for what it is.

The G system is 900 becuase it is top quality, has great functionality and is really the only effects unit you would need as part of your system unless you want to do pitch effects.

I suggested the TC electronics G major becuase it costs about the same as GT-8 and the overwhelming opinion is that the most used effects (chorus, reverb, delay) are of much higher quality.

The GT-8 does a lot of stuff but I really doubt that a lot of the pitch>synth stuff is really that useable and more or less just a gimick (opinion gathered from harmony central reviews). There is also a number of effects which aren't realisticly going to be used for any reason other than to create whale noises. The GT-8 also includes COSM amp modelling instead of the analogue overdrive and distortion pedals which Boss are famous for (which were available in the older models of BOSS GT). Personally I would rather have a DS-2 or OD-2 going into my guitar amp than a COSM model, not that COSM modelling is bad.

I am sure the GT-8 is a great pedal but it certainly isn't the ultimate one. It is probably the best all inclusive floorboard in it's price range, that I know of.