multi-effects processors...BOSS ME-25 in particular

[lynch1]

I currently use a ZOOM G2G that works great for me, but starting to go bad. they no longer make them so I am looking for a new one. I've looked at the BOSS ME-25, GT10, and GT100. I have a Marshall MA50 head and 4X10 cab with Celestions. My tone right now is perfect, I love it. I want a processor that you don't need an engineering degree figure out. I'm leaning towards the ME-25, eventhough it is a 2010 product, because it looks the easiest to program and tweak. Anyone ever used one? What did you think of it? Thanks in advance for your input.

[The Shadow]

I had an ME-50 once upon a time. It's a decent unit but didn't suit my needs. I've always preferred individual pedals. I also had an M-13 and it was the easiest of the multi effects to program and tweak, IMHO.

[lynch1]

I saw your pedal board and love your tone, but looking at the price of each individual pedal compared to what you can get out of a processor to me makes sense. but the argument would be a very "processed" sound where the pedals are typically analog signals, am I right? Mel, you know the tone I'm looking for...it's your tone....lol.....thanks for your input, I always look forward to what you have to say.

[The Shadow]

Thanks for the kind words. I never said that the Boss unit wouldn't work, or sound good. My personal preference has been individual pedals. I certainly didn't go out and buy all of my pedals, power supply, cables, and board all at once. My collection has been slowly assembled over the years.
Before deciding on the ME-25 try out a Line 6 M-13 or an M-9. They're very easy to tweak and program and are on some very prominent guitarists boards.

[lynch1]

I've heard the Line 6 stuff is pretty good. I will certainly "test drive" all before making a final decision. yeah, getting your sound is buying pedals here and there, finding out which ones work best for you. My situation would require me to buy all at once since my current processor IS my tone, and if it dies out completely I won't have anything for gigs. Yeah, I will give those a try and look forward to any other input.

[The Shadow]

Good luck!!! Keep us posted.

[bassist_25]

Don't forget to try out the TC Electronics Nova System either.

[StumbleFingers]

If the ME-25 has the same brains as the GT series, it's a serious piece of kit. They crammed everything under the sun in there.

A lot of it comes down to which effects matter most to you and what kind of interface you prefer. I'm a devoted M9 user, but it's mainly because it feels like using a stompbox. Old habits die hard. And you can always augment your multi-effects unit with other things later.

[lynch1]

well, I've talked to a lot of players....almost all of them are using individual stompboxes.....I like the idea of keeping it simple, but from a cost effective standpoint trying to get all of the pedals I would need it's not gonna work for me at this time. I did try a few processors at my local music store. As far as price and ease of use I did opt for the ME25....I will however consider buying pedals here and there to simplify things. I appreciate everyones input.

[The Shadow]

Exactly how many individual pedals would you need, and what effects would you consider a necessity?

[lynch1]

multiple levels of distortions (80's hard rock, plus something less for some 70's rock and country), chorus, delay, and probably an EQ for a boost on leads. Whatcha thinkin' Mel? help me bro...

[The Shadow]

I learned to play on old, single channel amps and old habits die hard. Lol. I always run my amp in mid gain territory, roll down my guitars volume knob to get a clean tone, and use an overdrive to get into higher gain. I've even stacked OD pedals with great results. Two OD pedals also allows for different flavors and textures. There are lots of good, affordable pedals floating around the used market right now. That's the route that I'd suggest if your going to end up slowly acquiring individual effects.

[StumbleFingers]

I wonder how many overdrive/distortion/boost/preamp pedals the average guitar player owns. How many are you up to, Mel?

[The Shadow]

I wonder how many overdrive/distortion/boost/preamp pedals the average guitar player owns. How many are you up to, Mel?

About half as many as you. Lol

[StumbleFingers]

I wonder how many overdrive/distortion/boost/preamp pedals the average guitar player owns. How many are you up to, Mel?

About half as many as you. Lol

Yeah, but I build/mod them as a hobby so it's not really a direct comparison. Although in my defense all of them but one have been gigged. Someday I'll find a reason to use that Octavia...

[bassist_25]

If you go the individual stomp box route, keep it mind that signal chain is important. Sometimes you have to experiment. Also, you'll want a mix of true bypass and buffered pedals. If you end up getting a lot of pedals, you may then want to consider some true bypass loops on your board to A). keep tone sucking pedals out of the chain when they're not in use, and B). to engage multiple effects at once, since most of us simple folk don't have Bradshaw systems with us on area stages.

Some of the pedal board designs out there are really awesome. I'd love a Trailer Trash myself. Maybe one day if Tim McGraw or Lenny Kravitz calls me for that world tour. *lol* I did pick up a Blackbird board a few years ago, which is like a poor man's Trailer Trash. But the Pedal Train stuff is really good and really practical.

[lonewolf]

I have used most of the Boss stuff.

The ME pedals are pretty much FX only and similar to their GT counterparts without the modeling preamps. They should be used with a guitar amp.

The GTs have a built in modeling preamp. I have used these with a lot of success using only a channel of a power amp and guitar cabinet.

The effects in all the Boss/Roland units are diverse and most are excellent.

Of the GT models, I like the GT10 the best because it was a big leap over the GT8. The GT100 isn't sonically much different from the GT10 and I saw no need to upgrade.

I never liked the older Line 6 stuff only because they lacked a lot of FX that the Boss units have. This is no longer true of the newer models and they sound great. If they ever make a digital head close to my desired specs, I'll probably get one.

The only TC stuff I used was the GForce. Excellent FX but very poor, glitchy midi control. If you just want to midi switch it, that works OK, just don't expect much from the pedal wah. Its a super sounding unit with a reverb that melts into a silvery azure pool of liquid bliss.

[lonewolf]

Whitey Cooper (a Tiger in the Norm Nardini band) signed my 1976 hs yearbook with "hey, ya wanna buy a zero time delay calibrator gizmatic whatsis pedal?"

I have been using stomp boxes forever. There is nothing simple about them, at least not when compared to a multi-FX unit once you have learned to program it.

Knobs get moved, wires short, and grrrrrr the power supply tangle.

Once you program a patch, you get perfect repeatability every time. I went with the modeling GT10 because that applies to the amp as well. Once you have it programmed the way you want, you just plug it in, turn it on and set the volume level. Plus you you never know when you might want to add another effect. Don't pay $100, just dial it up!

[lynch1]

that's what I was thinking Lonewolf, Ive got an endless possibilities for tones without buying a pedal for this or that....I've been listening to players that use pedals and some that use processors. I really can't tell the difference. Even listening to my current setup...I'm pretty damn happy with my tone. maybe I just got lucky getting it dialed in, but it does not sound "processed" at all. I just hope I have the same luck with this one. I'll have get with Sean McCracken to help me out, he's the one that got my current tone dialed in. Like I said, currently using the ZOOM G2G with a Marshall MA50 half stack. Have had other players ask me about what I'm not getting with my Marshall. Yeah everybody says Marshall, but straight into the amp the Marshall distortion sounds thin and buzzy to me. When I think of Marshall, I think of the sound of all the 80's metal bands, but they were also using either pedals or processors too.

[bassist_25]

When I think of Marshall, I think of the sound of all the 80's metal bands, but they were also using either pedals or processors too.

A lot of those Marshalls were also hotrodded by some of the amp gurus in California. It's a tradition that's continued on with a lot of the boutique amp builders like Roppoli and Friedman that sound like more saturated Marshalls. What Marshall does, it does very well, but they have never really been a high-gain amp company. A lot of cats buy them - based upon brand recognition I suppose - and then fight against them trying to cop a saturated, tight dampening American sound when that's really not what Marshall is about.

[Jasaoke]

Here Bassist and I agree. While Marshall has some darn good high-gain offerings, they are and have been more like muscle cars, as opposed to the European sport car performance of amps like Soldano or Mesa.

[StumbleFingers]

A Marshall makes a great foundation to use with stompboxes, though. Pretty much anything sounds great in front of a plexi.

[The Shadow]

The cats who buy Marshall amps and fight them are simply buying the wrong Marshall amps, or dialing them in wrong. A JMP or a JCM 800 with the right pedal can cover just about any ground. Speakers and can play an important role in this as well.

Exhibit "A" http://youtu.be/7Orzc5gpLxc

Think of the guitar players that you've seen who have great tone and look how simple their rig is. I'll go so far as to name names. In no certain order...

• Felix - Deluxe Reverb, a few pedals and the same old Strat.
• Kenny Murdick - Last I saw him it was a 5150iii and a few iStomp pedals and the Charvels.
• Greg Larrimore - Tube amp of the month, handful of pedals and some red guitars.
• Mark Middleton - JCM 800 or Soldano HR, four or five pedals, Strats.
I could go on, but why bother....I think these few examples show a pattern.
I'd also like to apologize if your name wasn't mentioned. Hopefully the butthurt will be at a minimum.

[lynch1]

nice clip Mel.....that's what I'm talkin' about!!! I agree, Marshalls give you a great foundation to start from, and with the right effects you will get the tone you are looking for. You shouldn't have to fight to get it, just have an ear for what you want.

[Jasaoke]

Yeah, simplicity is the key. I think that the biggest problem with processors or multi effects units is that they cover too much ground, sonically speaking. Just because your processor can model 100 amps and 200 pedals doesn't mean that you should. If you had 100 amps, you surely wouldn't take them all onstage. And even if you did, you wouldn't put them all on the same mic and channel strip.

If you treat a processor like a single amp with a basic set of pedals (like the setups that Shadow mentioned) you can get great sounds. If you try to fit a wide spectrum of sound into your setup/song/guitarselection/overall band sound, you're going to have problems.

I don't like the idea of relying too heavily on pedals to produce the sound you're looking for, as opposed to using the amp. If you put a $75 dollar pedal in front of a $2500 amp, you're going to sound closer to 75 bucks than anything else.

One (other) additional advantage of processors is that they can let you apply effects after the amp. (I suppose some effects loops can do something similar.) The sound of your amp with chorus is dramatically different than the sound of chorus through your amp. And it all works that way; compression, EQ, modulation, delay, reverb.