I know that individual pedal are better than "all-in-wonders" in the sense that they are dedicated and designed for a single purpose but I had to vote against them simply due to economics. Frankly, as a guitar player, I still suck. At my stage of playing ability, it doesn't make sense for me to spend a ton of cash on specialized pedals that I'm not capable of really using (yet). Sure "all-in-wonders" usually don't sound quite as good or have the additional bells and whistles, but for the wanna-be's they're a good choice to get you in the game and learning...

Well that's my rant for the day (more like hour :))

I was going to go the individual pedal vs the all in one.After about a year and getting 3 padals boss od/20,dunlop wah and bossdd-6
I changed directions.Man it woulda costed less to stay with just 1 choise but I changed to the all in one due to the fact that patches could not be saved,the amount of 9v adapters,the pricey cables and the noise that each effect added to the chain And the tap dance ya had to do while playing.Some times ya have to relocate the effects in different orders to get the correct tone also.All of this made me go for the all in 1



Matt

I tried three different all-in-one units. The problem I ran into was that the presets didn't fit what I was doing. The user patches were okay, but the volume wasn't consistent on each patch. You trip one and you're too soft, so you turn up and the next one blows the hair off the first three rows of people! Also, I really don't need 22 different kinds of distortion-just one good one. I bought an SKB pedal board and mounted my pedals with GeorgeL cables. That works just fine for me. I can't wait to try it with my new Christmas present-the Fender Custom Shop '54 Strat that shipped today!
Frank

There are some pretty cool processors out there, definitely. The Pods especially do a fantastic job and the new XT Live looks promising. Especially for stage use.

BUT after monkeying around with some of these all-in-one-wonders for a little while, Ive found they are just not for me. I don't use nearly close to all the features they have and I'm super picky about my sound. These aren't cutting it. Simpler is better for me.
The dedicated pedals are way better sounding paired with a good amp, IMO.

Em

Agreed EM. I've been the processor route (I've probably owned 10 or more of them) and while the dirty sounds are pretty good at bedroom levels, they just don't sound authentic at stage volumes. I am a real gear/tone freak (no kidding) and always make it a point to check out other peoples rigs wether in a bar or at a full blown concert and so far, every good sounding set up I've seen with a processor has either used a dirty channell on the amp or some out board preamp/stomp box for grind.

I think (IMHO) that processors are great for clean sounds but I haven't seen one yet that could match a real tube distortion in a live situation. When they come up with one I'll be first in line for it.

Until then, I'll stick with my Marshall/Stompbox set up.

-Sal

i know i don't use any pedals. the overdrive channel on my amp is really good. and as far as other pedal effects go... well... i really don't care much for right now. i have little practice time as it is so i can't use it messing around with different effects. i just sit in my room with my one guitar plugged into my amp and that's it. and i couldn't be happier.
anyway, i voted single effects pedal.

Hey,

The buddy I play with has used multi-effect pedals and now has the POD XT and I still dont like it as much as single effect pedals that I own. His POD is cool and can do alot but still it just isnt the same as a single effect pedal.

Mike

I keep asking my wife for multi-effects for birthdays and Christmas and so forth.

I don't mind most of the effects like echo and so forth. But there is nothing like mashing my foot on my ProCo DirtyRAT and watching my amp explode.

I tell you the best use for multi-effects...practicing along with DVDs with headphones...and if you are in a cover band that plays a wide variety of stuff. In both cases the versatility outweighs tone IMHO.

Dan

The hot set up is a dirty amp channel with an effects processor in the effects loop...that way you get the delays, chorus etc AFTER the distortion. You can also use your favorite stomp box in front of the amp with the processor in the effects loop. The trick to great sounding effects is to have the ambient sounds between the preamp and poweramp. Sure you can run everything into the front of the amp, but any preamp distortion that you get from pushing it with a stomp box will aslo muddy up the ambient effects....will it work...? Yup. Is it perfect...? Nope. Passive effects belong in the effects loop.....dirt belongs in front of it.

If you get a good multi-effects pedal, it's as good or better than the individual pedals. I've had a Boss ME-50 for over a year now and it has been great to me, I highly recommend it. I'm currently selling it and buying a Line 6 PodXT Live, for two reasons, mainly: a USB port (computer recording? thanks) and amp/cab/mic models.

If versatility is your specialty, then a Boss ME-50 or a Line 6 Pod offer great tone and unlimited versatility of styles. But if you're like me and want an exact, specific sound that you can manipulate in every shape, form and fashion, single pedals are the only option. My personal goal is to try and create something unique that no one else has ever done, so i need absolute control over ever aspect of my tone: overdrive, effects, ect. However, brands like Line 6 seem to be quickly approaching this kind of control along with the extensive versatility, so it won't be long before i switch over. I agree with the individual who disliked tap-dancing, i find myself in that situation quite often

I hate reading manuals so my vote is single pedals. I had Korg AX100G and it took long to really understand how it works. Multipedals are too complicated!

i've never found an all-in-one pedal that i thought was up to par

Although all in one pedals seem like they've got everything you need and such, they dont give off the power and drive then a single pedal. I own a Boss MT-2 metal zone and crushes through every thing i play. When i tried out the MT-2 model on a Boss ME-50 multi-effects, it didnt feel like i was getting the power i did from the actual pedal. Start a collection of pedals and buy a good pedal board. If youre a beginner or someone who has a small budget and needs all those tones, go for the multi-effects, go for the all in one pedals, but if you like a pedal thats dedicated to its own tone, then start your own pedal collection.

You know, I think I voted in this like nearly a year ago but never left a comment...

...my judgement is easy, single pedals will always be better than multieffects. Here's why:

A cheap multi effects unit sounds like it's cheap, ergo bad.

An expensive multi effects unti will sound really good, and do way more than you really want it to, and most likely not play well with your amp unless you have a rack based setup... Furthermore they tend to color your tone a lot more even when the effect being used is minimum.

My theory as to why is that units like the G-major and other high end effects units are more tone sucking is that they're basically an active frequency sensing device instead of a "passive circuit based" device. So what you end up with is a lot of voltage switching and signal converting all just to get the unti to understand your signal and then spit it back out again, but not before converting it out into a usable signal...

I've heard enough people with high end effects processors to say that they CAN sound amazing, but they never sound anything like a guitar plugged straigt into an amp.

So my ultimate opinion is that single pedals are the way to go. You only buy what you need/want, no excess fat, and if you buy the right units they sound great.

I have been all over the map with processing gear starting out
years ago with stomp box pedals (small stone phase shifter,
octaver; etc.) then I used a Korg A5 for a while.
I was looking for a different sound so I went the way of the rack gear and found that peavey's bassfex was a pretty cool unit and then I got tired of processed sound altogether and just let my Bass, preamp and amp do the work.
Now I am looking real hard at Line 6's XT live bass pedal board. Especially since I have been playing a Variax bass 700 and enjoy the modeled sounds. I also played recently with a guitar player who used one for a gig and he loves his. He didn't seem to have any trouble getting some great sounds out of it and seemed like a solid piece of equipment.
I guess it's really up to the individual player as to what sound they are looking for that matters, Whatever it takes to get the right sound at the right time.
Bertman

I really agree. It is all about the style you play and what you like to hear. Early multi effects were kind of lame, but everything new needs time to develop. The more recent units are getting much better, and they will only continue to improve as technology advances. I personally use both single pedals, rack gear, and multi effect units depending on what I am doing. I like to have options.

Gary Allen

Individual stomp boxes for me are far easier to control than multi efx units. I find the fiddling around to get good tones takes away from playing my instrument. So Efx on the floor cued up for me to pounce on is heaps more fun than the quest for finding the right tone amongst all the buttons and jog dials then storing them in B2348 for later use (MEH)...