Effects Pedals Single Or Multi? And Setup

mayamopedro

Hi all, I hope you who take the time to read this will also take the time to help me out as well as I'm new to all this high tech stuff. I play rythm/lead in a Christian band and I am faced with many types of playing. Presently I'm playing a Korg Triton Le keyboard, Ovation Celebrity Deluxe, and a Fender Strat. I'm looking for some effects but not sure which way to go, single pedals or multi effects pedals. As far as effects go I'll be using chorus and distortion, but when I jump into a lead solo it seems to get lost. (DigiTech RP50) So!....my questions are. Would you recommend single pedals, or a multi with volume pedal ? If I use single effects pedals, how do I set them up? (layout) and will I need a volume pedal for the lead stuff? Thanks........Peter

PunkStar · Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:51 pm Post subject:

Well, from my knowledge, you have to choices then. Detailed below.

A multi unit - Quick to set up and use on stage. The idea with them is that you spend time before the show setting up your preset tones, then you just select which tone you want for which song. Set tones in the order you will use them. First tone should be first song, second tone might be the solo for the first song. Third tone is the tone for the second song. And so on. A multi is also more economical on stage because you only have to provide power to one unit, rather than an army of pedals. Which means less leads on the floor or less batteries being used. You also don't need to bother setting up patch leads between the pedals or really worry about putting the pedals in the right order (which is sometimes important, sometimes not. Depends what you use). What I don't like about multi units is that I don't feel you can get as nice a tone from them. Generally, multi units emulate the basic sound and don't have as much fine control over the sound. But it is generally good enough for live work at church. If you head down the road of a mulit effect unit, make sure to get a good quality one, and be sure to read the manual. They take a little practise to use. Also, it doesn't hurt to write down and take with you a list of which preset tone is for which song.

Pedals - Pedals are a good road to travel. They allow for much more specific tonal adjustment, rather than just making a sound. The main issue is finding the ones you want and getting them to work as an effective system to create the sound combination you want. Which takes a bit of mucking around with it, but it isn't really a problem. Some advice here, try to only use one setting combination per pedal. Otherwise you will be making a lot of changes during the show (professional bands have singers to fill in time while changes are being made). Changing tones is also easy to pedals, just step on the switches to turn on ones you want and turn off those you don't. Transporting pedals isn't a problem, just build a pedal case. Put them in there, connect the first pedal's input to your guitar and the last pedal's output to your amp. When done, pull out those cables and pick up your case. The real issue is powering the pedals, they either use direct AC/DC or batteries. Direct means you need powerpoints available to plug them in, batteries mean you need to check they still have power and replace when necessary.

This is what it really comes down to.

Multi unit - Quick setup, easy tone change between songs, no real ability to alter preset tones while performing, less power issues, and a sacrifice on fine tonal adustment.

Single effect pedals - Bit more setup time, slightly more complex tone change between songs, minor power concerns, and direct and complete tonal control.

Get a good quality and powerful multi unit, or do a bit of planning and get some pedals. I'd also have a chat with your local guitar dealer and see what they've got and see how the two compare.

Good luck with it all.

dertsa · Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 6:24 am Post subject:

Just a quick note to ya. I am cuttently using just a bunch of single effects pedals. I have a Morley volume/wah, Ibanez Digital Dlay, Boss EQ, and a MXR Double-shot distortion. The thing I like about the single pedals is that you don't need to take a course in how to run the thing. Some multi-effects pedals are getting rediculous now. I have no idea where to even begin. However there is one that I have been eyeing for a while and that's the Vox Tonelab SE. If You're going for a warm sound, that's the way to go. More digital, go with Digitech or something a little cheaper. I like using the single pedals though because you don't have to spend an arm and a leg to get most of them, and most of them won't give you a digitized sound.

I believe you said you wanted just chorus and distortion. I'm not totally sure about chorus, but I know that Visual Sound makes an awesome distortion pedal. The Jekyll & Hyde. Also there's another pedal called the English Muff'n made by Electro-Harmonix. Both these pedals have a warm overdrive tone. the English Muff'n has a tube which for one is just awesome, and it give's a sweet warm tone. I didn't know anything about the Jekyll & Hyde distortion until I did stage setup at a Salvador concert and Nick, the lead singer, uses that. Anyways, I hope that helps at least a little bit and that I didn't talk....type your ear off. Alright, good luck with the band. God bless

Sam