- Thread starter GoD_X
- Start date
D.K.
Well-known member
Just a note on the line 6 - I use the flex+ extensively in rehearsals and live, and I've tried the spider valve as well. If You do a lot of clean, the line 6 is great, but as soon as it comes to a great overdrive/distortion sounds, especially with such great guitars as EBMMs, You'll hear something's lacking - less dynamics, almost no warmth.
On the other hand, it's what You and maybe two other people in the audience would nottice, the rest usually doesn't care or can't hear it anyway.
On the other hand, it's what You and maybe two other people in the audience would nottice, the rest usually doesn't care or can't hear it anyway.
Hendog
Well-known member
Well, I would upgrade my amp long before I look at additional effects.
One of my bands is a cover band similar to yours as far as song selection and I play a Mark V and love it.
Really you need at least 2 Mark V's so you can take advantage of more than one mode per channel. I would start with 2 Mark V heads running 2 4x12 Rectifier cabs.
I can cover most of our material with a wah (needed for stuff like Bulls on Parade) a EVH Flanger (for ya' know... EVH) and a good delay and maybe chorus. No giant multi effects unit needed.
One of my bands is a cover band similar to yours as far as song selection and I play a Mark V and love it.
Really you need at least 2 Mark V's so you can take advantage of more than one mode per channel. I would start with 2 Mark V heads running 2 4x12 Rectifier cabs.
I can cover most of our material with a wah (needed for stuff like Bulls on Parade) a EVH Flanger (for ya' know... EVH) and a good delay and maybe chorus. No giant multi effects unit needed.
straycat113
Well-known member
Scooby put it the way I would. Your amp would be your canvas and effects are like colors so it really would not make sense to buy a bunch of paint with nothing to color on. Get the amp and you can slowly add what you want.
bbake1
Well-known member
Amp first.
An Axe-FX Ultra (or standard for less $$), decent powered cab, with an FCB-1010 is far less than $4 - 5 grand.
An Axe-FX Ultra (or standard for less $$), decent powered cab, with an FCB-1010 is far less than $4 - 5 grand.
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nobozos
Well-known member
Given the options you have, I'd say that Mesa is where you would want to look first.
As far as effects go, it's been my experience that individual effects pedals are better than any multi-effects processor. The Boss ME units are probably the best of the multi-effects units, but i still find them lacking in comparison to individual Boss pedals.
Some people tend to over-do effects. Based on the type of music you play, the majority of time, you should only be running delay, and maybe a little reverb.
I categorize my pedals into three categories:
1. Must have
2. Necessary for only a few songs
3. Nice, but not necessary
In category #1, I have:
-Overdrive
-Delay
-Chorus
-Reverb (if your amp is not equipped with reverb)
In category #2, I have:
-Flanger
-Phaser
-Tremolo
In category #3, I have:
-EQ
-Compressor/Sustainer
-Sonic Maximizer
-Everything Else
As far as effects go, it's been my experience that individual effects pedals are better than any multi-effects processor. The Boss ME units are probably the best of the multi-effects units, but i still find them lacking in comparison to individual Boss pedals.
Some people tend to over-do effects. Based on the type of music you play, the majority of time, you should only be running delay, and maybe a little reverb.
I categorize my pedals into three categories:
1. Must have
2. Necessary for only a few songs
3. Nice, but not necessary
In category #1, I have:
-Overdrive
-Delay
-Chorus
-Reverb (if your amp is not equipped with reverb)
In category #2, I have:
-Flanger
-Phaser
-Tremolo
In category #3, I have:
-EQ
-Compressor/Sustainer
-Sonic Maximizer
-Everything Else
GoD_X
Well-known member
as for effects goes, i was thinking the tc gsystem so i can control effects, od pedals, and channel switching on the amp. od pedals im thinking suhr shiba, xotic bbpreamp and a keeley TS808, keeley compressor.
beej
Moderator
I think you're putting the cart before the horse by deciding what effects you want.
If you've got a good multi channel amp you're not necessarily going to need ODs like the Shiba, TS or BB (hey, they're all variants of the same circuit anyway). They're better when you have a crunchy amp and you want to push the signal level a bit. For example, I've had the BB, it works great with some amps and not so good with others.
So decide what you really need and go from there. I never play really clean, so I like a voxy kind of breakup from a crunch channel and then a modded-Marshall kind of gain channel. With a single channel amp, I aim for something that gives me the former and get a pedal to give me the latter. You get the gist, figure out what you want and start with the amp as the platform.
Ditto with the other effects. I wouldn't just decide on having a massive build out if you don't really need it. It's just more stuff to lug with you to each gig. Just my two cents.
If you've got a good multi channel amp you're not necessarily going to need ODs like the Shiba, TS or BB (hey, they're all variants of the same circuit anyway). They're better when you have a crunchy amp and you want to push the signal level a bit. For example, I've had the BB, it works great with some amps and not so good with others.
So decide what you really need and go from there. I never play really clean, so I like a voxy kind of breakup from a crunch channel and then a modded-Marshall kind of gain channel. With a single channel amp, I aim for something that gives me the former and get a pedal to give me the latter. You get the gist, figure out what you want and start with the amp as the platform.
Ditto with the other effects. I wouldn't just decide on having a massive build out if you don't really need it. It's just more stuff to lug with you to each gig. Just my two cents.
John C
Well-known member
I re-read through all the posts and noticed that you were talking about getting a Mesa Mk V amp and OD pedals - man, the Mk V has 3 channels with 3 voices each - you've got 9 different clean through ultra high gain options on just that amp itself (not to mention the tonal differentiation you can get from the different power settings on each channel).
You might want to think about what you really want out of your rig - are your into an organic amp tone or are you really more into an effected or sculpted tone? If you're really looking for an effects platform it might be more worthwhile in the long run to save up for the rack/pedals/power amp rig you mention.
Here's some advice I got once that unfortunately for my bank account balance I've often ignored:
"You buy cheap and you buy twice"
Now I'm not saying a Mesa Mk V is "buying cheap"; obviously it's a fine piece of equipment and for those who like that type of amp it would be worth the price (I'm more of a low-watt single-channel and pedals guy since I pretty much only play at home). But a Mk V is sort of "going cheap" since it's less money than your ultimate rig. You could well wind up with a very nice, fairly expensive rig that isn't what you really want - you would either be locked into this rig or you would take a pretty good hit on it if you decided to flip it on the used market.
You might want to think about what you really want out of your rig - are your into an organic amp tone or are you really more into an effected or sculpted tone? If you're really looking for an effects platform it might be more worthwhile in the long run to save up for the rack/pedals/power amp rig you mention.
Here's some advice I got once that unfortunately for my bank account balance I've often ignored
:"You buy cheap and you buy twice"
Now I'm not saying a Mesa Mk V is "buying cheap"; obviously it's a fine piece of equipment and for those who like that type of amp it would be worth the price (I'm more of a low-watt single-channel and pedals guy since I pretty much only play at home). But a Mk V is sort of "going cheap" since it's less money than your ultimate rig. You could well wind up with a very nice, fairly expensive rig that isn't what you really want - you would either be locked into this rig or you would take a pretty good hit on it if you decided to flip it on the used market.
Lax
Well-known member
Hi all, maybe a stupid question but I prefer learn than stay in doubt ^^
I always did guitar/multieffect/wahwah/amp, since I have a transistor amp I thought that the effects would gave the color to the sound since the amp doesn't.
Should I put the guitar on the amp and the multieffect and wahwah in the effect loop ?
If so, won't my overdrive suffer ?
I don't like individual pedals because I'm not very good at taekwondo (making clean cuts by shutting or activating several effects at once quickly ^^)
Thanks all and hail EBMM !
I always did guitar/multieffect/wahwah/amp, since I have a transistor amp I thought that the effects would gave the color to the sound since the amp doesn't.
Should I put the guitar on the amp and the multieffect and wahwah in the effect loop ?
If so, won't my overdrive suffer ?
I don't like individual pedals because I'm not very good at taekwondo (making clean cuts by shutting or activating several effects at once quickly ^^)
Thanks all and hail EBMM !
GoD_X
Well-known member
i know the markV has a lot of versatility.. but all the options are manually switched.. so i need od pedal for the in between sounds.. i would be using this to play live.. and thats why i also want the gsystem so i can chance everything on the fly.. effects, ods, amp channel, eq, solo function, reverb, etc etc... and for example changing from a u2 song to audioslave, coldplay, metallica, beegees, van halen, SRV, etc etc. but everyone is right.. i should go amp first..
nobozos
Well-known member
Hey Lax,
There is really no hard and fast rules on effects, except to NOT put any level changing effects into the effects loop (distortion, overdrive.....) Besides that, there is alot of room for experimentation.
In general, time based effects, or modulation effects go in the effects loop, and level adjusting effects go before the amp.
The use of an effects loop does change the tone of the amp. If the effects loop can be bypassed, you will notice a difference in tone. As a result, some people put all of their effects in front of the amp.
Some professional musicians will even run some of their effects between the output of their head, and a power amp by using a "dummy load".
A good place to look, and get some ideas is here:
guitargeek | the guitar rig database
They show different rigs from different players, and how they all tie together. Pick a player who's sound you like from the list of rigs, and see how they run their effects.
There is really no hard and fast rules on effects, except to NOT put any level changing effects into the effects loop (distortion, overdrive.....) Besides that, there is alot of room for experimentation.
In general, time based effects, or modulation effects go in the effects loop, and level adjusting effects go before the amp.
The use of an effects loop does change the tone of the amp. If the effects loop can be bypassed, you will notice a difference in tone. As a result, some people put all of their effects in front of the amp.
Some professional musicians will even run some of their effects between the output of their head, and a power amp by using a "dummy load".
A good place to look, and get some ideas is here:
guitargeek | the guitar rig database
They show different rigs from different players, and how they all tie together. Pick a player who's sound you like from the list of rigs, and see how they run their effects.
Lax
Well-known member
Thanks a lot for this complete answer
As a result, since multieffect have a pre-amp, it's before the amp all the way.
As a result, since multieffect have a pre-amp, it's before the amp all the way.
