The Steel Guitar Forum

Would like to travel light. Just a volume pedal plus a multi-effects. The multi-effects is desired to tailor my sound to the particular song I'm playing with the band - which tend to vary between rock n roll, blues, country and reggae. Thus in addition to the standard reverb and delay, some distortion, wah-wah, tremolo, etc. is needed.

Also, are George L's the best cables for PSG?

Thanks!
Michael

Been using the Zoom MS-100 BT with great success the last 6 months, with Gene. Has everything you could want, incl Amp/Cab/Mic sims.

Danny

One of the things I like the best is, you can have a ton of special patches, but if on a given night you only want 2, 3, or more, you can quickly assign them to the "stomp button", thus only cycling thru those only. Tuner works great also. The unit is very quiet, which is remarkable for a Zoom product.

Zoom products work for me... I use a G3 or a MS-100BT on fast setup get in and get out gigs... when I have to travel light.

Otherwise I prefer, and use a board with much more expensive, boutique pedals. With the big rig, I have better routing options (i.e. putting the distortion before the volume pedal,modulation stuff in between, and delay/reverb after.)

I have recently gone to using the T Rex Magnus pedalboard, Reverb, Delay, Overdrive, Distortion, Boost and tuning function. Aside from the inability to split effects, i.e.; put the drives before and reverb/ delay after the volume pedal, it's an excellent unit currently at a very nice price point from Guitar Center. Highly recommended.

The T-Rex is a cool unit.... but, when I do the multi efx kind of gig, I need more than the 10 presets......

That shouldn't be a problem for most players, butI have the unfortunate predisposition to make crazy sounds on recordings that I have to reproduce live.

I've used the Boss ME-70 for the last year or so and it does what's needed for me, reverb, delay, chorus, overdrive, with lots of parameters and all built on a pedalboard design. The only downside is you have to patch it before the volume pedal to defeat the noise reduction circuit built-in.

The Digitech RP__"55" and RP___"50" get a lotta love here, specifically for their reverb, chorus and delays. They use the same basic chips and architecture in their big rack unit the GSP1102 as in their floor units The reason for the numeric monkey business above is that the newer (much better) designs started as the 150 and 250 and 350 up to the 500 and then the rack. You do NOT want the 100, 200, 300 etc. - wrong chip. And the 155 has a looper and a few other things the 150 didn't, ditto for the 255/250, /355/350 and so on.

I bought a 250 when it came out and it's served me very well. It's got a pedal on it but it sits up next to me, I chose the 250 over the 150 was for the extra line through, a 1/8" stereo jack. And they can all be edited via a computer USB port, and with 100 available presets, you can save different stuff in family style, like everything from 23 - 30 is reverbs only, etc. You can save and transmit settings, there are some people here with a bunch of that.

If you do not need to emulate cabs and amplifiers, the Lne6 M9 might well fit the bill, all the money is in the algorithims for the efects, not too high for under the steel.

Nice thing about the Zoom, it is all contained contained in one stompbox.

I'm currently using the TC Electronics Nova System in the loop of my Shaw head. Great sounding unit with lots of presets.
Dale

Danny Naccarato wrote:Nice thing about the Zoom, it is all contained contained in one stompbox.

Same with the Digitech RP155. It's pretty decent for a "cheaper" multi-effects unit. I use mine only for reverb, and run it in the front panel effect loop on my Nashville 400. I get a lot of compliments on my reverb. It's only $99.

Hey Danny, just checked out the Zoom model you've been using. I may have to ditch my ME-70. It looks really versatile!

I've been looking at the Zoom, too. I'm using a POD X3 but its been flakey (I've fortunately repaired it twice) but I don't know when it will die. I tried the current model POD HD and hated it, as the effects are not as good and the sound is "colored" (If I were using it with a distorted guitar it wouldn't be noticed).

I've tried several of the Digitech RP units and didn't like them.

If the X3 dies I either have to hunt for a used one or something else and the Zoom looks interesting.

Great suggestions so far. With the Zoom, I assume you can easily stomp to your pre-set effects? That is, no fidgeting on stage?

I had a Digitech RP50 that did that was very easy to use. However, it was a little noisy and died after only a couple years of light use in my studio. Not getting one of these again.

With either the Zoom G3 or the Zoom BT 100, you can set up patches in the order that you intend to use them, then cycle through them with the footswitch. It takes some planning. I like that the G3 features 3 buttons, that enable you to switch individual effects within a patch on or off, you can set up one effect that way in the BT 100. So, I find the G3 is a little more foot friendly.

With either the Zoom G3 or the Zoom BT 100, you can set up patches in the order that you intend to use them, then cycle through them with the footswitch

As far as I know, most multi effect stomp boxes will let you do this. Handy if your band does performances from set lists every time. I am actually a fan of separate units for each effect.

I've been using an 80's Korg PME-40X for guitars and another for steels for a long time... Interchangeable modular effects.. currently using overdrive,flanger,digital delay and digital chorus.. many more like analog chorus,compressor,eq,distortion wah,phaser..these plug into a heavy duty unit.. ac,true bipass..mono/stereo out... built like a tank!