Multi effect pedals for jazz?

**nick1994** · 06-05-2015, 05:37 AM

I'm not really into effects, but I want to start trying some out, obviously a multi effects pedal is appealing to me because you get an array of different sounds in one little unit and you don't necessarily need to be looking for anything specific, but I almost never see anyone use a multi effects pedal, is there some sort of stigma on them or something?

**Para** · 06-05-2015, 05:51 AM

I don't use them never have I prefer to get my sound from the guitar and amp, but if that's what you want to use then fine.

**eddy b.** · 06-05-2015, 07:23 AM

I have had multi effect units a digitech RP300 I believe. It was usefull in some ways like crafting a crazy tone in my bedroom, but on the gig it could get frustrating with volume inconsistincies from patch to patch. Now I use stand alone boxes.

**marcwhy** · 06-05-2015, 08:00 AM

What I've mostly seen/heard from players who use effects is that no multi-effects pedal sounds as good as their special OD pedal, and their special delay pedal, and their special ___ pedal, so they end up having five they like instead of one they "settle" on.

**KEOKI** · 06-05-2015, 08:20 AM

I use multi effects for convenience. Sure if you A/B a given effect you can usually find a better stand alone box. In a studio that is important. In a dance/show band, less so. The advantage of being able to trouble shoot one device when a problem occurs, as opposed to multiple devices/settings, connections, power supplies, etc. etc. during a performance is important to me. I am there to play guitar, not effects. Or to demonstrate my patience with a myriad of boxes and wires. Oh, that thing about different levels of different effects within a multi effect isn't something you have to live with. Read the book.

**Sandy Renda Wannabe** · 06-05-2015, 09:17 AM

TC Nova system does it all.

**GuyBoden** · 06-05-2015, 09:30 AM

I'd ask the question on a Rock/Pop guitar forum.

**dingusmingus** · 06-05-2015, 09:38 AM

I don't use many if any effects for jazz sounds, but I have some experience from my rock days. As one data point: I found that multi-effects sounds great on paper, but were never much fun to use. It's not because they didn't sound good--it was more that it was easier for me to quickly find the sounds I wanted by having dedicated boxes.

You also don't need to go crazy--buy a few cheap pedals and experiment. Say, one overdrive, one delay, maybe a chorus or leslie-type sound.

Anyway, lots of people use and love multi-effects, but there are enough luddites like me to keep the single-box-makers in business!

**DanielleOM** · 06-05-2015, 09:46 AM

I use a Zoom G2.1u, and primarily use an amp sim, and the stereo chorus.

We usually play at places where there is very little room for the performer. I think it would be a real challenge to find room in the performance area for some the pedal boards I see people using.

Danielle

**bluemusic4us** · 06-05-2015, 10:24 AM

Pros: You get a lot of effects for a little money. And the ones now sound fine.

Cons: A lot of programming. Not flexible on a gig. Everything has to be thought of in advance and stored in patches that you can call up.

**Archie** · 06-05-2015, 12:41 PM

I went through my usual OCD with all of this, single stomps V:S multis. I bought some single, I bought the T.C electronic Nova system (probably the best multi effects unit you can buy if you don't by an AXE FX).

In the ned i ditched the multi because they are harder to use and don't let you fall in love with smaller bits of kit, which i think can give you a more pleasurable experience.

Anyway thats my 2 bob.

I sold the Nova System after a month. I actually didn't think it was very good and some of the sounds which i did want, I didn't think were usable. Interestingly on the TC it was the reverb which is pretty important wouldn't you say ;-)

**vintagelove** · 06-05-2015, 12:49 PM

Anything beyond a little verb and delay is off putting to me.

**Flyin' Brian** · 06-05-2015, 01:04 PM

And we clearly have a majority of old farts here who don't see the capabilities of electronics. Tell that to Metheny, Scofield, Abercrombie, Rosenwinkle, Loueke or many of the modern jazz players.

While I'm a certified old fart myself at age 68, I use effects quite a bit in at least of the bands I'm working in. It's just more shades of paint on your palette. Not everybody plays a 17" archtop with flatwound 14s into a "jazz approved" amp for everything. Many of the modern multi-effects units are extremely gig-friendly in terms flexibility.

I use a 1999 vintage Boss GT-3 for spatial effects and use a couple of overdrives in the effects loop for some gigs. I program the GT-3 for the songs we play (we're mostly a festival band playing a 45 minute to 1 hour sets). I use only a guitar and an amp for other gigs that don't require effects. It's all about serving the music.

**Tom Karol** · 06-05-2015, 02:13 PM

I'm not much into effects either. I've owned a few digital multi-effects units but never kept them for very long - some interesting sounds available, but too awkward to use when playing live. Now I have a Carl Martin Quattro, which I only use for rock gigs: Compressor (great as a clean boost), dual overdrives (one VOX-like and the other more Marshall-like), Chorus, and Delay. All in one AC-powered box with effects loop (which I don't use) and dual buffered outputs (which I do). Again, I'm not really an effects guy, but it's quiet and sounds good and it has real knobs (which I set and forget).

**Archie** · 06-05-2015, 02:22 PM

Some units do offer a really good solution which is to be able to preset sounds and log them in a numbered switch. This is great if you're a pop artist and you are playing your produced music live and know that in the chorus you need different effects at different settings and you can just hit one switch.

The only draw back is, those effects all have to be to your liking otherwise you may never be happy.

**pkirk** · 06-05-2015, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by nick1994

I'm not really into effects, but I want to start trying some out, obviously a multi effects pedal is appealing to me because you get an array of different sounds in one little unit and you don't necessarily need to be looking for anything specific, but I almost never see anyone use a multi effects pedal, is there some sort of stigma on them or something?

Hey Nick, a multi FX pedal is great, especially if you are learning how to use various FX and don't want to spend a bunch of money until you understand what they do. I used a zoom G2 and replaced it with a Zoom ms50. once you know what you like, you probably will want to get
dedicated pedals because the multiFX pedals are difficult to use on a gig, you have to scroll through menus and make patches, and things don't always sound the same as they did at home, so adjusting is a pain. they also have tuners which is convenient.

All my gigs are jazz gigs, I don't play rock gigs. In addition to delay, reverb, distortions, for which I have dedicated pedals, I use the multi FX pedal for

vibrato (can give a organ like sound)
tremolo
octaves (Wes without the woodshedding)
autowah (this gives a steel drum effect when dialed in right, great for calypso type tunes, e.g. st thomas)
parallel 5ths (if it's good enough for Jim Hall, then its good enough for me)
slow attack (Frisell without keeping your hand on the volume knob)
and then various weirder effects that I use when I'm doing "free improv" gigs, like "step" and ring modulators, infinite sustain, backwards delays, etc.

It's not worth it to me to have dedicated pedals for these fx which I use rarely, and I'd never have tried them if I didn't have a multi FX pedal.

**ooglybong** · 06-05-2015, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by GuyBoden

I'd ask the question on a Rock/Pop guitar forum.

That too, but I think the OP is mostly looking for opinions of using multi-FX within a jazz setting.

**nick1994** · 06-05-2015, 06:17 PM

I'm getting an idea now, individual pedals are good if you know what you're looking for and seem to be more gig friendly whereas multi fx are good if you're not fussed about specific sounds. Since I don't know what I'm looking for, I just want to try out different types of effects, I might try out some multi effects pedals.

**Archie** · 06-05-2015, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by pkirk

Hey Nick, a multi FX pedal is great, especially if you are learning how to use various FX and don't want to spend a bunch of money until you understand what they do. I used a zoom G2 and replaced it with a Zoom ms50. once you know what you like, you probably will want to get
dedicated pedals because the multiFX pedals are difficult to use on a gig, you have to scroll through menus and make patches, and things don't always sound the same as they did at home, so adjusting is a pain. they also have tuners which is convenient.

All my gigs are jazz gigs, I don't play rock gigs. In addition to delay, reverb, distortions, for which I have dedicated pedals, I use the multi FX pedal for

vibrato (can give a organ like sound)
tremolo
octaves (Wes without the woodshedding)
autowah (this gives a steel drum effect when dialed in right, great for calypso type tunes, e.g. st thomas)
parallel 5ths (if it's good enough for Jim Hall, then its good enough for me)
slow attack (Frisell without keeping your hand on the volume knob)
and then various weirder effects that I use when I'm doing "free improv" gigs, like "step" and ring modulators, infinite sustain, backwards delays, etc.

It's not worth it to me to have dedicated pedals for these fx which I use rarely, and I'd never have tried them if I didn't have a multi FX pedal.

Agreed this is one of the plus points of mulit effects. I'm not against them per say I just dont need them. If I had to use 5 or 6, then I would again go down that path.

Actually in reality now, anyone who has a MAC has Garageband and you can try effects there, also a lot of amps are now doing a lot of effects too. It still comes back to how you enjoy the sound of them.

You point about experimentation though is spot on and a very good one but not needed if you are looking for something for a specific purpose.

**Archie** · 06-05-2015, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by nick1994

I'm getting an idea now, individual pedals are good if you know what you're looking for and seem to be more gig friendly whereas multi fx are good if you're not fussed about specific sounds. Since I don't know what I'm looking for, I just want to try out different types of effects, I might try out some multi effects pedals.

Thats a good idea, you are building a logical and practical approach. Don't forget as I mentioned above, a lot of these sounds you can get on your computer if you have an external interface.

If you want to practice with sounds a great place to start would be something by Boss. They are what you might conifer industry standard sounds, good enough quality through out, cheap and easy to get hold of. Also second hand if you buy ok, you will get your money back if and when you want to break it down into specific limited effects.

Boss Me 80 | eBay

Just don't try the Eventide stuff, prepare to have your mind blown lol They are super fine pedals but very expensive.

**wildschwein** · 06-06-2015, 12:44 AM

The Boss GT3 has some great Jazz presets and lots of JC-120 and Twin presets -- I dig this unit a lot. It is very organic to play through. The newer ME-70, is more tactile and is a nice multi too -- it can pull any sound you can dream of reasonably well. I like the options of multis, as you can really get inside them and tweak until you find what you want -- or just modify the presets. They seem to work best if you bypass the preamp section of your amp (via the effects return jack); or if you use a power amp and a speaker cab.

**GNAPPI** · 06-06-2015, 01:21 AM

For me the main purpose(s) they serve is adding a bit of reverb if the amp has none or the reverb is less than wonderful, and adding a bit of EQ if the amp has a limited tone stack. Also some actually come with a foot pedal that you can use for volume control. This could be real handy if you have a guitar with a varitone on it.

**Cunamara** · 06-06-2015, 01:46 AM

I use a Zoom MS100bt and have been delighted with it; I use it in place of an amp and run it into a powered PA speaker. Sounds as good or better than my traditional amps. The pedal does amp modeling , speaker sims, miking sims, reverb, compression, etc., and you can add effects via a smartphone app and bluetooth.

Allan Holdsworth uses something like six Yamaha MagicStomps, which were a very similar precursor to the Zoom pedal (but really needs a computer connection to properly edit patches- and the software for that is a decade old now; it runs on XP best and won't even run on Mac OS X- you need a PPC Mac and OS 9).

**ooglybong** · 06-06-2015, 02:16 AM

Originally Posted by KEOKI

I use multi effects for convenience. Sure if you A/B a given effect you can usually find a better stand alone box. In a studio that is important. In a dance/show band, less so. The advantage of being able to trouble shoot one device when a problem occurs, as opposed to multiple devices/settings, connections, power supplies, etc. etc. during a performance is important to me. I am there to play guitar, not effects. Or to demonstrate my patience with a myriad of boxes and wires....

Ha! I'm not so sure this guy would agree!

Multi effect pedals for jazz?-img_6968-small-jpg

I caught this band on Kimmel a few months ago. Sorry, I forget who this was, but the guy was a good player within the "indie" vein, even playing some nice, extended solos; along the way, though, he hit a few stompboxes with (AFAICT) absolutely no discernible difference (and I was listening through a nice surround sound setup).

IMO, recording and practice room pedal use/experimentation is one thing (and it can be lots of fun), but out on a gig—no matter what the style—a lot of the nuance of your prized boutique pedals can largely go right out the window. If I was only using one or two effects, sure, I'd be getting separate stomps, but, if you want several FX at your disposal, a multi-effects 'board can sometimes be the best way to go. IME. Personally, as long as I have a tap tempo and an expression pedal, I find most other adjustments largely unnecessary between songs (or else I just make another preset). I've had a few Boss units over the years, GT-5, GT-6, then GT-8, each one getting a ton of use at the time, and I'd recommend the line. I found them easy to use and never had the slightest problem. By the way, one nice thing (not necessarily unique to Boss) is "pedal" or "stomp mode", whereby each footswitch can turn the various FX on and off within any given 'patch'.

But that was using a multi-FX for rock/fusion stuff. For "regular" jazz, I'm totally happy with just a bit of the onboard reverb in my combo. If I was doing more experimental jazz a la Rosenwinkel, etc., I'd probably try my GT-8 again.

**mattm** · 06-06-2015, 02:54 AM

I Iove a good multi fx, I gig with them with no problems. While I am personally tied to jazz and jazz based blues, I am involved in a Christian worship group and a blues rock band on the side. I play a Vox tonelab, it not only helps me to be more versatile but adds so many great tools for my jazz work. Yes, it takes a bit of time, but well worth it.