Portable Multi FX Unit for Guitars

Can any of you guitarists recommend a multi FX unit that does this decently:

  • Reverb
  • BPM-able Delay (MIDI is a bonus)
  • overdrive
  • pre-amping

I’m looking to get a solution for the road :slight_smile:

Cheers!
j

I’m a full-time touring musician - a guitarist primarily - and I’m currently using a Line 6 Helix…

No complaints.

Cheers!

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Line 6 M5!
all of your wishes + Midi + nifty Tuner for Analog Synth and your Guitar :guitar:
…Midi clockable delays and time fx

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I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on this. I’ve heard good things. I believe Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins says he now uses this for all of his live shows (although I also wonder if he is paid to say that).

It’s a fairly deep and multifaceted pedal… Is there something specific you’d like to know?

Cheers!

If you want some wild effects along with the old standbys, try the Eventide H9.

You can only load up one algorithm at a time, but many of them have several matches effects. Pitch and fuzz, for example, or reverb and tremolo.

It might not be what you’re after, but I LOVE mine. Also works great with Elektron gear.

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I never really got into multi-fx pedals in the past. I was just wondering if you feel the modeling has advanced much.

If you want a small form factor, check out the Line6 HX Stomp. It’s an amazing device with pretty much the full feature set of its larger siblings. The biggest limitation is the fewer effects that it can run at once (six if I remember correctly).

I was worried about this limitation, but then thought: “as an Elektron user, how could I not love this challenge?”. Well: it didn’t turn out to be limiting so far. I love this device, especially because it’s so small and lightweight.

It has all the features you require, and let’s you program everything ON the device, without requiring an app (like the Eventide H9).

It’s insane how much modeling can do these days. I was blown away once I got to test it at home.

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If you don’t need midi the zoom pedals are really good and cheap. I’ve got an older G3X and matched the Marshall JCM800 to my real JCM 800 quite convincingly. The whammy is also really good (something Boss MFX could never get right IMO). Most of the zoom FX blocks can be synced to BPM and can be used in any order of up to 6 FX (including amp and cab). Pretty flexible. Also had an M9 for a while which was a capable unit (though I never found the overdrives convincing).

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Yeah, they’ve made major strides. I recently got a UAD Arrow interface and the models on that are pretty amazing. I actually just sold my bass amp because of it. If I wasn’t so sentimentally attached to my amp, I could see myself just using that. The one thing I haven’t heard great modeling of though yet is fuzz.

I personally don’t have any complaints about the modeling; but then I’m not one to get hung up on arbitrary details, like whether or not the amp models are exact renditions of their real-world counterparts. I mean, if you want a real amp, use a real amp. I tend to focus on what a given piece of gear does best, rather than concern myself with how it stacks up against other gear. To that end, I get great, tactile tones out of the Helix, and that’s all that matters to me. That said, I use it to process more than just the guitar. I’m a utility musician, so I need a rig that’s flexible, especially in terms of connectivity and routing. I tour on some shows where I literally have every single orifice on the pedal occupied, including all 3 expression pedals and MIDI; and my largest patch is comprised of 4 separate stereo paths, using all 32 blocks of processing! The bottom line is, there aren’t many hardware processors out there that can do that; and even fewer in the pedal format…

Cheers!

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Totally. I gigging musician definitely knows what they need out of a piece of gear, and it looks nice and compact.

Actually that’s one thing I was wondering about the Helix. If Billy Corgan is really using it for all of his tours now, the fuzz must be quite capable considering that’s his thing.

I haven’t had call to use the fuzz yet, but in my opinion the FX are all usable. That said, I would never presume to speak to another player’s taste in tone, I can only tell you that I get what I need from it. But yes, I image Billy would be particular about fuzz (wink).

Cheers!

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Speaking of modeling. RJ Ronquillo is one of my favorite guitarists these days, and his tone on this UAD amp sim is soooooo good.

Just upgraded from a Line6 PODHD500X to Helix. Fantastic piece of kit imo.

…but not cheap.

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For what it´s worth - I just bought myself a new practice amp this saturday, a Line 6 V20 and I am really impressed by both the amp models and the integrated FX models (which are editable via USB connection and I am told are from the pedal models you guys mentioned here previously).

there´s also another pedal a friend of mine kept raving on about, a Zoom MS-70 “CDR”:

apparently that one is unbelievable for the price (haven´t tested it myself though).

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If it’s a Hendrix thing you’re after, I can vouch for the quality of the Uni-Vibe in the Helix. I use it on everything (grin).

Cheers!

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My current multi-effects is the one inside my Boss Katana 100 guitar amp. Not exactly a power user’s dream machine, but with the little foot switcher and expression pedal, it’s all I need to take to band rehearsal now, and it takes up so much less space. It has an effects loop, so I can patch in my H9 or whatever other effect if desired, and run it in parallel or series with the Katana’s signal chain.

As for the Eventide H9, note that it only runs one algorithm at a time. However, some algorithms are multi-effect, like the SpaceTime, which combine modulation, two delays, and reverb; and PitchFuzz which combines fuzz, 3 pitch shifters, and 2 delays. There are more multi-effect algos listed on the Eventide site:
https://www.eventideaudio.com/products/algorithms/index

I haven’t tested the fuzz sounds in the H9 extensively, so I’m not going to promise that you will like them.

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