Adding Effects...Processor vs. Pedals?

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Hey guys!

So, I'm adding a DMC Ground Control and Audio Switcher to run with my rig...I'm singing now, so I need better control of everything...no more tap dancing.

Now, with this, I was planning to add a few effects to the rig....more specifically a chorus and compressor.

These two pedals are going to cost me some money...and it got me thinking....for only a little more, I can go with a processor, such as a TC Electronics G Major, and have ever effect imaginable at my dispense.

Would you guys recommend going the processor route for my needs? Controlling it via MIDI will be just as simple....effects are high quality from what I hear.

How about effects that go out front (compressor for example)....how does the G-major get those out front?

Any other processors of the sort I should look into?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[6L6C]

Rack all the way! At least with certain things. Putting cost effect aside you no longer have a chorus pedal or delay or reverb, you have many just for the simple reason the processor is programmable. With a processor or at least most you can target any parameter you chose or multiple at the same time (usually up to eight) some processors also have very cool mix sections gives you the option to run your effects in series or parallel or really anyway you can imagine, which can give some nice textures.

I don’t know about the G-Major but the G-System supports the 4 cable method which gives you the ability to place effects either after the preamp or before the preamp also the G-System has I believe two loops so you can place your favorite stomp boxes in the loops and they can be called upon when you want. I think these loops can be programmed for before/after preamp. Maybe the G-Major has some of these goodies. The G-System might be the direction you want to go in but it cost $$ 1600.

But this is what you get

A device that

Is a effects processor of course

Supports external loops for stomp box’s

Has its own midi control board (which is tuff as hell BTW)

And of course the 4 cable method

 

[fbomb]

and dont forget they can both change channels on your amp with nothing more than a cable and a midi pedal ,no fancy or expensive switchers needed.Gmajor does not do the 4 cable method but its alot cheaper than the Gsystem and the FX are pretty much the same in both units.i use the Gmajor with my Duece and it works great,plus no tone coloration in my opinion.

 

[6L6C]

and dont forget they can both change channels on your amp with nothing more than a cable and a midi pedal ,no fancy or expensive switchers needed.

Ooop's but I did forget

 

[pjrake]

with the ground control rack you can have the G major in the amp's loop and add a compressor pedal that's in front of the amp, all MIDI switchable. just house the pack in a rack shelf.

i run a barber compressor in front of the amp for my clean sound (in front) along with the G major's chorus and delay (in amp's loop), but when i switch to my dirty sound the compressor drops out along with the G major and the TS9 kicks in, along with channel 2 of the DR amp... all with one button!

for my switching i'm using axess GRX4 (and CFX4) along with rocktron's MIDI mate footcontroller.

 

[eventide_awakening]

and dont forget they can both change channels on your amp with nothing more than a cable and a midi pedal

from what research i did on the g-system it would only change up to 3 channels on your amp...is this correct?

i believe that was why i didn't buy the g-system...i didn't want that huge midi board and my roadster footswitch as well...that was the only reason cause i spent about the same amount on my individual pedals. the demo videos for it sounded pretty freaking sweet though. if i only had a 2 or 3 channel amp you'd better believe i would have bought it.

 

[Strategy500]

IMO if you want simplicity I would go with stomp boxes, but if you want versatility, I'd go rack. A combination of both would be even better. As a singer (which I only did for about 4 years), having a simple midi pedal and an effects processor was, for the most part, easy to manage on stage. I had all my patches and banks grouped up so that changing patches in the middle of a song was simple. Any patch can have any combination of effects you like. So with a single tap on the midi board, you can change from a set of effects and eq, distortion or clean, to a completely different configuration. That would be difficult with stomp boxes, as you would have to turn on/off each individual pedal (tap dance) to get the result that you could with an effects processor. The down side to effects processors, is that all the effects in the particular processor may not all be what you like. With pedals, you can individualize your tones a little better.

 

[eventide_awakening]

IMO if you want simplicity I would go with stomp boxes, but if you want versatility, I'd go rack. The down side to effects processors, is that all the effects in the particular processor may not all be what you like. With pedals, you can individualize your tones a little better.

Both are excellent points that shouldn't be overlooked.

The additional option of using your own stompboxes with the g-system's loops is great for incorporating the best of both worlds.

I found that the effects on the podxt became harsh to my ears over time. especially the chorus. Don't know what it was, but I could not dial in a good sound that worked with the rest of the gear. Simple (and cheap) stompboxes provided a better quality sound than the pod did, so I stopped using it and got some good quality single-effect units. Can't complain now. I keep my effects pretty simple as I don't use any two effects at the same time so my "tap dancing" is minimal. Works for me and keeps me from using multi-Fx processors and rack-mounted gear.

Best of luck in finding your solution.

 

[Mr_You]

Pedals.

I ditched my rack gear for multiple reasons, but for the most part I just don't need much effects and for the few effects I do want, they need to be in front of the amp. Never enjoyed setting up MIDI. Glad to see it go.

I'm down to just wanting a touch of reverb for cleans, a front-end delay for screaming bends, a wah pedal, and tuner. Maybe a univibe one day.

For recording I should be able to add reverb or delay when needed.

 

[eltrain858]

i've never had a rack unit, but after my experience with my digitech rp5, line 6 flextone ii and iii, i decided to go on a pure pedal kick. i love the ones i ended up getting, especially the DD-20 now that i've started using it's modulation and reverse settings, right now the only major gas i've got is for a bb preamp.. BUT despite my love of this setup, in order to match all the parts i do in different songs, there is a good deal of pedal tweaking to be done between songs (tweaking = flexibility in my opinion, so it's a good thing)... if i was the singer and had to be entertaining during those intervals, it would be really convenient to have a rack unit and ground controller.. the work is all on the front end, programming/tweaking the different effects and banks of patches that you want, but once it's in there you're good to go and you don't have to change your (chorus speed/delay level/flanger depth/reverb time) knobs everytime you switch songs like you might end up doing with analog pedals. plus with a rack your fx loop is only 4 feet of cable (instead of 20-30 feet if you ran it out to a pedalboard..)

 

[highwaynine]

The fact that one stomp can: switch off your overdrive, adjust your chorus depth, turn a delay on, change your EQ settings, switch off the compressor and even add an amp model, is why I love my Boss GT. I'll admit that I'm not sophisticated enough to want any sounds the GT can't make for me, but if I was, I'd be shopping for rack units.

I started out with lots of stomp boxes, and I loved them. But I'm not good enough to turn on, turn off, twist dial, etc...without missing something. I was ALWAYS hitting the "suck" pedal along the way. :evil: Adding singing to the mix has only increased my conviction that programmable is the way to go.

 

[BlackIrish]

+1 for rack effects. I found it to be much easier and sound better with my Rec and GCX. I have friends who use the G-Major and pedals (mostly MXR) together with their Boogie and GCX and have great tone. You might also check out the Rocktron Xpression. I use it and I think it stacks up to the G-Major, it's a little cheaper, and you get that fantastic strobe light on the front. I love my Prophesy so that was also a consideration for going with Rocktron. Good Luck

 

[Headtrip]

My buddy played with BOSS pedals for the longest till he got his rack unit major tone diffrence for the good.

 

[Highwaytohell]

I'm a pedal junkie, I'll admit it. Pure Analog tone is all that does it for me, and tc, although they put out some good units, I still am anti-digital and all. Grab an Analogman CompROSSer and an EHX Small Clone. I stick buy the time and tired, Quality over Quantity. The G-Major can do alot of things ok, but analog single efx boxes can do only a few things Great.

 

[danyeo1]

Rack effects simply don't cut it for tone for certain things. I like rack units for delay, reverb, and some EQ in the loop. But use the chorus, FLanger, Phaser, or other modulation effects form a rack unit in the loop and it sounds like processed garbage. I haven't heard a rack unit be able to duplicate the phaser sound from my crappy phase 90. Also, try pitch shifting or wah in the loop and tell me how bad it sounds.

 

[LegGodt]

I use a combination of rack effects and pedals. I love the way phaser and flanger sound before the amp, so I use an MXR Phaser and MXR Flanger there. My Digitech Whammy pedal is also before the amp. IMO it just sounds better there.

I will be getting a GCX Audio Switcher soon to simplifiy turning the pedal on and off.

My rack gear is all Rocktron (Intellifex, Intelipitch, and Replifex) and I'm using a Rocktron All Access to control everything.

If you can only afford to buy a few things now, I would first invest in a quality rack unit. More bang for the buck and you can always add pedals in the future.

 

[myqqy]

I don't play gigs anymore- only doing recording in a high end studio.  For me, effects start and end with eventide.  I just bought an eventide eclipse 1 rack space unit, and it's sound quality blows everything else away.  Eventide now makes a pair of effect pedals for the guitar- one a modulation pedal, the other a delay pedal.  I would be curious to see how well those stack up to the eventide rack units...

 

[mikey383]

I've never been fond of tap dancing on pedals, since I sang and played lead guitar in my last band and needed a pretty simple rig. So, I went with a rack setup and a midi board. I can get most of the sounds I need from what I have, but there are some things that I would rather have in front of the amp. Plus, I've always liked the look of a nice pedalboard, it just never fit my style.

I think rack and pedals are a good compromise for some things. You can get the majority of sounds from the rack, but some sounds from pedals, without having to tap dance.