How many of you have gone from individual fx to multifx and been happy?

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  • chrisj1602chrisj1602 Frets: 3889
    I went from amp and a few pedals to a Helix LT and I really liked using it at home. I’ve started playing with a band again and wasn’t really happy, I was tweaking too much and instantly missed having an amp.

    I sold the LT with a Stomp in part-ex, got myself an amp again, and I run the Stomp and a boost into it. The Stomp is a really handy thing for home use, recording etc but I think for a gig it will just be a delay and tuner. So yeah, I wasn’t happy moving to a multi effects but I still use one for some stuff!
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  • onlyatomonlyatom Frets: 31
    I'm currently in the middle of this. I've got a HX Stomp, MC6, DVP and a mini switch – feels like I spend all my time messing around programming the rig instead of playing it.

    Trying to make a decision on whether this is just a phase of ownership and I'll settle in to a rig, or if I should go back to individual pedals.
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  • TTBZTTBZ Frets: 2873
    edited August 2022
    I had a HX Stomp for a while as my only effects and I liked it but ended up going back to normal pedals. The switching convenience is the main thing I liked about it - for instance mine was set up in 4CM and my lead tone switched on a reverb and EQ in the loop with a bit of front end boost, all in one press. What I didn't like was it wasn't easy to tweak mid gig or song if needed like a normal pedal and it all feels a bit locked in. Also a bit silly but I think it needed a patch box if you like tidy cable runs and pedalboard as the ins/outs are all over the place on it. Plus normal pedals just seems more fun somehow.
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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10357
    I have 3 different rigs I tend to use. 

    For the tribute band I use the Pod Go, AKA the poor mans Helix. This is because when travelling around the country space in the splitter van is tight, so none us us have amps. I'm not that fond of the drive sounds but some of the effects are nice. 

    For the main rock band I'm in I use a midi controlled Marshall JMP-1 with a Boss BT10. This means means I can have loads of patches for different songs set up with different gains on the Marshall and different effects on the GT10 all selected with one touch and no latency. This drives a Marshall EL34 100/100 into a stereo Marshall cab mic'ed dry side.
    Some of the sounds you can get with this are superb but it's massive and i can't even lift the rack on my own. 

    For dep work and general other gig'ing I use a Fender Hot Rod and some pedals. I have a Joyo Ultimate drive, compressor, analog delay and a tuner. This is generally enough to cover most things and being all analog sounds better to my ears than a digital multi effects. 

    The multi effects I was most happy with was was The Vox Tonelab SE. This was a huge device released about 20 years ago which sounded great and was so easy to adjust on the fly. It also sounded good in terms of the amp models. The effects would seem dated now in terms of reverb  / modulation quality though. 

    So for me there's no reason to pick one way to do something. It's better to have the tools and then just use what's most suitable for the job. Even if I was only playing at home I would still have different bits of gear. At the moment though the most used bit of home gear is the Nux MP2 which is a £50 headphone amp which proves the most useful stuff isn't the dearest. 

    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • TheMarlin said:
    I have gone from individual pedals to a HXFX. 
    It’s an incredibly capable joyless box.  I want my pedals back.  
    That's my experience. Can't argue that it's fantastic. Didn't get any joy from its efficiency and stopped experimenting with pedals. I've ended up with an analogue compressor and analogue gain-based pedals in front of a Plethora X5. I cannot find a digital drive I like. I treat the slots in the X5 as if they were individual pedals and edit on the fly without needing a computer. It's working for me.
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    edited August 2022
    I'm not mad keen on the HXFX but I think I could make it work if necessary. Still need external pedals for pitch stuff though - Whammy and POG type effects aren't really that good and stop you using other stuff due to DSP. And my Behringer SF300 is a better fuzz pedal than the Wringer model on the HXFX as it's less noisy.

    I got an TC Plethora x5 and that seems a much better compromise between using normal pedals and having an all in one box. But it doesn't have drives, so still need external pedals. Something equivalent to the x5 for multiple drive sounds (and combinations thereof) might be good.

    With individual pedals I dislike the pain of having to keep recabling and also the power supply thing is a bit of a nuisance when you have stuff with weird requirements - for eg Digitech whammy. However because of still needing external pedals with the above two multi effects, that's still the case. I've since changed to a Whammy Ricochet and I did buy a Thomann power supply though which was better than my Trex Fuel Tank junior for covering high power requirements so I think ideally I'd be happy with a few drive/boost pedals, my Whammy Ricochet and the x5.
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • DominicDominic Frets: 16011
    Swapped a full pedalboard for a Helix FX ....plus a Klon.
    Use the Klon all the time and frankly only use the hxfx for a bit of delay adjustment and very rarely a bit of flange/phase.
    Makes me realise how neat ,tidy,convenient and UNIMPORTANT the fx are.
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  • robinbowesrobinbowes Frets: 3021
    Dominic said:
    Swapped a full pedalboard for a Helix FX ....plus a Klon.
    Use the Klon all the time and frankly only use the hxfx for a bit of delay adjustment and very rarely a bit of flange/phase.
    Makes me realise how neat ,tidy,convenient and UNIMPORTANT the fx are.
    Suggestion:
    1. Use the Klon in the Helix FX
    2. sell the Klon
    3. Profit!
     =) 
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  • I prefer individual pedals at home, but I when leaving the house I’m much more tempted to use the Zoia as a multi-fx rather than lug everything around. 
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  • RoundwoundRoundwound Frets: 267
    Recently sold my Stomp. FX units are great in principle but I fiddle too much and don’t practice. Once pedal knobs are set, I find amp and board are plug and play.
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  • robertyroberty Frets: 10893
    onlyatom said:
    I'm currently in the middle of this. I've got a HX Stomp, MC6, DVP and a mini switch – feels like I spend all my time messing around programming the rig instead of playing it.

    Trying to make a decision on whether this is just a phase of ownership and I'll settle in to a rig, or if I should go back to individual pedals.
    I think this principle applies in general. With digital convenience the difficulty is in narrowing down what you want, whereas with analog it's about expanding outwards. It's the same when you compare record shopping vs using Spotify. There are lots of parallels. I think young people intuitively do this, since they were born into it. They are different skills
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  • DrHungryDrHungry Frets: 116
    Recently sold my Stomp. FX units are great in principle but I fiddle too much and don’t practice. Once pedal knobs are set, I find amp and board are plug and play.
    I definitely agree with this, I've spent more time playing and less time messing with settings since I ditched my Helix and went back to pedals/amp. I also feel that I've developed more of my own consistent sound by limiting myself to just a few pedals and one amp rather than having a new favourite amp model every week.

    Having said all that, I'm selling a wonderful, versatile and definitely not time-swallowing Helix Floor in the classifieds if anyone is tempted after reading this thread!  ;)
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  • robinbowesrobinbowes Frets: 3021
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  • timbuk02timbuk02 Frets: 271
    edited August 2022
    ^ exactly.
     ...interested is anyone is using a Boss MS-3 for happy middle ground between multifx / fave drive pedals. Can imagine the Plethora x3 also being at the end of drive/fuzz options for plenty of choice, tho as others said, more of a digital pedalboard than multifx I guess.
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  • BidleyBidley Frets: 2912
    Ditched everything for a Helix years ago. Less fiddling, less time/stress setting up for gigs, more time enjoying playing.
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Why don’t I have both? That would be two sets of FX to set up.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    edited August 2022
    I prefer separate effects that I can switch in or out, rather than calling up a whole patch of sounds. I find it gives me more flexibility, at the expense of sometimes having to do a bit of 'pedal dancing'. I've gone from an individual effects set up, to recreating the individual pedals by using a multi-fx in 'stomp box' mode

    With separate pedals, the signal chain sequence I aimed for was as follows (although there were sometimes some compromises):

    1) Comp-->
    2) Wah-->
    3) Overdrive (crunch type sound)-->
    4) Distortion-->
    5) Chorus-->
    6) Volume pedal-->
    7) Delay (~330ms) -->
    8) Delay (slap ~ 82ms) -->
    9) 3db clean boost-->
    10) 6db clean boost-->
    11) Reverb--> Then into clean amp

    I've been using a Helix LT in 'stomp box' mode into the front of an HRD IV amp for a while now and recreated my ideal pedal board as follows:

    Helix signal chain
    Edit (25.08.22). Changed the signal path picture.
    Reason: In my most recent set up, there's a Gain (Vol) block at the start of the chain. This is used to compensate for different output pickups. So I can adjust the level into the chain without having to tweak the individual Comp, OD and Distortion settings to cater for different output pickups.
    https://i.imgur.com/jPEjwtT.png

    0) Vol (Gain block) used to compensate for different output pickups
    1) Dyn = Kink Comp
    2) Wah = Weeper
    3) Dist = Teemah (crunch type sound)
    4) Dist = Compulsive drive (distortion)
    5) Mod = Modulation chorus
    6) Vol = Volume pedal
    7) Delay = Simple delay (331ms)
    8) Delay = Simple delay (82ms)
    9) Vol = 3dB Gain
    10) Vol = 6dB Gain
    11) Verb = Room

    The above (no amp or cab sim) goes to the 1/4" jack output of my real HRD amp.

    There's also an amp + cab sim (US Princess) added in the path to the XLR out. The XLR out is used to go into my audio interface for home practice, emulating my live set up. Or it could go straight into a PA.

    The pedal assignments are shown below, which don't follow the actual effects sequence. The main reason is so that boost buttons are next to the drives, so I can rapidly add boost plus drive for solos and fills. The reverb is always on, so it isn't assigned to a button. The bottom row sets my basic sound which is clean, crunch and distortion. Sometimes I boost the crunch or drive setting and just ride the volume pot on my guitar for intermediate levels of gain, crunch and distortion.

    Helix pedal assignments
    It's not a competition.
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27579
    edited August 2022
    I had a patch on the Helix that roughly recreated my previous pedal board for just getting on with playing. But I also had patches for "what happens if..." with weird routing,  strange combinations,  that sort of thing.

    Now I just have one patch called "YouHadMe@Cello".
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23935
    I love my Helix. I don't even own a guitar amp anymore.

    I tend to use a real amp with my bass but that's only because there's no PA when I play out and I'd have to take an amp and cab as well anyway, and 99% of the time I just have a tuner, compressor, and an octave on my board for jazz gigs.
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  • DrHungryDrHungry Frets: 116
    Here are some further reflections of mine that nobody asked for. I'm not trying to suggest that multifx are not excellent and useful products in the right circumstances by the way, these are just reasons why I didn't find it to be any better than a conventional pedalboard/amp setup, for live use in particular.
    • Weight/portability - Unless you have a backline provided (which I never do at the function gigs we normally play), you still need some sort of sound projection device to hear yourself. I used the FX return of my combo amp, which sounded the best of all the options to me but completely negated the benefits of a modelling setup. FRFR or power amp and guitar cab could be an option but that's still the same volume of boxes to lug about. Hearing myself just through our own PA monitor wedges just felt wrong to me. IEMs might be the best solution, but that's another expense. The Helix Floor itself was slightly smaller and lighter than my current pedalboard admittedly but that's because a) my pedalboard is an old cupboard door from the house I grew up in and I'm too sentimental to swap it and b) I like a lot of space between the footswitches for my feet (I could only gig with the Helix when wearing one particular pair of brown loafers, my other shoes were all too clumsy to hit just a single switch reliably).
    • Setup - I don't see how this is any quicker with a modeller - I just plug my pedalboard into my amp and it's ready to go?
    • Backup plan - if my amp dies I'll switch to the DSM simplifier I keep as a backup via our PA - not ideal but I've got the familiarity of my pedalboard still. If my pedalboard goes down - I can live without delay/modulation at a push and I can use amp gain or my spare battery powered OD pedal. If your modeller goes down - that's the whole signal chain and you've got to switch to a backup for every component.
    • Sound - without wishing to court controversy, I feel that my current sound with 4-5 pedals and a valve amp is head and shoulders above anything I could ever dial in on the Helix. Almost certainly that's my deficiency in dialling in rather than a technological advantage, but the net result is the same.
    • Consistency - occasionally my children creep into my music room and twiddle the knobs on my pedalboard just for the hell of it. This is mildly irritating if I discover it on turning up to a gig, but luckily it takes sub 20 seconds to return said knobs to their rightful orientation. I once turned up to an acoustic gig with my Helix to discover that I'd ineptly deleted my carefully honed acoustic preset. After 20 minutes of rebuilding, including rewatching the YouTube video I'd studied on creating the tone...it still sounded shit!
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