How I use a Boss MS-3 and Line 6 HX Stomp Together
Вставка
- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- This video shows how I use the MS-3 as the "brain" (and the HX Stomp as the "brawn") of a powerful, flexible, and compact pedalboard.
0:39 - Wish list
1:10 - Why not just use a Helix LT or Floor?
1:56 - What kind of pedalboard and how it's powered
2:03 - Signal path and making connections
3:27 - "Dumb" patches that work like a traditional pedalboard
4:57 - Syncing tempo via MIDI and using CURNUM for tap tempo
5:47 - Changing patches on the HX Stomp with the MS-3
7:39 - Sounds with a "Dumb" patch
8:48 - "Smart" patches with MIDI and Assigns
9:40 - How to set up MIDI and Assigns for "Smart" patches
11:20 - Issues with toggling effects on and off
11:51 - Sounds with a "Smart" patch
15:53 - Acoustic patch
16:42 - Combining the "Dumb" and "Smart" patches with amp models/IRs
Finally someone who explains signal path in a detailed manner!!
I love these videos. You have a fantastic way of explaining a handful of deeper MS3 functions. Helps make the complicated stuff a little more intuitive. Great job!
Another MS-3 user that experiments with other multi-effects in the loops? INSTANT sub!
:D
This is 2 years later (2024), but somehow your video only just now popped up. Super glad it did!
One (rather minor) lifehack that I practice...
...you have purple button toppers on the MS-3. What I do is color-coordinate the button toppers with whatever effect I assign to that switch...
Examples:
(Assigned Effect - Button Topper color)
Tuner - White
Phaser - Light Green
Flanger - Purple
Chorus - Light Blue
Delay - Dark Blue
Overdrive - Yellow
Distortion - Orange
Reverb - Gray
(...basically, match the most common "Boss" color for that effect...)
...naturally, there are only 4 buttons on the MS-3, jsut that if I decide to change the assignments, I change the button toppers to match. Again, minor, but it just helps to have the visual on the fly; especially since I do sometimes switch things up. Of note: I almost 'always' use the MS-3 (and any other Boss Multi-effect unit that offers it) in 'Manual' mode, vice leveraging patches.
Double-bonus note: I do use a Boss FS-7 footswitch to give myself more control options.
Anyways, great video; so glad it came up (if even 2 years later!) - many thanks for posting. Cheers!
:)
Color coordinating the buttons is so smart!
@@ellenangelico Oh, hey! Many thanks! It’s fun, too!
:)
This is a cool rig! Midi controlling the Hx stomp. Brilliant.
Cool idea! I would not have considered putting the ms3 in the loop of the stomp, but hearing you explain it makes a lot of sense actually
I think integrating the MS-3 and HX Stomp together is a no-brainer. I’m strongly considering using the 4-cm with loop 3 of the MS and the FX loop of the Stomp, but I’m gonna consider the benefits of just putting the MS in the FX loop of the HX stomp. Either way will work. Not sure why more people aren’t putting these two pieces of gear together.
thank you! you are an excellent teacher
Very nice walkthrough. You speak very clear for us non native english speakers.
I’ve been looking at and now fondly saving for an ms3, and I’ve seena boat load of videos on it this is by far the best when it comes to explaining the possibilities of it and I like the idea of using out with the stomp or something like it. Thanks for the well thought out clear explanation of how use you use this set up
Thank YOU for the kind compliment! I made the video I wish I saw when I was setting up my rig.
The Stomp is so flexible..In my efforts to keep things VERY compact here is how I am using it: Runs on an 50k MAH power bank using a MyVolts adapter to eliminate finding power..Controlling the entire stomp via Bluetooth with the Yamaha MD-BT01 with an ipad; the TC Hall reverb in the effects loop to allow for spill over reverb while switching patches.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience, Ellen!!
This is so clever and well thought out. Nice!
massive video. soo much good stuff
Thanks Gavan! Happy to help.
Great setup Ellen!
Great video, Ellen! I have an MS-3 and am looking for something to combine it with for an ampless rig for cover band gigs. I love the MIDI functionality of these two units together, you’ve definitely given me a good point in the right direction!
So glad it helped!
Hey thanks for sharing this! You've helped expand my mind about what's possible with the ms-3. I agree that the drive sounds are much better than the Internet would have you believe!
You're welcome! Glad it was helpful for you.
As always, Ellen is the best! Excellent video for a gear junkie like me.
Very clever! Thanks for posting this.
Excellent (but still above my head) Video. Love the marking board. Really a great video .
Thanks, Jimmy! Drawing it out on the board was the only way I could get my head around it haha
Great video Ellen :)
Holy smokes, Ellen! Well done!
Thank you, Anders! Can't wait to shed the country solo you've got up on UA-cam.
Excellent video, it really helped me out. Thank you.
I'm so glad to hear that. You're welcome!
you can put the stereo outs of ms3 in stereo effect return on stomp, also you could put the stomp in and effect out in one of the ms3 loops, .has additional advantages.
Just got a boss es8 and an hx stomp! Would u mind elaborating on that?
@@antonylinteau3408 the es8 doesnt have effects built in does it? no reason to use a stereo out from es8
Hi Ellen, that an awesome programming, im having a hard time toggeling the solo SW on some overdrives, i tried the current number but toggles the effect competely
Hey Santiago! Thanks! Have you tried using CURNUM for M.SOLO? And then the solo setting is in the MST block. Or is that not what you're trying to do? (You also have to be in memory mode in order to use CURNUM, so maybe that's it?)
Hi Ellen. do you know if you can use an external tap switch going into the MS3 and then use midi to sync the Tap Tempo to the HX stomp ??
Thanks
I haven't done this personally but I'm pretty sure it would work. Have you tried setting it the same way I did around 4:57, but instead of selecting CURNUM you'd use one of the CTRL ins?
Very cool close integration! Pretty impressive how well these two work together. The BOSS unit really opens up the stomp like a standalone MIDI controller would, but with some added flexibility with internal effects. I’m curious what your acoustic signal chain is!
I’m using a little Disaster Area Designs MIDI controller to move through patches on my H9 and HX stomp. Definitely not as efficient as this with individual pedal changes though!! So cool
Peter! Thank you for watching! The HX signal flow of the acoustic patch is Studio Tube Pre (sounds good on one of my acoustics but not the other), Low/High shelf EQ (chopping out a bunch of unnecessary freqs), Parametric EQ (light mid scoop), and LA Studio comp. Then the MS-3 (just in case) and HX stomp plate reverb. Very convenient and sounds pretty good. Would love to see how your H9 rig is set up!
@@ellenangelico awesome. The tube pre and LA2A thing both sound pretty impressive to me! I’ve been curious about loading acoustic gtr IR’s into the IR loader and seeing how it feels. Very coooool
Not sure why MX users have a problem with the internal tuner, it works just fine and bypasses as well
Both the MS-3 and the HX stomp have good tuners. I've tested the HX one right next to a fancy strobe tuner and it held up admirably. I found it nice to have a dedicated tuner for a number of reasons: freeing up a footswitch, dedicated mute switch, I like using the polytune and I'm used to it, etc.
ellen! so nice to see a familiar face while on a quest to better understand my MS3! i'm trying to get the control out (not midi) to control a matthews effects astronomer via it's 'alternate in' TRS jack... not getting consistent results from the MS3 signal sending side... any thoughts?
Hi Peter! I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help here. I've only used the control outs for switching amp channels. I assume you've poked around in the CTLOUT settings in the menu? I never know whether it should be set to Latch, Pulse, or Invert and always end up trying them all until I get it working.
GREAT VIDEO. What kind of plugs are you using for the input and L1 (send & return) into the MS3? I have SP400 and i cant get them to plug into the MS3 together. They're too big.
Hey thanks! I made those cables myself. Can’t remember what brand the connectors are, it’s been a while, sorry!
@@ellenangelico Great board... Thanks no probs
How are you powering the HX Stomp with the Strymon Ojai? The back of the HX Stomp says 9V 3A. From the video it looks like you are using a current doubler on two 500mA power outputs for a total of 9V 1A. Is that sufficient to power the HX Stomp or do you have random power glitches at max draw?
Hey! You’re right that I’m using a current doubler. I haven’t had any power issues! But your mileage may vary!
Hello! Do you know if you can send FX Loop 1 to Output L and FX Loop 2 to Output R? I’ve looked through the manual and haven’t seen that as an option.
Thanks!
Don’t know, sorry! Haven’t tried that.
Great video! What do you do for a solo boost out of interest?
Thanks David! I don't really have a "clean" boost in this setup. I use a combination of the Nobels and my guitar volume, depending on what I'm going for. Prior to setting the MS-3 up this way, I was using CURNUM as a solo boost, which was very convenient.
Thank you for such a killer and informative video!! Super stealth ninja rig. Will these same principles apply when pairing a BOSS ES5 with the HX Stomp?
Hey thanks! I don't use an ES-5 so I don't know for sure, but I think the ES-5 is basically the same thing minus the multi-effects. So you get all the same footswitching and MIDI control but no effects built in. Still a great piece of gear.
@@ellenangelico so cool ! Thank you so much! Subbed 🙏
The only thing I might have missed, is how the Stomp knows to go to that patch when you set up the Midi Patch on the MS-3. Is there anything that needs to be done in the Stomp?
Nope! Long as they're connected with a MIDI cable, the HX Stomp has a MIDI input that is always "listening" for MIDI messages from the other end of the cable. Lots of good info about this stuff on page 48 and 49 of the HX Stomp manual.
@@ellenangelico awesome thank you so much. I’ve envisioned the ability to be able to do this for a while now, and after watching this video a few times it got me over the hump. Being able to program each song into a patch, and change amp models in the stomp (I go out to a headrush speaker) as well as control the sounds within the song in manual mode is *chefs kiss*. Thanks again, this video really got me over the hump!
@@brentcollinsmusic that's awesome! It sounds like you have a cool setup.
So if you don't use an IR on the amp model patch (bank 3) and you don't use a backline amp how to do you simulate speaker tones?
Great question. I ended up modifying my bank 3 patches so they used less DSP and I could fit SOME type of cab in there, even if it's not the ones I like the best. There's a couple HX amp models that are low DSP, and they're not my favorite, but they get the job done in a pinch.
@@ellenangelico Ahh okay so you do have cab sim for going direct then? Thanks for replying!
Yes! I use one of the built-in Line 6 ones.
Hmmm I’m totally stealing this setup.
Great video
Do you have gaps when changing between presets on ms3?
I definitely notice a gap when changing presets, but I also don't change presets in the middle of songs. I used to change presets in the middle of songs and with some practice I got used to the gap, learning where I had the space to make the change. But I'm liking the MS-3 more since I've been using it in manual mode.
@@ellenangelico thanks for answering. i am watching this very inspiring video once again. I am thinking of combining Boss ms-3 with HX stomp for delays and amp sims and another external fancy reverb. As I would use delays and reverbs from those two external devices, I suppose that gap between patches on the MS-3 would be a.lot less noticable due to trails of the external delays and reverbs. At least I hope so. That is like the only downside of the ms-3. Everything else is basically perfect for a midi controlled, quality and compact pedalboard solution. And my music and way of going trough songs/setlists really doesn't let me use manual mode that much..so that is my only gripe...I do not have ms-3 nor HX yet (trying to downside from my regular pedalboard, so I have to sell stuff first to fund it) so I am not able to try it and see how much in reality it bothers me. Playing in a instrumental trio makes it more important than it is in most settings, as everything is more pronounced and audible
It will definitely be less noticeable if your delays and verbs are not on the MS-3. Good luck!
Excellent. I'm intrigued by your purple ms3 pedal switches. Are they custom?
Can't remember where I got them! I've had them a long time. I have a small shoe size so it's a lot easier to grab NUM1/2 or NUM 3/4 with the larger buttons.
Also just watched your Celtic fingerstyle video- you are a monster player! How cool.
@@ellenangelico Thanks for getting back to me and for your kind words :) btw, I discovered they are called footswitch toppers!! They'll make my new MS3 buttons easier to see!
Would owning the Helix solve all of this and cost the same?
Great question. It may even be cheaper if you do the LT or look at used gear. My issue was more about size and weight. Once you get into combining the Helix or LT with other pedals (for me it would be a wireless at minimum and wireless/drive/tuner at the most) you're looking at a pretty big footprint.