They should be using the same guitars. When Pete says that he prefers the Overdrive on the pedal, how can he/you tell? The Humbuckers sound dramatically different than the single coils. I like my ME90 a lot, and would really have loved to see this one with the only difference being the pedals themselves, same guitars, same amps.
Exactly, what were they playing at using two completely different styles of guitar and pickup to compare anything with? I was assuming at the start that they'd be swapping guitars to hear both rigs through the different kinds of pup, but they just didn't. Very odd.
It's really not as big a deal as you're all making it out to be. It's a tele and a LP style guitar. There's a reason why no one's sold more LP's than Jimmy Pages telecaster. We as guitarists must stop listening with our eyes
Has nothing to do with eyes. A tele single coil and a humbucker sound so different. Putting the same signal through both options seems like a more fair and objective way to judge the sound.
@@jar5173 Doing so would help eliminate an obvious and expected difference rather than leaving it to people to try and excuse or dismiss the difference.
Because of the myriad of pedals out there, as a beginner the choice is daunting. My thought is the ME 90 funnily enough, and using that to identify sounds I like to perhaps develop a separate pedal board in the future.
In exactly the same place. Great way to access hundreds of effects in one place before then moving on to the real deal with grown up pedals as part of the learning and exportation pedal journey.
Pedals for me. Nice having many things instead of one thing. Don't get me wrong, I've used so many multi effects when I was younger, but now I can afford to have individual gear. Very nice
To be a truly accurate test both guitars should be the same ,either humbuckers or single coils there is too much tonal difference between the LP and Tele
I went all in on pedals over the last few years. I liked the sounds I was getting. But recently sold them all and bought the new Fender Tone Master Pro. The ease of use and full suite of pedals makes it such a versatile solution.
Pedals are fun, sound amazing. It's cool to start building pedals as well because you start to understand and appreciate how they work and which pedals work better together, and where in the chain sounds best for yourself. That being said, I received a Fender Mustange GTX 100 for my birthday and have been so surprised at how closely I can match the pedals in the amp to the pedals I have. In the end, the only thing that matters is that you're making music that you're happy with.
I'm a big fan of the show and use both pedals and multi-FX myself, but I don't think the multi-FX has been done justice here. As others have said, it is better to compare if you play the same guitar and amp. It also helps if the person doing it has first studied such a multi-effect. It would be nice to see this comparison again, but one with Pete demonstrating the stompboxes and "Digital"John demonstrating the Boss ME-90. Furthermore, the entertainment was good as always. Cool jam at the end!
I've owned Roland/Boss multi-effects since they introduced them (I still own the original) and after playing and gigging with many people who had the misfortune of trying to track down which pedal or cable was either faulty or had a dead battery (power supplies saved that) sometimes right in the middle of a gig, I've never regretted my choice. I have mine set up with literally a hundred different pedalboards for every style and option, with groups set up for each and every different guitar I choose to play at any given moment. The sound is always balanced from one to the other, and the effects are always spot on for the guitars and musical situation, even using different amps. Pedals seem to be a never ending chase for the next latest and greatest, and I don't have the time or funds to join the race.
I have been the sound guy for several local bands. On a number of occasions I have had to deal with a faulty pedal board or a pedal that is noisy (power supply issues are usually the culprit here). On one gig I did, we had to rewire one of the guitar players boards to remove a modulation pedal that he just bought. It worked at home in his garage but, in the noisy environment of a village hall gig with all the amps, keyboard, pedalboards, PA, and lighting connected to 3 or 4 outlets on the same electrical circuit, plus all the additional RF noise, it wouldn't stop buzzing. I've never seen that issue with a multifx unit.
As much as i love my ‘real’ pedal board going into my Princeton Reverb, for the the last year I have been using a HX Stomp with two choice modulation pedals (mercury 7 & Starlight) in the fx loop. Not only are there many options available (too many? maybe), the board they are on is small, super portable and my bands two regular sound engineers both regularly mention that they don’t have to tweek my guitar sound as much as the other guitarist who’s going through a mic’d amp, such is the quality of my sound output from the Stomp. Plus if there was a patch lead/power supply issue with either of the modulation pedals, there are perfectly good backup options in the Helix world.
@@risteardohaodha23 out of interest, how are you monitoring? In one of the bands I used to frequently do the sound for, they used a miced 100W Marshall which the guitarist also used for monitoring. Dealing with that in small hall and pub gigs was a nightmare: the amp needed to be turned up reasonably loud to get a good signal on the mic and the guitar player would occasionally adjust it for his monitoring preferences during the gig, which then needed adjustments in the mix. Also, the front row.of the audience often complained the amp was too loud. And, of course, feedback was always a problem. He has recently moved over to a Helix setup and sold his amps. Not only is it a lot less to transport, carry, and set up, but the sound mix is easier to get right and generally sounds better. The audience aren't blasted by the amp, and feedback issues are drastically reduced. He started with the Helix monitoring through wedges, but now has IEMs, and his band now has a silent stage setup.
I agree. For most of us watching this the convenience, instant adaptability and lack of clutter of a multi FX unit beat the last nth in tone but hassle and expense of pedals. If we want to sound better we should practise more.
I love these guys, watch all of their stuff, and admire them tremendously. Having said that, they had no clue how to use the ME-90. They used about 1% of it's features. Did not know how the chain was setup. Like when Pete said "this is all the gain I can get", are we kidding, just flip the dial to the next Distortion pedal, there are like 12 of them. They did not even use the built in Wah/Volume pedal, and could not afford one for their rig. I would like to see someone who actually knows how to use the ME-90 vs. those pedals. I absolutely am convinced it would blow them out of the water.
Yes, you can also get much more gain by changing the amp mod to a beefier amp like the rectifier. I have ME-70 and the gain available is more than anyone would ever use if you use the right settings.
maybe you are right but i think i get them too, multieffect with all its feature can be too overwhelming for some, i prefer tinkering individual pedals than the multi
@@leokrissandy5579 That why the boss me range trumps most other mfx units. You have the knobs on each section as if they were individual pedals. So you can treat it as as a five or six pedal pedalboard when you start. Then later you can create your own sounds and store them to patches for songs if you wish like most other mfx units. So if you are used to using pedals the ME-90 is the most intuitive mfx unit to move to.
They should have also tested the situation where they needed to change the settings for a new song. With a multifx that is a tap of a foot. With standard pedals, you have to adjust them manually, if you can remember the settings.
I don’t have an amp, I just have an ME-90 into some studio monitors and interface. Sounds awesome, easy to use and has all the sounds I’ll ever need! To get close down the pedal route like the andertons vid I would also need to budget in the amp and cab which I assume is a little bit pricey!!! No contest for me, ME-90 all day. 🎉
Sorry for my ignorance but your set up sounds interesting. How does the interface figure into the chain? I am just a bedroom player and like the idea of the ME-90 just directly through studio monitors. If that works. Thank you.
For me the multi-FX unit wins hands down. I’ve used pedals before-in the early ‘70s I had a few-but since I started back in the days when the only effects you had were the tremolo and reverb in your amp, assuming you could afford one that had those, I’ve always needed very specific tones. Once I get stuff programmed in, my settings stay the same. Since I’m going through an amp, I keep the amp clean and use its tone controls as a master EQ to set it up for the room. I don’t need different settings for each song, as most of the bands I’ve played with don’t play songs in the same order every time. When the bandleader calls a song, I have to be ready with the right sound instantly. So I don’t use a wide variety of patches-I have my clean sound, my edge-of-breakup sound, and my heavier overdrive sound if I need that. The effects I use are tremolo, sometimes chorus, compression and reverb are on all the time, as is the volume pedal. I do a lot of pickup switching on the fly, and I may be the only player around who actually uses the tone control(s) on the guitar! I certainly can’t use a single-pickup guitar-there’s not enough tonal variation. Unless I’m doing a jazz gig!
I really want a multifx but everytine i try one i either just use the first half decent sound i find. Or i spend ages trying to dial in the perfect sound, only to hate the sound next time i plug in.
What I’ve found in my early days as a pedal guy and now a Helix guy is the biggest difference is in the way we approach them. Having everything at once can cause us to not appreciate and spend the necessary time on an individual pedal. With pedals, we get them as we need them. And when we’re spending money on them we tend to really investigate and appreciate them. With a multi Fx you get it all at once. Every effect feels less important because there’s always a new one to try. With this in mind, I force myself to take time on the helix. I focus on a pedal at a time, research its real life counterpart and experiment with the chain which makes all the difference.
How many guitarists base this decision on budget? Therefore, the first premis is false?! Regarding programming time and effort, it depends how much time you have on your hands, I guess! Bottom line, is are your are playing multiple genres? I have bought and binned 5 or 6 MFX over the last 20 years, always go back to Wah, tuner, 3 x OD, Boost, delay/reverb … works for me, jazz, Blues, rock whatever.
@@TeleTonemonkey it’s not a false premise since it’s based on my own experience. Plus I’d venture a guess that most guitarists do base purchases on their budget. Otherwise, budget gear wouldn’t be a thing. Anyway, I actually do record multiple genres so I need variety. The music under my name is ambient so I need a nice clean sound with plenty of fx to choose from and just as importantly to mess with their order. That’s why I loved stomp boxes. However, these days many multi fx units do this. Hence, my helix purchase. I actually made money by selling my pedals and buying the helix. I had some old and rare EHX pedals that apparently people really wanted on Reverb. I have two other projects where I do Metal and Rock so my amp and cab needs are quite different. To each his own though. My point is just that if you use multi fx units you need to have the same mindset as if you had a more traditional set up when coming up with unique tones and sounds.
thats the exact reason why for me personally i could never buy a multi fx. Ive already have the boss katana software and its cool to have so many pedals to try but on the other hand i need pedals that i can touch and which have actual knobs instead of looking at my pc . Thats just for me tho, mulit fx itself are a really bang for the buck if you dont care about "real" analog pedals
I def think it’s more personal preference than anything. But I do think everyone would benefit from having a comprehensive multi effects pedal early in their playing as it can really help them discover all the cool things the electric guitar can do. Once you find what you like you can dig into more unique effects that “play” to your style and liking. For me I’m a Helix guy through and through. I’ve got a really nice tube amp and I tried fancy pedals and I just didn’t like twisting the knobs all the time. I play everything from country to metal so to be able to just push a single button and get a whole different genre really works for me.
I started off with pedals years ago, I find a multi fx pedal board so more versatile. I think once you find 'your sound' you pretty much dial it in no matter what you get used too. I am all for modelling gear these days. Use what you find fit.👍
I have an ME-70. Eventually I got greedy, but what I used to do is run a bunch of analog dirt pedals into the ME-70, and all modulation, delay, etc. was the ME-70. It worked great for me. I like to run wah and phaser and stuff after the dirt. If you like to run some of that stuff before dirt, it could be more complicated.
Pedals for me. Started 40 years ago with Boss pedals, then went through the multi fx phase ( had the ME-50, ME 70 and the nova system from TC), but have fully come back to Boss pedals. It depends on what you really need. For me I don't a preamp (got a good Marshall amp for that). A Super Overdrive, the CE-2 and a delay pedal got me covered for 95% of the song we play in our coverband. Another important factor for me; I buy most pedals 2nd hand and Boss pedals will keep their value. Different drive flavour? I swap the Super Overdrive for a Blues Driver or a Dyna Drive.
I have been on a virtually identical journey through pedals, multi effects and now back to using 4 good sounding pedals - 2 of which I bought 40 years ago. Zero latency, no A to D conversion in the signal path. So much more inspiring to play with.
I researched all videos etc and bought the Valleton 200. Playing my Sire 335 which sounds great straight into my little Roland AC33 amp. Setting up the unit was easy and playing the presets were overkill and sounded as what they are, imitation! The real issue was that I lost the quality of my guitar which sounded great on its own. I have now for the same price bought 2 Boss pedals, Boss Blues Driver BD2 & Boss Digital Delay DD8. I now have my beautiful guitar sound with all the effects I need - my amp also has reverb and chorus. I think it depends on your playing ability and your musical ear. Andertons are great, prices are a bit higher but the service is second to none and the videos really help.
Multi effects unit for me. Pedals settings are great for some songs and aren't on others. Then I went to a minimalist set-up. Pitch-dark tuner, Boss Equalizer, a FullTone overdrive with two settings of distortions and a boost direct to the amp.
The moral of the story is Pete can sound fantastic playing anything! Whether he's using fantastically expensive gear, or bottom dollar budget stuff, he always sounds incredible.
I love both pedals and multi-effects. I have a pedalboard that I have been fine tuning for several years, so that what was once Joyo, Danelectro, Biyang etc has slowly morphed into Analogman, Ceriatone, Strymon etc. Alongside those I've had the Boss ME70, ME80 plus others...and now have a Headrush Pedalboard. Like someone pointed out on here, all the time spent researching and buying gear would probably have been better spent on practising. I think my playing is actually getting worse! 😂
Reminds me of a meme I saw yesterday, it was a sign from a band teacher. #1, I'm sorry I was impatient with you; 2, You're very talented; 3. 1 & 2 are lies. 4, Practice.
Re-tooling can be every bit as critically important as instrumental study. e.g. speakers.... to record yourself and then actually *hear* what the heck you are playing as well as you can, good studio monitors matter more than just about any of your other gear. There's little better time spent than understanding how to get results you want, what ever that entails.
To me it all just comes down to convenience and bang for your buck. MultiFX are always going to be more convenient and more for your money. Pedals will (generally) be a bit more expensive, and less convenient, but you have more options and customization. You're not stuck with any single pedal, you can always pick whatever reverb you want, whatever drive you want, etc. What sounds better is always going to be subjective. Hell, you might get lucky and the effects on a multifx unit happen to be what you like most and you're all set!
I want to see a tuner pedal shootout. No joke. Would be interesting to see. Please compare with clip ones as well. Thanks, guys! Also, you guys are hilarious. You’re playing different guitars, so the pedals will of course sound different. You should have played the same guitar to serve as a control.
Multi-Fx and modeling amps are great when it comes to value and dipping your toe in. For some, you can't deny the streamlined equipment, and I think think they certainly have a utility that's hard to argue against. BUT there is something about putting your own board together. Learning all the intricacies of one pedal and incorporating that into your suite of tools. Not trying to put down multi-fx, but I don't think it can beat the user experience of messing with a pedal you really connect with when it comes to the fun factor. Again, this is all highly subjective. You could get a ton of fun out of a multi-fx unit too. But for me, I get more mojo out of individual pedals.
Changing some boards around, when grabbing a tuner I switched a first generation of a well respected tuner to a Boss TU-3, it completely brought the whole board to life. The buffer in the Boss tuner is great, I was shocked at how much it changed the character of the board. - also, when you are daisy chaining, you might want to do some math. Digital pedals will suck many times more power than analogue, easily overwhelming most cheap wall wart type transformers.
Digital pedals can also leak noise onto the power line which will show up when you start cranking up the gain on your overdrive pedals. Square waves are loaded with harmonics.
The pedals are like having a really good set of TV channels. You sit down, find something good on and enjoy yourself. The multi FX Processor is more like having way too many channels on your TV. You sit down start trying to find something to watch, but before you figure out what to watch you get bored from flipping through the channels and fall asleep.
That's my problem. I don't want to waste hours dialing in gear, I want to play. Been doing this 45 years, and I like the hybrid approach to the effects I see here in the ME-90.
I have some pedals, a spark mini and a boss katana 50 so lots of options. Still might get the ME-90 just because of all the options available and can easily tweak with the knobs and I just play and record at home so this would perfect to use and not wake the neighbours.
As a hobbyist guitar player my favorite part of the hobby is the pedals. The hunting on reverb and various websites for what’s on sale, the tearing apart a board and building a new one just to nail a tone for a song, stacking different gains, etc. I think a multi-fx is great if bang for buck is what you’re after but man I love buying a new stomp box just so I can reconfigure my pedal board.
@@ilmisxx2it works the other way sometimes as well. Haven't you ever gotten a new pedal or piece of equipment and being inspired to play more because of it? I know that I sure have.
that opinion will change quickly once you get gigs.. lugging around gear is not fun.. for most players now multi effects and plugins are more practical and not exhausting..
Multieffects is objectively, practically far better for lots of reasons, the no-brainer wise decision (at least for anyone who isn't obscenely wealthy)... but they never feel even 1% as satisfying as pedals to use and curate and think about and look at. What a money spinner these stupid basic little boxes of fun must be for you, lads.
@@2003jackbeh? Isn't that the point, you put the presets you need in order then you literally just have to press one button to completely change your sound
@@NamelessSmile yeah I suppose if it's a fixed set. But I just feel that if you know the pedals well you have more freedom when playing live. Plus if anything changes live you're relying on knowing the number. Each to their own though, I've just found pedals easier
16:12 - Pete says "I can't do any more with pedals than you can." Technically true for any given scene, but you have the 36 presets and 36 user saves plus 97 effects to create a mind-boggling arrangement of scenes available with a few dabs at the footswitches. Now that my POD 2.0 has finally died, I sincerely want an ME-90. The collection of pedals under the desk here will continue to be used, though. 🥰
I like being able to stack drive pedals and experiment messing around with the signal chain. In the end I went for a hybrid option of the two. I have my gain and wah as stand alone pedals feeding into a zoom G5n in stomp box mode. This allows me to alter the signal chain of modulation/delay/reverb etc and I can also run it through the fx loop separately if I choose. The zoom has it's limitations but it's working for me at the moment.
At 22 minutes... there's a boost in EQ/FX2 with the gain being the left hand knob. Up at full into the OD sounds great, I also stacked a TC Honey pot Fuzz in the loop, sounds massive! Also the preamp into a normal amp is definitely not plug and play, needs to be setup in tone studio. Great to see the comparison of both though as my ME90 was my first pedal, good for learners too wanting to try lots of different settings/sounds
If you need a reliable, consistent and good sounding guitar tone for regular professional gigging - get a multi fx Otherwise, join the rest of us having fun with countless pedals!
I got a Helix LT a couple of years ago, it takes up less room in my cramped "studio" than my previous board and has been updated at least 3 times since I got it, with additional amps, cabs & FX. Plus I've got a much larger selection of pedals (and amps) to choose from than I had before. The down side is that I tend to set up song presets rather than just using the multi FX as "banks" of individual pedals, but that's individual choice. There is an argument that multi FX modeling is not totally accurate compared to the original pedals and not as quick to adjust "on the fly" but they do the job for me as I'm not gigging.
Understanding how the signal chain works, what makes a certain sound and tone is half the fun. Like legos but for adults. I'd go with pedals, cheap ones first and grow into the more exotic ones and put something like a gigmaster in front if I'd playing for money. What i'd like to maybe see a shootout between something like a cortex and a 'amp in a box' and pedals. something like the Dutches with some pedals vs Cortex. The argument I'd have is you most likely don't need 562793476 sound combinations. You like a handful
the what is a pro towards the end of the video is a good idea for a video! Lee said it right - if you're getting paid. A lot out there doing pubs n clubs are getting paid, but gig only at weekends and so its more a semi pro thing as they're still making the main part of their income from a regular day job. I gig, but my main income comes from teaching guitar...so am I a pro ? I guess so as I make my entire living off of playing/teaching guitar....but gig's are the smaller part of my income to my teaching work. Think there's a lot out there like me in this regard!
I'm switching from a Kemper to a pedalboard with UAFX amp pedals. Would love to see this with a Kemper profiler or Helix and full-on pedal board build. Make the budget $2K. Do a real comparison between the two. IMO the versatility of having pedals that you can swap in and out is what made the choice for me.
Yah why are you two English Lads using 2 different guitars, Come On Pete, step it up and get yourself a guitar like the Captain has, not a single coil Tele-Banana guitar, Either get another Les Paul, or get another guitar with 2 humbuckers that can compete with the Captain's Les Paul, I already know, I started laughing at you silly boys trying to put a bunch of cheap single pedals that could match the Boss ME 90. Cannot even come close to the Boss ME 90 with all the sounds and features that it has, anyways I still enjoyed watching your COMEDY VIDEO!
Personal preference imo In a studio / recording situation of course you can hear the difference, but I’d suggest in a live situation, when competing with the sound of drums bass keys vox, 99% of an audience wouldn’t notice these subtle differences
Funny enough I have kind of done a hybrid setup. Even though I have a spark amp (thus access to tons digitally) I prefer actual physical pedals. However one of my pedals is a multi (DigiTech iStomp) which is amazing for trying out new pedal types that I havent explored yet, and to fill in the gap with niche effects (eg tape delay) I might only need occasionally for playing a specific song. Really the biggest difference between the spark and the istomp is the latter has more physical tangibility. Yet I really prefer it.
Comparing those 2 setups I'd personally go for the multi fx purely for the instant switching from one sound to another during a song. But then i like ambient cleans and crisp high gains. Horses for courses.
I like the idea of a pedal board simply because it allows for each item to be added or subtracted and you can trade them in or out for a specific pedal. Having said that a multi effects unit would certainly allow for hoirs upon hours of tweaking and messing around to find the sounds you want and possiblybsaving multiple boards at a fixed cost.
To me it’s use case specific. If you have a budget, if you’re playing covers you need a multi fx - it’ll get you 90% of the way to all the sounds you need. If you’re developing your own style and signature then build a board that suits you.
I have a huge pedal collection and a boss gt-1000, i use both with valve amps and the 7 cable method to rig the modulation, reverbs and delays on the fx loop. It's super practical to use the multifx processor, no doubt about it. But, sometimes i tend to use a valve combo with no fx loop and for that, i bring out the pedalboard. Since my current pedalboard is quite easy to transport, i really have no problems with gigs. Combo in one hand, pedalboard on the other and guitar on the back. The multifx stays on my studio most of the time, it's an amazing piece of gear and is very good for experiments and testing out sounds. But i rather travel with the pedalboard since i really don't trust that kind of digital gear out of the house. I have a suspicion that it would be as road resistant as a pedalboard. Both sound amazing, can't pick a favourite tbh
ii am more on the pedals side, because you can freely choose your combinations. however i learned over the years that i prefer pedals that can do more than one thing, so i save myself some space, cables and dont have to extend my power supply.
I'm not an electric guitar player, so my question is this. When you're playing a set of music and just going from song to song, with a regular paddle board other than stopping on the on and off buttons, what do you do about changing the settings on the different pedal. I can't imagine and actually never see people on their hands and knees twigling all these different knobs back and forth to change the settings for their different pedals for each song they just go from song to song. On the other hand, it seems to me that with a digital multi-effects unit, that you can actually preset all the settings for each individual song and then actually build a set list of the different settings tailored to your performance so that you can just Bank up or Bank down to each song. With this in mind, it seems to me that it would be much more flexible and practical to use a digital multi-effects Union in live settings rather than a regular pedalboard where you can't really take the time to adjust the different parameters that each song might require. Or I could be wrong, I have no idea. Thoughts?
For me, it's whichever set up has me bending down to adjust things less often. If I'm going to use a multi-effects, I create a patch or two to use it in stomp box mode, and make sure I know the pedal really well so there is minimal downtime for adjusting settings. No one wants to wait around while the guitar player twiddles his knobs.
There are a couple of astonishing multi-FX on the market right now for about £100. You could start with one of those & never feel the need to move on. On the other hand, my small board has 2 units, combined value about £300: MXR Micro Flanger and Strymon Cloudburst plus expression pedal, and I wouldn't swap that for any multi. Developing a substantial board over a long period is an absorbing hobby in itself, especially now that there are videos like this one around.
My old BOSS ME-50 is like the old family van. Loaded with good and bad memories. It’s full of features but less than half function the way you want. Sounds great on specific effects, but you wouldn’t wanna take it too far. It’s so big you can’t find a decent spot for it.
It look over half the video just to find a way to build a valid pedal board for cheap enough and that’s enough reason to get a multi effects unit. You’ll almost never need an effect that you don’t have, don’t have any headache of things not working, it’s more durable. For the price, you just can’t beat a boss me series multi effects
For me, I have the POD GO and it does everything. It has limited DSP so I can't have tons of effects but the choice of all the different, amps, effect style, it with a WAH Pedal. I do play in a cover band so I need to be able to play any style. They are creating a afford-a-board - Just my 2 cents
It's like Pete said: the ability to pick and mix your pedals is what makes them so intriguing, since no pedalboard is the same. It's all about creating your very own flavour, like a home made pizza vs. a storebought one. Both can be delicious, both will make you full - but with one you get to choose the toppings, with the other you don't.
Why not combine cheap pedals and cheap multifx for best results! my signal chain: diy fuzzfactory clone-> vox wah-> behringer lo gain overdrive-> modded delay pedal-> compressor/boost-> ZoomG3 (modulation-amp models-noise gate-> Zoom G1X-on (various delay and reverb fx, footpedal for swelling fx in and out) its a very versatile setup, cheap as f@(k, and accessible as well as programmable... Those old Zooms are actually very useable if you tweak the amp and speaker models to your liking. I got them very cheap, like 40 euro each...
Love pedals myself but , you can get a decent multi fx pedal for under a grand which covers almost every possible sound , there are pedals in the $3,4, $500 range , to fill a board with quality pedals your looking at $2000 to $3000 , depends what budget you have , don’t forget power supplies cables and buffers , live I’ve used both , the multi fx is more convenient and sounds great !
ME-90 is an excellent compliment to pedals. Ignoring the drive section and pre-amp section, in manual mode you get: Tuner, expression pedal, modulation effects, reverb, delay, compressor, EQ, and a looper! I understand if the drive section isn't for you, but the rest is still an outstanding value. Try playing "God Save the Queen" with the harmonist. you're welcome!
The argument for pedals is that you can buy a new pedal each month and build up your pedalboard. When its time to get rid of your pedal you are more likely to get some money back for them to reinvest in more pedals. Finally, if a switch on your pedal goes it's not as disastewrous as a switch on a multifx. That said a cheap zoom is a great investment if you want to experiment with sound.
I bought a tc electronics thunderstorm flanger after watching a video on how to use a flanger as a multi effects pedal. By adjusting the settings, you can get chorus and emulate phaser, univibe, vibrato etc. Not gonna exactly replicate, but works well. Saves money and keeps things simple.
Multi effect pedals have come a long way and they are pretty good now, but the one thing ya need to keep in mind when you are putting a multi effects pedal against single pedals is very few people buy all those pedals at same time. They are bought over time so its really not completely accurate when ya compare price cause you buy a pedal here and there as ya tweak your board.
Love it! Was going to point out that they are using different guitars but everyone seems to have spotted that already. However, it isn't about the sound they make, but the setup and ease of use.
The worst thing about Pedals, when I used them, was spending a lot of time dialing in a awesome tone for one song, then losing it for the next song that required a different tone. Because of that, and versatility, variety, low noise, affordability, convenience, reliability, consistency, portability, upgradability, audio/computer interface, Editor, etc., I switched to Modelers ages ago.
When i was a kid starting to play i was all for pedals. Back when we used to go to the music stores multiple times a week just to play everything. I seen all those cool pedals but so expensive. I got a few danelectros then. I spent more money on nice guitars and amps though. Eventually i got tired of not being able to afford each individual pedal not even realizing most sounded the same anyways. I got a zoom707 multi at like age 15 and was sold on multis. Obviously those older multis were limited. But to have so many sounds at such a low price was awesome for me especially when trying to learn different music styles. If youre a stadium player.. pedal boards Obviously bc you're probably making a ton of cash. Anything below a record deal.. multi effects pedals and amps with some built in effects are the best.
If you're in a band playing originals and you want to create a unique sound and have some consistency in output, individual pedals is the way to go. If you're playing live in a band playing covers, or with a hefty back catalogue with tons of different tones, I definitely think multi-effects is the way. If you're a hobbyist, you need ALL OF THEM.
mfx fir my core sounds 1x no dirt 1 x dirt, can completely change sound with one click. Seperates for 'bits' in songs. I have currently Boss Super Feedbacker & Distortion, Hotone Grass, EQ, Lush, Tape Eko and Eko with space for more 😺 Vox Amp Clean.
When I started playing, my dad lent me an old Line 6 pod to experiment with so I could discover what I wanted out of an amp and effects. Multi FX units are great to experiment with when you're a relative beginner, but I found I didn't use half the functions it was capable of so I then discovered what I actually wanted. For example, the first pedal I ever bought was a Digitech Hardwire Delay, which had loads of different delay settings and bells and whistles at £150. It was a good pedal to try the different functions, but I only ended up using one delay type. Now I've got a TC Electronic Prophet, which is amazing and does exactly what I want for only £40. Simply put, if you know exactly what you want, invest more in decent pedals that you will actually use that would perform the specific functions better.
How about using the same type of guitar for a more accurate comparison? The Captain sounds great and by contrast Pete sounds weedy, thin and harshly digital. Not sure what you are trying to sell here but it appears to be the virtue of cheap pedals.
Plethora X5, a fuzz, an overdrive and an expression pedal. Sorted. Generally not been satisfied with the multi-fx units I've had. But the X5 is just like having a box of pedals...
Lot's of cheap pedals don't sound that good to me because they have a sort of lofi sound quality, but my Boss ME-25 multi effects pedal which you could find for a cheap price price for an effects pedal now still sounds good enough for me. I do like some lofi reverbs and delays though. I like to put either a spare instrument/pedal cable or a headphone adapter into the headphone jack which takes the tones from sounding too digital to sounding more realistic. I did have to add a Chorus pedal and Reverb plus Delay pedal to my board to get the specific tones I wanted, but that is not that many pedals. The Boss ME-25 itself isn't that big for a multi effects pedal which is one of the reasons I like it so I have more room on my pedal board. I also attached a power bar with velcro to the side of my pedal board and I can still get it in the bag I have for it. There are so many higher quality cheap options for good tones now like some plugins and some multi effects pedals which sound better to me than many cheaper single guitar pedals. I do like some volume pedals plus the boss eq pedal are both on the cheaper side for pedals. Also, I don't care what an instrument pedal looks like, more how it sounds since most people will not be able to see your pedal board when you play live anyways. I love my small guitar gear setup and I don't think I will be a player with a million pedals like some players. I could still combine some of my pedals and set them up for good Shoegaze tones even. Heck, my Boss ME-25 has a freeze effect setting even.
What if you were to see a representation of all the effects in the ME90. With the ME90 switched to memory mode, you get a whole multiple amounts of different pedal boards. Oh and Pete isn't there an extra OD/DS on the volume pedal?
I’ve done a few videos on my channel with my BOSS ME90 since I got it and played it in a live situation next to a full pedalboard and you can hear how the tone totally sits well in the mix and sounds equal in many respects. I won’t post the link here out of respect but you’re welcome to check it out. A lot of ppl live and upon hearing on UA-cam aug the tones though I’m playing it in a more blues rock kind of context. I am still an organic pedal and pedalboard guy for life being the tone need that I am, but I use the me90 often for convenience and easy functionality!👍👍🤓🎸
Legit for a beginning guitarist a multi effect unit is the way to go imo, you get a bit of everything so you can start discovering what you want and do not like. Like, even if it's something you'd never consider (like in my chase, chorus, but I'm just lucky I inherited one). Also, flyrigs are a thing and that boss and even more the valeton are rigs in and of themselves.
I use pedals for the past 20 years and I dont think a multi effects pedal will ever be as good as the single pedals, but I got a ME80 specifically to play in a band that plays many different music types and it makes my life easier, also the audience will never notice the difference. The only issue with the ME80 are the drives/distortion and I use an overdrive pedal to solve this problem.
This is exactly what I was looking for. I have a ME-90 now, which I like ok. I next plan to put together an ampless pedal board with a UA Ruby as the core.
This is all assuming that the player has an amp they like the tone of. Since lots of us now are using FRFR cabs and/or studio monitors, this makes the ME-90 streets ahead of the pedalboard.
If you're spending $300 on pedals, you are new to this game. For a new player, the pedal format is very visceral, which is why i started with cheap pedals. Connect the cables, follow the signal, turn the nobs. However, you're locked in and you also will be wrangling wall worts and noise. If you're new to the game, I'd suggest multi-fx. It lets you try all kinds of things to know what you like. But I would absolutely NOT choose something like the Boss. More like a headrush, which is as dead simple as an actual pedal board, plus you get a looper and headphones and and and...
I don’t think most people would be too unhappy either way. I chose pedals over a MultiFX and now I’m glad I did, as It means I can upgrade relatively inexpensively over time - my budget reverb turned out to be really disappointing so has to go. The option to stack drives is also something I wouldn’t want to do without. Interesting video though.
20:30 On the "me90", if you select a boost on the "fx2", it will automatically be placed at the beginning of the chain, and you can select whether it is a clean, mid or treble boost. You give it a lot of gain and it can be used before an "OD"
They should be using the same guitars. When Pete says that he prefers the Overdrive on the pedal, how can he/you tell? The Humbuckers sound dramatically different than the single coils. I like my ME90 a lot, and would really have loved to see this one with the only difference being the pedals themselves, same guitars, same amps.
agree
Agree, I just got the me90 and I love it
Was my thoughts as well
Agree
Exactly, what were they playing at using two completely different styles of guitar and pickup to compare anything with? I was assuming at the start that they'd be swapping guitars to hear both rigs through the different kinds of pup, but they just didn't. Very odd.
You guys should do this using the same guitar when you're making a sound comparison.
It's really not as big a deal as you're all making it out to be. It's a tele and a LP style guitar. There's a reason why no one's sold more LP's than Jimmy Pages telecaster. We as guitarists must stop listening with our eyes
Has nothing to do with eyes. A tele single coil and a humbucker sound so different. Putting the same signal through both options seems like a more fair and objective way to judge the sound.
@@jar5173 Doing so would help eliminate an obvious and expected difference rather than leaving it to people to try and excuse or dismiss the difference.
It’s OK, they’re both going through the same well worn tonedesk.
What are you on about? They have two different pickup configs @@SlyRyFry
Because of the myriad of pedals out there, as a beginner the choice is daunting. My thought is the ME 90 funnily enough, and using that to identify sounds I like to perhaps develop a separate pedal board in the future.
In exactly the same place. Great way to access hundreds of effects in one place before then moving on to the real deal with grown up pedals as part of the learning and exportation pedal journey.
Pedals for me. Nice having many things instead of one thing. Don't get me wrong, I've used so many multi effects when I was younger, but now I can afford to have individual gear. Very nice
Can you do another video comparing expensive multi-fx vs expensive pedals?
Also dial in each setup nicely and do a blind test.
Please 🙏
To be a truly accurate test both guitars should be the same ,either humbuckers or single coils there is too much tonal difference between the LP and Tele
I went all in on pedals over the last few years. I liked the sounds I was getting. But recently sold them all and bought the new Fender Tone Master Pro. The ease of use and full suite of pedals makes it such a versatile solution.
Me too ..I agree....TMP seems to have everything.
Pedals are fun, sound amazing. It's cool to start building pedals as well because you start to understand and appreciate how they work and which pedals work better together, and where in the chain sounds best for yourself. That being said, I received a Fender Mustange GTX 100 for my birthday and have been so surprised at how closely I can match the pedals in the amp to the pedals I have. In the end, the only thing that matters is that you're making music that you're happy with.
I'm a big fan of the show and use both pedals and multi-FX myself, but I don't think the multi-FX has been done justice here. As others have said, it is better to compare if you play the same guitar and amp. It also helps if the person doing it has first studied such a multi-effect. It would be nice to see this comparison again, but one with Pete demonstrating the stompboxes and "Digital"John demonstrating the Boss ME-90. Furthermore, the entertainment was good as always. Cool jam at the end!
I've owned Roland/Boss multi-effects since they introduced them (I still own the original) and after playing and gigging with many people who had the misfortune of trying to track down which pedal or cable was either faulty or had a dead battery (power supplies saved that) sometimes right in the middle of a gig, I've never regretted my choice. I have mine set up with literally a hundred different pedalboards for every style and option, with groups set up for each and every different guitar I choose to play at any given moment. The sound is always balanced from one to the other, and the effects are always spot on for the guitars and musical situation, even using different amps.
Pedals seem to be a never ending chase for the next latest and greatest, and I don't have the time or funds to join the race.
I have been the sound guy for several local bands. On a number of occasions I have had to deal with a faulty pedal board or a pedal that is noisy (power supply issues are usually the culprit here).
On one gig I did, we had to rewire one of the guitar players boards to remove a modulation pedal that he just bought. It worked at home in his garage but, in the noisy environment of a village hall gig with all the amps, keyboard, pedalboards, PA, and lighting connected to 3 or 4 outlets on the same electrical circuit, plus all the additional RF noise, it wouldn't stop buzzing.
I've never seen that issue with a multifx unit.
As much as i love my ‘real’ pedal board going into my Princeton Reverb, for the the last year I have been using a HX Stomp with two choice modulation pedals (mercury 7 & Starlight) in the fx loop. Not only are there many options available (too many? maybe), the board they are on is small, super portable and my bands two regular sound engineers both regularly mention that they don’t have to tweek my guitar sound as much as the other guitarist who’s going through a mic’d amp, such is the quality of my sound output from the Stomp. Plus if there was a patch lead/power supply issue with either of the modulation pedals, there are perfectly good backup options in the Helix world.
@@risteardohaodha23 out of interest, how are you monitoring?
In one of the bands I used to frequently do the sound for, they used a miced 100W Marshall which the guitarist also used for monitoring. Dealing with that in small hall and pub gigs was a nightmare: the amp needed to be turned up reasonably loud to get a good signal on the mic and the guitar player would occasionally adjust it for his monitoring preferences during the gig, which then needed adjustments in the mix. Also, the front row.of the audience often complained the amp was too loud. And, of course, feedback was always a problem.
He has recently moved over to a Helix setup and sold his amps. Not only is it a lot less to transport, carry, and set up, but the sound mix is easier to get right and generally sounds better. The audience aren't blasted by the amp, and feedback issues are drastically reduced.
He started with the Helix monitoring through wedges, but now has IEMs, and his band now has a silent stage setup.
I agree. For most of us watching this the convenience, instant adaptability and lack of clutter of a multi FX unit beat the last nth in tone but hassle and expense of pedals. If we want to sound better we should practise more.
I love these guys, watch all of their stuff, and admire them tremendously. Having said that, they had no clue how to use the ME-90. They used about 1% of it's features. Did not know how the chain was setup. Like when Pete said "this is all the gain I can get", are we kidding, just flip the dial to the next Distortion pedal, there are like 12 of them. They did not even use the built in Wah/Volume pedal, and could not afford one for their rig. I would like to see someone who actually knows how to use the ME-90 vs. those pedals. I absolutely am convinced it would blow them out of the water.
I agree - they are not using the board to the full potential
Yes, you can also get much more gain by changing the amp mod to a beefier amp like the rectifier. I have ME-70 and the gain available is more than anyone would ever use if you use the right settings.
maybe you are right but i think i get them too, multieffect with all its feature can be too overwhelming for some, i prefer tinkering individual pedals than the multi
@@leokrissandy5579 That why the boss me range trumps most other mfx units. You have the knobs on each section as if they were individual pedals. So you can treat it as as a five or six pedal pedalboard when you start. Then later you can create your own sounds and store them to patches for songs if you wish like most other mfx units. So if you are used to using pedals the ME-90 is the most intuitive mfx unit to move to.
They should have also tested the situation where they needed to change the settings for a new song. With a multifx that is a tap of a foot. With standard pedals, you have to adjust them manually, if you can remember the settings.
Don't forget the send/return feature of the ME-90 where you can bring other pedals in when you need them.....
I don’t have an amp, I just have an ME-90 into some studio monitors and interface. Sounds awesome, easy to use and has all the sounds I’ll ever need! To get close down the pedal route like the andertons vid I would also need to budget in the amp and cab which I assume is a little bit pricey!!! No contest for me, ME-90 all day. 🎉
Sorry for my ignorance but your set up sounds interesting. How does the interface figure into the chain? I am just a bedroom player and like the idea of the ME-90 just directly through studio monitors. If that works. Thank you.
To my ears, Boss have some of the best original instrument effects pedals.
For me the multi-FX unit wins hands down. I’ve used pedals before-in the early ‘70s I had a few-but since I started back in the days when the only effects you had were the tremolo and reverb in your amp, assuming you could afford one that had those, I’ve always needed very specific tones. Once I get stuff programmed in, my settings stay the same. Since I’m going through an amp, I keep the amp clean and use its tone controls as a master EQ to set it up for the room. I don’t need different settings for each song, as most of the bands I’ve played with don’t play songs in the same order every time. When the bandleader calls a song, I have to be ready with the right sound instantly. So I don’t use a wide variety of patches-I have my clean sound, my edge-of-breakup sound, and my heavier overdrive sound if I need that. The effects I use are tremolo, sometimes chorus, compression and reverb are on all the time, as is the volume pedal. I do a lot of pickup switching on the fly, and I may be the only player around who actually uses the tone control(s) on the guitar! I certainly can’t use a single-pickup guitar-there’s not enough tonal variation. Unless I’m doing a jazz gig!
Both. I want both so I can put them on display in the studio and just look at them pretty things. 😆
This. I've thought before I wish I had more arms to use all the pretty things I have around me and such little time to use it all. lol. You get it
I really want a multifx but everytine i try one i either just use the first half decent sound i find. Or i spend ages trying to dial in the perfect sound, only to hate the sound next time i plug in.
What I’ve found in my early days as a pedal guy and now a Helix guy is the biggest difference is in the way we approach them. Having everything at once can cause us to not appreciate and spend the necessary time on an individual pedal. With pedals, we get them as we need them. And when we’re spending money on them we tend to really investigate and appreciate them. With a multi Fx you get it all at once. Every effect feels less important because there’s always a new one to try. With this in mind, I force myself to take time on the helix. I focus on a pedal at a time, research its real life counterpart and experiment with the chain which makes all the difference.
I really like this explanation, this is exactly how i feel.
@@racerx3065 thanks!
How many guitarists base this decision on budget? Therefore, the first premis is false?!
Regarding programming time and effort, it depends how much time you have on your hands, I guess!
Bottom line, is are your are playing multiple genres? I have bought and binned 5 or 6 MFX over the last 20 years, always go back to Wah, tuner, 3 x OD, Boost, delay/reverb … works for me, jazz, Blues, rock whatever.
@@TeleTonemonkey it’s not a false premise since it’s based on my own experience. Plus I’d venture a guess that most guitarists do base purchases on their budget. Otherwise, budget gear wouldn’t be a thing. Anyway, I actually do record multiple genres so I need variety. The music under my name is ambient so I need a nice clean sound with plenty of fx to choose from and just as importantly to mess with their order. That’s why I loved stomp boxes. However, these days many multi fx units do this. Hence, my helix purchase. I actually made money by selling my pedals and buying the helix. I had some old and rare EHX pedals that apparently people really wanted on Reverb. I have two other projects where I do Metal and Rock so my amp and cab needs are quite different. To each his own though. My point is just that if you use multi fx units you need to have the same mindset as if you had a more traditional set up when coming up with unique tones and sounds.
thats the exact reason why for me personally i could never buy a multi fx. Ive already have the boss katana software and its cool to have so many pedals to try but on the other hand i need pedals that i can touch and which have actual knobs instead of looking at my pc . Thats just for me tho, mulit fx itself are a really bang for the buck if you dont care about "real" analog pedals
I def think it’s more personal preference than anything. But I do think everyone would benefit from having a comprehensive multi effects pedal early in their playing as it can really help them discover all the cool things the electric guitar can do. Once you find what you like you can dig into more unique effects that “play” to your style and liking. For me I’m a Helix guy through and through. I’ve got a really nice tube amp and I tried fancy pedals and I just didn’t like twisting the knobs all the time. I play everything from country to metal so to be able to just push a single button and get a whole different genre really works for me.
I started off with pedals years ago, I find a multi fx pedal board so more versatile. I think once you find 'your sound' you pretty much dial it in no matter what you get used too. I am all for modelling gear these days. Use what you find fit.👍
I have an ME-70. Eventually I got greedy, but what I used to do is run a bunch of analog dirt pedals into the ME-70, and all modulation, delay, etc. was the ME-70. It worked great for me. I like to run wah and phaser and stuff after the dirt. If you like to run some of that stuff before dirt, it could be more complicated.
Pedals for me. Started 40 years ago with Boss pedals, then went through the multi fx phase ( had the ME-50, ME 70 and the nova system from TC), but have fully come back to Boss pedals. It depends on what you really need. For me I don't a preamp (got a good Marshall amp for that). A Super Overdrive, the CE-2 and a delay pedal got me covered for 95% of the song we play in our coverband. Another important factor for me; I buy most pedals 2nd hand and Boss pedals will keep their value. Different drive flavour? I swap the Super Overdrive for a Blues Driver or a Dyna Drive.
I have been on a virtually identical journey through pedals, multi effects and now back to using 4 good sounding pedals - 2 of which I bought 40 years ago.
Zero latency, no A to D conversion in the signal path. So much more inspiring to play with.
I researched all videos etc and bought the Valleton 200. Playing my Sire 335 which sounds great straight into my little Roland AC33 amp. Setting up the unit was easy and playing the presets were overkill and sounded as what they are, imitation! The real issue was that I lost the quality of my guitar which sounded great on its own. I have now for the same price bought 2 Boss pedals, Boss Blues Driver BD2 & Boss Digital Delay DD8. I now have my beautiful guitar sound with all the effects I need - my amp also has reverb and chorus. I think it depends on your playing ability and your musical ear. Andertons are great, prices are a bit higher but the service is second to none and the videos really help.
Multi effects unit for me.
Pedals settings are great for some songs and aren't on others. Then I went to a minimalist set-up. Pitch-dark tuner, Boss Equalizer, a FullTone overdrive with two settings of distortions and a boost direct to the amp.
The moral of the story is Pete can sound fantastic playing anything! Whether he's using fantastically expensive gear, or bottom dollar budget stuff, he always sounds incredible.
I love both pedals and multi-effects. I have a pedalboard that I have been fine tuning for several years, so that what was once Joyo, Danelectro, Biyang etc has slowly morphed into Analogman, Ceriatone, Strymon etc. Alongside those I've had the Boss ME70, ME80 plus others...and now have a Headrush Pedalboard.
Like someone pointed out on here, all the time spent researching and buying gear would probably have been better spent on practising.
I think my playing is actually getting worse! 😂
Reminds me of a meme I saw yesterday, it was a sign from a band teacher. #1, I'm sorry I was impatient with you; 2, You're very talented; 3. 1 & 2 are lies. 4, Practice.
Re-tooling can be every bit as critically important as instrumental study.
e.g. speakers.... to record yourself and then actually *hear* what the heck you are playing as well as you can, good studio monitors matter more than just about any of your other gear.
There's little better time spent than understanding how to get results you want, what ever that entails.
To me it all just comes down to convenience and bang for your buck. MultiFX are always going to be more convenient and more for your money. Pedals will (generally) be a bit more expensive, and less convenient, but you have more options and customization. You're not stuck with any single pedal, you can always pick whatever reverb you want, whatever drive you want, etc. What sounds better is always going to be subjective. Hell, you might get lucky and the effects on a multifx unit happen to be what you like most and you're all set!
I want to see a tuner pedal shootout. No joke. Would be interesting to see. Please compare with clip ones as well. Thanks, guys! Also, you guys are hilarious. You’re playing different guitars, so the pedals will of course sound different. You should have played the same guitar to serve as a control.
If i am not mistaken they already made one but i can 't remember when.
My beringher tuner sucks
Yes Andertons did a tuner pedal shootout 4 years ago. Just search tuner pedal shootout and you should find it👍
Multi-Fx and modeling amps are great when it comes to value and dipping your toe in. For some, you can't deny the streamlined equipment, and I think think they certainly have a utility that's hard to argue against. BUT there is something about putting your own board together. Learning all the intricacies of one pedal and incorporating that into your suite of tools. Not trying to put down multi-fx, but I don't think it can beat the user experience of messing with a pedal you really connect with when it comes to the fun factor. Again, this is all highly subjective. You could get a ton of fun out of a multi-fx unit too. But for me, I get more mojo out of individual pedals.
Changing some boards around, when grabbing a tuner I switched a first generation of a well respected tuner to a Boss TU-3, it completely brought the whole board to life. The buffer in the Boss tuner is great, I was shocked at how much it changed the character of the board.
- also, when you are daisy chaining, you might want to do some math. Digital pedals will suck many times more power than analogue, easily overwhelming most cheap wall wart type transformers.
Digital pedals can also leak noise onto the power line which will show up when you start cranking up the gain on your overdrive pedals. Square waves are loaded with harmonics.
The pedals are like having a really good set of TV channels. You sit down, find something good on and enjoy yourself. The multi FX Processor is more like having way too many channels on your TV. You sit down start trying to find something to watch, but before you figure out what to watch you get bored from flipping through the channels and fall asleep.
That's my problem. I don't want to waste hours dialing in gear, I want to play. Been doing this 45 years, and I like the hybrid approach to the effects I see here in the ME-90.
It`s a very nice idea to show us something like that. To use the same guitar would have been also interisting for me. Thanks a lot 🙂
I have some pedals, a spark mini and a boss katana 50 so lots of options. Still might get the ME-90 just because of all the options available and can easily tweak with the knobs and I just play and record at home so this would perfect to use and not wake the neighbours.
As a hobbyist guitar player my favorite part of the hobby is the pedals. The hunting on reverb and various websites for what’s on sale, the tearing apart a board and building a new one just to nail a tone for a song, stacking different gains, etc. I think a multi-fx is great if bang for buck is what you’re after but man I love buying a new stomp box just so I can reconfigure my pedal board.
Now imagine if you spent all that time practicing instead of pedal hunting, alternate you probably could play circles around yourself now
Spot on. Could not agree with the OP more.
@@ilmisxx2it works the other way sometimes as well. Haven't you ever gotten a new pedal or piece of equipment and being inspired to play more because of it? I know that I sure have.
that opinion will change quickly once you get gigs.. lugging around gear is not fun.. for most players now multi effects and plugins are more practical and not exhausting..
Can't agree more, great guitarists like Kevin Shields and Billy Corgan never use any pedals. They sound great!@@ilmisxx2
Multieffects is objectively, practically far better for lots of reasons, the no-brainer wise decision (at least for anyone who isn't obscenely wealthy)... but they never feel even 1% as satisfying as pedals to use and curate and think about and look at. What a money spinner these stupid basic little boxes of fun must be for you, lads.
Truth
Not great for playing live. Unless the presets are ordered incredibly well
Sound comparison? The Tele completely hosed the Boss Multi from the get go! Brilliant.
@@2003jackbeh? Isn't that the point, you put the presets you need in order then you literally just have to press one button to completely change your sound
@@NamelessSmile yeah I suppose if it's a fixed set. But I just feel that if you know the pedals well you have more freedom when playing live. Plus if anything changes live you're relying on knowing the number. Each to their own though, I've just found pedals easier
16:12 - Pete says "I can't do any more with pedals than you can." Technically true for any given scene, but you have the 36 presets and 36 user saves plus 97 effects to create a mind-boggling arrangement of scenes available with a few dabs at the footswitches. Now that my POD 2.0 has finally died, I sincerely want an ME-90. The collection of pedals under the desk here will continue to be used, though. 🥰
I like being able to stack drive pedals and experiment messing around with the signal chain. In the end I went for a hybrid option of the two. I have my gain and wah as stand alone pedals feeding into a zoom G5n in stomp box mode. This allows me to alter the signal chain of modulation/delay/reverb etc and I can also run it through the fx loop separately if I choose. The zoom has it's limitations but it's working for me at the moment.
At 22 minutes... there's a boost in EQ/FX2 with the gain being the left hand knob. Up at full into the OD sounds great, I also stacked a TC Honey pot Fuzz in the loop, sounds massive! Also the preamp into a normal amp is definitely not plug and play, needs to be setup in tone studio. Great to see the comparison of both though as my ME90 was my first pedal, good for learners too wanting to try lots of different settings/sounds
If you need a reliable, consistent and good sounding guitar tone for regular professional gigging - get a multi fx
Otherwise, join the rest of us having fun with countless pedals!
I got a Helix LT a couple of years ago, it takes up less room in my cramped "studio" than my previous board and has been updated at least 3 times since I got it, with additional amps, cabs & FX. Plus I've got a much larger selection of pedals (and amps) to choose from than I had before. The down side is that I tend to set up song presets rather than just using the multi FX as "banks" of individual pedals, but that's individual choice. There is an argument that multi FX modeling is not totally accurate compared to the original pedals and not as quick to adjust "on the fly" but they do the job for me as I'm not gigging.
You can always buy a pedal or two if you think the model falls short.
Understanding how the signal chain works, what makes a certain sound and tone is half the fun. Like legos but for adults. I'd go with pedals, cheap ones first and grow into the more exotic ones and put something like a gigmaster in front if I'd playing for money.
What i'd like to maybe see a shootout between something like a cortex and a 'amp in a box' and pedals. something like the Dutches with some pedals vs Cortex.
The argument I'd have is you most likely don't need 562793476 sound combinations. You like a handful
the what is a pro towards the end of the video is a good idea for a video! Lee said it right - if you're getting paid. A lot out there doing pubs n clubs are getting paid, but gig only at weekends and so its more a semi pro thing as they're still making the main part of their income from a regular day job. I gig, but my main income comes from teaching guitar...so am I a pro ? I guess so as I make my entire living off of playing/teaching guitar....but gig's are the smaller part of my income to my teaching work. Think there's a lot out there like me in this regard!
I'm switching from a Kemper to a pedalboard with UAFX amp pedals. Would love to see this with a Kemper profiler or Helix and full-on pedal board build. Make the budget $2K. Do a real comparison between the two. IMO the versatility of having pedals that you can swap in and out is what made the choice for me.
When you do the spark cab it would be nice to see how a multi fx sounds through it. Maybe the valeton gp-200.
You must be psychic…. 😱😱😱
Yah why are you two English Lads using 2 different guitars, Come On Pete, step it up and get yourself a guitar like the Captain has, not a single coil Tele-Banana guitar, Either get another Les Paul, or get another guitar with 2 humbuckers that can compete with the Captain's Les Paul, I already know, I started laughing at you silly boys trying to put a bunch of cheap single pedals that could match the Boss ME 90. Cannot even come close to the Boss ME 90 with all the sounds and features that it has, anyways I still enjoyed watching your COMEDY VIDEO!
Personal preference imo
In a studio / recording situation of course you can hear the difference, but I’d suggest in a live situation, when competing with the sound of drums bass keys vox, 99% of an audience wouldn’t notice these subtle differences
I was a pedal guy. Have a Boss Katana or use Headrush now. So much easier and less fussing about pedals
Both sound great, so clearly it comes down to personal preference.
Funny enough I have kind of done a hybrid setup. Even though I have a spark amp (thus access to tons digitally) I prefer actual physical pedals. However one of my pedals is a multi (DigiTech iStomp) which is amazing for trying out new pedal types that I havent explored yet, and to fill in the gap with niche effects (eg tape delay) I might only need occasionally for playing a specific song. Really the biggest difference between the spark and the istomp is the latter has more physical tangibility. Yet I really prefer it.
Comparing those 2 setups I'd personally go for the multi fx purely for the instant switching from one sound to another during a song. But then i like ambient cleans and crisp high gains. Horses for courses.
I like the idea of a pedal board simply because it allows for each item to be added or subtracted and you can trade them in or out for a specific pedal. Having said that a multi effects unit would certainly allow for hoirs upon hours of tweaking and messing around to find the sounds you want and possiblybsaving multiple boards at a fixed cost.
To me it’s use case specific. If you have a budget, if you’re playing covers you need a multi fx - it’ll get you 90% of the way to all the sounds you need. If you’re developing your own style and signature then build a board that suits you.
I have a huge pedal collection and a boss gt-1000, i use both with valve amps and the 7 cable method to rig the modulation, reverbs and delays on the fx loop. It's super practical to use the multifx processor, no doubt about it. But, sometimes i tend to use a valve combo with no fx loop and for that, i bring out the pedalboard. Since my current pedalboard is quite easy to transport, i really have no problems with gigs. Combo in one hand, pedalboard on the other and guitar on the back. The multifx stays on my studio most of the time, it's an amazing piece of gear and is very good for experiments and testing out sounds. But i rather travel with the pedalboard since i really don't trust that kind of digital gear out of the house. I have a suspicion that it would be as road resistant as a pedalboard. Both sound amazing, can't pick a favourite tbh
ii am more on the pedals side, because you can freely choose your combinations. however i learned over the years that i prefer pedals that can do more than one thing, so i save myself some space, cables and dont have to extend my power supply.
I'm not an electric guitar player, so my question is this. When you're playing a set of music and just going from song to song, with a regular paddle board other than stopping on the on and off buttons, what do you do about changing the settings on the different pedal. I can't imagine and actually never see people on their hands and knees twigling all these different knobs back and forth to change the settings for their different pedals for each song they just go from song to song. On the other hand, it seems to me that with a digital multi-effects unit, that you can actually preset all the settings for each individual song and then actually build a set list of the different settings tailored to your performance so that you can just Bank up or Bank down to each song. With this in mind, it seems to me that it would be much more flexible and practical to use a digital multi-effects Union in live settings rather than a regular pedalboard where you can't really take the time to adjust the different parameters that each song might require. Or I could be wrong, I have no idea. Thoughts?
For me, it's whichever set up has me bending down to adjust things less often. If I'm going to use a multi-effects, I create a patch or two to use it in stomp box mode, and make sure I know the pedal really well so there is minimal downtime for adjusting settings. No one wants to wait around while the guitar player twiddles his knobs.
There are a couple of astonishing multi-FX on the market right now for about £100. You could start with one of those & never feel the need to move on.
On the other hand, my small board has 2 units, combined value about £300: MXR Micro Flanger and Strymon Cloudburst plus expression pedal, and I wouldn't swap that for any multi.
Developing a substantial board over a long period is an absorbing hobby in itself, especially now that there are videos like this one around.
Hey guys, if you’re doing comparisons use identical guitars with the same pick ups, so theoretically, this comparison is not valid, love the vids
The big issue with the boss mutli effects and the one true downside is the overdrive/distortion just cannot compete with an analog circuit
What Epiphone model Les Paul is that and what Color. Looks like gold top.
Thanks
Not to be mean but just an observation.... wish Pete could talk more without being interrupted.
My old BOSS ME-50 is like the old family van. Loaded with good and bad memories. It’s full of features but less than half function the way you want. Sounds great on specific effects, but you wouldn’t wanna take it too far. It’s so big you can’t find a decent spot for it.
It look over half the video just to find a way to build a valid pedal board for cheap enough and that’s enough reason to get a multi effects unit. You’ll almost never need an effect that you don’t have, don’t have any headache of things not working, it’s more durable. For the price, you just can’t beat a boss me series multi effects
For me, I have the POD GO and it does everything. It has limited DSP so I can't have tons of effects but the choice of all the different, amps, effect style, it with a WAH Pedal. I do play in a cover band so I need to be able to play any style. They are creating a afford-a-board - Just my 2 cents
It's like Pete said: the ability to pick and mix your pedals is what makes them so intriguing, since no pedalboard is the same. It's all about creating your very own flavour, like a home made pizza vs. a storebought one. Both can be delicious, both will make you full - but with one you get to choose the toppings, with the other you don't.
Why not combine cheap pedals and cheap multifx for best results!
my signal chain:
diy fuzzfactory clone->
vox wah->
behringer lo gain overdrive->
modded delay pedal->
compressor/boost->
ZoomG3 (modulation-amp models-noise gate->
Zoom G1X-on (various delay and reverb fx, footpedal for swelling fx in and out)
its a very versatile setup, cheap as f@(k, and accessible as well as programmable... Those old Zooms are actually very useable if you tweak the amp and speaker models to your liking. I got them very cheap, like 40 euro each...
Love pedals myself but , you can get a decent multi fx pedal for under a grand which covers almost every possible sound , there are pedals in the $3,4, $500 range , to fill a board with quality pedals your looking at $2000 to $3000 , depends what budget you have , don’t forget power supplies cables and buffers , live I’ve used both , the multi fx is more convenient and sounds great !
ME-90 is an excellent compliment to pedals. Ignoring the drive section and pre-amp section, in manual mode you get: Tuner, expression pedal, modulation effects, reverb, delay, compressor, EQ, and a looper! I understand if the drive section isn't for you, but the rest is still an outstanding value. Try playing "God Save the Queen" with the harmonist. you're welcome!
The argument for pedals is that you can buy a new pedal each month and build up your pedalboard. When its time to get rid of your pedal you are more likely to get some money back for them to reinvest in more pedals. Finally, if a switch on your pedal goes it's not as disastewrous as a switch on a multifx. That said a cheap zoom is a great investment if you want to experiment with sound.
I bought a tc electronics thunderstorm flanger after watching a video on how to use a flanger as a multi effects pedal. By adjusting the settings, you can get chorus and emulate phaser, univibe, vibrato etc. Not gonna exactly replicate, but works well. Saves money and keeps things simple.
I ❤️ Pedals
How about Building a Pedal Board with every Pedal that the ME90 has , then see the difference in Price and usability and Portability.
Lol that would cost thousands and they would need a bigger studio.
@@7polseven it would be cool to see though , and at least cost way over Ten Grand
All of this is why the HX Stomp is the best value a guitarist can get. It makes the hybrid board a real thing.
Multi effect pedals have come a long way and they are pretty good now, but the one thing ya need to keep in mind when you are putting a multi effects pedal against single pedals is very few people buy all those pedals at same time. They are bought over time so its really not completely accurate when ya compare price cause you buy a pedal here and there as ya tweak your board.
That is not how financial math works.😂
Love it! Was going to point out that they are using different guitars but everyone seems to have spotted that already. However, it isn't about the sound they make, but the setup and ease of use.
The worst thing about Pedals, when I used them, was spending a lot of time dialing in a awesome tone for one song, then losing it for the next song that required a different tone. Because of that, and versatility, variety, low noise, affordability, convenience, reliability, consistency, portability, upgradability, audio/computer interface, Editor, etc., I switched to Modelers ages ago.
When i was a kid starting to play i was all for pedals. Back when we used to go to the music stores multiple times a week just to play everything. I seen all those cool pedals but so expensive. I got a few danelectros then. I spent more money on nice guitars and amps though. Eventually i got tired of not being able to afford each individual pedal not even realizing most sounded the same anyways. I got a zoom707 multi at like age 15 and was sold on multis. Obviously those older multis were limited. But to have so many sounds at such a low price was awesome for me especially when trying to learn different music styles. If youre a stadium player.. pedal boards Obviously bc you're probably making a ton of cash. Anything below a record deal.. multi effects pedals and amps with some built in effects are the best.
One thing about multiple Pedals is that if one fails the gig goes on...on the other hand if the multiple effects prossersor goes out that's it.
Beautiful Outro Jam!
I'm very familiar with sorting "low to high" on the Andertons website 😆
It's not a question of which is better, the answer is to have it all. Both!
Yep, I have over $3,000 in my pedalboard and still wouldn't mind getting the ME-90. 😅
Yes! That is like when asked "How many guitars do you need", the answer is "just one more".
If you're in a band playing originals and you want to create a unique sound and have some consistency in output, individual pedals is the way to go.
If you're playing live in a band playing covers, or with a hefty back catalogue with tons of different tones, I definitely think multi-effects is the way.
If you're a hobbyist, you need ALL OF THEM.
just get a pedalboard and then a helix to recreate that pedalboard on for live shows. problem solved.
mfx fir my core sounds 1x no dirt 1 x dirt, can completely change sound with one click. Seperates for 'bits' in songs. I have currently Boss Super Feedbacker & Distortion, Hotone Grass, EQ, Lush, Tape Eko and Eko with space for more 😺 Vox Amp Clean.
multieffect or pedals or both!
I have never seen a better case for discrete analogue pedals made. The afford a board had so much more character
When I started playing, my dad lent me an old Line 6 pod to experiment with so I could discover what I wanted out of an amp and effects.
Multi FX units are great to experiment with when you're a relative beginner, but I found I didn't use half the functions it was capable of so I then discovered what I actually wanted. For example, the first pedal I ever bought was a Digitech Hardwire Delay, which had loads of different delay settings and bells and whistles at £150. It was a good pedal to try the different functions, but I only ended up using one delay type. Now I've got a TC Electronic Prophet, which is amazing and does exactly what I want for only £40.
Simply put, if you know exactly what you want, invest more in decent pedals that you will actually use that would perform the specific functions better.
How about using the same type of guitar for a more accurate comparison? The Captain sounds great and by contrast Pete sounds weedy, thin and harshly digital. Not sure what you are trying to sell here but it appears to be the virtue of cheap pedals.
How can you compare the sound if you're not playing the same guitars?
Plethora X5, a fuzz, an overdrive and an expression pedal. Sorted. Generally not been satisfied with the multi-fx units I've had. But the X5 is just like having a box of pedals...
Lot's of cheap pedals don't sound that good to me because they have a sort of lofi sound quality, but my Boss ME-25 multi effects pedal which you could find for a cheap price price for an effects pedal now still sounds good enough for me. I do like some lofi reverbs and delays though. I like to put either a spare instrument/pedal cable or a headphone adapter into the headphone jack which takes the tones from sounding too digital to sounding more realistic. I did have to add a Chorus pedal and Reverb plus Delay pedal to my board to get the specific tones I wanted, but that is not that many pedals. The Boss ME-25 itself isn't that big for a multi effects pedal which is one of the reasons I like it so I have more room on my pedal board. I also attached a power bar with velcro to the side of my pedal board and I can still get it in the bag I have for it. There are so many higher quality cheap options for good tones now like some plugins and some multi effects pedals which sound better to me than many cheaper single guitar pedals. I do like some volume pedals plus the boss eq pedal are both on the cheaper side for pedals. Also, I don't care what an instrument pedal looks like, more how it sounds since most people will not be able to see your pedal board when you play live anyways. I love my small guitar gear setup and I don't think I will be a player with a million pedals like some players. I could still combine some of my pedals and set them up for good Shoegaze tones even. Heck, my Boss ME-25 has a freeze effect setting even.
What if you were to see a representation of all the effects in the ME90. With the ME90 switched to memory mode, you get a whole multiple amounts of different pedal boards. Oh and Pete isn't there an extra OD/DS on the volume pedal?
I’ve done a few videos on my channel with my BOSS ME90 since I got it and played it in a live situation next to a full pedalboard and you can hear how the tone totally sits well in the mix and sounds equal in many respects. I won’t post the link here out of respect but you’re welcome to check it out. A lot of ppl live and upon hearing on UA-cam aug the tones though I’m playing it in a more blues rock kind of context. I am still an organic pedal and pedalboard guy for life being the tone need that I am, but I use the me90 often for convenience and easy functionality!👍👍🤓🎸
It was not a fair comparinson since the boss does not need an amp, you should have included a cab sim
Legit for a beginning guitarist a multi effect unit is the way to go imo, you get a bit of everything so you can start discovering what you want and do not like. Like, even if it's something you'd never consider (like in my chase, chorus, but I'm just lucky I inherited one). Also, flyrigs are a thing and that boss and even more the valeton are rigs in and of themselves.
I use pedals for the past 20 years and I dont think a multi effects pedal will ever be as good as the single pedals, but I got a ME80 specifically to play in a band that plays many different music types and it makes my life easier, also the audience will never notice the difference. The only issue with the ME80 are the drives/distortion and I use an overdrive pedal to solve this problem.
This is exactly what I was looking for. I have a ME-90 now, which I like ok. I next plan to put together an ampless pedal board with a UA Ruby as the core.
15:06 - How long is Pete's arm?!
This is all assuming that the player has an amp they like the tone of. Since lots of us now are using FRFR cabs and/or studio monitors, this makes the ME-90 streets ahead of the pedalboard.
If you're spending $300 on pedals, you are new to this game. For a new player, the pedal format is very visceral, which is why i started with cheap pedals. Connect the cables, follow the signal, turn the nobs. However, you're locked in and you also will be wrangling wall worts and noise. If you're new to the game, I'd suggest multi-fx. It lets you try all kinds of things to know what you like. But I would absolutely NOT choose something like the Boss. More like a headrush, which is as dead simple as an actual pedal board, plus you get a looper and headphones and and and...
I don’t think most people would be too unhappy either way. I chose pedals over a MultiFX and now I’m glad I did, as It means I can upgrade relatively inexpensively over time - my budget reverb turned out to be really disappointing so has to go.
The option to stack drives is also something I wouldn’t want to do without. Interesting video though.
20:30 On the "me90", if you select a boost on the "fx2", it will automatically be placed at the beginning of the chain, and you can select whether it is a clean, mid or treble boost. You give it a lot of gain and it can be used before an "OD"
With the me-90 you could also add a overdrive, or what ever.pedal to the chain.
I LOVE MY ME-50, IT'S GREAT FOR GRAB AND GO OR RECORDING. BUT ALAS, I OWN 50+ PEDALS TOO.