Rig Question

theantirockstar

Hi there, hoping you guys can help (and mods if this is in the wrong section please move it)

I am new to the electric guitar, I've been an avid acoustic player for years, and I'm enjoying it, I am just wondering about a rig setup. I want to keep the weight down as much as possible as I have back problems (stupid sport injuries ? )

I play a PRS SE custom semi hollow, that i'm in the process of adding new pickups, piezo system etc to for flexibility (don't want to cart too many guitar around) and my home rig system is a small bass practise amp and a Digitech RP355.

What i am wanting to know is how i can get a small powerful amp and effects setup that can be used for live shows, but not kill my back ?

Also a friend told me about the line 6 direct to desk options, the POD HD i think they are called is that any good? I play everything from church music, to prog rock and ambient stuff.

shaundtsl

Maybe the boss GT10? I hear the GT8 (or even the GT6) is still very good value for money.

Sidecar

Yes, a good MultiFX will cut a lot of weight. But I would also get a decent small guitar amp to get usable overdrive sound, as the distortion & overdrive on the GT6/GT8 leaves a lot to be desired, imo. Dont waste your time with direct to desk effects/emulators - its just not the same!

Gearhead

Ah another opportunity for a long drawn-out multieffects discussion! They are evil! Mika feel free to cut in whenever you want:
You can take a 1992 POD and sound crap wherever you want OR you can take the tiniest of 10" cab + 15W head tube amp setups and sound terrific for a kilogram more. If you need more volume, mic'ing up is the way to go.

Tonedef

Slightly o/t, but have you considered a medical back brace? Its sorta like a corset, you cant see it under your clothes.

DonovanB

Gearhead wrote Ah another opportunity for a long drawn-out multieffects discussion! They are evil! Mika feel free to cut in whenever you want:
You can take a 1992 POD and sound crap wherever you want OR you can take the tiniest of 10" cab + 15W head tube amp setups and sound terrific for a kilogram more. If you need more volume, mic'ing up is the way to go.

only if you make it so...

I reckon the Roland Cube amps are awesome for easy to use and carry amp plus effects. There is also the vox vT series.

Warren

Gearhead wrote Ah another opportunity for a long drawn-out multieffects discussion! They are evil! Mika feel free to cut in whenever you want:
You can take a 1992 POD and sound crap wherever you want OR you can take the tiniest of 10" cab + 15W head tube amp setups and sound terrific for a kilogram more. If you need more volume, mic'ing up is the way to go.

`

Woop woop! It's the hyperbole police. Coming to lock you away in exaggeration-traz.

@OP
Multi-effects units are great bang for buck, and they might just help you figure out which effects you do and don't want in your chain. Then you can splurge on the tube amp and boutique effects and lacy g-string you just realised you always wanted.

If money is not much of an object, go for something nifty like a TC Electronic Nova System into a Mesa Boogie Transatlantic head and cab of your choice. Or even a Vox Night Train which is still (IMO) the nicest lunchbox head available: plenty versatile, made for carting around, pukka tubage, and not so expensive you need to sell your kids' DNA to a ruthless North Korean cosmetics company. ?

theantirockstar

Ok, thanks for the help so far guys. The mesa transatlantic looks nice, but it's a mesa so it must be expensive. Have anyone of you played the Laney Cub? The problem with multifx is i havent found one yet that sounds as good as individual stompboxes, i get some useable tones out of my RP, but they never imo sound as good. Besides Boss what other good Multifx are there?

DonovanB

the Laney Cub is awesome. Great tone in a small amp and as gearhead says, you can mic it up for more volume.

The big problem with multifx is the patches they ship with. Trying one out in store is like reading a book in a language you haven't yet learned. The pre-programmed patches are always shockingly bad and thats why you can't find a decent sound.

For example, mny of us here have GT8s. I clear the patches and get the clean tone right on my amp first before I add any effects. Then if I want distortion, I have 30 to choose from. And the sims are not bad either. I can't compare them to the real deal but I reckon the RAT and FUZZ simulations are great. There is a DS1, DS2, Hyper Metal and Metal Zone all worked in there if I want. I end up using the Marshall amp sim for drive though.

Multi effects are great to start with and are perfect for a budget because it allows you to try out a bunch if different effects, pedals and combinations without spending a wad of cash. Plus it gives you a great insight into setting up your effects chain, gain-staging and general planning of how you would like to sound.

there will be debate as to how bad multifx are, but one only has to look at how many people use them effectively to see they are a workable solution.

killafo

Next month i will have a GT8 for sale.

I started out with a multi effects, and about a year and a half later, i think i'm ready for 'em booooty pedals.
It really is a great xeffects pedal for what you're paying for it. Like Donovan said, there's a certain way you go about setting the pedal, and yes like you'll probably read on other forums there is a tinkering learning curve, but hey what isn't a learning curve now days.

Rawk!
\m/

Norman86

There is also the Vox Tonelab EX multi effects pedal...

great pedals from what i have seen and read... great price too!

Sidecar

Bottom line - if you want access to a lot of effects, at as little weight as possible, and at reasonably affordable prices, a good multieffects pedal is a usable solution. I agree with Donovan regarding clearing the patches to get as close to your guitar and amp reference as possible (regarding the GT8), and then building your effects and patches to suit you. I personally don’t like the distortion/overdrive modelling - it always sounds a bit "plastic/rubbery" to me. That’s why I use separate overdrive/distortion pedals along with my GT8. However, I must admit that this has been a stopgap and I'm moving towards a pedalboard - but now, thanks to a few years with the GT8, I now know the effects I want and what I'll use due to my experience with it.

Other Multifx manufacturers you can try are Korg, and I'm sure there is a solution form Digitech as well.

Dinosaur-Snr

I think a multi fx unit is going to be the best option, it gives you tones of versatility at the fraction of the weight and cost of ton of pedals. I say this and I am a pedal geek. :-[

Have a look at the Boss GT10, Vox Valvetronix or event maybe the TC Electronics Nova System.

AlanRatcliffe

Quick reply, as I'm mobile ATM. A few important points:

1. There are also piezos involved (or will be soon), which ups the stakes considerably. You can DI the piezo to the PA, but it becomes difficult to control and balance when there is a guitar amp involved too (ask me!). Putting the piezos through the guitar amp limits the tone substantially.
2. Back problems IMO preclude a two amp (1 electric and 1 acoustic) solution. Also if you're playing in church, it's a very controlled environment (especially AFA volume is concerned) and not conducive to having a couple of live amps on stage with you.

So, all told. I'd recommend another, better multiFX unit. Vox usually get my vote for electric guitar, but the new POD HDs do look interesting and come highly recommended by some whose opinions I trust - so worth a try at least. If you want to run piezos and magnetics through the same unit and see it as an either/or setup then you can use one multiFX for both, just writing some patches for piezos (without amp or speaker modelling). However, ideally you split the piezos off to their own processor, then you can blend acoustic and electric patches together. That's where your Digitech will come in handy - while I'm not a huge fan of their amp and speaker modelling or distortions, the delays, reverbs and modulations are good - which is exactly what you need for piezos (same story with the Boss stuff IMO).

So in short, upgrade your electric guitar MultiFX and use your Digitech for the piezos... With a nice full-range system (the PA, studio monitors, a powered stage monitor), you get the best of all worlds.

Dinosaur Snr wrote or event maybe the TC Electronics Nova System.

Much as I love TCE, the Nova does not have amp modelling, but is made to use up front of a real amp and speaker.

MIKA-the-better-one

Fender BLues JNR/ Vox Night Train/ VOx ac 15 (So many options)
Add a tuner pedal, an overdrive pedal, and a delay pedal, and a any other effect you want......
Add a good guitar like you have....

AND YOU GET, a very good sound
and its not heavy, or bulky, and you gain the respect of many musicians

DonovanB

MIKA the better one wrote Fender BLues JNR/ Vox Night Train/ VOx ac 15 (So many options)
Add a tuner pedal, an overdrive pedal, and a delay pedal, and a any other effect you want......
Add a good guitar like you have....

AND YOU GET, a very good sound
and its not heavy, or bulky, and you gain the respect of many musicians

Thats not far off my first rig. Fender Bassman 50, MIJ Strat, DS1, Ibanez DD7 delay and a Digitech Whammy.

Basic, simple (bassmans are flipping huge and heavy) sounded awesome though.

MIKA-the-better-one

Bassmans are awsome are n't they...... I just think with that setup you can cover all bases be simple yet have awsome tone

Warren

MIKA the better one wrote
and its not heavy, or bulky, and you gain the respect of many musicians

I thought musicians gained respect through their playing, rather than their gear. Silly me.

Norman86

Warren wrote
MIKA the better one wrote
and its not heavy, or bulky, and you gain the respect of many musicians
I thought musicians gained respect through their playing, rather than their gear. Silly me.

THATS gonna open a can of worms...

EDIT: I have to agree though... a good player can only sound even better with better equipment!

Tonedef

Bwehehehehe. Where's my popcorn.