Shostakovich
Joined: 20/09/06
Posts: 104
Loc: West Dorset, UK.
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I'm playing mostly in my home recording studio, and have recently settled with playing my
Fender AmStd strat and Gibson ES339 with my Blackstar HT-5 combo and extension cab. I'm
very happy with the sounds, but want some FX.
I don't need overdrive, distortion or
fuzz, but I do need reverb,delay, chorus, vibrato, and ideally phaser and flanger. With a
budget of £200-£300 is there a good quality one piece or separates solution you would
recommend?
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Excelling at mediocrity for 55 years.
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Dynamic Mike
Joined: 31/12/06
Posts: 610
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I've heard really good things about the TC Electronic Nova Modulator but I'm not sure it
matches the quality of the rest of your gear. Personally apart from my Electro-Harmonix
Electric Mistress Flanger I don't really use much in the way of modulation these days.
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caveman82
Joined: 30/01/06
Posts: 722
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a bit more expensive, well only £15 more but this is supposed to be great http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/76295
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Ian Savage
Joined: 16/12/07
Posts: 475
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For the modulation stuff, I'd be pressed to recommend anything over the Line 6 MM4; slap a
Boss Reverb/Delay next to that (or even another Line 6, the DL4 IIRC)and you're good to
go. Although I do hear very good things about the Line 6 M9 and M13...might be a bit
overbudget though.
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Baritonealone
Joined: 07/07/06
Posts: 81
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I was going to reccomend the TC gmajor. I have had mine for
about 7 years and it is
great. Unfortunately I've just discovered that they have discontinued it and released a
new version
http://www.dv247.com/news/TC%20Electronic%20G-Major%202/132068
which at present is slightly over your budget. I would reccomend that you try and
find if anyone has got an old one in stock or wait until you can spend that little bit
extra. Chances are the price will fall in a bit anyhow.
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Shostakovich
Joined: 20/09/06
Posts: 104
Loc: West Dorset, UK.
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I had a Line 6 pod a couple of years back, and thought it sounded unbelievably awful and
boring. I'm willing to consider Line 6 again if there are some really positive
recommendations!
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Excelling at mediocrity for 55 years.
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Shostakovich
Joined: 20/09/06
Posts: 104
Loc: West Dorset, UK.
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Me like TC stuff! 
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Excelling at mediocrity for 55 years.
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SparkyG
Joined: 22/01/07
Posts: 176
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the TC G Major is a great choice and in budget. Much better than any line 6/Boss MFX
IMHO
I have the G-Force which is stunning (but I don't use it anymore since I
got my Axe FX - which is even better.
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francobidanco
Joined: 28/07/08
Posts: 93
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1st post on guitar forum...
£30 over top budget but that will get you Native
Instruments Guitar Rig 4 Kontrol. It means you'll have a computer as part of your rig but
if you're in a recording studio then it should be fine, especially as Kontrol comes with
stompbox.
I'm a guitar noob and I've come to guitars from synths so this stuff
doesn't faze me but I understand a lot of guitarists feel quite strongly bout software...
:-)
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Dynamic Mike
Joined: 31/12/06
Posts: 610
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Quote francobidanco:
I'm a guitar
noob and I've come to guitars from synths so this stuff doesn't faze me but I understand a
lot of guitarists feel quite strongly bout software... :-)
First post on the guitar forum and you're
already suggesting we're all technophobes! You're probably right though, every time fender
moves a scratchplate screw we hold an inquest then demand a referendum, but I'm glad
you've tired of typing music and come over to join us. 
Seriously though I think our reticence in relation to adopting
software comes from the disappointments we've suffered in the past. Issues with latency,
earth loops, false triggering and the inability of midi to accurately follow string bends
left us out of the midi revolution & some of us have never caught up. Also we've been
reluctant to use anything which restricts the portability that we've become used to. But
there are probably very few of us now who don't use something like Guitar Rig for
recording & if I was new to playing guitar now I'd probably go with your suggestion.
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Jack Ruston
Joined: 21/12/05
Posts: 2591
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Well here's the problem: all the cheaper digital effects and multifx pedals convert the
dry signal to digital and back before it hits your amp. The conversion can cause your
basic sound to become mushy and lifeless. I recently went on the hunt for a delay pedal
and tried most of the main ones out there including the new tc's eventides etc. In every
case the delays sounded great but the dry passthrough was nasty. Until I tried the Seymour
Duncan Deja Vu which has an analogue dry path. It does change the sound a tiny bit but not
in a horrible way. The pedal is SO well featured and gives you analogue and digital
sounds, blendable with tap tempo and modulation. It also has 100% wet settings and
outputs, which a lot of delay pedals don't, and it has an fx loop and expression pedal
control for the wet signal. So for that reason I'd get one of those. They're 200 quid. I'd
then get an analogue chorus/modulation pedal with the remaining money.
Don't
be sidetracked by bells and whistles. Focus on the core sound. Go for a couple of great
things rather than hundreds of effects on a budget. You can always add more pedals later.
J
--------------------
Nothing is just nothing
Space is other people trying to be quiet
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Shostakovich
Joined: 20/09/06
Posts: 104
Loc: West Dorset, UK.
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Good suggestion, but I have GR 3 and use it with Sonar Producer! I think it sounds great;
I used to be a purist and mic up my amp for recording, and it sounded better than using
the line out, even with the Blackstar's speaker emulation. But GR sounds even better, to
my surprise.
However, for general practice and playing, I want to use the amp as it
has a very distinctive and pleasing sound, clean and driven. I just wanted to add some
basic FX to it, without going OTT. I also wonder if separate pedals are 'better' than a
multi FX unit?
edit; in reply to francobidanco
--------------------
Excelling at mediocrity for 55 years.
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SparkyG
Joined: 22/01/07
Posts: 176
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Jack
You have an excellent point, but there is a way round it. When I was
running my G-Force in the loop of My Cornford head. I could switch the effects loop in
and out, so the loop bypassed the effects unit.
On a previous amp where I couldn't
switch the loop on the head I used a voodoo Lab GCX which allows you to bypass elements
from any part of your rig and therefore preserve your tone (this is how the pro's do
it).
So if you have a G-Force and a GCX switcher in your rack, with a midi
controller like the voodoo lab Ground control Pro, then you can control the patch changes
and things like tap tempo on the G-Force and switch it in and out of the circuit all from
the midi pedal ,and the best thing is you only have the midi footswitch at the front of
the stage and it's powered by the midi lead as well.
Then because there are 8 loops
of the GCX you can also put individual pedals in them, you leave the pedals in your rack
at the back of the stage and on constantly but switch them in and out using the GCX. I
used to have a few pedals before the input to my amp, and the G-Force plus a fulltone fat
boost in the loop. all controlled by the GCX , excellent piece of kit, no long cable
runs, all tone preserved and a nice neat stage, with short set up times. Perfect.
This is the way to go to preserve your tone.
apologies for going OT,
but it may be useful info. BTW the G-Force and the GCX are no longer in use and
available, since I now do it all in one box - oo errr
Cheers
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Bungle1
Joined: 28/10/05
Posts: 172
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SparkyG - some useful info and perfectly timed, I was thinking of changing from my setup
(a pedalboard with 6 various pedals then into a Pod X3 Live then to the amp) to a rack
based system and couldn't work out from seeing some vids on Youtube how various guitarists
still had their pedals in a drawer in the rack and could switch em off / on remotely so
great info.
This would revolutionise my setup but first I need a revolution in
my wallet lol!!
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www.myspace.com/floodingthesilence
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Shostakovich
Joined: 20/09/06
Posts: 104
Loc: West Dorset, UK.
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Quote Jack Ruston:
Well here's
the problem: all the cheaper digital effects and multifx pedals convert the dry signal to
digital and back before it hits your amp. The conversion can cause your basic sound to
become mushy and lifeless. I recently went on the hunt for a delay pedal and tried most of
the main ones out there including the new tc's eventides etc. In every case the delays
sounded great but the dry passthrough was nasty. Until I tried the Seymour Duncan Deja Vu
which has an analogue dry path. It does change the sound a tiny bit but not in a horrible
way. The pedal is SO well featured and gives you analogue and digital sounds, blendable
with tap tempo and modulation. It also has 100% wet settings and outputs, which a lot of
delay pedals don't, and it has an fx loop and expression pedal control for the wet signal.
So for that reason I'd get one of those. They're 200 quid. I'd then get an analogue
chorus/modulation pedal with the remaining money.
Don't be sidetracked by
bells and whistles. Focus on the core sound. Go for a couple of great things rather than
hundreds of effects on a budget. You can always add more pedals later.
J
This is another thing that
concerns me; putting stuff into the chain that messes with the sound, even when it's
'off'. I saw the Seymour Duncan review on Guitarist magazine CD; nice!
I'm not
really into FX, but use, in order of use, reverb, delay, chorus, vibrato, and rarely
phaser and flanger. Overdrive is catered for very nicely by the Blackstar. I dream of a
twin channel valve amp, with some or all of these FX. Does it exist? 
--------------------
Excelling at mediocrity for 55 years.
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SparkyG
Joined: 22/01/07
Posts: 176
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Shostakovich
See my post above, effects in a chain don't have to rob tone if
you switch them out of the circuit with a loop switcher.
I thiknk the HT-5 Head
has a effect loop and so you could easily build a small rack system to sit next to it and
have all your effects in the rack, Drive and Wah effects before the amp and the time
based effects from say a MFX unit like the G-Major in the Loop. all effects stay on, but
are switched out of the chain when nod required. Minimal tone loss, minimum cabling,
maximum efficiency.
But it comes at a price, but this is the way the pro's go a lot
of the time.
The other way is to use something like a Gigrig but you have to
have all that at your feet and still need cables back to the amp
cheers
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Jack Ruston
Joined: 21/12/05
Posts: 2591
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Yep. Good way to do it. There is a price to pay however.
--------------------
Nothing is just nothing
Space is other people trying to be quiet
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caveman82
Joined: 30/01/06
Posts: 722
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Quote Jack Ruston:
Don't be sidetracked by bells and whistles. Focus on the core sound. Go for a couple of
great things rather than hundreds of effects on a budget. You can always add more pedals
later.
J
I am in
agreement with this statement, and would advocate looking to go for a single pedal which
you are very pleased with that eg creates a fantastic reverb sound or delay sound.
For the sounds you want 'reverb,delay, chorus, vibrato, and ideally phaser and
flanger', there are some Electro Harmonix pedals which I reckon if you chose two could
create most of those tones. The Deluxe Memory Man produces delay, chorus and vibrato. A
Electric Mistress produces some great flange tones, and the Small Stone produces some
truly awesome phaser tones. The Deluxe Memory Man is a little on the pricey side, but the
Memory Boy has the same functions and is a fraction of the cost at £68.
I can't
recommend which magazine it was, I think it might have Guitarist Magazine but they gave a
great review to the Digitech RV7, and said it was one of the best Reverb Pedals around.
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m_w
Joined: 01/10/04
Posts: 130
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throw every fx you have ever owned in the bin (well ebay) and buy a line 6 m9. brilliant
piece of kit.
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the cooler king
Joined: 08/11/09
Posts: 1
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EHX worm will give you phaser, trem and vibrato and get the new EHX Memory Boy delay,
about £150 for both and will cover a lot of FX sounds for you.
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Shostakovich
Joined: 20/09/06
Posts: 104
Loc: West Dorset, UK.
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Thanks for everyone's comments and suggestions, which were most helpful and
interesting.
It certainly got me thinking, and in the end, having originally thought
I might get a MFX unit, this is what I did; I already have a Hardwire RV-7 reverb, which
sounds superb and sits silently in the Blackstar's FX loop. So I wondered if their other
stuff sounded so good. I got the Delay and Chorus pedals. Well, I have to say they sound
really good. My old EHX small clone chorus left me feeling that perhaps I no longer liked
the effect, but the Hardwire sounds soooo good, and has many different settings. The delay
also has a range of options, and includes a looper. I'll think about the tremelo/vibrato
later!
What order would you place my FX in the chain? 
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Excelling at mediocrity for 55 years.
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chris-j
Joined: 10/11/09
Posts: 2
Loc: Tokyo/Los Angeles
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Generally there is two chains, one that goes guitar to amp and one to and from your
effects loop. Of course there is two schools of thought here as well, players who like
everything in front of the amp and those who use the loop. I personally use the loop for
certain effects.
Guitar to amp: wah-gain or gain-wah. I personally think of the
wah as an extention of the tone knob on your guitar so like the wah before the gain
shaping device. Jimi Hendrix did this as well. After that phase, univibe and/or tremolo.
You don't usually want these effects mixed to the dry signal so they sound better in
front. Chorus is a toss up.
Generally time based effects go nicely in the loop.
Think about it, reverb and delay are ambient effects so sound best after your sound is
complete, in other words, last.
Xotic makes something called an X-blender that
is a loop that allows you to mix your effects wet and dry signal and makes anything in the
loop true bypass. I like to run my delay through this and can control the wet to dry
signal with my foot.
I have a series of articles on my site about all of this
if you are interested:
http://chrisjuergensen.com/EFX.htm
http://chrisjuergensen.com/EFX2.htm
http://chrisjuergensen.com/EFX3.htm
--------------------
http://chrisjuergensen.com
The Empowered Musician: http://stores.lulu.com/chrisj64
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4TrackMadman
new member
Joined: 30/10/02
Posts: 967
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I'd say effect pedals as long as that amp has fx loop.
Voodoolab Chorus, Boss
DD3 for delay, I'd say away from reverb pedals and probably just use whatever is in the
DAW.
A TC G major used might do the trick but you'd need midi controller to
change patches.
The Korg multifx units had some good sounds for what you're
after so maybe look there as well as a used Boss GT-6 or GT-8. If you take away the
distortion on these (and you can) the rest of the effects are rather nice.
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www.descentintomadness.com
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