I need advise too... :)

I'm using a Marshall 1959HW Tube Amp Head combo'd with a Marshall 1960 Lead Bin... Guitar - Using a Gibson Les Paul Studio...

Ya gotta love the sound... The 1959HW tube amp has an amazing sound...

Unfortunately, I'm not completely happy... LoL... I love the sound of AC/DC and Eddie Van Halen... Would love to get some David Gilmour sound as well... I just don't know what to use for effects as I have never purchased anything like that before...

A couple of people said to get a Line 6 POD-HD-500 but before making a decision, I thought I'd log into here and see what y'all had to say... They said that the Line 6 has presets that will emulate the all the sound I'm looking for...?

If you have any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it...

Thank you in advance...

Phil

This is subjective. A multi effects unit is pretty versatile and will save you a ton of money. My other guitarist uses one, and imo, they suffer the same problem: Everything is buried under levels of menues and you cannot tweak much on the fly. However, if you have it set up well, the advantages are you can switch between banks of effects in a single click, and they will give you a far wider range of options with amp sims, various emulated pedals, loopers, etc. All for a few hundred bucks! (They were selling here for $300 just before Xmas.) The line 6 board is one of the best from what I know, and if I got another MFX unit, I would go for that; I like the "amp knobs" being right there, etc. It helps un-bury some of your controls.

I started with a modest MFX pedal called the Zoom G1and it gave me everything in one shot. It seemed MFX would be the logical choice, and upgraded to a Digitech 300 MFX pedal. Better effects, more options, plus the buit in drummer was pretty damn good. :) However, I eventually went "the way of the pedal", and I have no regrets about that. It's about 5 times more expensive, but I have enjoyed the process of building my own chain with the pedals I choose. I can tweak any setting on the fly, and I like having the "real thing".

I've actually come to the conclusion that any effects unit with more than 3 knobs is suspect!! :D

If you're going to be a session player, or in a cover band, then the MFX unit is a good choice, as it will allow you emulate many different sounds quickly and easily on the fly. If not, you might be happier with the pedal approach. I'm like Razbo. I've owned & used MFX units, then right up to a rack unit, and then back to floor pedals again.

AC DC sound is easy. Just go direct into the amp, and get all the overdrive from the amp itself. Your neighbors are going to love you.

David Gilmour is tough. You'll want some delay, but his sound is not as overdriven as many people think. The tricky thing with him is that really, his distinct "tone" and sound comes from his playing technique, especially his right hand. I bet we could try out his full-on concert setup, and really not sound anything like him. But, doesn't mean you shouldn't try! So not too crunchy, and a little delay for the lead sounds, more if you're going for the more obvious delayed guitar style.

Putting an amp simulator in front of that amp would be absolute heresy by the way...

Originally Posted by: Slipin Lizard
Putting an amp simulator in front of that amp would be absolute heresy by the way...

SL has a very valid point. :eek:

Hello, I was going to write a review about the Boss GT-100, however I've only had it 1 month so far and wanted to write a more complete review after 2 to 4 months. So far so good with this Boss unit, it really has a ton of good presets ( no matter what type of contrary reviews you might run across on the internet ) if you like to micro or macro tweek your settings with ease then this multifx has that ability also. I run it through the fx loop on a 100 watt solid state amp with a 12" speaker. It sounds SPECTACULAR........................ and I gauge this sound through the ears of my neighbors which haven't even so much as knocked on the wall yet. haha

Call me old school but I still dig stomp boxes. For full disclosure, I don't currently own any since all my playing is for practice and DAW recording.

That said, the 'all in one' effect is a great thing and something I had the option for way back when. The issue is that it can be kinda complex and there are too many options.

I remember in the 80's, many guitarists suffered from refrigerator syndrome. What that meant was; the player had sooo many effects that they had to be fit inside a refrigerator road case....and most never sounded any better.

David Gilmour gets his sound but note choice and commitment to a note. His sound can be achieved by a some reverb and delay. Malcolm Young plays a hollow body Gretsch through a Marshall and little more. His sound is due to his being a rock solid rhythm player.

Not trying to rain on a parade but just mentioning that follow the 'outboard-effects-to-acheive-the-ultimate-sound' deal is kinda of a rabbit whole. You can spend a lot of money and never get there.

I've mentioned a time or two that in the 80's, I did a few 'guitar competitions'..In one of them, everyone had to play through the same amp. You could have all the outboard you wanted so long it could quickly be plugged in to the effects loop. I had no effects at all...but I knew the amp well. After I performed, I had several people ask me how I got such a big tone. I just plugged straight in. I didn't even change any tone settings...though, when we were all practicing backstage, when I warmed up on the combo version of the same amp, about 5 guys came in as ask me what my setting was and copied...so when I walked up and plugged in, it was already dialed in.

Anyway, the point is to be sure that you get effects that enhance what you can already do. If you can't do it, the effects will do nothing for you.

After that, just keep it simple. I like stomp boxes (and even with the amp sim I use, the effects are stomps) because they are simple and I can dial in quickly and then just play.

Hey All,

Thank you for all your assistance... After doing some research on the Line 6 HD's, they can be very complex and confusing to use... One location said, "We can program it to sound something like "say Van Halen," however, that will be an additional charge of $100.00."

So total investment for a novice like me who would probably pull my hair out trying to figure out how to work the system, would be a minimum of $500 - $600 bucks...

Being the novice I am, I think I should just start simple... So here's what I'm going to do...

I'm going to grab a couple of pedals and start there... Here are my first pedals of choice to start with:

- EVH Flanger
- EVH MXP Phase 90

That will be a $300.00 bill at the end of the day and I can add on as time goes on...

Someday when I get a bit more experienced, then I think it will be more appropriate to tackle a computerized gig...

First and foremost, I hope I'm making the right choice... :)

Thanks again for all your advice...

Philip

You do understand that there is more to Eddie's brown sound than just those two pedals yes? You have his old amp, his technique... .Just a lot of variables.

For what it's worth...

I have both, pedals and a Boss GT100. I like the pedals but there is something magical about the power of the GT100. You have everything you would ever need in on box. I go in and can just experiment for hours on end playing with tone.

There are going to be people who say, pedals sound better, there are going to be people who say pedal boards sound just as good if not better. I'm not going there either. But I will say that I have an Ibanez Tube Screamer pedal and the boss GT10 ( had a gt10 before my 100) sounded just as good, if not identical.

So for me, and take this with a grain of salt, you get a WAY bigger bang for the buck with investing in a pedal board than you will with pedals. Granted, all my pedals ( with the exception of the tube screamer ) are all Boss pedals.

A good approach to Gilmour, is Reverb, Delay, and Phaser, one of the best and simple to use is the MXR Phase 90 Script model (not the BLOCK edition which is more "modern" sounding) the Script have a more 70's sound and is more mellow, it can even do a good "leslie" type of tone...
I play this setup through a boutique amp (Fender style), and a Marshall Class 5 (kind of a mini Bluesbreaker amp) and both can give good Gilmour like tone... well, in the ballpark, because the real setup would require me to sell the house... ;-)

Had several MultiFX over the years, one of the best I've used is the Digidesign Eleven Rack, but I still prefer the analog approach with stompboxs.

The way I have always looked at it: Multi effects units like the POD,Boss GT series, Digitech RP or GENX series, etc... are great writing and song sculpting tools. They give you great versatility and allow for quick settings and effect changes. In a creative environment they're very useful. I have a Line 6 PODxt Live... it's fun to play around with different effects and different combinations...

...BUT...

That's the extent of the use that I have for it... When it comes to recording or playing live. I use my actual pedal board.

As a side-note... It's almost a tonal sin to play a digital multi effects untit through an already great sounding tube amp. i have always went by the idea that digital and analog shouldn't mix... You either use one or the other.

As for the tones... With your set-up you really only need an overdrive pedal, a delay, and maybe a fuzz.... That should get you into the ball park of any one of those tones that you're looking for.

It's one of those things where there are many ways to get the results that you're looking for... sometimes searching for those tones is the fun part.

I have been playing and gigging for about 40 years now. I used to have or try most pedals and processors out there in the begining (refrigerator syndrom as someone said here above), lots of money wasted by the way. For the last 20 years I have just been using a good amp and a good guitar (in my case a Mesa Boogie MKIV and a Fender Clapton active strat), And, that's IT. No pedals would give me that sound. Sound however comes from the playing style and fingers touch first of all, someone else using the same setup sounds different.
ADVICE : develop your own sound and technique. Van Halen will never sound like Gilmour and Gilmour will never sound like EVH. And I sound like ....me.