SOT: Alesis Quadraverb? Junkyard dog, or diamond in the rough?

Scott Ians Beard

Scott Ians Beard

New member
Anyone use one? Are they any good for a "rock" gig?

I was thinking of getting a couple of delay pedals for my rig, one for a short delay, the other for a long delay. However, I noticed used Quadraverbs go for less than a new delay pedal, and have a few extra options...

Would be used in the loop of a Carvin X100B. I also like to pretend I am a fusion player every so often, so if they are ok for those liquid fusion delays that would be cool. I have to stress, im on a tight budget.
 
I have a Quadraverb ..

They were pretty much the " norm " in the late 80's early 90's . As far as I remember .

I like mine alot . It can do a lot more than delay .

and like you said you can grab them dirt cheap ...

the reverbs on it are excellent ...
 
I've always prefered the Boss SE-50 to the quadraverb but they were great units back in the day for the money.
 
I use one in my rack...it's the only delay I use. Easy to program, sounds good, use just a hair of verb on another patch and thats it. Everything else in my rack are pedals controlled by the GCX. I went through so many rack processors through the years and always ended up coming back to the Quadraverb. Again though I only use it for delays and a bit of verb. The chorus is ok, flange and other things are kinda weak. Plus if you use the eq it gets very noisy. They're so old now, when one goes out I just find another for $100 bucks...cheaper than getting them fixed. I've had 4...the 1st something screwed up in the output, still worked but when you cranked it the output would cut out, 2nd burned up in a fire, 3rd out put thing again...4th seems to be working now. I just take the original and data dump my settings. It'd cost more to fix them than to just buy another so that's what I do.
 
Thanks for the words guys. Ill have a look for the SE-50, to be honest id never heard of one. I know that the Quadraverbs are cheap and easily available...

jabps - would you say the units are unreliable in that case? Im going to be buying used...
 
Just go ahead and go for the quadraverb 2. It definitely sounds better and has better converters.

OTOH, the original was used on tons of albums and was the industry standard in guitar rigs(except the freaks with Eventides like Vai and Satch).
 
I had one. It wasn't bad. I just made a conscious decision to use less effects, and went back the pedalboard route. When I was running the Quadraverb, I had wah, tuner and OD and the midi board for running the Quadraverb in front of my feet -> WAY TOO MUCH STUFF. I only really used it for chorus and delay anyway.
 
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mysticaxe":2c824 said:
I had one. It wasn't bad. I just made a conscious decision to use less effects, and went back the pedalboard route. When I was running the Quadraverb, I had wah, tuner and OD and the midi board for running the Quadraverb in front of my feet -> WAY TOO MUCH STUFF. I only really used it for chorus and delay anyway.
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I hear ya on this, ive played for years with no effects at all. Just a boost infront for solos. However, ive started a covers band for a bit of extra cash and to get gigging again and the ballads just dont sound right without the delays. I figured id pick up a used Midi Mouse or similar, not bother with a full board. Ill be using it just for the delays, maybe the chorus...

That and ive always wanted a delay :D
 
I almost wonder whether the Boss GT-8 or PODXT live would be a better bet since it can do the infront and loop stuff. I know that's a lot of extra cash though... I should have gone the small board route too. Oh well, I may end up revisiting the rack stuff in the future - we'll see.
 
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Scott Ians Beard":dd531 said:
Thanks for the words guys. Ill have a look for the SE-50, to be honest id never heard of one. I know that the Quadraverbs are cheap and easily available...

jabps - would you say the units are unreliable in that case? Im going to be buying used...
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Only unrealiable in the sense that they're getting old. Just like on some of the old SE50's and 70's you have to replace the batteries that support the memory (something like that...I'm sure someone knows what I'm talking about)...stuffs just getting old, that's all. The Quadraverb 2 is a nice unit but a bitch to program..at least it was for me and I've had alot of effects units...Lexicon, Rocktron, Roland, Boss, etc...

For a $100 bucks...it's a good deal. Just try and find one that's spent time in the studio or at least has been taken care of...but then again, how do you really know that. If your just looking for delay and nothing more, I'd check out the DD20 pedal...it's got 4 presets. I use one for my smaller rig and I love it.
 
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Gainfreak":3b18d said:
I've always prefered the Boss SE-50 to the quadraverb but they were great units back in the day for the money.
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Hey Ralph,
Ive done some digging around and found that you can get the SE-50s for about the same £££ as Quadraverbs. Seeing as you know a thing or too about good tone, ill check one out!

Got a couple of questions that i cant seem to find the answer to:
Are they footswitchable, by midi or other?
Are they difficult to program?
And finally, why do you prefer it to the Quadraverbs? Im just checkin out my options here...

Cheers,

Steve
 
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jabps":d747c said:
:|::QBB:Only unrealiable in the sense that they're getting old. Just like on some of the old SE50's and 70's you have to replace the batteries that support the memory (something like that...I'm sure someone knows what I'm talking about)...stuffs just getting old, that's all. The Quadraverb 2 is a nice unit but a bitch to program..at least it was for me and I've had alot of effects units...Lexicon, Rocktron, Roland, Boss, etc...

For a $100 bucks...it's a good deal. Just try and find one that's spent time in the studio or at least has been taken care of...but then again, how do you really know that. If your just looking for delay and nothing more, I'd check out the DD20 pedal...it's got 4 presets. I use one for my smaller rig and I love it.
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Thanks for the advice man. The DD20 seems to cost nearly double that of the quadraverb and the SE-50 on the used market, so thats the reason im not immediately looking at it, plus the extra features of the other processors might come in handy, you never know!
 
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Scott Ians Beard":6817c said:
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Thanks for the advice man. The DD20 seems to cost nearly double that of the quadraverb and the SE-50 on the used market, so thats the reason im not immediately looking at it, plus the extra features of the other processors might come in handy, you never know!
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The SE-50 & 70 are 2 of the better mulit units ever put out IMO...there's a program on the 50 that sounds like something off Turbo by Judas Priest. The only reason I did not keep mine was an effects loop level issue. When I was using 5150's I could never get the loop right with those units...could with the Alesis and Rocktron stuff but never the Boss. Heck, now that I've moved on and my amps have effects loop level controls plus the +/- switch I may try and track down an old SE-50. As far as effects on the whole...I'd say the 50 or 70. For just delay and verb...man it's hard to beat the old Quadraverb. Good luck.
 
Yes, they are midi switchable.

I have a Quadraverb and Quadraverb II in my rack and they are great units. May not be as "high-tech" or as current some of the newer stuff, but they sound great. Will spank most units in the ass.
 

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