Analog pedals, midi switching pedalboard w/ EVH 5150 III

  • Thread starter Thread starter Markmetalguitar
  • Start date Start date
Markmetalguitar

Markmetalguitar

Member
In the proverbial quest for tone I am 90% there. Dumped all of my modeling gear and back to tube amps. Using 5150 III 50w Stealth and (currently) Fractal FX8. The amp is Midi compatible so channel switching and effects set up (after a lot of cussing) is now a breeze. But…. I can’t help but think there’s still a little bit of tone suck in there and seriously considering going back to traditional pedals. I can only describe as it just feels and sounds better and less, well, digital. I use the basics (chorus, delay, gate, boost, EQ, phase 90 and verb) To alleviate tap dancing what pedalboard is recommended as I want to step on one button and five things change it once including midi capability channel switching for the amp to coincide with which pedals are engaged. Thinking about the voodoo labs PX8? Recommendations? Thanks
 
My favorite switcher pedals are the Boss ES pedal series. They're transparent, easy to program, very flexible, and reasonably priced.

That said, the Fractal effects are great, probably some of the best effects in the industry to be honest. I built a pedalboard a few months ago and had to get absolutely top-tier stuff to even come close to the quality of effects Fractal offers. Strymon Flint, Origin Effects Cali76 Compact, lots of really good stuff, and I wouldn't say any of them are flat out out better than the Fractal effects. Besides that, you mentioned specific effects like Noise Gate, EQ, and simple volume boost effects. How would those effects in particular sound digital, anyway? If you think they sound "digital" then honestly I think you might just be trying to convince yourself that you're hearing something "digital" because you happen to know the effects are coming from a digital source, not because they actually sound "digital" which is basically a meaningless term anyway.

The other thing I will say is that with the 50w EVH amps, if you're running the FX8 in the loop, there is a chance you could be hearing some channel bleed from the amp. The Blue channel can bleed through at low volumes which can give you phasing issues if you're using digital effects due to the 1-2ms lag. This isn't enough to feel on its own, but again, blended with an analog signal it will introduce phase issues. The Red channel doesn't do this though, if I recall correctly.
 
Huge fan of MIDI since the early 90's..
I don't own but have looked into the Voodoo deal.. They seem pretty nice for a switchable Buffered Loop..
You could have a huge Pedal Board or a Rack Tray of Pedals.. Decisions, decisions..
I'm still using a Lexicon MPX-1 with an original Ground Control and Expression Pedals.. That's one thing you can't do with Analog Pedals is blend parameters..
Combination of both??
 
TheGreatGreen said:
My favorite switcher pedals are the Boss ES pedal series. They're transparent, easy to program, very flexible, and reasonably priced.

That said, the Fractal effects are great, probably some of the best effects in the industry to be honest. I built a pedalboard a few months ago and had to get absolutely top-tier stuff to even come close to the quality of effects Fractal offers. Strymon Flint, Origin Effects Cali76 Compact, lots of really good stuff, and I wouldn't say any of them are flat out out better than the Fractal effects. Besides that, you mentioned specific effects like Noise Gate, EQ, and simple volume boost effects. How would those effects in particular sound digital, anyway? If you think they sound "digital" then honestly I think you might just be trying to convince yourself that you're hearing something "digital" because you happen to know the effects are coming from a digital source, not because they actually sound "digital" which is basically a meaningless term anyway.

The other thing I will say is that with the 50w EVH amps, if you're running the FX8 in the loop, there is a chance you could be hearing some channel bleed from the amp. The Blue channel can bleed through at low volumes which can give you phasing issues if you're using digital effects due to the 1-2ms lag. This isn't enough to feel on its own, but again, blended with an analog signal it will introduce phase issues. The Red channel doesn't do this though, if I recall correctly.
Click to expand...
You touched on what is probably more than anything the “mental” aspects. I think after using every digital “top rated” modeling rig over the last 4 years, I got spoiled by efficiency. I love touring, running DI with or w/o a cab. 5 minutes, done. But…when I ventured to, or back from depending who you ask “the Dark Side”, the tone and feel of an amp is just undeniable. Playing metal it seems “no one will care” which I disagree with. I guess we all know what we like and the return to tubes for me just feels right. I don’t have a bad thing to say about Helix, AXFX or Kemper. I’ve used all of them and they’re all amazing pieces of technology. I digress, however I do think I have found the happy medium with returning to this monstrous EVH tube amp yet integrating modern technology with the Fractal. Always a work in progress!
 
Go with the Boss ES series. I have both the ES-8 and the ES-5. If you can swing it and have room, go with the 8. It has more features and a moveable volume loop that plays well with the fx loop in the stealth.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top