I just bought a fairly new modelling amp with a bunch of built-in effects - auto-wah, compressor, chorus, flanger, phaser, 2 reverbs, delay, tremelo. I did a bunch of research and I knew some were naff; but I'm finding them all a bit gimmicky and can't say it improves the sound at all. If anything it just muddies things up.
Am I weird, or have I just not found the desirable settings? I've tried turning some of them right down to the minimum but even that had too much "affect" on the sound and I turned it off.
Or....have I saved myself hundreds of hours fiddling with little boxes on the floor, patch cables, wires, a few more wires, power supplies etc etc and potentially hundreds/thousands of £?
(I also bought a few pedals when I started out: a Boss Overdrive/Distortion OS-2 and Mega Distortion MD-2 - I hardly use these either).
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However once I realised I wanted to create sounds they made complete sense - but without trying to sound too much like I'm patronising I had to sit there for some time to work out what each was trying to achieve, then how they go into my sound.
I love a ton of stuff for creating ambient sounds on clean, or some nice trem for a bit of interest. Metal sounds really get something from effects, if thats the sound I am after, bringing out solos or overlay pieces.
But if the sound I want is straight into the amp, with nothing added that is the sound I want. Doing some blues with anything more than a bit of verb sounds very wrong to me, but I'm sure others will love adding more.
Generally I have a floor full of effects and spend tons of time playing, but try not to use them for the sake of them. They won't make up for a bad tone, just overlay a bit of something.
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i like fx........a lot.
The problem I find with amp based modulation fx is that you can't switch them in and out easily whilst playing (unless you have a footswitch), so you end up leaving them on for the whole song which is not usually ideal.
I'm not bothered about other effects although I do like bit of reverb.
I also suspect, that these £100+ or £200+ pedals I see and hear about, the difference is like chalk and cheese compared to the built in effects an amp might typically have (unless you're lucky).
what amp have you got? Is it some kind of Vox thing?
Usually I only use a little bit of delay
Subtle , very refined touch-sensitive OD pedals can be good sometimes (for me), Those Boss ones wouldn't be like that
most built-in FX are pretty awful
try the amp clean, but with a small amount of compression and delay, with nothing else
Yeah I now realise that. I think I'll keep these two though, I bought them secondhand and I could always sell them again if I found myself never using them. The amp is a Vox AD50VT.
@paul_c2
try using the FX with the levels turned down. Personally I love the MXR Phase 90's, but keep the control to around 25-33%. Just enough to have an effect, not so much that the only thing you hear is the effect.
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I have a Line 6 amp with built-in FX that I bought off a mate to use as an emergency back-up and it has phaser, chorus/ flange and delay. The delay is usable, but I have not found a setting for the other FX that works for me at all, yet with separate pedals I can find all kinds of usable sounds. The control of the various FX is severely hindered by LIne 6 trying to keep it simple for the novice by having just the one control, instead of the usual rate/ depth/ mix etc settings one would use.
The effects on the AD50 aren't great - as you've said, they're not very subtle or inherently natural-sounding. They're usable if you persevere with setting them carefully though. The amp should have a footswitch to turn them on and off - if you don't have one you need a two-button switch, one is to select the two channel memories and the other for the effects. (If I remember right it was an extra-cost option with the AD series.)
For what it's worth the Boss OS-2 is a great pedal - but like most Boss overdrives and distortions it sounds much better into a valve amp at gig volume than a small solid-state one at home. I've never understood the common hatred for them even there though.
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All the delays/flangers/fuzzes/overdrives and God knows what else can come later.
God knows how I started digging into the whole delay/reverb/trem/phaser/flanger/etc business, but I do know it was a very dark day indeed. I think when you start properly discovering them, it's nice to have a full set to choose from, and of course - it's a shitload of fun.