# Good, small, cheap multi-effects



## troyhead (May 23, 2014)

I’ve been looking for a little multi-effects pedal for those not-often-used sounds that are needed from time to time. I don’t want it to be the centrepiece of my board, just a little add-on. I would not be using it for dirt at all. 

It seems the typical rule of “good, small, cheap: pick two” applies here as it is difficult to find something that fits the bill all-around. Below are some options I’ve come up with, but some are getting OLD. Anyone have other ideas?

Line 6 M5. I’ve had both of the other M-series pedals in the past and they have been okay. Presets are definitely a bonus, but it’s still a bit big for the space I’m trying to fill. 
Zoom MS-70CDR. Definitely fits the bill for small and cheap, and also has presets. I don’t know much about this pedal, and it seems to also be getting somewhat old at 5 years. 
Keeley Super Mod Workstation. Other than the price, this one looks pretty killer, but I’ve never actually played one and don’t know much about it. No presets, but you can set up two sounds. 
Southampton Utility Knife. This is what got me started looking for this kind of pedal, but was hoping to have a few more options like reverb and such, and switching sounds in a live setting would be problematic without presets. 
Any additional ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## Lord-Humongous (Jun 5, 2014)

I have a Zoom MS-100BT and use it to add modulation, delay, and oddball effects when needed. I got it on clearance a year or two ago and at the time (and perhaps still now), all of the additional effects that were available for purchase in the Zoom Stomp Share iOS app were unlocked and free. So, I downloaded and installed every single one that I thought might be interesting. I haven't even tried them all yet there are so many. And it's a normal pedal size so it isn't a big space hog on my pedal board. I'd recommend it (and assuming the MS-70 has similar effects, I'm sure it's as good a deal). 

I have gigged with it & I take it out a lot, it's been reliable. And I should also mention that I never use patches, I pick what effect I need and use it like any other stompbox.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

If one DSP or set, is tasked with producing multiple effects simultaneously, the quality of the sound produced is "challenged". My analogy is the diffeence between a PC's performance with higher-end videogames, vs something dedicated, like a PS3. As far as I know (and please DO correct me if I'm wrong), CPU speeds on platform gaming machines are not discernibly faster than those of desktop PCs. But the OS of gaming machines is not predicated on "checking up" on multiple things that have nothing to do with gameplay, so they can run a lot faster. I'm sure there are other graphics accelerators, etc., that assist n this, but thew fact that it isn't time-sharing with non-game functions helps a LOT.

That's the long way of saying that having several single-effect/multiple-personality pedals might be preferable. For instance, NUX has a "Core" series of pedals that offer one-effect-at-a-time, but several alternatives of the same category in each pedal (Core Series Stompboxes - NUX). I recently picked up a Donner Alchemy pedal ( Donner Alchemy Guitar Effect Pedal True Bypass 8 Modulation Effects: Amazon.ca: Musical Instruments, Stage & Studio ) from a guy on Kijiji for $30, and picked up a MUZA FD900 delay pedal from another guy on Kijiji for $60. Between the two, I have pretty much every modulation, delay, and reverb base covered in two 1590B-sized pedals. Certainly not cheap, when purchased new, but bargains can be found. Quality is decent and the DSP circuitry is not overtaxed with trying to do too much.

I have an M5 as well. Lotsa options there, and a real bargain, even at retail price. Although the Uni-Vibe patch never really gained any traction in my world. It has the brunt of what is found in their floor-pedal modeler series, like the DL4, MM4, et al., plus some of what is in the Verbzilla pedal, plus a tuner, presets, and a nice usable expression-pedal function. A useful addendum to many pedalboards, especially for those effects you wouldn't generally drop money on for the rarity of their use.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I have no real experience in this area, but I do know a lot of people swear by the Line 6 M units for what your needs are.


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## Cups (Jan 5, 2010)

The M5 is great..... for certain things. The vibrato and univibe or underwhelming. 
The Zoom ms stuff I really like. Limited by the one Footswitch though. But truly love the sounds.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

I'm kind of in the same boat, looking for something for my acoustic rig. 

Mostly I need boost and reverb, ideally with their own footswitches, and then chorus, echo, and phaser would be nice to have too.

Not really sure yet if I should try to find a multi-function device or not. I've been collecting individual pedals for many years now. Compact size would be a bonus though.

Are there specific effects that are "must haves" for you?


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

The Zoom MS-50G is amazing and with the latest update you can basically load all the same sounds from the higher end products in the series. I use mine all the time. The CE-1 Chorus is worth the price of admission alone.


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## troyhead (May 23, 2014)

Lord-Humongous said:


> I have a Zoom MS-100BT and ... I downloaded and installed every single one that I thought might be interesting


I hadn’t realized they were free now... that’s cool. I don’t think I’d ever use the amp and cab sims, but it would be nice to know they are there if I needed them in a pinch. Was there a limit to how many you could download? I heard it doesn’t fit all of the sounds. 



Greg Ellis said:


> Are there specific effects that are "must haves" for you?


Tremolo and reverb. Some mods and extra delays would be nice too.


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## Lord-Humongous (Jun 5, 2014)

troyhead said:


> I hadn’t realized they were free now... that’s cool. I don’t think I’d ever use the amp and cab sims, but it would be nice to know they are there if I needed them in a pinch. Was there a limit to how many you could download? I heard it doesn’t fit all of the sounds.


I have no idea if there is a limit in the number of effects. Perhaps you can fill it up, I don’t recall the app giving me any limit on the downloads though. I can tell you that I’ve loaded more effects in there than any player would able to use.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Greg Ellis said:


> I'm kind of in the same boat, looking for something for my acoustic rig.
> 
> Mostly I need boost and reverb, ideally with their own footswitches, and then chorus, echo, and phaser would be nice to have too.
> 
> ...


Digital does some categories of effects extremely well, and others not so much. At least not in real time. While not intending to cloud the waters even more, I will note that the free Toneprint app for many TC Electronic pedals allows for reconfiguring the pedal well beyond its nominal function. So, for example, forum member zdogma loaned me his Alter Ego delay, and I was able to reconfigure it to be a through-zero flanger. I won't say that the software was easy to work with, but it did allow for a lot of experimentation, and whatever patches you come up with (or provided in their sizeable library) can simply be fed to the pedal. So that's yet another way to have multiple "effects" without taking up more room on the pedalboard. Not quite a multi-FX, but verging on it. I regularly see Toneprint-capable pedals on Kijiji for <$100.


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## TheYanChamp (Mar 6, 2009)

Quality of the boss ms3 is really good. Bit I've only had it a few days so will wait before I comment further. L


Sent from my SGH-M919V using Tapatalk


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## Gavz (Feb 27, 2016)

I have the Keeley Super Mod workstation and it is nice. The mod sounds are great and the added reverb and delay give it that little extra. Two effects at a time are enough for me as I can add pre or post as well with other pedals. It is a surprisingly tiny pedal and takes up little space. Lately I have only been using it with a Rat and really liking the tones.


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## Ronbeast (Nov 11, 2008)

Bought the zoom ms50g a few weeks back; loving it so far, but haven’t had a chance to jam with others since I’ve had it.

It’s very versatile, but you need to put in the time to figure it out. There are great YouTube videos to point you in the right direction.

For $100, this thing is never leaving my board. It’s already worth it’s weight in effects, plus it’s only slightly bigger than a boss box.

The amp sims are meh, but the modulation effects are great for the price and the pedal is infinitely tweakable. Also really liking the Rat effect, because I’ve always wanted a Rat pedal but can never free up the space on my board to get one on there.


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

I don’t think anyone on the forum has ever talked about Hotone Xtomp, at least search does not seem to return any hits: Xtomp » Hotone Audio. It fits the small and good categories, but cost is a matter of perspective — it is easily worth the used prices.

The sound quality is amazing. The variety is amazing. And every last Fri of the month, without fail, they release at least 4 new effects and sims, usually more. You might also change your mind about dirt with this one, it is shockingly good. 

@troyhead, since we’re in the same town, you are extremely welcome to borrow for as long as you want, I have spares. You can check out their Android or iOS app now and see all the effects downloadable over Bluetooth. Let me know.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

troyhead said:


> Tremolo and reverb. Some mods and extra delays would be nice too.


A used strymon el capistan and an outlaw fx/mooer/joyo delay.


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## troyhead (May 23, 2014)

Thanks all for the suggestions!



LexxM3 said:


> @troyhead, since we’re in the same town, you are extremely welcome to borrow for as long as you want, I have spares.


You are awesome, @LexxM3 thanks! I was thinking about the Xtomp, but is there any way to change sounds without using your phone? I'm okay to even kneel down to a pedalboard to make some adjustments between songs, but pulling out a phone to change settings might get awkward. That said, I might still have to give one a try.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Though it doesn't have all the options that you require, the Utility Knife is a good choice to cover what it does.

I have one on my small board and I'm quite impressed with the effects on board.


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

troyhead said:


> Thanks all for the suggestions!
> You are awesome, @LexxM3 thanks! I was thinking about the Xtomp, but is there any way to change sounds without using your phone? I'm okay to even kneel down to a pedalboard to make some adjustments between songs, but pulling out a phone to change settings might get awkward. That said, I might still have to give one a try.


 Yes, unit has 6 knobs (I am talking about the full size Xtomp, I don't have any experience with the mini) and those knobs get assigned specific functions for specific loaded effect, e.g. gain, level, tone, delay, etc. So while the effect can only be loaded/changed by phone (it is retained between power cycles i.e. you power up and use the effect already loaded, no phone required), you use the physical knobs to set parameters of that effect. You only need the phone to change the effect.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

Xtomp is kind of a cool idea, but I was hoping it would hold at least 2 or 3 presets that could quickly be swapped - chorus, phaser, trem or something like that.

The fact that you need to reprogram it via Bluetooth is kind of limiting for a live situation.


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Greg Ellis said:


> Xtomp is kind of a cool idea, but I was hoping it would hold at least 2 or 3 presets that could quickly be swapped - chorus, phaser, trem or something like that.
> 
> The fact that you need to reprogram it via Bluetooth is kind of limiting for a live situation.


You do need to use your phone to load an effect, but if previously used, it’s a fast load, few seconds. There are also a number of combination effect, where 2 specific effects are loaded/running at the same time. You can review all of those if you download the app.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

I have an iStomp, it doesn’t work with iOS 11.


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Hammerhands said:


> I have an iStomp, it doesn’t work with iOS 11.


In the off chance you were thinking that iStomp and Xtomp are related, they are not. Xtomp app works fine with iOS 11.


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

The MS70-CDR is awesome, and the recent firmware upgrade added parametric EQ's and a gorgeous new smallstone phaser sim and about 50 others  pdf. 
The Vibe is one of my favourites, and the stereo effects are very good.
Nearly every effect has a level control, including the znr, so you can clean boost a bit as well.
I wiped 90% of the preset patches - they kinda suck so don't pay too much attention to the youtube demos. 
Programming is simple and intuitive.
The capabilities to mess with tone are enormous.
E.g., I set up something Knopfleresque last week -- ZNR -> Orange Sqeezer -> EQ -> Chorus -> Bottom B -> Slap Back.
The footswitch can switch between chosen patches or go into bypass/tuner.
3rd party Tonelib and Zoomlib interfaces let me do backups and swap patches.
I modded mine to take lithium batteries.
Obviously I love this thing, it's replaced my stereo chorus, delay, and reverb pedals - never jam without it.
Together with my modded Double Muff it's about all I need right now.
Hope that helps!


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

LexxM3 said:


> In the off chance you were thinking that iStomp and Xtomp are related, they are not. Xtomp app works fine with iOS 11.


That was just a warning about relying on companies to support products past their end-of-life.

Good news today though, there is an iOS 11 update for the Stomp Shop app!

WAIT, maybe don’t update. The update may have removed most of the pedals.

It could be a temporary bug, the other pedals are still mentioned in the description on the app store.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Ray Cathode said:


> The MS70-CDR is awesome, and the recent firmware upgrade added parametric EQ's and a gorgeous new smallstone phaser sim and about 50 others  pdf.
> The Vibe is one of my favourites, and the stereo effects are very good.
> Nearly every effect has a level control, including the znr, so you can clean boost a bit as well.
> I wiped 90% of the preset patches - they kinda suck so don't pay too much attention to the youtube demos.
> ...


How is your Double Muff modded? I'm curious. There are all sorts of interesting possibilities with that pedal. An overlooked gem.


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## troyhead (May 23, 2014)

Greg Ellis said:


> Are there specific effects that are "must haves" for you?





troyhead said:


> Tremolo and reverb. Some mods and extra delays would be nice too.


In case anyone cares, I bought the Zoom 50G and loaded it up with the latest firmware to get all the sounds, but it wasn't really my thing. So I (re)bought a Strymon Flint, which is the greatest multi-fx pedal ever.


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

mhammer said:


> How is your Double Muff modded? I'm curious. There are all sorts of interesting possibilities with that pedal. An overlooked gem.


Clean blend, a bit of gain reduction & some tone control via the P1 pot. Out of the box the DM had too much uncontrollable bite for my taste, but hey, that's just me.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Hah! Mine sort of went the other way. Here's what I made. Apologies for the audio fwap-fwap-fwap. Some sort of artifact of the shoddy recording technique. I highly recommend dickering around with the emitter-to-base feedback resistance from Q2 to Q1. I first stumbled onto it with the ZVex Woolly Mammoth, and have been enjoying exprimenting with it ever since. As well, note that distortion is still achieved even without the clipping diode pair. The diodes just add some level-limiting and a bit more sizzle. Omitting the diodes (particularly in the second Muff) increases the output level _substantially_. One of the things that makes possible is use of more sophisticated passive tonestacks that would normally provide too much signal loss to be acceptable.

But I guess we're driufting too far from the thread focus.


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

mhammer said:


> As well, note that distortion is still achieved even without the clipping diode pair. The diodes just add some level-limiting and a bit more sizzle.


..should start a new thread - I'd be interested in discussing variations of that CLIP control, I've given that a whirl a few times.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

Hammerhands said:


> Good news today though, there is an iOS 11 update for the Stomp Shop app!
> 
> WAIT, maybe don’t update. The update may have removed most of the pedals.
> 
> It could be a temporary bug, the other pedals are still mentioned in the description on the app store.


The pedals are all back, now. Don't forget to restore purchases in settings if you deleted the app.


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## Doug B (Jun 19, 2017)

Mooer PE-100



troyhead said:


> I’ve been looking for a little multi-effects pedal for those not-often-used sounds that are needed from time to time. I don’t want it to be the centrepiece of my board, just a little add-on. I would not be using it for dirt at all.
> 
> It seems the typical rule of “good, small, cheap: pick two” applies here as it is difficult to find something that fits the bill all-around. Below are some options I’ve come up with, but some are getting OLD. Anyone have other ideas?
> 
> ...


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