Best Multi Effects Acoustic Guitar Pedal (Please Vote)

[JackB1]

Why did you prefer the Transit A to the Play Acoustic?

I am torn between simplifying things with a separate guitar effects pedal + a vocal pedal (for harmonys and vocal enhancements) or staying with my Play Acoustic. I really prefer knobs I can adjust on the fly and setup quickly, but the Play Acoustic is a compact vocals & guitar all in one setup needing only one combined XLR cable. Separating the vocal and guitar effects mean another cable and using another channel on my speaker (it only has 2). Other alternative is a small mixer with all the built in effects I need for vocals and guitar and then just adding a simple harmony pedal.

Originally Posted by jkilgour2000

Trace Elliott Transit A. Hands down the best.

I jumped through a lot of hoops — Line 6 Hdx500, TC Helicon Play Acoustic, TC VL3, Zoom A3 before buying this. I could have saved a lot of time and money!!

[6L6]

Guitar w/K&K pickup > Vintage BOSS DM-2 Analog Delay > BOSS CH-1 Super Chorus > Fishman Loudbox amp.

[jkilgour2000]

Originally Posted by JackB1

Why did you prefer the Transit A to the Play Acoustic?

I am torn between simplifying things with a separate guitar effects pedal + a vocal pedal (for harmonys and vocal enhancements) or staying with my Play Acoustic. I really prefer knobs I can adjust on the fly and setup quickly, but the Play Acoustic is a compact vocals & guitar all in one setup needing only one combined XLR cable. Separating the vocal and guitar effects mean another cable and using another channel on my speaker (it only has 2). Other alternative is a small mixer with all the built in effects I need for vocals and guitar and then just adding a simple harmony pedal.

I like it over all the others simply because I get great sound from the unit, without diving into a bunch of menus. I like to do quick tweaks on the fly. I really liked the sound of the Zoom A3, but I found the menu system a bit daunting. To each his own.

For the record it’s just for the guitar. I use the VL3 for vocals and loops.

Pic of my board, looks messy but I’ve cleaned it up since the pic was taken IMG_0615.jpg

[douglasfan1]

Zoom A3 is quite good except you cannot really control when you are using memory swapping model in live setting.

After looking around, seems the REX acoustic soulmate sounds great

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by jkilgour2000

I like it over all the others simply because I get great sound from the unit, without diving into a bunch of menus. I like to do quick tweaks on the fly. I really liked the sound of the Zoom A3, but I found the menu system a bit daunting.

That's what I like about the Acoustic Soulmate too, actual knobs that can be controlled in realtime without all the menus and buttons to push or scroll through. My A3 got retired as well for the same reasons.

[Cellomangler]

Tonedexter > Yamaha AG or UD Stomp > GFI Specular Reverb v2 > stereo into modified Roland AC-33 (dual coil passive sub added via crossover) or something bigger.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by douglasfan1

After looking around, seems the T-REX acoustic soulmate sounds great

I'm still getting used to it but really glad I bought it.

[Strat80hm]

T-Rex Soulmate sounds really good!
PROS:
- impressive preamp, warm quality tone
- finally a 3 band Para EQ, and a good one! (rare)
- all-in-one equals one power supply to plug and you re ready to go - no more -- troubleshooting "no sound" just before showtime, no faulty cable patch, power, power cable, etc..

CONS
- layout could be better (footswitches)
- no FX loop, so you re kinda stuck with what is there
- 2Kg (4.4lbs) is not the lightest pedalboard

But overall, the sound is quite fantastic - an simple FX loop would really help though.

[DavidE]

To me the most important thing for a "multi-effects" pedal to do is make your guitar sound better. So many of these things add their own "sheen" to the sound that fundamentally changes the amplified sound of your guitar into something else. I've had others, but the one I use for my main rig is the Boss AD10. It's an excellent preamp with the addition of some delay, reverb and acoustic resonance processing. Plus a great clean boost and looping.

I do have a Trace Acoustic Transit A that I like, but it definitely changes the fundamental sound of the guitar. It's a matter of making that sound work for me if I ever use it.

I have not tried the T-Rex.

[lkingston]

I’ll be the outlier here. I’ve been using a Positive Grid Riff interface with their FX2 app on my phone. I posted a separate thread about this but it didn’t garner any attention.

Anyway, the setup is my iPhone 13 ProMAX mounted to my mic stand with a SmallRig clamp and a Moment MagSafe mount. This is connected to the Riff interface with a 5 foot lightning to microUSB cable.

I keep the RIFF interface and cable in a padded bag in my guitar gig bag. I also keep the clamp in the gig bag.

What this gives me is basically whatever setup I want. The phone sits within arm reach so I can tweak controls without bending down to the floor. I can turn effects on and off by simply swiping them up or down. I can adjust the gain structure controls on the app rather than reaching down to the RIFF.

I can also use a Bluetooth pedalboard to turn effects on or off or to switch presets, but I find that I don’t really use that. It does work well though.

I’m using a rather basic chain of virtual effects which includes a guitar preamp, reverb, chorus, delay, and compression. I have the chorus, delay, and compression turned off most of the time, but they are preset and ready to use whenever I need them.

There is also a separate global output EQ which I find very useful. What I use this for is for compensating for bad EQ when I am plugged into somebody else’s audio system. Because this EQ is global, all the presets are run through it, so you can switch presets without losing your EQ compensation. This is in addition to the EQ I use per preset.

Overhead on the phone CPU is typically 8% or less with my chain.

I also have a Helix Stomp on a battery powered pedalboard, but I haven’t used that lately because I have to get down on the floor to do any tweaks. That vs just reaching over to the phone right in front of me at exactly the right level.

It looks like this:

[tbeltrans]

For me, it is the Boss GT-1000 Core. Small, compact, and has everything you could possibly need for any style of music rather than just for acoustic guitar.

Get one of these and the Boss RC-500 looper, and you have no need to shop for pedals again. These two pedals have the same style cabinet.

With these two together, I can't imagine having to shop for pedals again in the future.

Tony

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

For me, it is the Boss GT-1000 Core. Small, compact, and has everything you could possibly need for any style of music rather than just for acoustic guitar.

Get one of these and the Boss RC-500 looper, and you have no need to shop for pedals again. These two pedals have the same style cabinet.

With these two together, I can't imagine having to shop for pedals again in the future.

Tony

That $750 price tag ain't cheap, plus I'm not one for menu diving.

[tadol]

Originally Posted by lkingston

I’ll be the outlier here. I’ve been using a Positive Grid Riff interface with their FX2 app on my phone. I posted a separate thread about this but it didn’t garner any attention.

Sorry I missed your other thread, but these interface units are very intriguing - I went to the store to check this out, and they have lots of hyperbole, little basic information or examples. What kind of set-up issues, and what was the learning/adjusting curve on using a set-up like this? You have the interface, with a single knob on the floor, how hard is adjusting it while you're playing? And what happens if you get a phone call in the middle of a gig??

[lkingston]

The only controls on the interface are for the gain structure, and I don’t need to adjust them while I am playing. Everything else is controlled from the phone, and that is in easy reach. Complexity is about the same as a Helix. If I want to turn things on and off from foot stomp pedals, it is easy to set up with a Bluetooth switching pedal.

I always put the phone into do not disturb mode. I imagine a phone call would ring loudly onstage if I forgot to do that and got called.

The sound quality is exactly the same as a Helix or Kemper modeler: which is to say very good.

The price is quite reasonable. About a hundred for the interface and about fifty for the app.

I also have a Helix Stomp, but this is so easy that I have been using it instead. The interface fits in my guitar bag, and I always have the phone with me anyway.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by JackB1

That $750 price tag ain't cheap, plus I'm not one for menu diving.

Then this wouldn't be a good solution for you. For me, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. I just figured I would mention it in case the information could be useful.

As for the price, it can be consider expensive, but the fact that I am no longer looking at pedals, will ultimately save me from future spending on pedals. For others, this may not be the case since GAS can be a hobby for some.

Tony