Starting from scratch (nearly)

[matthew a]

It’s an interesting idea, thanks!

Another option is I have my drive pedals, so is there a simple modulation/delay unit? Simple in that it has like 3 buttons to select effects rather than banking etc..?

[somanytoys]

I'm not all that familiar with those types of things, someone else may have better suggestions than I do. I use Polymoons and lots of other independent pedals, but through controllers.

The best that I can think of off of the top of my head that sounds somewhat similar to what you're saying is the Zoom MS 70 CDR. If you already have your dirt, it's got almost everything else, in stereo if you want it. It's digital, but it's got a lot of choices and some good sounds for reverb, delay, chorus, phase, flange, tremolo, pitch shifting, eq, compressor, filter, noise gate (maybe even more things)... and a tuner.

You can stack up to 6 effects at a time, like a virtual pedalboard, as long as there's enough memory for all of the effects (some are hogs). 40 presets, 10 memory slots. It's only got 1 footswitch, but you can set the patches that you want to kick in on any order you want (assign them as A, B, C...), and it scrolls through them in that order, as you hit the footswitch.

It may not be for you, especially if you're going to do a lot of switching, but it's pretty cool for the price (~$120), and it's all in one pedal.

[matthew a]

It does sound cool, but probably exactly what I don’t want. I just sold my Line 6 because it way more complex than I liked & I never bonded with it to then give it the time it needed.

It needs to have the pedals I want, with lots of switches and a simple interface. I’m sort of imagining the Pink Floyd boards where the tech literally just built the pedals into the board! Maybe I should think about those Boss boards with built in power?

[matthew a]

For example, the Keeley Super Mod seems very nearly there. The fact that it has delay on both buttons is perfect as the rest of the effects would probably be rarely used. Anyone heard much about it?

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-B ... gKLy_D_BwE

[somanytoys]

I think the Zoom takes a little bit of time to set things up the way you want, but it's not nearly as bad as some other things I've tried to use. It's almost a virtual pedal board. You can either use one of their presets, or start from one of them & change it, choosing from the various pedals they have. Then set the settings with the knobs like you would a normal pedal, and put the pedals in the order you want, and save the patch. And you can scroll through the pedals and jump into any one to do the settings. That's the main reason I like working with it, and it's got some good sounds.

I didn't think about the Keeley work stations. That could work out well for you. I've never used any of those Keeley workstations, except that he considers the Loomer a workstation, which I still have one of (love the reverb side, wasn't a big fan of the muff). The super mod workstation seems really cool, a lot of very usable stuff packed into a single pedal. That with the dirt you already have may be about all you need, that would be cool.

Sometimes combo pedals and workstations can be cool, and sometimes they can be a pain, for various reasons. I've gone through a lot of setups, and for me, having the specialized, individual pedals synced with controllers was the way to go.

[matthew a]

Cheers David! Maybe I’ll try and nip to Denmark St and see if I can try the Zoom and the Keeley.

I just want my old board back now... I love the Flashback X4 more than I realised

[somanytoys]

Cheers! Hopefully you like one of those 2.

The Keeley sounds more like what you were describing, and the Zoom is just kind of cool because of all of the choices, and you get to see the virtual pedal, and the pedals in order in a chain - it's a little friendlier interface than most.

Good luck!

[matthew a]

Boss MS-3 has just made itself known to me too. Looks like it’s going to be a fun few weeks finding and trying these out.