OffsetGuitars.com

I say "modern" because there are already threads discussing the older ones, I'm interested in hearing about the new ones. I may soon be in the market for one.

I had a quick look last night at what's around; the good old Alesis SR-16 is still selling. I used to have one of those and sold it off, but getting another seems like a good option. That's pretty much the default choice, since I know how they work and they do what I want them to do.

The footswitchable thing is the big attraction for me, since what I want to use it for is live gigs with another guitarist and no other midi machines, so the ability to switch between patterns live is far more useful than programming the pattern to change after 64 bars (or whatever).

The other one that looked appealing is the Zoom RT223, which seems to do the same kind of thing as the SR-16, and I know there are comparable Boss ones, too.

So, does anyone have any comments about these things? Has anyone actually used one for gigs?

Yes, I saw those when I was doing the Google thing, fibreman.

I'm sure they'd be perfect and wonderful, but at US$1790 for the sampling one or US$1290 for the non-sampling one, it ain't going to happen. Cheapness is, as always, a requirement for me.

I only need something to provide some low end propulsion and a minimalist beat anyway. At some point I'll download the manual for the Zoom one I mentioned and compare it to the SR-16, if I can do the same things with a footswitch then I'll probably go for that, if and when the project happens.

I was hoping to avoid hours of Googly research, but c'est la vie.

....the Korg Electribe series drum machines are a fantastic option. I have the newer ESX which is great because it comes with a decent mix of various drum samples and has an option to add samples too. If you don't need the sampler part, you can get just the drum module for cheaper and if you don't have to have the newest model, the older electribes(I think the drum one is the ER1) is even cheaper used. I unsuccessfully tried to sell my ESX a while back and used they go from $250-$300....probably a little less for the non sampler version that's just drums, and the older electribe models seem to average at about $150.

You could probably get cheaper drum sounds in a different box, but I don't think you can do any better in terms of value for the sounds and flexibility at a low price point.

+1 on an older electribe. Good sounds and easy interface. Have an Ehx fell to them. If you know the Alesis well though, that could come in handy on a dark stage if something goes wrong. I don't think the other choices really beat those two if you don't want to spend $$$.