Hey guys,

Im trying to get ideas for buying stomp box's to add to my live keyboard rig.
Kind of a hands on approach sound FX scuplting.
I know keyboardist will pick a lot from their friend the guitarist stomp box world.

Heres what i picked out so far:

MXR Phase 90
Roland Space Echo
CryBaby Wah
Electro Harmonix Q Tron
Electric Mistress
Ibanez Analog Delay
Shaller Tremolo

Whats your set up, what do you use?
Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

VP

 

I've just discovered a monster => Korg SDD-3000
Highly recommended!

With another budget: Strymon, Eventide, TC Electronics...

 

If its in the budget - the Moog Moogerfoogers - MF-101 up to MF-108 or the Minifoogers series (bit cheaper and simpler).. you cant go wrong with them..

 

A talkbox is a must, I have banshee 2

 

You didn't mention any distortion stompers. ;) I use Akai Deluxe Distortion and Akai Overdrive Drive3 for that. Huge bang for buck these stompers, especially the deluxe distortion since it's got 3 band EQ on it with parametric mid.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be better to use some rack FX like Lexicon MX400, TC M2000, TC M-One, or TC FireworX? You can change the FX with a pedal and the sound quality is much better.

You have some really great pedals there already.

Cheers !

 

For the ultimate in selection and portability I usually use my Line 6 M9.

 

I use effects only on Rhodes , Wurly and Clavinet banks, and sometimes a touch of reverb on pianos...
My choice is a cheap Guitar multi "Behringer V-amp pro" and a OKKO Diablo Overdrive



It does the job superbly and it offers an insane amount of connectivity for a very contained price
It is about 7 Years old and it is on at least 4 hours every day (7 days a week) ...never had a problem with it

 

MUCH more than a rotary simulator...

 

Of my huge collection, I've been sticking with my Korg PX4 (the deep blue model) mainly for modulation and AmpSim, my Zoom MS-100BT stomp box mainly for distortion and smooth reverbs (These are more or less the strengths of the units), and my Korg Kaoss Pad (KP2) - great Live FX and even better for hands-on tweaking. (You might also like the MIDI Sync facility with the KP2 or KP3).
With these three units I already have access to a really great sonic variety that's easy to use.

I also like my Boss VF1 a lot, but the above gadgets are most spontaneously usable and easily fit next to the keyboard (or even on top of it).
Sound quality is good enough for recording imho. The VF1 is not made for live tweaking, it's mainly a preset FX machine like most multi-FX units that you'll edit offline.

 

I thought exactly the same until I compared my Lexicon MPX1 reverb with the reverb on the Zoom MS100BT pedal. (MS50 or MS70 are similar).
That f**n' cheap pedal is a monster of a reverb unit (very dense, clean and smooth reverbs) and has a fully parametric EQ as well - actually even more than one band if you like to chain them ;-)
Ah, and did I say that its distortion sounds great too? Not "digital" at all.

It has its well-earned place next to my Moog Synth

 

You need overdrive/distortion/voicing
I advice you KORG/Vox digital effects in this domain. Pandora, Tonelab and such.
They are the best to me.

 

Since most guitar pedals are high impedance and expecting to see a wimpy guitar signal, wouldn't the line level of keyboards distort the inputs?

 

Strymons... Every single one one of em.

 

Yes. Since the pedal expects Low Z input, the best way to do it is to put an attenuator between them. They're quite cheap. Like this one, for a mic, here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/68085-REG/Audio_Technica_AT8202_AT8202_In_Line_Attenuator.html so you can connect a mic into a pedal. Or this one, which is perfect for when you have balanced +4dB outputs on one side and want to use guitar pedals: http://www.reamp.com/ ProRMP is $100 and good enough. If you're in Europe, you might appreciate this little box: http://www.palmer-germany.com/mi/en/DACCAPO-Re-Amplification-Box-PDACCAPO.htm as it is like 90 euro.

But a good mono audio attenuator with a potentiometer can be found for as low as 5 quid, actually. Also, in a perfect case, the output from the pedal should go into an instrument preamp as the output from the pedal is instrument level output.

For the more daring and handy with a soldering iron, here's how you can easily make one [or two dozen] for a few bucks: http://www.uneeda-audio.com/pads/ and here's a good article about it: http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/attenuators/attenuator.html

It's always good to keep this in mind: line level=-10dB, mic level=-20dB, instrument level=-30dB

So if you want to "master" your songs by today's standards, just take a -10 level line output, stick it into a booster pedal, stick the pedal into your preamp and you have a great "mastering chain"! There's not much to adjust except the level pot! Of course, you will need two booster pedals for stereo "mastering", and remember *red is good*.

Joking aside, sometimes is just enough to lower the output from the synth. It depends on what you're trying to achieve. I personally often don't mind a little too much distortion for some sounds.