Budget Rack Effects Recommendations

[axe2grind]

So I've been looking to dive into the world of effects and have trasitioned from initially looking into stand alone padels, to multi effects pedals and now to rack units as it seems I get a lot more in terms of quality for the money.

I need something to pair up with my all tube Peavey Valveking 2 micro head.

I don't need a bunch of spacey sounding effects. Ideally delay, chorus, flanger, reverb and distortion and tuner are a big plus.

I've been most intrigued by the Rocktron and ART stuff. Budget is between $200 and $300

I have found a Rocktron Chameleon 2000 locally for $100. I'd lean towards trying that unit but have read mixed reviews on the 2000 series of that unit.

All advice is welcome and appreciated.

Thanks

 

[rottingcorpse]

Yamaha Spx 90 or Spx 990.

 

[tom_h]

I used the Digitech GSP1101 in an effects-only capacity for several years. Sounded great. Easy to program (very "pedal"-like parameters).

Switched to an elaborate pedal-based (strymon/eventide/etc.) set up so I'm not using them anymore, but I still have 2 of the 4 that I once had. I might sell them, I might keep them.

They are in your price range used.

I'm not here to push mine on you, just giving a recommendation.

 

[shredhead7]

I have gone through a lot of the big 80's/90's stuff, as that is what is in your price range. From my experience, the Intellifex is great, low noise, fairly transparent (you won't notice until you try high end stuff and then you will notice it). Great chorus (that's it's thing) and delays, though the delays are tied to the chorus, so you always have two tap or four tap delays.

The replifex was great. I traded up to that after the Intellifex. I loved the Intellifex and thought that I would move up to their then top of the line. I still miss mine, it died after years. Each effect is independent, the way that I like it. The delays are great, but where it shines is the analog sound of the mod effects (flanger/phaser/trem). I have not found another rack unit that comes close (including TC stuff).

I also have some Quadraverbs. They are also great delay, chorus, reverb units. The only downside of those units is that the mod effects aren't great and the midi capabilities for tap tempo, isn't great.

As you move up, the TC Gmajor is really nice, transparent, great depth of effects, great midi capabilities, etc...The mod effects aren't as nice as the Rocktron, but the transparency and midi features made me switch over. I now have a hybrid setup. The TC is in the rack, but I have a phase 90, EVH flanger, wah, two boosts, univibe, and whammy on the floor.

In regards to your distortion question, I have yet to find a rack mount unit that really does the OD/distortion thing well in conjunction with a head. My old guitar player had the giant boss unit, and while it sounded good as a modeler, it didn't really work well in pedal mode. The same can be said for my TC Nova system. It has really nice delays, but the OD feature is too digital sounding (which is usually the case for rack stuff-even this is technically a pedal).

 

[neilli]

I like the Quadraverb but have never found the interface very friendly..

 

[axe2grind]

I used the Digitech GSP1101 in an effects-only capacity for several years. Sounded great. Easy to program (very "pedal"-like parameters).

Switched to an elaborate pedal-based (strymon/eventide/etc.) set up so I'm not using them anymore, but I still have 2 of the 4 that I once had. I might sell them, I might keep them.

They are in your price range used.

I'm not here to push mine on you, just giving a recommendation.

That's one of the units on my list that I didn't mention just because it doesn't appear to me, based solely on YouTube videos, to have the final qualities I like in some of the others I mentioned.
That being said, if the price was right I'd certainly consider it.

 

[axe2grind]

I have gone through a lot of the big 80's/90's stuff, as that is what is in your price range. From my experience, the Intellifex is great, low noise, fairly transparent (you won't notice until you try high end stuff and then you will notice it). Great chorus (that's it's thing) and delays, though the delays are tied to the chorus, so you always have two tap or four tap delays.

The replifex was great. I traded up to that after the Intellifex. I loved the Intellifex and thought that I would move up to their then top of the line. I still miss mine, it died after years. Each effect is independent, the way that I like it. The delays are great, but where it shines is the analog sound of the mod effects (flanger/phaser/trem). I have not found another rack unit that comes close (including TC stuff).

I also have some Quadraverbs. They are also great delay, chorus, reverb units. The only downside of those units is that the mod effects aren't great and the midi capabilities for tap tempo, isn't great.

As you move up, the TC Gmajor is really nice, transparent, great depth of effects, great midi capabilities, etc...The mod effects aren't as nice as the Rocktron, but the transparency and midi features made me switch over. I now have a hybrid setup. The TC is in the rack, but I have a phase 90, EVH flanger, wah, two boosts, univibe, and whammy on the floor.

In regards to your distortion question, I have yet to find a rack mount unit that really does the OD/distortion thing well in conjunction with a head. My old guitar player had the giant boss unit, and while it sounded good as a modeler, it didn't really work well in pedal mode. The same can be said for my TC Nova system. It has really nice delays, but the OD feature is too digital sounding (which is usually the case for rack stuff-even this is technically a pedal).

Thanks for all of the input. That gives me some confirmation that some of the stuff I was looking at May be what I need.
I have been caught up on the distortion capabilities on some of the Rocktron and ART units I've been researching, but I guess that reality is that I probably don't need to consider that as much as I want to because the new Valveking amps are pretty high gain to begin with.
On that note, the one floor unit I have been most interested in is the TC Nova System. A little disappointed to hear about the distortion not be8my good, but as I mentioned I may not need to consider that as strongly.
The other floor unit I am intrigued by is the Fly Rig 5. Any experience with that?

 

[tom_h]

I used the Digitech GSP1101 in an effects-only capacity for several years. Sounded great. Easy to program (very "pedal"-like parameters).

Switched to an elaborate pedal-based (strymon/eventide/etc.) set up so I'm not using them anymore, but I still have 2 of the 4 that I once had. I might sell them, I might keep them.

They are in your price range used.

I'm not here to push mine on you, just giving a recommendation.

That's one of the units on my list that I didn't mention just because it doesn't appear to me, based solely on YouTube videos, to have the final qualities I like in some of the others I mentioned.
That being said, if the price was right I'd certainly consider it.

Which "final" qualities. specifically, are you concerned about?

I mainly used the following effect algorithms, which worked quite well for me:

Tubescreamer
RAT
Octavia
Fuzz Face
CE2 Chorus
EHX Flanger
MXR Flanger
MXR Phaser
Univibe
Memory-Man style Delay
Lexicon Reverbs

Like I said, I'd still be using them if I didn't feel it was time to switch from the rack mount world to a pedalboard setup. Many factors in that decision, mostly due to logistics and cost of transporting a 22 space rack around the country, and getting it into venues and onstage. Just tired of it, and wanted a change. None of which was being unhappy with the tone I was getting from the 1101s.

 

[Racerxrated]

Rocktron intellifex. Works well even with the crappy 1987 Jubilee FX loop!

 

[Matt300ZXT]

I too am looking for different rack effects, other than what I've got. I got a Digitech DSP 256 a long time ago and never quite liked it. I don't know how to program any of that stuff when all the effects are edited/controlled through pushing 32920 buttons. I want to get rid of it and get simple rack stuff with a few simple knobs that control it. It's fine if the thing is digital instead of analog, I just want a handful of knobs to edit/control the thing instead of so many buttons. Plus, having so many volume related knobs it's a REAL tone sucker >: (

 

[srommes]

I have gone through a lot of the big 80's/90's stuff, as that is what is in your price range. From my experience, the Intellifex is great, low noise, fairly transparent (you won't notice until you try high end stuff and then you will notice it). Great chorus (that's it's thing) and delays, though the delays are tied to the chorus, so you always have two tap or four tap delays.

The replifex was great. I traded up to that after the Intellifex. I loved the Intellifex and thought that I would move up to their then top of the line. I still miss mine, it died after years. Each effect is independent, the way that I like it. The delays are great, but where it shines is the analog sound of the mod effects (flanger/phaser/trem). I have not found another rack unit that comes close (including TC stuff).

I also have some Quadraverbs. They are also great delay, chorus, reverb units. The only downside of those units is that the mod effects aren't great and the midi capabilities for tap tempo, isn't great.

As you move up, the TC Gmajor is really nice, transparent, great depth of effects, great midi capabilities, etc...The mod effects aren't as nice as the Rocktron, but the transparency and midi features made me switch over. I now have a hybrid setup. The TC is in the rack, but I have a phase 90, EVH flanger, wah, two boosts, univibe, and whammy on the floor.

In regards to your distortion question, I have yet to find a rack mount unit that really does the OD/distortion thing well in conjunction with a head. My old guitar player had the giant boss unit, and while it sounded good as a modeler, it didn't really work well in pedal mode. The same can be said for my TC Nova system. It has really nice delays, but the OD feature is too digital sounding (which is usually the case for rack stuff-even this is technically a pedal).

Thanks for all of the input. That gives me some confirmation that some of the stuff I was looking at May be what I need.
I have been caught up on the distortion capabilities on some of the Rocktron and ART units I've been researching, but I guess that reality is that I probably don't need to consider that as much as I want to because the new Valveking amps are pretty high gain to begin with.
On that note, the one floor unit I have been most interested in is the TC Nova System. A little disappointed to hear about the distortion not be8my good, but as I mentioned I may not need to consider that as strongly.
The other floor unit I am intrigued by is the Fly Rig 5. Any experience with that?

I completely disagree with the previous poster stating that the Nova System distortion sounds digital. The distortion section is completely analog and doesn't sound digital at all to me. I love everything about the Nova System except for two things: 1) I don't care for the pitch shifter/harmonizer as I don't think it tracks well. That said, it does have a decent Whammy effect and detune in that section. 2) there is no wah, so you'll need a separate wah. Other than that, it's a killer little unit.
Regarding the Intellifex, it still even today is one of the most transparent, best bang for your buck units on the market. If you know how to set it up ( you must set-up the mixer to bypass the digital Hush circuitry) it's as tranparent if not more so than most of the higher dollar units on the market. These units were way ahead of their time when they came out in the 90's and they weren't cheap. They are a little limited by today's standards but if you need a good reverb, delay, pitch shifter and chorus, you won't find anything better in the price range you can get these for nowadays.

 

[axe2grind]

I used the Digitech GSP1101 in an effects-only capacity for several years. Sounded great. Easy to program (very "pedal"-like parameters).

Switched to an elaborate pedal-based (strymon/eventide/etc.) set up so I'm not using them anymore, but I still have 2 of the 4 that I once had. I might sell them, I might keep them.

They are in your price range used.

I'm not here to push mine on you, just giving a recommendation.

That's one of the units on my list that I didn't mention just because it doesn't appear to me, based solely on YouTube videos, to have the final qualities I like in some of the others I mentioned.
That being said, if the price was right I'd certainly consider it.

Which "final" qualities. specifically, are you concerned about?

I mainly used the following effect algorithms, which worked quite well for me:

Tubescreamer
RAT
Octavia
Fuzz Face
CE2 Chorus
EHX Flanger
MXR Flanger
MXR Phaser
Univibe
Memory-Man style Delay
Lexicon Reverbs

Like I said, I'd still be using them if I didn't feel it was time to switch from the rack mount world to a pedalboard setup. Many factors in that decision, mostly due to logistics and cost of transporting a 22 space rack around the country, and getting it into venues and onstage. Just tired of it, and wanted a change. None of which was being unhappy with the tone I was getting from the 1101s.

The biggest concern for me is final quality. There are tons of affordable multi effects pedals that offer really great features but I wish there were more units that focused on doing a couple dozen things very well as opposed to doing 300 things kind of bad. I just don't like overprocecessed sterile digital sounds.

Ideally I need a delay, chorus, reverb, flanker and phaser maybe.
I would like something that offered a overdrive/distortion stage to run through the clean channel of my amp for more versatility in the gain area. That is probably more of a really want than an actual need.
I also love the idea of a looper and input for external sound sources. I know a lot of the units I'm looking at don't offer that. Its not a deal breaker.

If you decide to sell one of your units let me know. My budget is really tight right now. I can't afford some things unless I sell my Yamaha THR-10 which I absolutely love as a practice amp.

 

[axe2grind]

I have gone through a lot of the big 80's/90's stuff, as that is what is in your price range. From my experience, the Intellifex is great, low noise, fairly transparent (you won't notice until you try high end stuff and then you will notice it). Great chorus (that's it's thing) and delays, though the delays are tied to the chorus, so you always have two tap or four tap delays.

The replifex was great. I traded up to that after the Intellifex. I loved the Intellifex and thought that I would move up to their then top of the line. I still miss mine, it died after years. Each effect is independent, the way that I like it. The delays are great, but where it shines is the analog sound of the mod effects (flanger/phaser/trem). I have not found another rack unit that comes close (including TC stuff).

I also have some Quadraverbs. They are also great delay, chorus, reverb units. The only downside of those units is that the mod effects aren't great and the midi capabilities for tap tempo, isn't great.

As you move up, the TC Gmajor is really nice, transparent, great depth of effects, great midi capabilities, etc...The mod effects aren't as nice as the Rocktron, but the transparency and midi features made me switch over. I now have a hybrid setup. The TC is in the rack, but I have a phase 90, EVH flanger, wah, two boosts, univibe, and whammy on the floor.

In regards to your distortion question, I have yet to find a rack mount unit that really does the OD/distortion thing well in conjunction with a head. My old guitar player had the giant boss unit, and while it sounded good as a modeler, it didn't really work well in pedal mode. The same can be said for my TC Nova system. It has really nice delays, but the OD feature is too digital sounding (which is usually the case for rack stuff-even this is technically a pedal).

Thanks for all of the input. That gives me some confirmation that some of the stuff I was looking at May be what I need.
I have been caught up on the distortion capabilities on some of the Rocktron and ART units I've been researching, but I guess that reality is that I probably don't need to consider that as much as I want to because the new Valveking amps are pretty high gain to begin with.
On that note, the one floor unit I have been most interested in is the TC Nova System. A little disappointed to hear about the distortion not be8my good, but as I mentioned I may not need to consider that as strongly.
The other floor unit I am intrigued by is the Fly Rig 5. Any experience with that?

I completely disagree with the previous poster stating that the Nova System distortion sounds digital. The distortion section is completely analog and doesn't sound digital at all to me. I love everything about the Nova System except for two things: 1) I don't care for the pitch shifter/harmonizer as I don't think it tracks well. That said, it does have a decent Whammy effect and detune in that section. 2) there is no wah, so you'll need a separate wah. Other than that, it's a killer little unit.
Regarding the Intellifex, it still even today is one of the most transparent, best bang for your buck units on the market. If you know how to set it up ( you must set-up the mixer to bypass the digital Hush circuitry) it's as tranparent if not more so than most of the higher dollar units on the market. These units were way ahead of their time when they came out in the 90's and they weren't cheap. They are a little limited by today's standards but if you need a good reverb, delay, pitch shifter and chorus, you won't find anything better in the price range you can get these for nowadays.

I think a lot of evidence points towards the Intellifex as being a great option. If it had a distortion option it would be a no-brainer for me. Still might be that way I go.

As far as the TC Nova System goes, is it capable of doing higher gain distortion well or is it pretty much geared towards more classic rock tones?

 

[Shask]

The Rocktron Chameleon has a preamp that you cant turn off, so you couldn't really use it in conjunction with your amp. You would have to use it for everything.

For Rocktron, the Intellifex, Replifex, and Xpression would all be good choices. None of them have distortion, but for distortion things get WAY more complicated. That is when you need to look into the "4 cable method", or 4CM.

The GSP1101 and Gmajor II are both good choices also. I would probably get one of these 2 if I were in the same situation.

The Line 6 HD500X, M5, or M9 could work also.

To me it seems like you need to make a decision between something that is FX ONLY, or something that is a MultiFX unit (including a preamp).

 

[axe2grind]

So if I went the direction of effects only what would be my best option?
Rocktron Intellifex or Replifex or TC G-Major or Something else.

Also, since all of this is going to be new to me, would it make more sense to start out with a floor unit like the TC Nova System or maybe a Boss GT-8 or GT-10?

 

[Fuego]

I'm selling my gforce. Only issue is the backlight behind the screen is out. Perfect other than that.

 

[axe2grind]

I'm selling my gforce. Only issue is the backlight behind the screen is out. Perfect other than that.

How much?

 

[Shask]

So if I went the direction of effects only what would be my best option?
Rocktron Intellifex or Replifex or TC G-Major or Something else.

Also, since all of this is going to be new to me, would it make more sense to start out with a floor unit like the TC Nova System or maybe a Boss GT-8 or GT-10?

The Intellifex was for chorus/delay/reverb. Thats it. It does them very well though!

The Replifex had chorus/delay/reverb (not as thorough as the Intellifex), but also had a lot of analog emulations of phaser, flanger, rotary, etc...

So, between those depends on your needs. The G-Major II would be good if you want something newer. Not as analog sounding as the Rocktron units, but has more modern features, such as a display that is easily readable and a PC editor.

The Nova is kind of like a floor version of of the G-Major. Floor vs. Rack depends on what format you want your gear in.

The Boss units are MultiFX, meaning they have the amp sims.

Another floor consideration is the Line 6 M5 or M9. Effects only, can be found cheap, and sound pretty good.

 

[shredhead7]

I have gone through a lot of the big 80's/90's stuff, as that is what is in your price range. From my experience, the Intellifex is great, low noise, fairly transparent (you won't notice until you try high end stuff and then you will notice it). Great chorus (that's it's thing) and delays, though the delays are tied to the chorus, so you always have two tap or four tap delays.

The replifex was great. I traded up to that after the Intellifex. I loved the Intellifex and thought that I would move up to their then top of the line. I still miss mine, it died after years. Each effect is independent, the way that I like it. The delays are great, but where it shines is the analog sound of the mod effects (flanger/phaser/trem). I have not found another rack unit that comes close (including TC stuff).

I also have some Quadraverbs. They are also great delay, chorus, reverb units. The only downside of those units is that the mod effects aren't great and the midi capabilities for tap tempo, isn't great.

As you move up, the TC Gmajor is really nice, transparent, great depth of effects, great midi capabilities, etc...The mod effects aren't as nice as the Rocktron, but the transparency and midi features made me switch over. I now have a hybrid setup. The TC is in the rack, but I have a phase 90, EVH flanger, wah, two boosts, univibe, and whammy on the floor.

In regards to your distortion question, I have yet to find a rack mount unit that really does the OD/distortion thing well in conjunction with a head. My old guitar player had the giant boss unit, and while it sounded good as a modeler, it didn't really work well in pedal mode. The same can be said for my TC Nova system. It has really nice delays, but the OD feature is too digital sounding (which is usually the case for rack stuff-even this is technically a pedal).

Thanks for all of the input. That gives me some confirmation that some of the stuff I was looking at May be what I need.
I have been caught up on the distortion capabilities on some of the Rocktron and ART units I've been researching, but I guess that reality is that I probably don't need to consider that as much as I want to because the new Valveking amps are pretty high gain to begin with.
On that note, the one floor unit I have been most interested in is the TC Nova System. A little disappointed to hear about the distortion not be8my good, but as I mentioned I may not need to consider that as strongly.
The other floor unit I am intrigued by is the Fly Rig 5. Any experience with that?

I completely disagree with the previous poster stating that the Nova System distortion sounds digital. The distortion section is completely analog and doesn't sound digital at all to me. I love everything about the Nova System except for two things: 1) I don't care for the pitch shifter/harmonizer as I don't think it tracks well. That said, it does have a decent Whammy effect and detune in that section. 2) there is no wah, so you'll need a separate wah. Other than that, it's a killer little unit.
Regarding the Intellifex, it still even today is one of the most transparent, best bang for your buck units on the market. If you know how to set it up ( you must set-up the mixer to bypass the digital Hush circuitry) it's as tranparent if not more so than most of the higher dollar units on the market. These units were way ahead of their time when they came out in the 90's and they weren't cheap. They are a little limited by today's standards but if you need a good reverb, delay, pitch shifter and chorus, you won't find anything better in the price range you can get these for nowadays.

I realize that tone is subjective, but compared to my actual O/D boosts (bb+, mxr 308, and boss ds-1), I found it lacking. I know that he's trying to replace his pedal board, but overall, I found the Nova to be lacking on a lot of fronts. The mod effects were very 'emulator' sounding and digital. The midi switching was clunky, unless you're using a midi switcher board (which kind of defeats the purpose of the whole unit). Meaning, I have the three button footswitch, but you can only store three sounds per strip and to change strips (or program levels), you have to hold down the 1 or 3, until it drops down to the next level, then click it again to select that preset. It's an absolute nightmare mid song. If you have a song that has a clean, dirty, and lead, with various parameter changes, you're screwed. Taking this unit and comparing it to the G Major 2 that I also have, it is not even close. With that said, it does have nice delays and reverbs, TC's staple, and the portability of the unit is nice. Overall though, for the money, I had higher hopes for it; especially considering I had the G Major 2 before it and thought I was getting those features on the floor.

I still say the best bang for the buck out there is the Replifex or the it's replacement (I can't remember the name). If you can find a cheaper G Major 2, go for that, as it is a little more transparent, and the midi programming is a little bit nicer.

 

[s_swanson]

So if I went the direction of effects only what would be my best option?
Rocktron Intellifex or Replifex or TC G-Major or Something else.

Also, since all of this is going to be new to me, would it make more sense to start out with a floor unit like the TC Nova System or maybe a Boss GT-8 or GT-10?

The intellifex units are great for delay and reverb! They have chorus and pitch shift too, but that's pretty much it for effects. If you need more than that, you'll probably want to look into something else.