I
nexpensive multi-effects processors have long
been marginalized by serious guitarists, and not
entirely without justification. These all-in-one digital
tone generators were long the epitome of that old
figure of speech, “jack of all trades, master of none.”
They typically focused on quantity of effects rather
than quality, with most cheap processors packed
with endless scrolling banks of flashy, over-the-top
presets geared towards dazzling neophytes, rather
than providing useful, good sounding effects that real
players might actually use. The limits of early digital
technology likely played a part in this phenomenon, as
digital processing just wasn’t advanced enough in the
‘80s and ‘90s to legitimately compete with the analog
gear it was attempting to replicate.
Recently, however, budget-priced digital multieffects have been gaining respect in even the
most uppity corners of the guitar universe. Digital
guitar technology has matured to the point that it can
successfully compete with the analog classics, and the
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TONE TALK //
4 Cheap Multi-Effects Units that Don’t Suck