How Minimal is Minimal?
I’ve been seriously debating on whether I want to dump money into an actual professional guitar pedalboard. I mean… I could make one and hack together a case for it. It would take me a couple of hours and $20 worth of plywood. But you know, I’m kind of wanting something a little more polished, something sturdier, something that I won’t have to compromise on. Something big enough that I can run both my electric and acoustic guitars through.
If I go with a professional board, I could mount the compressor, PSU, and a few other things underneath. I wouldn’t use velcro, I can use zip ties. It would require making more patch cables, and so on… probably (with an added couple of pedals) around $600. That’s a LOT of money. More than halfway to Helix/GT1000/Headrush teritory.
Granted, I think it would be extremely convenient, and would able to do pretty much anything I want. Flexibility and portability are always my main two concerns. Assuming I can stuff a couple of pedals underneath, I should be able to make that do what I want.
But again, I have to decide whether I should drop another couple hundred dollars into a setup to do more than it already does. Technically, a board doesn’t *do* anything other than make the pedals and stuff easy to carry and use. Is that sort of functionality worth hundreds of dollars to me, as a pseudo-minimalist?
Or would I be better served with just getting a single multi-fx unit, like a Line 6 Helix LT, or a Boss GT-1000, or a Headrush Pedalboard? They’re $800! But… they’re all in one piece. Built-in direct boxes, flexible routing, and no board or patch cables required.
Theoretically, if I sold all my pedals, I could mostly offset the gargantuan cost of one of these units. But I would only do that if it could do everything that my current board does, and also what I want it to do!
So which is more minimal: Having one piece of expensive gear that does everything you need, or adding complication and cost to what you already have to do what you want?
As far as I’m concerned, the end result should be the same. One board/unit that meets certain requirements. Which one does more? Obviously, the more expensive one would. Which one is more flexible? Again, the multi-FX unit would be. Which would be easier to transport? Or rearrange effects? Or record to computer? In all of these cases, the multi-FX would be better.
Which would be easier to use? I’m not sure. I already have time invested in learning the pedals I have.
Which would sound better? I’m pretty sure it would be a draw- my current setup is very flexible and sounds great.
I think the biggest part I’m struggling with is the idea of “Is this set of effects and amp sounds all I’m ever going to need, now and in the future?”
In the end, I just don’t know. With individual pedals, you can swap out a single piece to upgrade it, or exchange it for a sound you’ll use. But as a minimalist, I’ve never really bought pedals I wasn’t going to use anyway. It just feels wrong to spend more money replacing something I’m pretty happy with, but that always needs “just a couple more features.”
I have to ask myself: Do I really need those couple of features? What are they? What would be required to add them to my current setup, and how would getting a large all-in-one unit be a better solution to that problem?
So, here’s a list of things I still want from my guitar setup:
- The ability to switch from stereo to mono outputs without losing clarity or rewiring anything
- The ability to use it for acoustic or electric guitars
- The ability to run wet/dry/wet outputs (3 channels, would require an insert between amp models and wet effects)
- MIDI control (in and out)
- The ability to run direct to FOH (mono or stereo) and run stereo to my actual amplifier
There’s a couple of other features that the multi-FX units can easily do:
- Flexible routing. All of the multi-FX units can rearrange effects in any order you want with a few button presses. You’re not stuck with a stationary chain. If I tried to add this functionality to my current pedalboard, it would cost over $700 in switchers.
- USB Direct Recording. Granted, I’m not sure this works well in Linux. This one’s a “cool feature, not sure I’ll be able to actually use it” kind of thing. (Welcome to the Linux world… )
- Remote editing via Bluetooth with my phone (specific to the GT-1000). One of the selling points is that you can record a short loop, then walk around the venue and tweak that patch’s settings while you walk around, in realtime. This lets you tailor your settings to each specific room, or even with a band, from the audience’s perspective.
The more I think about it, the more I think buying an all-in-one multi-fx floor unit, and selling all my pedals, is the minimalist thing to do. Sure, I might keep a couple as a backup….
Wait, dang it, no. I don’t need a backup board. I can use my laptop in a pinch if I have to. I don’t need to keep a 30-pound board of pedals hanging around just in case. In case of what? The floor unit dies? It’ll be covered by a warranty.
“But I just bought some cool pedals!” Wah, wah, wah. Doesn’t matter. It’s just stuff. I’ll pass them on to someone else who can use them.
Let’s be honest: the digital modeling world has improved by leaps and bounds in the last few years. If guys like Devin Townsend, Lincoln Brewster, John Petrucci, Alex Lifeson, and Steve Vai use modelers on tour, why can’t I use one? I guarantee, it has more sounds in it than I will ever need. And it’s very possible to use some of my existing pedals to generate backing tracks and drums.
I’ll go through the three major players in my price range, compare them to my actual current setup, and discuss why the one I chose is probably the best choice for what I plan to do with it. The others are perfectly fine, but I have specific-case uses that I think it would work best in.
Headrush Pedalboard:
This unit doesn’t get nearly as much press as the Helix, despite sounding just as good, and at about the same price. It has a color touchscreen for editing, really good amp models, a decent selection of traditional guitar effects, and stereo effects loops. It also has text “scribble strips” above the buttons, that change according to what the button is doing.
On the negative side, though, it’s lacking things like MIDI control outputs, a computer editor/librarian, and the documentation on it is pretty slim. I’m sure I could use it without issues, but as you’ll see, the other options have many more features for the same price. Currently on firmware version 2.1 and can be updated. Has pre-determined effect chain patterns- no custom chaining, splitting or combining. Effect order is free, though.
They make a cheaper, pedalboard-sized version of this called the Gigboard. But it doesn’t have XLR outs, and only mono fx loops.
Line 6 Helix LT:
The cheaper version of the Helix. It’s made by Line 6, who essentially invented the guitar amp modeler market. It’s also been around the longest of the three. It also has a stereo effects loop, but doesn’t have the Scribble Strips that the more expensive version (and the Headrush) has. Lots of effects, but the amp models aren’t any better than what I’m currently using. It has color-changing buttons, supports third-party Impulse Response files, and a few other things. On firmware 2.8 and has a LOT of effects.
They have a smaller pedalboard-sized version called the HX Stomp, which has stereo fx loops, but is more limited in how many effects you can chain.
Boss GT-1000:
Has similar features to the Helix LT, but also has phone editing via bluetooth, and very easy to use editing software for computer. Also supports third-party IR’s, stereo fx loop, some advanced chaining/splitting/mixing, assignable-colored buttons, and “stompbox” mode. Currently on firmware 3.0 and likely to get more updates.
Boss makes a smaller version called the GT-1, which has an expression pedal, and some of the same effects. Also limits the number of effects you can chain, no fx loop, and no XLR outs.
Thoughts:
All of these units can run dual amplifier models in stereo. They all have XLR outs, USB audio interfaces, stereo effects loops, color-changing buttons (plus text on the Headrush), easy editing, good effects, and all retail for about $1000 USD ($800 on the used market). I could replace most or all of my pedals with any of the three.
The Headrush, for me, is a non-starter. The others have better MIDI implementation, more flexible effect routing, and effects that the Headrush doesn’t have (harmonizer, envelope filter, acoustic simulator, and a few others). So really, that narrows it down to the Helix or GT-1000.
I like Boss stuff. I’ve used a GT-8, and other than it having lackluster reverb, it was a fantastic unit. I think I could make that work.
I could spend a few more hundred dollars and get a Helix Pro, which includes XLR inputs and two stereo effect loops. BUT- and here’s the kicker- the Helix will let you chain any effect you want, as many times as you want, up to the limit of the DSP. The GT-1000 only lets you have 1 reverb block. Period. Only 2 amp blocks, period. And you can’t have multiple FX chains with separate paths through it like the Helix can.
What does this mean? It means I could run my vocal effects through it, my guitar through it, and even run a drum machine or looper through it- and use its effects on everything. And mix it all to the XLR outs.
And honestly, if I were looking at a proper solo performance setup, it would include my Digitech Jamman Solo XT looper for pads and/or backing tracks. All that would go into a mixer. I don’t think there’s anything I would need that this wouldn’t cover, as far as guitar/bass goes. The only kicker is, if I wanted to add more loopers and sync them to the Linn’s drum machine, it would require a converter box like the SyncMan. Or I could get a Digitech Sdrum and sync the loopers to that. If the cost is the same, I’m thinking the Sdrum would make generating music on the fly a lot more entertaining.
The Defender
But of course, I can’t rule out my actual pedalboard. I’ve spent years tweaking it, dreaming about how to make it better, and swapping out pieces. I think (other than the ability to swap pedal order with midi control) this setup is really close to perfect for what I need.
I think, for the $800 it would cost to replace it, I could easily add a few things that would make it perfect. Or, really close: there’s no such thing as perfect.
For less than $800, I can get a decent board, cables, and a couple of other pieces. Maybe even a synth pedal and a harmonizer. I can get a LOT of stuff for $1600 that the Helix Pro would cost.
But I think the biggest challenge would be to enable it to do wet/dry/wet recording, with raw guitar output as well. And that means custom routing/mixing boxes and DI’s with cab IR’s, like a CabZeus. That could also solve the stereo/mono mixing problem… and also be used with the actual amp at the same time if I want… and has headphone outs… and single-channel delay… and USB recording… hmmm.
But ultimately, all of this… every single part… is just an exercise in how I can make things better. In the end, I already have what I need- and everything else is just icing on the cake.