First: I’m not a guitar player. I’m not even a pimple on a guitar player’s ass, but I have a guitar and I like to play with it; I would like to experiment some with effects etc. but buying the individual pedals (wah, sustain, echo, etc) as individual items seems pretty expensive, especially for something I’m just playing with.
Any opinions on multi-effects pedals? which ones to seek out/avoid? which ones give most bang for buck? do they do the same things/sound the same as the individual pedals? Remember, I really can’t play, I just play around, and going into a store to test/experiment with these things is an embarrassment, so showroom tests are right out.
First, go here for reviews of just about every pedal, signal processor, guitar, and amp. Then go to the pawn shops. From your OP, it looks like you don’t want to spend a ton of money, so remember that resale on guitar equipment is like resale on computers–at least 50% or less.
I got a Digitech RP-10, and bought the upgrade chip to make it an RP-12 a few years ago for $150 total; meanwhile the RP-12 new was running about $500.
Hie thee to the pawnbroker. And don’t worry about the embarrassing test drive. Just go in and have fun.
You’re doing the right thing. There’s no need to buy lots of separate FX pedals. Get a good multi-FX signal processor, an all-in-one-box, and have all the fun your fingers can handle. Years ago I boght a Yamaha FX 500 box for my guitar. It’s probably regarded as ancient technology now. It has just about every effect you could want, and the ability to chain them together and create your own patches.
If I ever get another job, once the coffers are replenished one of my first purchases is going to be a Johnson J-Station. They retail for about $150US new, but there’re always a couple on eBay, and some have gone for well under $100 recently.