Vox - SL1G 1G Multi Effect Stomplab Pedal for Guitar

This is a robust little multi-effects unit with an expression pedal that can be assigned to various parameters. For me it’s usually the wah. Vox were the originators of the wah pedal in the 60s and their iteration in this mini pedal is full of character and is tweakable to give the range and tones you want. The default setting is fine.But obviously it’s more than a wah pedal. There are also 36 amp models covering classic, modern and boutique amps. I’ve not had the experience of playing through all of these amp heads and combos in real life so can’t attest to the accuracy of these models, but I’m surprised and impressed how “amp-like” these models are to play.They respond to picking dynamics and guitar volume/tone adjustments just like a real tube amp will – play softer and you get a cleaner sound, play harder and you get a gradually increasing gain with more harmonic complexity. Vox have done this better than the various ZOOM and Behringer units I’ve been using for years – it really is a massive improvement on what I’ve been used to.It’s important to set the global output from this box to match what you’re feeding it into but this is relatively easily adjusted with a dial and a few button presses – i.e. if your output is a direct line to headphones or a recording console, or if it’s to a particular type of amp (basically Fender or Marshall type combos or a bigger stack) and the output tonality is adjusted accordingly.There’s one cool retro chickenhead knob to target a genre of music (blues, jazz, metal, rock, ballad etc) with 10 preset combinations in each bank. You can move around these presets with the two sturdy foot switches and there are two more chickenhead knobs to adjust parameters of each patch.As well as the amp models there are also many modulation settings replicating various choruses, pitch-shifters, delays, reverbs etc.But this is a small unit and some sacrifices have to be made – storing your own combinations and parameters into the 20 available user spaces takes some working out given the 2-digit LED display. It’s not as informative and intuitive as the ZOOM G5 unit for example.Another compromise it took me a while to work out is that you can’t have an overdrive/distortion/fuzz effect going into a chosen amp model as they’re all in the same bank. So you can’t choose a Big Muff into a1959 Fender Bassman 4x12 for example. But the Big Muff on its own sounds fine and isn’t a problem.But overall I’m impressed. Great amp models as long as you adjust the global output settings to what you’re playing into; very responsive and musical; sturdy build; small size; great effects; 20 user-defined preset patches. Great quality for a good price

I don't think I've been as disappointed in a purchase as this one, for quite some time.It sure is a sturdy unit, you don't get many solid metal guitar pedals. It should stand up to years of abuse.The presets are junk though. Utter junk, I can't see more than maybe two or three you'd ever consider using without heavily editing them. It doesn't sound like any actual bass players have been involved in their creation.Speaking of editing, that is a complete pain 'thanks' to the stupid two-digit LED screen.Another major annoyance is, if you have turned up the master volume, every time you click to a new effect the volume goes back down and you have to turn it back uo. So dumb.And if you have a guitar/pick-ups that hum etc when you're not playing a note, this unit does not help you one bit. Unless you have the noise reduction on full you will hear noise whenever you have a very brief delay between notes played, but with noise reduction on full this unit constantly cuts out the signal altogether while you are even hitting notes.Terrible, my biggest waste of fifty quid in years.

When I first got this unit I thought it was okay. Reasonable build quality and it has lots of pre-set effects with enough memory to programme 20 effects of your own creation.Having now used it in performance, with effects programed for each song, I find it just too difficult to use.No problems with the programming, I found very good advice on line, far better than the included handbook. The problem for me is that I found it very difficult to switch between effects in the middle of songs that call for multiple effects.I actually found it much easier to use my old pedal board with it's budget Behringer pedals with their nice chunky foot switches (basically Boss clones).

The compressor used is MXR Red Compressor, it has Fuzz Face what Hendrix used, pedal a bit small but it fits well in my donner pocket bag £50 pedal board which is an extra pocket. I have 2 pedal boards and this is a pedal board. The actual presets can be downloaded from a Facebook channel, they cannot say which devices are emulated except the VOX amps officially.Though my blackbox reloaded does display the actual amps emulated and not a number, but that had a very bad pedal and also very large, I prefer this small pedal in contrast. You cannot change the order of the pedals if you want to create your own preset. But pedals work better in their natural order, also this includes a tuner which works and a noise gate.But Amazon description is wrong it not need an AC adapter, but DC as it does accept batteries which are DC. I have tested the normal pedal power supply and it works. You do not need a special power supply for this. The preset of the U2/David Glimour Another Brick In The Wall can be found on the net, though it cannot be downloaded and patched from a computer as other models can you can add the variables manually.Also there is a YouTube channel where you can hear different presets, but you have to add them manually.It is mono but many fx units are, even the boss ME-80 seems to be, it does have stereo but I think it is mono stereo.But have this and create your own pedal board which is fun, it does not have to be either or. This is the real deal. It will not replace a personal pedal board, but it will sound as good but less personal.

This pedal is great and I'm very much in love with it, when I got this pedal I wanted to create my own sounds and that wasn't easy, it's very confusing to understand for the first two days but you'll get there. the sounds are great and there's one that I'm absolutely in love with, if you switch the (Category) knob to the section that says (Other) and then select the ninth preset you'll get this amazing and peaceful sound, it's great if you want to chill out and relax and play something to unwind yourself from a hard days work, it's great, try it for yourself, or if your the sort of person that just wants to rock then select (Hard Core or Metal) on the (Category) If your going to buy this pedal then make sure you get a adapter to power it, the battery compartment isn't great, you have to unscrew all Four of the rubber feet at the bottom of the pedal and then you have to fiddle around to get your batteries inside, not good. but overall what a great pedal, thumbs up Vox.