Presets and saved settings. How important are they to YOU?

[Jack DeVille]

As the title reads:

How important are presets/saved settings on your compact effects pedals?

Is it worth it to you the have the option of saving and recalling settings at the expense of additional complexity and learning the specific system? How much is that feature worth, in dollars, on a compact pedal?

Do you, or have you, sacrificed the ability to store and recall a preset over a model that offers better/different sonic qualities?

While I design and manufacture loads of effects from very simple, to highly complex learning computers, I get confused quickly and easily when actually using complex pedals. Call me stupid.

This is a direct market assessment question.

Go!

EDIT: On both digital and analog signal paths.

 

[tschelle668]

Presets are of no concern to me. I find an effect that I think is great at what it was designed for, and use it for that purpose. I love your Shepard's End because it is easy to use and sounds great. I'm looking at all my pedals right now, and I don't think I have a single stomp box that is programable. Maybe the Flashback, but I don't know. I tried to use the Molten Midi to control my Whammy, but it was too freaking hard to figure out. I took the Source Audio EQ off my board, and put the MXR back on because I didn't like how the programming worked on the Source Audio.

Maybe this is why I have so many pedals....

 

[WWW]

Presets are important enough to me that I would spend a good deal more for a pedal that had presets vs not having them. I can’t really put a dollar value on it as different pedals do different things. For example, the HOG2 is a pedal that needs presets, and I easily budgeted the extra $50 for the external controller. Another example is one of my favorite drive pedals, the TC Nova Drive. Man, that thing is so versatile with two channels and presets among a host of other beneficial features. One caveat is that the base sound of the pedal is more important to me than the inclusion of presets. It’s gotta sound good first.

Edited to say that the preset switching control is another consideration. Having presets is great, but I don’t want to do any fiddling to switch between them.

 

[Robleishman]

They are everything to me, I have a cba, empress, eventide board that runs midi.The only pedal on my board that doesn't have that capability is my UNION LAB comp which is mostly always on. I will pay $150 extra for midi and preset no problem...

For example, I've tried most of your pedals and love them but I don't own any due to that issue.

I really hope to see you add an advanced line to your catalogue!

 

[Rusty Dutch]

Make or break for me, too. I’d always pay the extra for a pedal with preset functionality.

 

[Squatch57]

I like using presets on my Big Sky and Timefactor, but I don' t have any presets in my analog pedals
I like the idea of preset analog pedals like Chase Bliss, it's really just applying the 1978 concept of the Prophet synth to pedals
I can think of a different way of doing it though, rather than having the memory and preset paraphernalia onboard
With a centralized computer built in to your loop switcher (or PC), you could send parameter values in real time to the knobs
This could be done under midi protocol, having all pedal functions available at all times for midi data

 

[The Tone Unknown]

As the title reads:

How important are presets/saved settings on your compact effects pedals?

Is it worth it to you the have the option of saving and recalling settings at the expense of additional complexity and learning the specific system? How much is that feature worth, in dollars, on a compact pedal?

Do you, or have you, sacrificed the ability to store and recall a preset over a model that offers better/different sonic qualities?

While I design and manufacture loads of effects from very simple, to highly complex learning computers, I get confused quickly and easily when actually using complex pedals. Call me stupid.

This is a direct market assessment question.

Go!

EDIT: On both digital and analog signal paths.

Live use: important. Studio: not so much as there are tracking sheets. I will say that I often a pedal that has so many tones that are all just so amazing (the DigiTech Synth Wah comes to mind) that you either have to buy a few of them or start making requests to the manufacture to build a version with memory built in to it. I can tell you what option happens to be more successful.

 

[Robleishman]

Live use: important. Studio: not so much as there are tracking sheets. I will say that I often a pedal that has so many tones that are all just so amazing (the DigiTech Synth Wah comes to mind) that you either have to buy a few of them or start making requests to the manufacture to build a version with memory built in to it. I can tell you what option happens to be more successful.

I dream of an EHX micro synth for this very reason.

 

[The Tone Unknown]

I dream of an EHX micro synth for this very reason.

Oh yeah...the original synth pedal!

 

[Uncle Pecos]

The only pedal where I would see the value in presets is a delay. The rest, I just set it and forget it. I mark where I set the knobs and modify them as needed for the space we're dealing with. I like it simple, so I can see at a glance if something looks right.

So, to answer your question, I'm afraid of the added complexity, and I would always go for sonic quality. Not that it matters to anyone but me, but I'll take anything that could avoid me thinking: I wish I brought that other pedal, this has that [...] that I really hate.

Mind you, I'm a simple user and don't use that many effects.

 

[Vhailor]

(I'm writing this from the perspective of someone who needs to be able to recreate settings long after their original creation and use. I understand that some people may never need to do this.)

The need for presets all depends on the specific pedal. Two or three knob distortions and fuzzes don't really need presets but, to take an extreme example, a Line 6 M9 or M13 does.

There's a related matter here: knobs need some kind of reasonable gradations or graduations so that their settings can be easily documented. If a knob has, as an example, 24 markings equally spaced throughout the arc of its travel, documenting it setting for future reference becomes pretty easy. If there are no gradations or markings at all, documenting a setting becomes far more tedious and cumbersome and inaccurate than it should be.

 

[ThVH]

Since I'm a little control freak, I love preset functionality, BUT I don't use such pedals exclusively. I choose pedals for sound and function first and am happy if it happens to have presets. Because I have quite some pedals without presets on my board, I'm saving for a switchblade in connection with a MIDI switcher in order to make their on/off status and their position in the chain presetable at least.

That being said, IF a pedal has presets, it has to have MIDI (for me). Bending down and changing a preset to me almost means the same thing as bending down and turning some knobs to marked positions. I'm always a little turned off by pedals that have presets which are not recallable via MIDI, because the advantage is not that big for me, then.

I'd love to see some of your pedals with such functionality! Keep up the great work!

 

[pinkfuzz65]

I think it depends on the complexity of the pedal and how you can change it. The more complex, the more you are happy to pay a bit more for presets and that's directly proportional to the range that pedal has (or should have). If it's too difficult to bend down and twist stuff till you get your second setting, you will never do it.

 

[weyllandin]

For a complex pedal that can do lots of different sounds, presets are an asset. For more simple, or 'unidirectional' pedals, they are a crutch.

I just think, presets should always come with midi in and thru, and the user should be able to generate, save and recall them on a PC or Mac. Once I have more than one pedal with presets, I will want to switch presets with a midi switcher.

It never occurred to me before, but ever since I own an ES-8, it bugs the hell out of me that the Super Pulsar has presets, but no midi. Still cool, but not as useful as it could be.

 

[guitarslinger21]

I don't really need presets anymore.

 

[scott58]

I don't either.

 

[The Holy Drinker]

Such a feature definitely affects my choice. I was thinking of getting a Canyon delay as it is small and very versatile, but thought that I would need presets with such a versatile pedal so I changed my mind. Eventually went for the Nemesis. (Thinking of getting an F.13 Neo Flanger later on.)

I hate carrying stuff around so I just take 3-4 pedals to rehearsals and gigs, so those 3-4 pedals need to be versatile. Without presets, such versatility would not mean much to me. As mentioned, people probably could do without presets on 3 knob pedals if inclusion of presets will add to the cost considerably. @DisasterArea seems to have a good solution with their Neo Series.

 

[fab38]

I only use one pedal with presets : EHX Hazaraï. Because I use it with extreme sounds for each mode, that would need to spend too much time live to change between songs.
For every other pedals, I love the "chance" factor due to rough settings. Yes, even for delays.

 

[CarlGuitarist]

Really important when it comes to delays, the rest not so much. I prefer to keep it simple so I don't spend too much time programming sounds

 

[Ben Pinkus]

^ Yeah I use them for Delay, Reverb and Trem but thats it.