Getting a good tone direct

[jordanstreet]

Hey guys a question for all of you knowledgeable gear lords. This summer I plan on playing with my church band so as I don't want to haul my amp back and forth each week I am going to do go straight to the board directly.

So I can either get a GT8, ToneLab, or XT Live like most everyone does or I was thinking about getting a really nice distortion pedal like say a Mesa V Twin. I really don't need all the effects of a Multi-Effect unit I just want killer distortion, cleans, and I can buy a delay/reverb pedal.

So which would you say would give me the best results a multi-effect unit or a nice distortion pedal?

Also does anyone make speaker simulator pedals? That would be cool but I believe the V Twin already has some speaker sim in it and the Mult-Effects boards do as well.

Thanks,
Jordan

[Matheau]

I would probably say look into getting a pre-amp. If you just need distortion and cleans, a pre-amp will probably do a better job. You can get rather nice ones for not that much more than some of the multi-effects, but they generally are harder to find, both new and used.

On the other hand, something like a GT8 or XT Live is something that could be more useful in the long run, since it does give you access to a lot of different tones that might not seem interesting now, but maybe down the road might be.

[Racerx2k]

I really like what I've heard from the Tonelabs, so far. Thinking about getting my hands on one.

[jordanstreet]

From what Ive heard of tone labs I don't think Id be able to get a tone with enough gain for my needs you know ? I'm after a real aggressive fat tone not so much that vintage rock type of vibe I get with what Ive heard of the tone lab.

[shreddersymphony]

My pod XT is my best friend. The only thing I have yet to perfect with it is really distorted metal tone ala Symphony X. It excels at clean and lead tones, and all kinds of classic rock to hard rock crunch tones as well.

[rty13ibz98]

my pod 2.0 is the same programs that my flextone 2 heads are loaded with. same tone all the time for me, amped up or direct. been that way for me for the last few years.

rich