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My Boss Phase Shifter pedal has been screwing up on me lately, so I went to GC to get a new one and came across this:

http://www.digitech.com/en-US/products/istomp

They had one set up at the store, so I downloaded the app and plugged my phone into it while I was there and gave it a go. It comes with a distortion and delay for free and you can do in app purchases for other effects. I goofed around with the free ones and figured what the fuck, instead of spending the money on just one Phase pedal, I'll get this.
I'm not really a pedal guy typically, but some how I've amassed a bunch of Boss pedals and have never really tried any others. When I got home I connected everything and there was a pop up that lets you download your first effect for $.99 so I got the phaser. I wasn't too impressed with it although, admittedly, I only spent a few minutes messing around. Also since this was an impulse purchase I thought you could create an effects chain, but it does just one at a time. The more i thought about it, I started thinking 'Who wants their phone sitting on their pedal board - Well, this is a crock of shit - I've made a terrible mistake - this thing is going straight back - etc'.
I disconnected my phone while I still had it plugged into my guitar and realized that the phone is just a means to load the effect and doesn't need to stay connected. Then I played around with the phaser a bit more and found a sound I kind of liked. And you can download any of the other effects and try them out (on a timed basis) before making a purchase.
I'm not sure what to do now. This thing wasn't cheap, but the possibility of having a universal pedal that can be loaded with different effects is appealing.
........Hmmmmm, $150 for this or take it back and get the phaser for $130?

That sound's pretty awesome. I especially like how you can change the LED colour with each pedal. I say hang on to it, much better than a phaser.

Out of interest, how much are the app-pedals normally?

i don't really get this... You could buy a line 6 m5 with that money, you get lots of more effects, and you don't have to plug in your phone every time you want to change an effect...

louis - they seem to be between 5 and 10 bucks. The ones that are trade marked are the most expensive.

sp3k - like I said this was an impulse purchase and I did no research before buying.

Seeing how expensive the in apps are, I'm not sure I really want to invest that much into this thing. It would be different if they had something like a 5 pedal bundle for 10 bucks, but I'll be fucked if I'm going to spend that on each individual effect. Plus it's pretty new so there's not a very big selection (this will probably grow over time).
I have a feeling this will be going back to the store.

Cool concept, but a little pricey.

Dannymec wrote:Cool concept, but a little pricey.

If it were cheaper, it'd be a really cool and very competitive idea, but the price detracts from the whole product, it'd be far more sensible to buy the Line 6 M5, for similar money, and bypass the whole phone stage.

Well, the iStomp went back to the shop. I couldn't justify keeping it considering how much the in app purchases are and the fact that I didn't like the phase they offer.
I ended up getting another Phase Shifter and a DD-20 delay while I was there. The new phase pedal does the exact same thing my old one did. When you step on it, it cuts out for a split second. Both turning it on and off. My old one was second hand, so I figured there was a problem with it.
I'm not going to return the new one though because I've started using the old one for vocals (ala Robin Zander) and sounds awesome.

This shit blew my brains out.
They need to add a looper

Out of my curiosity, which digital Phaser model did you buy for the iStomp? The Digitech Phaser model or their take on the Small Stone?

death2yun wrote:This shit blew my brains out.

+1

Dingus wrote:Out of my curiosity, which digital Phaser model did you buy for the iStomp? The Digitech Phaser model or their take on the Small Stone?

The digitech version. I need one that either does tap tempo or has an adjustable rate knob. The small stone only has one knob, I think, and that wouldn't work for me.

Holy fucking shit.

Digitech sure is a company with some super cool stompboxes (yeah, I'm looking at you, Time Bender), but with this it seems they've outdone themselves.
Postmodern as fuck.

This is more like the Line 6 Tonecore should have been

Fuck a pedal with an app store. Seriously.

Nick wrote:Fuck a pedal with an app store. Seriously.

Whether for good or bad the future is microtransactions, so I suppose it was just a question of time before someone built a pedal with an app store.

Would really like to look inside this little box...

I know there are exceptions as there are to every sweeping statement like this, but my general rule of thumb for musical instrument iPhone apps now is "if it's not something you would've used a computer for a few years ago, it's a gimmick."

The problem seems to be that far too many app desginers are focusing on something that is made possible (but not practical) by having a small computer on you at all times. They should design these apps bearing in mind what has been possible for awhile but has now been made immensely practical/cheaper to implement... those are the really fun and/or useful apps. I love making loops/beats in NanoStudio or plugging my phone into my $50 Akai keyboard controller and messing with synth patches I created... but those are laptop jobs if you can afford it... those apps are a godsend because they let someone without nearly enough cash to blow on high-spec computers and expensive programs for it dip their pen in that particular ink. The mobile device is a little computer and the apps are little programs... I have a baby software synth setup now I could record with, use onstage, get a Hammond sound or a melotron or some cheesy square wave shit I fiddled with the parameters on for a few hours, have a 4-track digital music loop line out thru the controller, etc... I make music on it, it has given me more compositional flexibility. It doesn't glitch, and it doesn't sound bad. Even a crap version of that would've been a bit beyond my financial means a few years ago though, and so I wouldn't have bought the amount of gear to let me do all that, unsure if I was going to take to it or not.

I've had 15 years to blow hundreds of bucks on multi-FX boxes I'm never gonna use. $150 for the pedal and a few bucks a pop for each effect, not to mention a prerequisite iPhone contract and/or $200 minimum iPod... that's a LOT of money for, let's face it, Fischer-Price's my first phaser/flanger/autowah line.

These are now pretty goddam cheap apparently: http://www.soundonsound.com/news?NewsID=16690

NickS wrote:This is more like the Line 6 Tonecore should have been

To be fair to the Tonecores, they came out way before smartphones were all over the show. They were pretty cool at the time and I still like the idea now. It's why I bought the Zoom GT 50, I love that I have a Boss-size pedal with a whole ton of stuff hidden away on a pretty easily accessed screen. I love it. This is basically the same but upgradeable (like the BT-100, actually). Same concept.

I just bought a couple for $40 each on Musicians Friend. All of the effects, except for the Adrian Belew pedal are now free. Only thing is that if you have an iPhone 5/5s, you'll have to buy the Apple 30 pin to lightning adapter for $30.

I got given one for Christmas, they are less than £50 in the UK now and like mentioned all the effects bar one are free now.