Yamaha MagicStomp II

Fairly easy to use. I have had the unit for 4 years and never connected the USB to my computer, just edited from on-board. I'm usually pretty good at navigating user interfaces intuitively, but this one I actually had to consult the manual a couple times initially. Some patches are 13+ "pages" long when editing on-board, so it can be a little tedious/frustrating/confusing scrolling back and forth, but that's probably what the computer editing option is for.

I used to run a pedal board with 6 individual boxes. A couple in front, most in the loop. I scaled down my amp rig from a custom-built, dual-gain, 50 watt/6x12, to a '64 Tremolux, cut back to a 25 watt/2x12, then ditched all my effects for several years, and really got into amp/pickup tone instead of effects. Eventually, though, I needed reverb and delay, but wanted to keep the tone I'd developed and wanted to keep the floor-space relatively un-cluttered. The MagicStompII seemed to be a good choice, especially for the prices they were clearing them out at. I knew I had no use for the distortions or amp/speaker simulations, and went directly to the effects. After a little tweaking with limited success, I stumbled on one of the bass(?) patches, with tons of EQ parameters and compression. I used that patch to further perfect my amp's tone and response to achieve that "holy grail" of (certain) guitarists; get any sound you could want using only the guitar's volume, tone, and pickup selector. Now, I can't use my MagicStomp for anything else, because I refuse to give up that SOUND! I have, however, made variations on that patch to work with other amps or direct-sound applications.

Though I have only done occasional gigging with it, I have had zero problems in the 4 years I've owned it. Also, it sits atop my amp, not on the floor, which you should keep in mind when evaluating my rating in this category.

I haven't checked, but I think mine came with the latest firmware. Never had to contact Yamaha, or even consult their website for that matter.

Once again, I'm looking for a way to add a few (mostly ambient) effects as my new band is steering away from classic rock and doing more modern stuff, some of which rely heavily on reverb/delay in place of synths. I am NOT currently considering another MagicStomp for one reason; no expression pedal. I think the omission of any provision for expressive control (actual pedal, 1/4" jack, or MIDI) was a HUGE mistake on Yamaha's part. The power of real-time control coupled with the numerous parameters available on many of their patches, could have made this a real powerhouse unit, assuming they could also keep the price and size in the same range. Too bad.

There are a couple of practical ways (and some impractical, frustrating ones) to approach using the Magicstomp, and your results will vary depending upon your patience and expectations.

AS A SINGLE-EFFECT STOMPBOX: This was my goal when I bought the unit...I did not want to buy/lug around a bunch of effects. I primarily use one effect at a time, and use them sparsely. It took very little time to pick out a few useful effects (delay, chorus, etc.) and save them to user patches that could be easily accessed. With a little tweaking of the three faceplate knobs and saving the changes (all done on-board w/o the software,) it was quite easy to replace an entire pedalboard of effects with usable patches. I didn't even try to deep-edit the effects at all. I've kept it in my effects loop and it's been a handy, hands-off addition for about two years now. Two BIG thumbs up as a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure effects unit, and it was well worth the $$$ for this alone.

AS AN AMP MODELER/PRE-AMP: Surface-skimming through the factory presets was disappointing, and iffy reviews of the amp-modeling patches kept me away from them, but here I was, two years into Magicstomp ownership, and I'd never even tried to make these into useful, organized presets. I recently found myself with a gig that required a way to play without an amp, plugging directly into the PA. Instead of buying some kind of pod, I decided to get over my fear of the Magicstomp.

I loaded the sound-editing software into my laptop (more on this later,) plugged into a PA channel, and set out on a quest to re-create a solid "Fender Clean." This turned out to be moderately easy to do by tweaking one of the more general-purpose factory presets. After some judicious amp/speaker sim/EQ selection, I had a pretty good facsimile of my JV Strat/DeVille combo. From there, it was a small leap to getting a balanced OD rhythm tone and then a more aggressive/effected solo tone.

I took it out that night, leaving the 50-pound amp at home, and played the gig. My entire rig fit in my guitar case...strat, Magicstomp, and two guitar cables. I received numerous compliments on how good it sounded out front, and a few about how jealous they were of my 5-minute load-in/out.

MAJOR SOFTWARE ISSUES: I have a good amount of experience with computers/software, a monster laptop, and I still had real problems with Yamaha's drivers and sound editing software. It took three load/scrub attempts to get the software to run at all, and if I shut the computer down, I had to reinstall it all *again* the next time I went to edit. Even worse, it caused XP to get really wonky, even when the program was not running. Windows startup and shutdown were unpredictable and non-functioning, respecfully. Getting browsers and other software to run was slowed beyond usefulness. It was a bad scene. YMMV.

In contrast, the Sound Editor software itself ran perfectly, once it got started. It was relatively easy to do the tweaks neccessary and really experiment with the sounds and do comparisons in real-time to get them balanced and optimized. Easier than I expected. The interface could have been improved to a degree with some minor tweaks to help those of us who don't understand some of the terms/paramaters, but it was usable for one who is not afraid to experiment.

After several attempts, I was able to uninstall everything once I was finished tweaking. If there are no lingering effects, I plan to try it on a different computer next time. I will probably tweak the sounds using headphones then make minor adjustments via the deep-editing onboard interface once I have it plugged into the PA. At some point, I hope to have them all in a happy place and never touch them again.

CONCLUSION: The Magicstomp is incredibly useful, and the difficulty of use is scalable. Based on how you use it, you can even be pretty happy without even touching the software.

SINGLE EFFECTS: No complaints! They sound a lot better than digital effects I've tried through the years. The way-out effects sometimes show a little digital color/grain but the ones you'd use every day are really nice with lots of parameters to tweak. All your favorite pedals are here, and they sound good. It's an easy and effective effects-loop tool for your amp.

AMP/DRIVE/SPEAKER SIMS: If you really try, you can make these work pretty well. The crazy OD/Distortions can be rather noisy, and preset volumes vary greatly. You really need to spend time with these, but the results can be rewarding.

Now, would these sounds please a cork-sniffing, boutique-amp gear hound? Likely not (on principle alone...attitudes vary.) Good enough for a loud, rowdy bar with imperfect acoustics? You betcha. Good enough to DI into a church PA? Cetainly.

I've had no functional problems with the pedal whatsoever, but I take pretty good care of it. In effects mode, I keep it on top of my amp and switch effects by hand between songs, so it hasn't even been stomped much.

The wall wart power cord is the weakest link in the chain, but even that has held up, and is replaceable if something does happen.

I haven't had to call/Email Yamaha, so I can't comment on that.

One of the big selling points for the Magicstomp was the "online community" aspect of the line...they promised to continually update magicstomp.com with new artist-created patches and really provide a lot of aftermarket attention. Apparently, this had a great concept and a nice kick-off, but was dropped cold somewhere around 2004. It's just like they left for lunch one day and never came back. What the heck happened, guys?

It's VERY disappointing and unprofessional. They don't even have a Yamaha-sponsored forum area (that I know of) to let us help each other with problems, or even just trade patches. That would be EASY. How about some help getting my PC to run with your fidgety, non-compliant software?

To be fair to their early attempts...magicstomp.com has software/driver downloads, a few FAQs and troubleshooting tips, and a dozen artist-created soundbanks (of widely-varied quality) to download.

I actually REALLY DIG this product, but Yamaha's inability to live up to their promise makes me reluctant to believe their promises in the future.

I play rock, oldies, country, and varied general-pupose stuff.. I have guitars of various configurations. Tube amps...Fender and Boogie. 20 yrs playing live music. My tones are from the less-is-more school of thought...don't over-season the steak, or you won't taste the meat.

That said, the Magicstomp fits my purposes, even though it didn't neccessarily seem that way at first glance. Having wacky factory presets doesn't inspire confidence in a new user...realistic tones would have been useful starting points for some and ending points for others. For instance, some familiar amp channel settings ("Blackface Clean", "British Stack OD", etc.) would have been a much better idea than testing the outer limits of each effect.

Having all of this power in a compact floor unit is a great idea. It goes places that rackmounts and floorboards can't. The faceplate UI gives great access to the controls you need when playing live. For instance, in "performance mode" it can as a 3-channel amp. As an effects-only unit, it replaces an unweildy pedalboard of expensive stompboxes. All in an area of floorspace less than a square foot. Awesome.

Despite it's solid build, the stylized purple plastic case doesn't visually say "pro gear" to me. Instead, it says "crazy bedroom gadget." Now, many may not care what it looks like, but that kind of thing can make or break a product, commercially (broke, in this case.) I would have liked to have seen this product designed from the ground up with the professional, gigging musician in mind, rather than the odd-sound dabbler. A tough case and no-nonsense, high-value aesthetics would have been a good start.

It's too bad that this product was dropped (dumped) because I really like a lot of things about it. Better physical product design, another couple months in development to get the bugs out of the software, and thorough user-testing might have made all the difference here, with the Magicstomp ending up as a highly useful, accessible, tool that might have ultimately proven to be a successful product line for Yamaha.

As it is, it's a sometimes-frustrating piece of super-useful gear for the self-sufficient, technically-oriented musician who can look past its obvious flaws to see the good stuff inside.

Ok this is a very easy unit to get into, patches are easily editable either using a computer or going into deep edit. Sounds range from good to awfull.Any modulation,delay,echo etc are generally good. I dont rate the distortions and fancy unusable daft effects they have added in the programmed section. But having said that i am very critical of multi distortions and prefer to use the amp. Put this in the loop and use the modulation / delay effects sounds great.My unit is the last upgraded version. Manual was ok but CDR has all you need to get going

Sound quality is good as i've explained before, stick to the modulation /delays and it is great. I use this effect in front of a peavey studio 112, either fender tele or les paul. great for jam nights as i hate taking a truck load of effects along for 4 songs, you really end up looking like a T*at, So this is ideal dial in one effect and used in the loop.
Not tried it with my valve stuff but hey should be ok.

Does seem to get a bit warm after a while but im sure yamaha would not sell a piece of junk and spoil their name.
Gig without backup? yes no problem as i would not use it for my sound just to add flavour.

Never had cause to contact them.

I play blues, rock, some u2 etc... this is ok i bought it to take to jam nights in local bars, its small,neet and does the job. Does not run on batteries which is ok , i can live with that. I have put this into performance mode and tried to change between patches. Awfull !!! there is a significant delay between changing, not good.I have been playing for 30 years and hate multi's. This is used as a programmable one trick pony, one box, choose the single effect, works. Start stringing things together and your tone just dies, also the delay between patches sucks.if it were lost or stolen maybe i would find another. they are so cheap at the moment i paid ??60 new.This is Yamaha's nearly got it right pedal, great idea.one pedal pick your effect use it as a stomp box, nice. i guess like all the modern pedal manufacturers they then just had to keep adding in things. some may like that, i dont.

Use the editing software to begin with to get a good wiew on whats avalible, later on you??ll want to checkout the onboardediting. Manual is crap but the editingsoftware is quite easy to grasp.
Check out: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/magicstomp/
for more info, much better than the yamaha support.
You can actually upgrade the MS-1 into a MS-2 by installing newest firmware available on that site. That??s what i??ve done.

Yo????ll have to work by ear, theres no "SRW" or "Eric Clapton" button.
With the possibillitys in thos stomp you can cower everything.
Wery good OD especially in the minute area. Good speakersimms and latency and "feel" abiut it , even lined, is like a good solid guitaramp. All the effects are very good.
I use it lined and into the return of an amp, sometimes in the front but then I EQ the amp neutral and try go get a clean dry sound from it. Only use the poweramp. Used with various guitars.
Some of the hysterical OD??d or distorted settings can be a bit noisy but it??s the same in a good amp. It??s a matter of cables and HB/singelcoil use. There is anoisgate if you??ll run into trouble.

Have had no trouble so far, gig without a backup

Big problem. They seem quite uninterrested. Better inf found elsewhere, checkout Yahoo above.

Play blues, some rock, Play around with earshattering heavymetal sometimes.
Been playing with different garagebands fore some 20 years, tried out some of the stuff on the market.
Would get a new one if stolen. Actually got myself another one from ebay to combine the two units for wider versatility.

This is an extremely frustrating device.

In theory, there are a tremendous, truly mind-boggling number of effects and parameters to tweak (the simple list of them takes 31 pages of small print), but they are virtually impossible to get to. The unit comes with severely outdated editing software, very poor programming documentation and ZERO customer support online.

The MagicStomp.Com site is defunct and only has a skeleton presence and no support at all for the current versions of the MagicStomp line -- all of which are APPARENTLY the identical unit with different factory presets and firmware versions -- which are not available on the site.

Another user gave me the final editor version and I am looking to find a source for firmware.

Conceivably, this could be a great unit, but Yamaha has dropped them so hard that the buyer is totally on his own to figure it all out.

Came loaded with 99 factory presets - some perfect for my needs right out of the box, some needed tweaking to get 'em where I wanted 'em, and some "special" effects that I may never use.....but they're kinda' cool, anyway. Manual is easy to get through - looks pretty thick 'til you realize that it's written in 7 languages, and the English section is only 30 pages - not bad. Pretty simple to use and tweak, but is more in-depth than a traditional "turn the knob 'til it sounds right" stompbox. There are a lot more effects/programs available in the software, which was only mildly annoying to install. To be sure I did it correctly, I printed out the instructions from the cd-rom before I got started. I had to install the driver, restart the computer, then load the editing software, and restart the computer again.....then it was all ready to go! Even more patches are available online, too.

Bought this to replace the two delays, flanger, etc. etc. I had as separate units on the pedalboard. I'm not using it for distortion, although I've found a couple presets I tweaked to taste to use at home for practicing. The delays sound incredible, the reverbs are sweet, several types of flangers, phasers - all sound really good. I'm running it in the fx loop of a Marshall DSL100...fx send > BBE Sonic Stomp > Boss Loop Selector (with a Boss EQ and the MagicStomp in the pedal's "A" loop). The EQ is for a volume boost for solos, placed before the MagicStomp. Set the MagicStomp's volume knob to match my amp's volume, and then use the EQ to boost the volume for solos. No problems with noise, although there is a second of silence when you switch between patches in "up/down" mode. It seems to be much less when used in "performance" mode, which is what I do. And having it in the Loop Selector means I don't have to worry about that anyway - I select the patch to use beforehand, then just bring it in with the pedal. The only thing I was disappointed in was that you can't combine any effects that aren't already combined in the factory presets. I found a great tremolo sound that I wanted to stick with a flanger.......can't. For as much editing as you can do with the sofware on the 'puter, you still can't do that. You're stuck with the combinations you get. Like I said, I bought this to basically clean up my pedalboard, not to engineer a bunch of crazy effect combinations.....and it does what it does very well.

Will be putting it to the live test in a week....seems to be a pretty tough box, though. Switches feel solid, and even though the casing is plastic, it's not thin and fragile feeling. Just to be sure, I'll probably bring my old pedals as backup to the first gig, since I haven't used it live yet - just as an "insurance" policy.

Haven't had it too long......haven't needed to call customer support for anything.

I've been playing for over 25 years - have used combo amps, rack gear set-ups, head/cabinet stacks, stompboxes, rack fx.....you name it. Before buying this, I tried using an Alesis MidiverbIII I had around, and my bass player said it sounded "artificial" - nowhere near as good as all the stompboxes. As soon as I plugged this in his response was "Sweet!!!". The analog delays and flangers sound just as good as the 'boxes I had - something that was definitely lacking in other digital fx I've tried out. LOTS of the "standard" fx to choose from - several different phaser, flanger, reverb types....and a lot of different delays, too. I just wish I could make my own combinations of some of them - but it's not really a big deal, in my case. I'd definitely get another one if it got lost or stolen. And some of the "special" fx actually got me writing a few riffs/licks to match what the effect was doing...very cool. I'd thought about one of the all-in-one boards from Boss, Vox, Line6, etc. - but they were 2 to 3 times the price, and had a lot of stuff I just don't need. (I play in a band covering 80's hard rock/metal, pretty straightforward stuff) I only need a few delays, some 'verbs, some flanger, and the occasional special effect - and I didn't want to go pay $100 per 'box for each sound I wanted, only to tap-dance on 'em all night instead of playing. If that's what you're after, this'll do it, and more. (note: the price I paid was a sale price, not the usual retail, which I think is around $200)