Pedalboard advice needed; may swap my Stage for Rack version to retain Boss MS-3, or am I just being nostalgic?

  • Any other MS-3 owners on here? I'm in a deep well of emotion today, as I finally pulled apart my old pedalboard, which I haven't used for 4 months since I have a Kemper Stage now, but agonised over when building and refining it. I'm selling off a bunch of pedals, e.g. some Marshall stuff, a wah, possibly my MXR Carbon Copy and a volume pedal. When it has come to the Boss MS-3 though, I just don't know if I can bring myself to do it yet as it's such a well-executed bit of kit. I have half a mind to swap my Stage with a friend's Rack (something he has offered), then drive the Rack from the MS-3's MIDI output, which is comprehensively programmable, thereby benefitting from a smaller pedalboard than the Stage or Remote would be, while retaining the bits of the MS-3 that I like. For example, I prefer the MS-3's reverbs and delays if I'm honest, and it does a much better impression of a Tube Screamer - I have a real one and can't tell in an A/B, whereas I haven't been able to dial in the Kemper version yet. Has anyone else found the MS-3 is still useful alongside the Kemper?

    Ed / Audio Systems Engineer / Kemper Stage + Fender fan

  • I don't use an MS-3 but the way I look at it, it's redundant to have a multi-effect going through a Kemper. I've always been able to use Kemper alone without the need of any outboard effect and while I am sometimes picky with outboard gear when recording, it's not worth the hassle for live as I need to keep it simple and carry less. Also about the delays as well as the majority other Kemper effects, I'm sure you can get close or better sounds than most outboard gear if you spend enough time tweaking.