2 Amps, 2 Cabs in Stereo and NEED ONE BOARD FOR ALL

[Adambomb]

Ok so I've ran two heads in stereo before just for fun at the house but now I'm want to try my setup live and need a board that switches midi, and channels, loops on and off, the works. Ground Control Pro?

The old setup I played around with was two heads running through a Mesa 4x12 and didn't really like the sound. My main gigging rig has been a Mesa Mark V and 4x12 with TC GMajor in the loop and love it. A few weeks ago I got a Mini Rectifier and Mesa 2x12 cab and that alone sounds killer too. Well now (just for fun) I've been running the Mini Rec through the 2x12 and the Mark V through the 4x12 and sending my guitar cable to a Boss TU2 tuner and splitting the signal from there to both amps. Have the V through the 4x12 wet with GMajor in the loop and controlling the effects with a cheap FCB 1010 Midi switcher and running the Mini to the 2x12 dry. This setup sounds so amazing to me clean and dirty. I know I can switch channels with the GMajors relays like I did with my old Dual Rec but heard it was bad on the amps switching matrix.

So I'm looking for some suggestions about having one single board for all this to switch channels on Mini and MarkV and same time, and possibly running the GMajor through the Mini too. Would a Ground Control Pro do all this? Would it maybe be best to get a G System? I love TC effects and I'm trying to get a true wet and dry stereo setup going with just one board to switch all channels and effects. If a Ground Control would eliminate my midi board, MKV footswitch and Mini Rec footswitch I might just go that route.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks

This is what I'm dealing with on the floor...

And this is my setup.....

 

[joe web]

the FCB1010 is a great midi-controller as long as you run the upgraded UnO EPROM with it.
you can config 5 stompboxes on the top row and 5 presets on the front row.
while you are talking about controlling everything via midi, this would be the cheapest way to go the step further.
for the rack unit, you can use a RJM RG-16 or the newer Rack Gizmo (8 function switches plus 8 loops), the RJMs can control both amps from one unit.
just a matter of setting it up, and which function should be controlled "on the fly" from the midi-controller.

i used the FCB1010 for 5 years with the UnO EPROM until i upgraded it to the rocktron all access.
for amp switching and looping my pedals, i trust on the RG-16 which works great and sounds awesome.
from the rocktron i control 7 loops of the RG-16, soloboost function, tap-tempo on the g-major and the mod4 on the g-major.
the expressionpedal 1 does things like whammy, delay mix, rotary and so on, the second pedal controls the volume of the rack.

i never controlled the channels from the midi-controller, just programmed it into the rack-unit as a fixed preset.

btw. you can set the rocktron to:
a) 15 presets
b) 10 presets + 5 instant access
c) 5 presets + 10 instant access (this is the way i´m using it)
b) 15 instant access

the GCP has a max. of 4 presets plus 8 instant access
the GCX is a cool unit, but you´ll have to use audio-loops to switch the amp.
with the RJMs, you have both 8 audio loops and 8 switches.

 

[Adambomb]

the FCB1010 is a great midi-controller as long as you run the upgraded UnO EPROM with it.
you can config 5 stompboxes on the top row and 5 presets on the front row.
while you are talking about controlling everything via midi, this would be the cheapest way to go the step further.
for the rack unit, you can use a RJM RG-16 or the newer Rack Gizmo (8 function switches plus 8 loops), the RJMs can control both amps from one unit.
just a matter of setting it up, and which function should be controlled "on the fly" from the midi-controller.

i used the FCB1010 for 5 years with the UnO EPROM until i upgraded it to the rocktron all access.
for amp switching and looping my pedals, i trust on the RG-16 which works great and sounds awesome.
from the rocktron i control 7 loops of the RG-16, soloboost function, tap-tempo on the g-major and the mod4 on the g-major.
the expressionpedal 1 does things like whammy, delay mix, rotary and so on, the second pedal controls the volume of the rack.

i never controlled the channels from the midi-controller, just programmed it into the rack-unit as a fixed preset.

btw. you can set the rocktron to:
a) 15 presets
b) 10 presets + 5 instant access
c) 5 presets + 10 instant access (this is the way i´m using it)
b) 15 instant access

the GCP has a max. of 4 presets plus 8 instant access
the GCX is a cool unit, but you´ll have to use audio-loops to switch the amp.
with the RJMs, you have both 8 audio loops and 8 switches.

Yea the way toy had your 1010 setup WAS the way I had my Dual with GMajor setup... Switching patched and changed channels at same time. But switch channels with the FCB istn good on the Mesa switching relay matrix cause their supposed to be isolated.

Yea I looked at the Rocktron too. I just gotta decide man, if I really wanna stick with rack effects or move back to pedals. I've always liked the ease of pedals better and being able to control them and switch both amp channels at once is what I'm going for.

I'm also looking for EASY programming. The FCB was a task to program but finally got it. But I need something that can do more as far as switching options and better build quality. Was the Rocktron easy to program? And you also have the Amp Gizmo in conjunction with the Rocktron? You've been a major help.

 

[joe web]

the rocktron AA is easy to program. every function has his own button and it´s always displayed what each button does.
so if you can handle the FCB1010, you´ll quickly be able to program the AA.
o.k. there are a few detailed features, for which you will use the manual, but overall it´s self-explaining.

i don´t use the Amp Gizmo, i´m using the RG-16s, which is an Amp Gizmo with extra 8 loops for effectpedals, or rack stuff or amp-selection.
the RG-16 has two amp-switching jacks hooked up in parallel. so you can switch two amps at once. you´ll just have to make sure, that the used functions are the same, or you use e.g. switch 7+8 for the mini recto and disconnect the wires for loop 7+8 from the MKV switching cable (if this function is not used)

it´s only a matter of how you built your setup and how you connect and switch everything.
you can contact Ron from RJM to make you a "custom cable" as well. he did one for me in the past.
my problem was to match the channels of the 3 channel dual recto to the 4 channel roadster head. so i ordered a cable which switches on button 1 and button 2 to the clean channel of the dual recto, on button 3 to the red channel and on button 4 to the orange channel.
the amps had been setup like this: dual recto channel 1 - clean, channel 2 modern and channel 3 vintage or raw mode
roadster channel 1 dirty, channel 2 clean, channel 3 vintage and channel 4 modern
the setup was stereo and the poweramps had to be matching each other. that was the reason for that custom cable and it worked fine.

my both rigs are built around a RG-16 looper/functionswitcher, and both are controlled by the Rocktron AA....it gives me nearly everything i need.