was on the boss site to figure out how to hook up my gt8 to the roadster ,read the 4 cable thread ,just amazing what people think of!!! my amp is rockin !!!! thanks !!!! the best sound ive had in 20 years!!!!!!! love the 3 day old boogie ,hope she last a lifetime!!!!! ps it took about 3 hours only to start to Finnish ,to get a very good play out set up ,it was intimidating at first but just read it a few times and i got it... the amp sound is not being compromised by the gt ,have full control of the amp ,the gt is just basically being used to add some color and depth with some delay and chorus until i figure out more ,only had it 3 days.
4 cable method boss gt8 w/roadster head... amazing!!!!
- Thread starter ccwhiskey
- Start date
Help Support The Boogie Board:
So, you paid $2000 for one of the greatest tube amps ever made just so you could bypass it's preamp to run a $200 multi effects pedal. If you going to do that, I'd use a Mesa 50/50 rack mount tube amp instead...it would have saved you money and be less weight to haul around. I owned a GT-6 and a GT-8 both for several years and yes, I agree that they are very good pedals. Also, the four cable method is the best way to run them. However, jumping from a 100 watt solid state amp to Dual Rectifier with the GT-8 IMO there wasn't a whole lot of sound improvement...even with the 4 cable method. My opinion is to try finding you sound in the amp not the GT-8.
No, when you use the four cable method you are totally bypassing everything except the power amp. The only knob that has any control over anything is the volume. Everything else is comletely bypassed. I'm not trying to be critical of him...I'm just saying you can get the exact same sound by just using a good straight forward power amp...like the Mesa 50/50.
Also, as far as effects and amp modeling goes...I don't know about the Roadster, but if its anything like the Dual Rectifier then they are totally unuseable in the effects loop. The Dual uses a parallel effects loop which is totally incompatible with the GT-8 or POD live or any floorboard multi effects board out there...at least to my knowledge. The only way to get them to work in the effects loop is to mod it to a series loop. And, IMO putting them in front of the amp and trying to mix them in with the amps natural distortions and reverbs is a mess and to me don't sound very well. The 4 cable method is the only way to go if your using the GT-8...but, I sticking with my original position. The 4 cable GT-8 is good, but the best sound is in the amp. My advice, do what I did...sell the GT-8, get a MXR 10 band eq, a ISP decimator, check your local pawn shops for a good delay pedal and tuner pedal. Run the Decimator and tuner in front...the EQ and delay in the loop. You'll forget all about the GT-8.
plapnab said:
The Roadster has a series loop. I'm not 100% positive on the 4 cable method, but there are several users on this board who use the 4cm with a GT8 and use it JUST for effects. You might have to put the preamp of the amp in the GT8 effects loop? I've never given it much thought because I don't own one, and I don't really use any effects, but I'm positive it can be done. Also: wasn't attempting to come off as harsh :lol: My bad.
plapnab said:
This is incorrect. The 4 cable method runs some effects before the pre amp & others after the preamp. Thus the need for 4 cables. You can assign what effects you want to go where. But he is using the mesa pre & power amp. You can use the GT-8's preamps for certain patches if you want though, while other patches use your amps pre amp. I run a GT-8 4cm with a single rectifier strictly for the effects(& para eq's) & agree with the OP that it is amazing! Since my amp is 2 channels, the GT-8 also switches between them as I see fit. The effects sound quality isn't the best but for live gigs its versatility can't be beat. It will almost do anything you want it to.
I use a boss gt10 with my 3 channel dual rec. I use the 4 cable method. I use the boss ONLY for effects. I use the mesa for ALL the preamp and power amp tone. The flexibility is amazing. I can put the effects anywhere in the signal chain. OD, boost, comp, wah, modulation, etc before the mesa preamp...and delay, reverb, eq, noise supressor, etc after the preamp. I will agree that you really MUST use a series loop to take advantage of the best tone, but it will work will parallel. But if the OP has a series loop, he should be fine. I however, need to do the loop mod for my dual rec. I also use an RJM amp gizmo to handle all the channel changing and solo switching from my gt10. It works awesomely!
MusicManJP6
Well-known member
I used to be a GT-8 4CM user as well. It's an awesome setup! Using the 4M, the preamps on the GT are turned off (bypassed) so you are routing your Mesa's glorious preamp through the GT-8 instead (via the GT's external loop). The editable FX chain lets you place your preamp anywhere in the signal chain so all the effects are where they should be (delay after the preamp, chorus and OD before, etc). I used the GT-8 for effects and to change my amp channels for three different amps. Serial FX loop is a must.
I only sold the GT because my Mark V is a 3 channel amp, and the loop is very sensitive. I noticed some tone suckage (never noticed it before) and realized I only used delay from the GT. So, I sold the GT-8 and bought a TC Nova Delay. Much more transparent with the Mark V's loop. The V's footswitch is awesome as well, so I just do all the switching from there now.
I only sold the GT because my Mark V is a 3 channel amp, and the loop is very sensitive. I noticed some tone suckage (never noticed it before) and realized I only used delay from the GT. So, I sold the GT-8 and bought a TC Nova Delay. Much more transparent with the Mark V's loop. The V's footswitch is awesome as well, so I just do all the switching from there now.
MusicManJP6
Well-known member
plapnab said:
You just added a new wrinkle to your brain!
I used to have the same view about MFX units and nice amps until I added this wrinkle to my brain. I then became very curious. Once I tried the 4CM I was a believer!yes i do have control over all the eq nobs on the amp ,the pre amp on the gt is shut off yes, i have a killer amp sound ,alot like dream theaters guitar sound . basically till i figure out more patches im just using the first 4 ,leveled all the volumes to the roadster ,then cleared#1 patch on the gt then set it clean with no effects then copied it to the other three ,went back to 2 added some chorus and atiny bit delay ,went to three added just delay 440 is the setting then 4 is a heavy delay about 540 or so for leads thats it no eq or any thing else is being used on the pedal ,set my amp with 1 and 2 as clean and 3 with a nice zakk wylde grind and 4 like a heavy sevendust or new metal sound ,very chunk chunk ,set my solo patch a bit louder , adjusted the main volume nob, made sure all 4 channels match volume when being switched back and forth . i have control of everything . wasn't sure what to set the loop volume on the gt so i set it at 100 its about half way .the amp rocks and when i was dialing it in all the nobs had function pres,bass treble everything. still will be tweaking it more im sure ,but only had it 3 days and already is the best amp sound i ever had!!!!
Ok, I'm respectfully going back to my original assertion that the 4 cable method bypasses the preamp. Possibly there is a different way of hooking this up or maybe the Roadster is different to the Dual Rec (or any other amp I have used for that matter). But, in all my experiences in doing this the only knob on the amp that is active is the volume...everything else is null thus the entire preamp is bypassed. Please take a look at the following link and pay specific attention to 3:50 sec. Just let me say I am glad you all are having success running it this way...however, something must be different from what I have experienced in doing so. Please look at the link and tell me what I"m missing. Thanks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Nil4bgJOw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Nil4bgJOw&feature=related
jakeleigh
Well-known member
The whole point of using the 4 cable method IS TO USE YOUR OWN PRE AMP (roadster or whatever) and not the on board pre amp models. This lets us place the effects where we think usually sounds best. Why would you ever use 4 cables if you were going to bypass the preamp on your amp? It'd just be guitar-cable-processor-cable-power amp. plapnab, you dont seem to understand the actual point of the 4cm. It doesn't matter if its a dual, roadster, triple whatever, its not a unique thing to be able to use the amps pre amp. If it has a loop, hopefuly a series one then the 4 cable method usually works.
jakeleigh said:
Did you even look at the video? Specifically 3 min and 50 sec into it? If you did, you'd clearly see that this person specifically points out that the preamp is bypassed and the only working knob on the front to the amp is the master volume. He even goes on to turn all the other knobs on his amp to zero to emphasize his point.
His gt 8 is not set up correctly. He is using the pre amps from the GT 8. At the 5:05 mark he switches from clean to distortion by pressing a switch on the Gt 8. I think the external loop on the gt 8 is set to off.
If you are thinking of going 4cm don't mind that youtube guy. He is wrong.
If you are thinking of going 4cm don't mind that youtube guy. He is wrong.
ltd2recto said:
Got it! And, this is how I was running mine whenever I'd do the 4cm. That was my original intent when I bought my Dual Rectifier was to use the effects in my GT-8. Specifically through the effects loop. However, when I found out it was incompatible with a parallel effects loop I went to the 4cm. I must have had mine set to the same settings as his. And, based on everyones feedback there clearly is a way to use it with the amps preamp. I do regret that I didn't know this at the time...however, I am glad that I went with my current setup as such. Specifically, the reverb and noise gate I'm using are IMO better than the GT-8's. My favorite part about the GT-8 was the amp mods which of course aren't really usable if your using the amp's distortion. Thank you for clearing this up and putting that new wrinkle back in my brain. Might just get on Ebay and buy one again just to compair...cheers!
well im glad thats settled,lol!! i used my set up last night for the first time with the band ,everything worked perfect and acording to plan. all the switching went smooth ,tone is amazing !!! only used the 2x12 cabinet and it had plenty of balls.... cant wait to get a 4x12 ..........
Similar threads
