Anybody using RJM Mini Amp Gizmo?

[JLBoogie]

Who is using a Mini Amp Gizmo with the Mark V to control by midi foot pedal? Does it control all the Mark V footswitch functions? Tell me the good, bad, and ugly!!

 

[niilz]

I have one and it works great! No problems so far. :mrgreen:

 

[mejoshee]

been looking into getting one myself. i wanted to get the rg-16, but there just are enough effects loops to run a couple effects in stereo on top of having a dedicated loop for acoustic pickup.

the effect gizmo will be much more along my needs with room for effects expansion :twisted: but that means i need an amp controller, which the (mini) amp gizmo fills. i looked into other brands like the gcx, but it seems like right now rjm is the only player w/ mesa interface cables rather than the generic trs/ts 1/4" plugs.

I have one and it works great! No problems so far. :mrgreen:

you don't notice any lag in switching channels? my main desire would be to do something like a clean w/ verb<-->lead w/ eq no verb, etc. i understand how it works, but are there issues between such drastic volume changes done so rapidly? what about weirdness due to verb trailing off bleeding back in for settings w/o any? stupid questions maybe, but my expectation is that it's not an issue at all.

 

[sean106alcon]

I was looking into building an FX rack with G-Major 2 and saw it had "Relay switching". Pardon my noobness but does that mean I can just use the G-Major2 for FX and also use it with a GC pro and switch channels on the Mark V with the external switching jacks? or do I have to go the whole GCX/G-Major2/GC Pro route? Thanks.

 

[niilz]

I have one and it works great! No problems so far. :mrgreen:

you don't notice any lag in switching channels? .

Nope! The RJM works as flawless as the MKV-footswitch does. The Mini Amp Gizmo even reduces some static noise from the relays (it seems to have a better and - maybe? - "not shared" ground...???) when you switch the EQ on/off in comparision to the Mesa footswitch.
As I do not use the built in accutronics reverb, I do not know if it makes problems.

 

[Heritage Softail]

Who is using a Mini Amp Gizmo with the Mark V to control by midi foot pedal? Does it control all the Mark V footswitch functions? Tell me the good, bad, and ugly!!

Dude, just call RJM. I talked to a tech guy (Ron) and he explained everything very well. He did tell me for total control of your amp, you have to cover enough switches to replicate all the ones on your amp footswitch. The MKV has 8. THere is something like 8 loops and 8 switches on the 16 but you can reassign things and do all kinds of crazy stuff, add on units, get special patch cables made (by them). There are many options and they can tell you options that are not listed on the web site or in the standard pubs. It is a considerable investment if you know what I mean.

 

[mejoshee]

Who is using a Mini Amp Gizmo with the Mark V to control by midi foot pedal? Does it control all the Mark V footswitch functions? Tell me the good, bad, and ugly!!

Dude, just call RJM. I talked to a tech guy (Ron) and he explained everything very well. He did tell me for total control of your amp, you have to cover enough switches to replicate all the ones on your amp footswitch. The MKV has 8. THere is something like 8 loops and 8 switches on the 16 but you can reassign things and do all kinds of crazy stuff, add on units, get special patch cables made (by them). There are many options and they can tell you options that are not listed on the web site or in the standard pubs. It is a considerable investment if you know what I mean.

ron is the owner/founder of rjm (ron j menelli). i'm 99% sure you will get a hold of him every time you send an email to rjm.

anyway, yeah, there's a minimum entrance price for equipment: you need the mini amp gizmo and an interface cable. adding to that is the pedal switching/looping (effect gizmo). if you want the all-inclusive package, the rg-16 is it (and it can control 2 amps at once). however, you have less loops and they're all in series.

unfortunately this means if you rout your pedals/processors all in either the front end (bad) or effects loop (better but still not quite there), then you might have ineffective effects. for example, putting od/distortion, wah, phaser, etc. pedals in the front is good. if that's all you have, you can patch the output of the loops from the rg-16 to the front end. but if you want to go with delay, chorus, etc. then you need to put that in the loop (after the preamp). but you have to choose one or the other with this approach.

i talked w/ ron a little bit back a couple months ago and i took a look @ the suggested wiring diagrams on the rjm site. i've pretty strongly decided the best approach for me (especially w/ stereo effects) is to use the effect gizmo in conjunction w/ the (mini) amp gizmo. i get the function control, but then i also get effects switching that is more flexible. it still ends up taking up the same amount of rack space (1u). cause you can put the mini amp gizmo on a tray/shelf. whenever i finally get all this awesome stuff, i'm going to put an updated rig photo (or something).

 

[theroan]

I'm running this exact setup, it works flawlessly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSDZpZmqddo

 

[mejoshee]

so what about a rack setup? idk where to mount/place/hookup the mini stuff. i guess i could just screw it into the back side of my rack, somewhere along the bottom. what do normal people do with them? i know you can rack the regular amp gizmo, but what about all the mini stuff?

 

[theroan]

Mine just sits on top of the amp. If you already have a rack, I guess just buy a shelf insert?

 

[mejoshee]

Mine just sits on top of the amp. If you already have a rack, I guess just buy a shelf insert?

yup, looks like the suggested method by rjm in their forums. does the amp gizmo itself make any noise when switching? i assume no cause they don't use relays. i'd love to take one apart and look at the guts