HELP!!! On RG-16 Mark III and Roadster

[TFridgen]

Hey guys, please bear with me, I'm about to pickup an rg-16 and want to know if my intended setup is plausible so, here goes;

I have 2 amps - Mesa Mark III, Mesa Roadster all I need to control on these amps is the channel switching so I'll be getting a 1x4 trs to 8-pin DIN for Mark and a Roadster interface cable with only 4 channels active and reverb active. 2 of the loops on the rg-16 I will use to function as a switcher to run the heads seperately or together.

Now this is where it starts getting tricky for me.

I have a stereo delay, an eventide pitchfactor, an ISP decimator prorack g stereo, stereo phrase sampler, bbe sonic stomp that will run in the effects loops of the amps.

For the Left side(Roadster side) I want: L Decimator(always on) L Delay -> L Pitchfactor -> L phrase sampler(always on) -> sonic stomp(always on) everything being in the Roadster's loop but the delay and pitchfactor need to be switchable.

For the Right side(Mark III side) I want: R Decimator(always on) -> R Delay -> R Pitchfactor -> R phrase sampler(always on) everything being in the Mark's loop but with the delay and pitchfactor being switchable.

On top of this I would like to run an OCD and an autowah up front.

Is this possible???? PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Hey!

Possible, but it all comes down to how creative you can get with the wiring

And just an FYI...I have a brand new 1x4 TRS to DIN Cable from RJM...never used it in the rig, so I'm looking to sell it. PM me if you want it!

The biggest problem you're going to run into is ground loops...obviously depends on the specific unit and the amps, but I can tell you that you'll need an Ebtech Hum X atleast, only because you are running both amps together, and the RG-16 has no iso-transformer anywhere. If the Pro-rack is one of the more recent ones with the ground lift, that will make your life easier too. You'll probably need some iso transformers, or something like an Ebtech multi-channel hum eliminator.

For the pedals up front, you'll run them in the beginning loops, and split the amps as shown here:

http://www.rjmmusic.com/wiring/RG-16/RG-16_4Pedals_2Amps.pdf

Now, on to the things in the effects loops. This is where it gets a little more difficult.

For that things that are always on, there is no need for loops, so just go directly from your effects loop into the Pro Rack and Phase sampler.

Out of the phase sampler, you'll run into one of the loops (the later ones, that have in, out, send, and return. Loop the pitchfactor in one send/return of a loop, and sonic stomp in the send/return of another loop. Chain the two loops from out to in. The out of the last loop will go back into the return of the amp.

The only problem becomes the number of loops. It looks like you'll be one short IF you want to run the pitchfactor stereo.

Loop 1: OCD
Loop 2: Autowah
Loop 3: - (these loops are left open for another pedals you may want to use up front...you can't use the loop in here, as these
Loop 4: - loops are automatically chained in series)
Loop 5: Amp 1
Loop 6: Amp 2
Loop 7: Pitchfactor Amp 1
Loop 8: BBE Amp 1
!!!Loop 9: Pitchfactor Amp 2

What I would recommend is run your rig Wet/Dry....put the pitchfactor and delay on ONE amp only....that way, you ways have a dry signal, and can mix in the wet on the other amp to taste. In my experience, this is a much better setup than stereo, and REALLY helps to preserve your tone. You have enough loops for this setup (just 1 through 8, as above).

If you're dead set on stereo operation, you'll need more loops. You could do this with an RG-16, and a Voodoo Labs GCX (this is a cool route since the 8 FULL loops on the GCX give you more routing options in the future.

OR,

You could get two separate mini amp gizmos from RJM (to control both amps), and a GCX for loops....If you hunt used on the GCX, this is actually barely more expensive than a new RG-16, and gives you THE MOST options for wiring.

Best of luck, and PM me if you have any more questions, or need help with the process!

Eric

 

[TFridgen]

Awesome man, thank you! Your post helped me pull the trigger. I think I'm good for cables as of now, but I'll let you know!

 

[joe web]

RG-16, two Mesa Amps, stereo effects, upfront effects.....sound like my setup, but with other components.

but as Eric said, you will run out off loops.
my suggestion would be the effectgizmo which has 4 stereo loops plus an amp gizmo
from the amp gizmo you could wire one amp via normal 1/4" TRS cabels (mono should work also) and the second amp via the special cable (DIN jack)....so i you go with one roadster cable switching cable and for the mark channels i would you the normal patch cables for switching.

for all effects i would use the effect gizmo and you could wire everything into separate loops for bypassing.

you will need some isolation transformators - two amps and stereo effects cause ground loops.

(this is for the RG-16 as well as for the effect gizmo)
for splitting your signal in front of the amps i would recommend you the lehle p-split II (one output isolated).

so setup the buffer in front of it all (maybe you´ll have to isolate the buffer output with an ebtech as well), after that hook up the effects you want before the inputs, let there be a few loops space for later expansions. after that run the signal into the Lehle for splitting the signal to the amp inputs.

wire the other effects like Eric wrote above....

this is a diagram how i wire my setup:
(but now i changed things to do a parallel plus a/b setup as well - which is very different and i don´t did a new diagram until now)

(two iso boxes are missing! the buffer out and the dual recto return are isolated as well.)