I Can't Understand ....

[Dror520]

Can some one tell me from the beginning how do I set midi ???

Lets say a have a g-major what stuff do i need to buy to have a midi controller on the floor that switches channels on the amp and switches different effect on the g-major ???

thx ...

 

[ned]

First it depends on what amp you have but I recommend the Axess Electronics CFX4 to switch amp channels. There are a bunch of different midi pedals like the Behringer unit, 2 different Axess Electronics, 2 different Rocktron's and 2 different Ground Control models. Depends on what you want to spend and what features you ultimately want.

A good cheap midi pedal to just change patches is to find an old ADA MC-1.

 

[Dror520]

So you are saying that all I need is the amp switchers and a midi foot controller is that right ?

 

[Spherion]

In essence, all you need is a MIDI foot controller, a 5 or 7-pin MIDI cable, and an effects unit or amp that responds to it.

All MIDI does is transfer a small amount of digital information (like program change numbers) between devices. If your amp, FX, and other devices are MIDI capable, the idea is that you daisy chain all your devices, press ONE button, and everything in your rack changes to a predetermined preset which saves having to pedal dance.

Now, if your amp is NOT MIDI capable (most standards heads aren't but many preamps are), you're going to need a switching system that is MIDI cable to interface with the "dumb" technology of a head and the amp channels thereof. The switcher then mediates between your amp and your MIDI controller and in turn switches the input/output cable jacks of the switcher to turn things on and off according to presets (think "automated patch bay").

If you don't want to go the route of a switcher or MIDI compatible amplifier (can be expensive compared to the free foot controller that comes with most amps) then you're going to have to live with the fact that any effects you have WILL have to be manually switched on and off, so if you want to go into a song that requires both an amp channel change AND a certain effect, you're stomping on at least two buttons with time delay in between. That is, of course, if you're like most of us and only have two legs.

The GCX Audio Switcher will require 1 set of switches PER channel on your amp by using the return jack of each patch. That means that if you wish to switch between SOLO, CH1, CH2, CH3 and FX ON/OFF, then you've already used 5 out of 8 patches of the GCX audio switcher. I personally put all my FX in one patch (loop) and use CH1, CH2, CH3 and SOLO for amp channel switching on my TR.

 

[fbomb]

a Gmajor has 2 relays in it,it will switch amp channels .i use one to switch channels on my Stiletto works great i need no other gear but a midi pedal of course

 

[wildcat133]

Hey guys, I'm a proud new Roadster head owner! I recently ordered a GCX audio switcher to control all the channels via midi (and run a couple of pedals through). I have one question though:

I'm running a Behringer FCB1010 and a G-Major processor. The GCX manual says something about the MIDI-IN jack being powered so use a cable w/out pins 1 & 3 active or something like that. Will this be a problem with my setup? I dont *THINK* the G-Major or FCB transmit anything through pins 1 & 3 but I don't wanna blow my equipment... anyone use this same setup?

 

[Herbie the Rad Dorklift]

Hello all, I'm particularly interested in this also.

If I got a TC G-Major, a MIDI footswitch and all the cables ot connect it all, could I, for example, have my clean on my Mark IV with a bit of chorus and delay from the G-Major then hit the 2nd channel button on the MIDI switch and go to my Lead channel with totally different effects?

If so, could anyone please explain to me, in detail, how it all works? I'm really interested, but pretty ignorant about it all.

Thanks.

 

[joe187]

Guys,

I will make an attempt at explaining. I have a Roadster and a GCX switcher. I also use a Rocktron Xpression in the loop for delays and reverbs. I switch them all using the GCX.

The Roadster has a bank of 1/4" jacks on the back to allow you to connect a switch (A basic on/off toggle) to control any of the following: Channels 1 thru 4, loop, reverb, solo, mute. The GCX Rack unit has 8 channels (the floor pedal has 12, but that is a story for later). I use an 8 channel 1/4" snake betweeen the GCX in my rack and the Roadster to connect channels 1 thru 4, solo,and loop. I don't use the reverb on the Roadster. I use one of the GCX channels to mute my tuner as well. So on the GCX floor controller I have 7 buttons to control on or off of each of these functions. Make sense so far?

Now for each of these channels there is also the capability to send Midi Program Change messages when you hit the button. These tell midi capable devices like the Xpression to change patches. I have the GCX send a change command to the Xpression to change to a slap back reverb on the Xpression when I hit channel 2, which I use for clean rhythm playing. I have it change to a nice full room reverb with some delay when soloing on channel four.

The floor pedal unit has 12 buttons. I use the balance (5 other buttons) to send CC messages. These are Continuous Controller messages (don't be confused by the name, they can be continuous as in a wah pedal, or simply on off) that can turn on or off certain elements of a patch on the Xpression. I turn on or off the Delay, Chorus, Compresor, Pitch Shifter, and Phaser. So within each patch I can get a higher level of control on the XPression and turn off or on certain patch elements.

OK - last thing. One or more of the 8 switching channels on the rack unit could be used for an effects loop for pedals if I choose to use it that way. I could put each pedal in its own loop and control them all individually (up to 8 obviously, provided I didn't use them for amp switching) or I could gang a few pedals together in one or two loops, as would be typical. I don't do this, but it is a common way to use these devices. I use the switcher to control the effects loop on the Roadster, as I said above.

Does this make sense? I know it can seem confusing. It was a scary day when I unpacked the GCX and had to think about all this, but it becomes pretty obvious once you have the stuff in your hands.

Here is a picture of the floor pedal:




HTH

Joe

 

[msi]

Yea, you should be able to use the G-Major to go from one channel to another on the MKIV. But there are some things you need to be aware of. First of all, I'd only suggest using it to switch the channels. The gmajor has a common ground for the two relays it has inside it. The eq jacks are not grounded at the same spot the channel jacks. If you tried to switch a channel and eq using the g-major you could damage the amp. Second, it only has two switching relays so you'll only be able two switch between two channels. So you need to decided which two you wish to switch between.

 

[unconventional]

need to hire somoene to do this **** for me, I can not understand it. I could give a **** about the solo.

All I want is this. Thanks for the help. I'm not mad at you guys, your great, I'm just pissed that I'm going to have to spend a fu***ng thousand dollars to.

1. Switch to clean with chorus
2. have my effects loop with true bypass on my distortion channel.

What is so complicated about this?