Need advise - Mark IV ch. swithing with FCB-1010 & G-Maj

[highroller]

******* CAUTION, I'M ONLY SEEKING ADVISE HERE, I NEVER USED THIS SETUP SO I DON'T KNOW IF IT CAN CAUSE ANY HARM TO THE SWITCHING CIRCUIT OF THE MARK IV ***************

I'm wondering if this configuration may be used to switch the 3 channels of the Mark IV using the FCB-1010 and G-Major without the Axxess box :

Connections (Mark IV external switching):
1) G-major switch mono 1 (Y cable stereo-to-mono) -> Mark IV R1
2) G-major switch mono 2 (Y cable stereo-to-mono) -> Mark IV R2
3) FCB-1010 switch 1 -> connected to Mark IV Lead

A preset of Midi command change (CC) in the FCB-1010 will set all switch to a known state so only one switch will be ON at a time,

e.g: to select LEAD :
FCB-1010 CC select Mark IV lead [ON]
FCB-1010 CC via G-MAJOR select R1 [OFF]
FCB-1010 CC via G-MAJOR select R2 [OFF]

to select R1 :
FCB-1010 CC select Mark IV lead [OFF]
FCB-1010 CC via G-MAJOR select R1 [ON]
FCB-1010 CC via G-MAJOR select R2 [OFF]

etc...

FCB-1010 switch 2 may be used to other purpose, eg: EQ.

I don't know if the type of relays used on the FCB-1010 and G-MAJOR are compatible with the Mark IV.

Any comments ?

Thanks

 

[highroller]

Forgot to mention that FCB-1010 is used as a midi controller for the G-MAJOR.

 

[tim6string]

I have used this configuration before and was not happy with the results, there was a pop when changing channels.

Not sure if we have ever gotten a direct response on this, but the rumour is this is not a recommended approach (I believe because of shared grounds) I now use an Axess CFX4, it works really well and I have had no issues. Much more straight forward setup as well.

Also, not sure of your experiences, but my G-Major seems to respond slowly to MIDI messages which meant my channels did not change as fast as I would have liked. I do not have that problem with the Axess switcher.

 

[highroller]

Here what I found on the TC Electronic support page :

Channel switching with newer MESA BOOGIE amps

Question
What kind of cable should I use to connect the G-Major / G-System with my Mesa Boogie Amp in order to switch its channels.


Answer
This answer is valid for all these models: Dual and Triple Rectifier, Rectoverb, Lone Star and Lone Star Special, Solo 50, Roadking.

According to Mesa Boogie Tech dept, these units require an isolated ground connection for each of the rear panel 1/4" external switching inputs.Since Y-Split cables are sharing the ground, they cannot be used from the G-System or G-Major (which output connection is TRS) because they could cause damage to the amp switching network.

You can still use mono cables from the GMajor / G-System to any of this amp. This will obviously divide by 2 the switching possibilities since only 1 relay per output can be used.

An other solution is to use a switching device such as AXESS ELECTRONIC CFX4 or MIDI SOLUTION R8 in combination with the G-System.

The Mark series (Mark 2,3 & 4, Quad, Studio Preamp, formula Preamp, V-Twin rack Preamp) can be used with Y-Split cables.

 

[Antoine]

The MarkIV can't be switched with only a Y cable and a G-Major !

 

[tim6string]

Just to be clear, I would be very interested in the final answer because I have been involved with the GMajor and the FCB1010.

You can switch 2 channels with the GMajor and the Y cable on the Mark IV and switch the 3rd with the FCB1010. It appears from the best answer I have seen in the earlier post that it would be best to change 2 channels with the FCB1010 and 1 with the GMajor. While this is techincally possible to do, I am still not convinced it is completly safe. At best you run the real possiblity of having 2 channels active at the same time. I am certain the FCB1010 will change the channels faster than the GMajor causing more than one channel to be active for a short time. If that is unsafe then you will have problems, but at a minimum it will cause volume problems when switching channels.

Boogie has been recommending the Rolls stuff for awhile and it was nice to see the nod to Mario and Axess, the stuff is great and the service is great. My advice would be to get one of those products. Rolls use to have a multi (8 port?) latching thing that I was originally refered to by Boogie. It was a low end midi matrix thing. (I cannot find it on their web site)

Maybe someone could shed some light on damage in the mark series of having 2 channels active or the deeper electronic reasons this is not a good setup.

TCs support site hasn't always provided acurate info, so while the Y cord may actually work for the Mark series, it still may not be safe.

Just trying to differentiate between what can be done and what should be done. Hope this helps some