i'm curious as to how you guys would handle if faced with my situation.
my current setup is a dual rectifier head and marshall cab (4x12). my board consists of a TU2 tuner, TS9 tubescreamer, BOSS NS2 noise gate in front of the amp. through the FX loop i have a rocktron xpression.
since i have always been someone that just wants a great dirty sound and great clean sound i really don't need alot of pedals to change tones throughout a song (which sometimes i question why i got an xpression in the first place!) and what i'm looking for is to switch with just one switch of a button dirty to clean. i'm currently using the MESA foot controller for the amp switching and Midimate for the effects.
now for the problem: i have to mod the FX loops (around $75) to get the xpression to sound great, which at this moment does not. also, the tubescreamer is a dream come true when it comes to a killer distorted sound but must turn that pedal off when playing clean (thus creating an extra foot stomp).
since money is somewhat of an issue, this is my dilemma before my band starts to do gigs (in about four weeks). after weeks (and months) of planning my "gig rig" and what i need, this is what i came with:
running MIDI housing pedals on pedalboard (to eliminate "tap dancing"):
* axess electronics CFX4 9 (to switch amps $165 + $50 for the dual rectifier custom cable total $215)
* axess electronics GRX4 (for the TS9 to turn on and off when going from clean to distortion. i can also have the noise gate here for true bypass since i don't need it on in my clean channel $250)
* 2 space rack (for my xpression and furman power conditioner $100)
* patch cables (i'm estimating here but around $60 for the george l's)
* mod FX loop for xpression ($75, you'll see later why i put this here)
total: $695
or i can go more of a rack unit route:
* GCX audio switcher (to switch amp and pedals $399)
* rack drawer (can't keep my pedals too far away from the CGX so need to take them from my pedalboard and place them in some rack drawer $100)
* rack space (probably 6 space to make room for the drawer and CGX in addition to the xpression and furman $150)
* patch cables ($60)
* mod FX loop ($75)
total: $785
going MIDI will eliminate the tap dancing, but it's more gear to carry for a show, which is okay, but something to consider.
my drummer suggested something the other night which got me thinking and here is where i ask what would you do in my situation. instead of going MIDI and "rack unit" to elimiate the tap dancing fiasco, he suggested i get a combo amp for my clean sound. so all i would need is a good AB switch ($100). i can route the TS9 and noise gate one way to the MESA and have the xpression running in the FX loop of a combo amp. i can hard bypass the FX loop on the dual rectifier thus no need for a mod. as a matter of fact, i can get rid of the xpression and just run a nice delay and chorus pedal, which is what i really use the xpression in the first place, just for delay and chorusing, so that eliminates a rack space as well (yay!!). however, it would mean carrying an extra amp on stage(boo!), even though it's a combo amp.
so, to finally end my dilemma i ask you what would you do. my drummer already has a fender combo amp (50watts) in the studio (i forget which one actually) but i can probably even get maybe like a line6 flextone III (my old teacher had one and that's all he used on stage, but he plays jazz; i play modern rock ala godsmack). the flextone already has built in effects so i won't need a delay and chorus pedal. instead of spending all that money on MIDI equipment and rack units i can get a nice amp (the flextone is $600), an AB switch and call it a day!
some would say why have an amp like a dual rectifier if you're just using one channel. it's true, hence my dilemma. i'm a tube guy so my distortion has to be pure and would never get a different amp. i've searched long and hard for my distorted tone and found it in the dual rectifier. when it comes to clean i don't mind solid-state or modelling amps but not when it comes to bone-crushing distortion it's tubes all the way.
what would you guys do? i have four weeks before my show. thank you for reading my post.
my current setup is a dual rectifier head and marshall cab (4x12). my board consists of a TU2 tuner, TS9 tubescreamer, BOSS NS2 noise gate in front of the amp. through the FX loop i have a rocktron xpression.
since i have always been someone that just wants a great dirty sound and great clean sound i really don't need alot of pedals to change tones throughout a song (which sometimes i question why i got an xpression in the first place!) and what i'm looking for is to switch with just one switch of a button dirty to clean. i'm currently using the MESA foot controller for the amp switching and Midimate for the effects.
now for the problem: i have to mod the FX loops (around $75) to get the xpression to sound great, which at this moment does not. also, the tubescreamer is a dream come true when it comes to a killer distorted sound but must turn that pedal off when playing clean (thus creating an extra foot stomp).
since money is somewhat of an issue, this is my dilemma before my band starts to do gigs (in about four weeks). after weeks (and months) of planning my "gig rig" and what i need, this is what i came with:
running MIDI housing pedals on pedalboard (to eliminate "tap dancing"):
* axess electronics CFX4 9 (to switch amps $165 + $50 for the dual rectifier custom cable total $215)
* axess electronics GRX4 (for the TS9 to turn on and off when going from clean to distortion. i can also have the noise gate here for true bypass since i don't need it on in my clean channel $250)
* 2 space rack (for my xpression and furman power conditioner $100)
* patch cables (i'm estimating here but around $60 for the george l's)
* mod FX loop for xpression ($75, you'll see later why i put this here)
total: $695
or i can go more of a rack unit route:
* GCX audio switcher (to switch amp and pedals $399)
* rack drawer (can't keep my pedals too far away from the CGX so need to take them from my pedalboard and place them in some rack drawer $100)
* rack space (probably 6 space to make room for the drawer and CGX in addition to the xpression and furman $150)
* patch cables ($60)
* mod FX loop ($75)
total: $785
going MIDI will eliminate the tap dancing, but it's more gear to carry for a show, which is okay, but something to consider.
my drummer suggested something the other night which got me thinking and here is where i ask what would you do in my situation. instead of going MIDI and "rack unit" to elimiate the tap dancing fiasco, he suggested i get a combo amp for my clean sound. so all i would need is a good AB switch ($100). i can route the TS9 and noise gate one way to the MESA and have the xpression running in the FX loop of a combo amp. i can hard bypass the FX loop on the dual rectifier thus no need for a mod. as a matter of fact, i can get rid of the xpression and just run a nice delay and chorus pedal, which is what i really use the xpression in the first place, just for delay and chorusing, so that eliminates a rack space as well (yay!!). however, it would mean carrying an extra amp on stage(boo!), even though it's a combo amp.
so, to finally end my dilemma i ask you what would you do. my drummer already has a fender combo amp (50watts) in the studio (i forget which one actually) but i can probably even get maybe like a line6 flextone III (my old teacher had one and that's all he used on stage, but he plays jazz; i play modern rock ala godsmack). the flextone already has built in effects so i won't need a delay and chorus pedal. instead of spending all that money on MIDI equipment and rack units i can get a nice amp (the flextone is $600), an AB switch and call it a day!
some would say why have an amp like a dual rectifier if you're just using one channel. it's true, hence my dilemma. i'm a tube guy so my distortion has to be pure and would never get a different amp. i've searched long and hard for my distorted tone and found it in the dual rectifier. when it comes to clean i don't mind solid-state or modelling amps but not when it comes to bone-crushing distortion it's tubes all the way.
what would you guys do? i have four weeks before my show. thank you for reading my post.