Gear Question / recommendations?

[JiMoSiTY]

OK, in my constant goal for more gear, I've got a new setup. I now own a Boogie Quad Preamp, 50/50 power amp and a Rane PEQ.

Here's my dilemma. I use very little effects, but the ones I do use, they are required for some of the tunes that we play. The only effects I really use are delay, chorus and tremolo. Other than those, I don't really use any other effects and those are used sparingly. I'd like to be able to use these effects with my rack setup here, but I'm not sure what's the right piece of gear for the job. I'm sure most people will blindly say a G-Major, which may be what I eventually get, but I'd like to hear other recommendations.
So there's my first question, what kind of effects unit can you recommend for my situation?
Here's the catch, I'd like to be able to control my Quad and the effects unit with one foot controller instead of using the FU-2 controller for the Quad and another foot controller for the FX unit. Would a midi switching system be the best way to do this or is there another method that may be cheaper and easier?

Thanks guys.

[JiMoSiTY]

Re: Gear Question / recommendations?

The Quad does have a proprietary foot controller, but it also accepts 1/4" external switching units, like from a Midi switcher.
For those effects now, I have a Line6 Flextone HD head that has all the FX in it that I need. Thus, can't use the fx from there.
I do have a Boss GT-6 that would work with this, but I'd prefer to do it using other rack gear and then using a midi footcontroller. I assume since I have 1/4" switching capabilities on the back of the Quad, a Midi switcher is probably my only alternative other than using my GT-6. I don't mind buying other gear which I'd rather have in the rack and then one midi foot controller than to lug around the GT-6 and all the odd cabling and crap that goes along with it.

[rstites]

Re: Gear Question / recommendations?

OK. You have some choices on gear to do your switching via midi then. The cheapest alternative (and a pretty good one) is to get a used Rockman Midi Octopus. Those will allow you to switch up to 8 things at once, they're easy to use, and only take up one rack space. Axess Electronics has a device that will switch up to 4 things at once. It's probably a bit tougher than the old Rockman, but will cost more and will require more programming at the controller. The Digital Music Corp. GCX will do this also and would also offer you the ability to put some devices in isolated loops to switch them in/out of the signal path. (For example you could find individual units to do your chorus, tremelo, delay, reverb, etc. and put each one in a loop so it doesn't screw up your tone when bypassed.) This will run the most money and will require the most programming. If you go with it, it's probably worth it to go with the Ground Control midi controller for everything since it's designed to work together. The only reason I'd really think of going to the loop switcher here is that you don't use effects much, and it'd be nice to not have them mucking up the tone when switched out. I did things that way in my rack since I ran dry 90% of the time.

Otherwise, I liked the Rocktron Midi Mate for a very versatile qualiy Midi Controller. The Behringer FB1010 (??? - not positive on the number) offers a lot of power and seems fairly well built at only $130, or so, new.

If you already like the Line6 effects, you should check out the Line6 Pro Modelers. I've heard very good things about them, and they're currently going very cheap new. The only problem is that you'd need both the delay and modulation modeler for what you want.

Ross

[rodrigo_echeverri]

Re: Gear Question / recommendations?

ross is always right... listen to him... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

All I can say is it sounds to me like the G-major would be way overkill for your application. I could think of 1000 better things to do with the money.

The replifex might be a pretty decent choice for you... it does have switching for one channel so if you get it you will be able to experiment a bittle bit with that before going into any of the bigger switching units.

[ May 15, 2003, 01:56 PM: Message edited by: rodrigo_echeverri ]

[rstites]

Re: Gear Question / recommendations?

I don't know about always being right, but I do try not to bs on something I don't have experience with, or at least be straight up about it.

What does a Replifex run 2nd hand? That may well be a good alternative to the G Major if it covers most of the same sounds. I've never tried one myself. The switching option is a cool thing. I didn't know the Replifex has it. The G Major does that too, but actually offers two controllers, and the Behringer midi controller I mentioned also offers two controllers. (The negative of them is that you have to run cables all the way from the pedal to the amp.) Depending on how many you need for the Quad preamp, you could be able to get by with doing all of your channel switching via a combination of these and completely skip the midi switcher I mentioned above. It's definitely something to think about. We need a little smiley face with a light bulb over it's head! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

However, I don't know about the G Major being overkill. That's very dependent on budget. There are guys out there running high end rigs with a TC2290 set up for a single sound or two. All of the things I've heard of that I'm recommending to check out as lower priced alternatives are much cheaper than the G Major. If you can budget $500 for an effects processor, it's hard to go wrong with the G Major. If you can't, then the good thing is there are some pretty good alternatives out there.

[BigDaddyD]

Re: Gear Question / recommendations?

Get an original Rocktron Intellifex for $150 used. It has the best delays and chorus. I would imagine it does trem, but if not for that price buy a quality trem like a Demeter, Fulltone, Diaz...total cost $250-$300

[rodrigo_echeverri]

Re: Gear Question / recommendations?

The source for all price research is prepal... take a look at the average ebay prices for the Rocktron units here:

Prepal Rocktron

[skidd]

Re: Gear Question / recommendations?

I have the GCX with the foot pedal, works great and is easy to use.It can switch everything for you.You could use footpedals, rack stuff etc.You might even try old boss pedals, you can get em cheap and just put in the loops of the gcx.

[rstites]

Re: Gear Question / recommendations?

Isn't the footcontroller for the Quad a proprietary one? If so, you may be out of luck on using the same controller. If you can control it with a set of standard latching switches (via 1/4" jacks) I can offer some alternatives that run off a midi controller. A midi switching system is your only alternative to switch everything together.

What do use for those effects now? If you use them sparingly and have a good set of pedals (or whatever) to cover it, maybe you should try to incorporate those in the new rig. The G Major would probably be a good contender. We've talked about it vs. the Intellifex around here several times lately and the Intellifex is a good alternative if you're on a tight budget. However, it doesn't have tremelo, so wouldn't work for you.

Ross