Ground control and 2 gcx switchers

Q & A for building and interfacing your rack gear with Ground Control Pro and GCX-based systems.
Post Reply
tonebully
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 11:54 pm

Ground control and 2 gcx switchers

Post by tonebully »

I have 2 gcx units.
gcx 1 has
1. td1 boost
2. fuzzface
3. westbury tube boost
4.flanger
5, mxr 1500 delay
6. mxr 1000 ms delay
7.ultravibe
8.octavian

gcx #2 would have
1. transfex pro head #1
2. transfex pro head #2
3. transfex pro head #3
4. 2 pre amps y corded <4 different tube amps behind these in stereo pairs.>
5. twin y corded to dry and reverb ab too plexi
6, ?
7. supervibe
8. leslie sim

Ok I have all 3 amps working 1234 slots across bottom of ground control.
I got no sound at all until I plugged my guitar signal into the second gcx
When I plugged into that guitar in all the sudden all the amps
made sound.

Ok now when I step on any efx which are all on gcx 1
they light up so the ground control is working them on and off
but I get no efx sound on the amps which are on.

I get the internal amp efx of course but if I step on
any efx on gcx 1 no sound.

That tells me I think something is bad on gcx 1.
I cant get any guitar signal through that
When I plug into gcx 1 from guitar.

NO efx sound at all from any of the 8 efx
comes on or through the amps when selected.

What is the culprit could it be I dont have the
two gcx units jumped 1/4 jack wise ?
midi is the only cables connecting the two
do I need to patch the gcx units together
via 1/4 jack plug to make them feed through
so that I can hear efx 1-8 ?

I get red lights on every gcx and on each efx and or amp
but no efx sound coming from gcx 1 at all.

should I be plugged into gcx 1 or 2 from the guitar
also I noted if i ran guitar into wah into pedal one of
ground control and out of pedal two into gcx guitar in
I got no sound.

Is there internal switches on pedal 1 and 2 jack
to turn on as well or to feed through the ground control unit
so I can plug pedal board toys in through that to the gcx guitar in ?

I am real close now just cant get efx sound off gcx 1.

Wondering if i got the order wrong on where guitar should be plugged in I thought it went into the first gcx through second gcx.

any suggestions ?
do i need to patch gcx 1 and 2 by guitar cable as well midi ?
do both units need guitar through to in jack cables ?

If you wish you can reply to macster6@mac.com
thanks much for any help.

I think I am very close now.

JohnClark
Posts: 7494
Joined: Tue May 05, 2009 2:33 pm
Location: The Lab

Re: Ground control and 2 gcx switchers

Post by JohnClark »

It would appear that the main problem here is that you are not completing the 1/4" connections. The Out of the last loop on GCX#1 has to go to GCX#2 in order to complete the signal path. MIDI does not carry any audio. The expression pedal ports are for MIDI control only, no audio connections should not be made to these jacks. Your guitar should connect to whatever effects you are keeping out on the floor, then to the Guitar In on GCX#1. Let us know if that helps.
------------------====Cheers!====------------------
Image
---------==Voodoo Lab Magician & Tech==---------

tonebully
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 11:54 pm

Re: Ground control and 2 gcx switchers

Post by tonebully »

John thanks My son and I are working on this.
He is helping me in photo shop.

I will send diagrams with colors.
red are the jumper wires.
yellow are wires I think I need
to be using to complete the audio signal path.

You mentioned I dont have out after 8 from gcx 1
heading back into in of gcx 2.
If I put that from past 8 over to in on gcx 2,
then do I also need to take the last out of gcx 2
and complete that somewhere ?
say feed through of gcx 1 ?

Perhaps That will allow my signal through
Pardon me John I was mislead by a third party
trying to help walk me through this
he thought midi was all I needed to hook
more than one gcx up.

I had indeed asked hey do I need patch cords
from out gcx 1 to in gcx 2 ?
he said no midi handled that.

Something did not sound right about that then
and I was right on my assumption as I DO NEED
to finish the 1/4 path.

My question is after I run out of amps and efx on gcx 2
do I then take the out past 8 there and take it too
gcx 1 feed through ?

also from gcx 1 going into efx do I jumper from guitar out to in
or from feed through to in then through channel 1 jump to 2
same thing again then jump to 3....
Then take out to in of second gcx and continue those jumpers
till I am full on second Gcx and then do I as well
take one last out back to Gcx 1 ?

If that is the case I will redo that
The internal mess I have is another story,

Perhaps I dont see lights on gcx 2 with the amps
as I only have 4 in right now and not the full 8 spaces
taken and that last out back to complete the audio path ?

Because before it was indeed turning each amp on
and even remembering which efx I wanted to come on
with that amp.

I even named and saved amp names and then
the efx I wanted on each time I hit those amps.

That is still saved tonight as I had reset to start all over.

BUT I STILL GET NO ON OFF LIGHTS FROM GCX 2 NOR
SOUND OR EFX OUT.

At this point I cant remember if I come from guitar through to in
on gcx 1 or feed through to in.
also do I do that on both units with jumpers
or do I need that feed through for the last out ?

I think if we can get audio coming back out of all 4 amps
and then the efx and then figure why on earth the lights
on gcx 2 dont light up at all when I select 1-4 then
I will be an expert at this by then.

Because I have figured the rest out so far
I just think ive goofed some setting inside up.

something to do with loops
gcx 1 loop 1
gcx 1 loop 2

those settings are the only thing I can think of
keeping the gcx 2 lights off.
Because thats when things went south on all of it
I was trying to find where I set devices for midi
and then see which gcx was enabled which both were on.
after doing that I could not figure why one gcx lit up fine
and the second did not.

power is on both.
they both scroll when powered on
just no on off lights on gcx 2.

Before this tonight
gcx 1 would not turn on off each button from 1-8.

I had to reset it all and start over to get that happening again
and still no sound but thats most likely from
no out back to in on second gcx.
I have that now.

Im wondering where
the out from gcx 2 should go too ?
also does gcx 1 have a jumper from
guitar out to in or feed through to in ?

The midi might be the problem on second gcx lights
Ill test the cables.

They control the lights anyway so perhaps its that.
I am only slightly insane from this.
:shock:

Post Reply