GC Pro; how would you configure a preset like this?

[xmacvicar]

Hey guys,

Looking for practical information on how you would set up these patches/presets with the GC Pro. I have a 3 channel midi switchable marshall 6100LM and the GC Pro with a G major 2. I am just thinking about loud about patch/preset implementation. I believe I will be configuring this in the 4 patch/8 Instant access switch mode.

The song 2112 by Rush. For whole first part of the song its pretty much just overdriven marshall sounds. Then it hits the part "the meek shall inherit the earth" which is a clean sound with a phaser or flanger or something on it. That being said, these are the two options I see for implementing this on the board.

1. Have 1 patch dedicated to the song 2112 which has modulation blocks on the G Major 2 fitted for that song. Then use the Instant Access switches to turn things off and on; switch to clean channel of marshall with the IA switch then turn the phaser on. The problem with this is that I am tap dancing again like my pedalboard days. I dont want to do this.

2. The other way is to have preset 1 be the 2112 overdriven sounds, then have the clean with phaser as a 2nd preset (includes channel switching and g major switching), then have preset 3 for solos, etc. The problem with this configuration is that I am eating up presets pretty quickly for just 1 song. In a large setlist, this could get complicated.

Anyone have any recommendations or tips on how they would do this?

[JohnClark]

A common way to go is to have a song per bank. But, I would suggest a hybrid approach if you feel you are running out of presets. In the case given for 2112 it seems that three presets is the best way to go, but go ahead and leave the Ground Control Pro in 4 Presets per Bank mode and assign the Instant Access buttons to useful stuff for cases where you have simple changes or for jamming.

I hope that helps!

[nyteowl]

Also, keep in mind it is highly probably you will discover certain presets can do "double duty" and be used in more than one song.

[xmacvicar]

Ok guys, just thinking out loud here - would love your input.

I have come to grips with the idea that using my Marshall footswitch will open up presets for me since I won't have to use Preset 1 for Clean and Preset 2 to change to the crunch channel (etc. etc) Now I can essentially have more presets per bank because i'm relying on the channel switching to be done manually with the footswitch.

However, that is still kinda problematic because it renders something like the GCP not working at its full potential. The idea of me buying a midi rig was to really get that 1 button click change over on the fly. Instead of tap dancing around the pedalboard (which I do now...) I can click a button and BAM have all the work done for me. Using the footswitch kind of takes that element out of all of this....

That being said, I keep going back to a band like Rush and how I would perform those songs with a band using the GCP and G Major 2. Lets say I have a preset that has typical Rush chorus or Flanger on but then the song takes a sudden shift and goes 'clean' so to speak; is there a way to master bypass everything with 1 button click? I am thinking out loud, if not... then I am back to tap dancing again to Turn Off Chorus and Turn Off Flanger (etc)

Can anyone comment on these things? Please help me out

[nyteowl]

Okay, I'm confused. When I do a Google search for a Marshall 6100LM Manual I get directed here. Is this the same amplifier you are using? If not, ignore the rest of this post, but if so, read on.

I found this section on Page 4:

The MIDI section of your Anniversary amplifier is really very simple to use. It allows you to control your amp’s channel switching (1,2 or 3) via MIDI program change messages. The Anniversary amp has an internal memory and can store Channel 1,2 or 3 selection in 128 MIDI addressable patches. These correspond to the 0 - 127 MIDI PROGRAM CHANGE message.

Note: The Anniversary amp is preset to receive MIDI messages on MIDI CHANNEL 1 only.

On pressing the store button, the amplifier channel selection will be stored in the PATCH number that was LAST received. If no patch message has been received then no store will be made. Try this example;

A. Send MIDI PROGRAM CHANGE to Anniversary amp (for example 24)
B. Select amp channel (for example 2)
C. Press store until all three channel LED’S flash momentarily. Now, whenever the Anniversary amp receives MIDI PROGRAM number 24, it will automatically select Channel 2. The memory will be retained when the amp is switched off.

Note: The internal memory of your Anniversary unit can be reset (all patches Channel 1) by holding down the channel 1 button and the store button during switch on. Be sure you really want to reset the memory first!

Note: Ensure that compatible MIDI cables are used.

Now the way I read this, what you need to do is first program whatever effects presets you need into your G-Major 2. Following your example, let us say you have that Rush chorus/flanger effect programmed into Patch 3 and your Rush "clean" tone programmed into Patch 4, and these numbers correspond to the Bank 1 Preset Buttons 3 and 4 on your Ground Control Pro. So providing you've made the correct MIDI Connections and configured your GCPro Devices properly, what should happen is this:

1. Press Button 3 on the GCPro, which should change to Preset 3 on your GM2 and pass that MIDI Program Change info thru the GM2 to your Marshall. This would be Step A as described in the manual.

2. Follow Steps B and C from the manual (shown above) to select the desired Marshall Channel for that GM2 Preset.

3. Repeat these steps for every Preset you have programmed into the GM2.

Again, if I'm referencing the wrong manual and you don't have this particular amp, I've just wasted the last 10 minutes typing this up. On the other hand, if you DO have this particular amp, those are the instructions to make it do what you want it to do.

Hope this helps...

[xmacvicar]

Thank Nyteowl,

Yes this is in fact my amp; so you didn't waste time typing this up. I believe those are the right instructions and I will be putting them to use if I decide to configure my rig setup this way. The only issue I had with this type of set up where the GCPro also does the amp switching was that it would eat up my presets very very fast. With this type of setup, I am limited to the train of thought of 1 whole bank per song. Since the marshall only responds to Program Changes, amp switching for parts of songs will have to be done at the preset level instead of the CC/IA level.

That was my only gripe at this type of thing. Instead of a Rush song being just ONE preset on the G Major 2/GC Pro, which this type of setup it would have to be a whole bank because the channel switching for dynamic parts if done via presets instead of CC's or just the general marshall footswitch. Does this make sense?

[nyteowl]

That was my only gripe at this type of thing. Instead of a Rush song being just ONE preset on the G Major 2/GC Pro, which this type of setup it would have to be a whole bank because the channel switching for dynamic parts if done via presets instead of CC's or just the general marshall footswitch. Does this make sense?

Well, if the song in question involves changing the amp channel, then it does seem like you will need to do this on the Preset level. On the other hand, if the same amp channel is used throughout the song but the effects need to be changed at certain points, perhaps you can do that with IA Buttons, albeit there may be a certain amount of tap dancing involved.

On the other hand, if you need to change both the amp channel and the FX compliment at different points in the song, maybe you should consider using the 10 Presets/Bank mode, which would give you a total of 200 Presets to work with, and with 10 presets in each bank, a bank might then be able to cover 3, or maybe even 4 songs, as I still think you're going to come up with certain presets that will work for more than one tune.