GCP, GCX, Strymon Setup

[sheldonheardmusic]

Hey Guys, Hoping to get a bit of insight into the inner workings of what I am trying to do. I've searched this thread found a few close posts but nothing hit the nail.
Like many people, I've fallen in love with the Strymon line, Mobius, Timeline, Big Sky, Volante. I tried using the Strymons solo on stage but it was a nightmare to try and bank up, down between songs so I picked up a GCP to help in this tap dance madness. What I wanted to achieve was to use the GCP like a pallet of sounds, All 10 buttons diffrent patches I could pull up on demand. To achieve this I've been using the 10 preset mode and setting each button to control whatever bank I wanted within the Strymons. In doing so I discovered I cannot "Bypass" the Strymon pedals with a PC message (excluding the Volante) so I created patches that were basicaly dry, called them "ByPass" and have a dedicated GCP button to call up the dry patch. The latest Mobius firmware now lets you create patches in a "Bypass" state which was amazing. OK so Its been a few years all is well... playing with 4 strymon pedals, a GCP, few expression and wah's my board is taking up too much room so I bought a GCX with plans to build a rig. I'd also like to incorporate 3-4 standalone pedals in my rig. So from what I understand In order to get the GCX loops working I need to be in the 4 preset - 8CC mode. From what I can gather the only way to call a patch up on the Strymons is doing a PC message? which leaves me with only 4 buttons to control all my Strymon presets? I'm thinking the way I want to preceed is having the top row 4 buttons control standalone pedals. Now I can use the next row of 4 to send CC message to actually "bypass" the 4 Strymon pedals, eliminating the need for fake dry patches... awesome. BUT am I really stuck with only 4 buttons to pull up all my 20-25 patches I use accross all the strymons? In a night I may use 8-10 patches on the Mobius, 2-3 delay patches and 2-3 reverbs. Am I missing something? Can I somehow assign a Mobius patch the a CC button? Or like I think am I stuck hitting bank up several times and trying to remeber my phaser is saved on Bank 6 preset 3?

Thanks for the help guys!! Loves me the voodoo

[JohnClark]

The Ground Control Pro does not need to be in 4 Presets per Bank Mode to control a GCX. Where the 4 Presets per Bank Mode comes in is if you want to control individual GCX loops within a preset and/or for controlling other parameters on a MIDI device like bypass or tap tempo for instance.

If you use only presets then yes, you would have to program all your changes ahead of time including the state of the GCX Loops.

If you enable the Instant Access button mode then you would have Presets on the bottom with the eight Instant Access button above. Instant Access buttons default to controlling loops on the first GCX (the Ground Control Pro can control up to four GCX Switchers) but any of them can certainly be programmed to individually control the Bypass State on your Strymon pedals, and can even be programmed to set the correct bypass state within each preset. However, with fewer presets per bank you would indeed need to change banks more often to cover the same number of presets, but you wouldn't need to have presets and patches dedicated to recalling blank patches.

I hope that helps!

[sheldonheardmusic]

Hi John,
Thanks for the quick reply. I was not aware I could use the GCP in 10 preset mode to control the 8 GCX loops. I assume in doing so I can't then bypass the loops like a CC could? I'd ultimately need to have an empty loop on a PC message to call up which would act like "bypassing" the loop that's currently active with a stompbox.
Thanks for the help, I now have some soul searching to do to figure out if I want to use the 10 or 4 preset mode!

[JohnClark]

I think the outcome is the same, but to clarify on how the GCX is controlled...

It isn't that the GCX is responding to a Program Change, its that once a GCX is enabled, the Ground Control Pro Presets are programmed with the state of all GCX loops. Each preset then sends the string of all eight Control Change messages with the programmed On or Off Data Value.
To the user, it simply is a screen that is added when programming your preset that identifies the GCX you are currently programming and has you set the state of each loop using buttons 1-8.

...as I mentioned, the outcome is the same where in 10 Presets mode you would indeed need two presets to accomplish even the simple task of switching a single pedal on or off. That is the trade off... 10 Presets per Bank is appropriate if your changes are all rigid and can be planned out ahead of time. 4 Presets per Bank if you have presets, but also want to mimic having a virtual pedalboard to make changes on the fly.