new to gcx ground "major tom" control

Q & A for building and interfacing your rack gear with Ground Control Pro and GCX-based systems.
Post Reply
standdown
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 4:33 pm

new to gcx ground "major tom" control

Post by standdown »

Hey can anyone help me please!!! I recently bought this cool piece of gear and don't know how to properly set it up. I have a mesa trip rec, line6 pod xt pedal board in which I wanna use for most of my effects via midi , boss phaser, line 6 DL4 delay, a cry baby wah, a boss dd4 and sustain/compress pedal for my leads. I guess what I'm asking is how do I wire it up so it swtiches my pod and swtiches my amp??? Also is it ok to daisy chain my boss delay and compressor through one loop??? I have an effects loop that goes in between my head and cab which I want all the effects to fun through. Can anyone please help me out??? Hahaha bit to much off and I can't figure out how to run it.???

espboogie123
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 2:56 am

Re: new to gcx ground "major tom" control

Post by espboogie123 »

It depends if you want all the switching features to work with your amp as in, you want to be able to switch ch 1, 2, 3 and solo and fx loop. If so, then you will need 5 free loops in your gcx leaving only 3 free to use for pedals.

The wah should be in front of amp.
Loop 1 out/N.O. to Ch 1 ExSw input 1/4" cable
Loop 2 out/N.O. to Ch 2 ExSw input 1/4" cable
Loop 3 out/N.O. to Ch 3 ExSw input 1/4" cable
Loop 4 out/N.O. to Solo ExSw input 1/4" cable
Loop 5 out/N.O. to Loop ExSw input 1/4" cable

Guitar > Wah > GCX guitar front guitar input> Feed through to Loop 6 Input (phaser in loop)>out to Loop 7 input(compressor in loop)>out to Amp input
Then
Effects loop send>POD XT input> POD XT Output> Loop 8 input (DL4 Delay in loop)>out back to effects return.

5 pin midi from ground control to GCX, midi out gcx to Pod midi in.

You would control the POD to on/off with the FX loop

I'm not sure what the boss dd4 is...

standdown
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 4:33 pm

Re: new to gcx ground "major tom" control

Post by standdown »

Thanks for the reply! Sorry its a dd3 pedal (delay). I don't wanna use the effects loop or the solo channel. So that frees up two loops??? Also I have a noise suppressor, which I wanna leave turned on all the time. So should that go in front of the gcx as well or after befor the amp input. What do I set the amp footswitch selector to in the back of the amp? Or once I plug in ext sw. Does it just take priority of the selector?

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

Re: new to gcx ground "major tom" control

Post by JohnClark »

standdown wrote:Hey can anyone help me please!!! I recently bought this cool piece of gear and don't know how to properly set it up. I have a mesa trip rec, line6 pod xt pedal board in which I wanna use for most of my effects via midi , boss phaser, line 6 DL4 delay, a cry baby wah, a boss dd4 and sustain/compress pedal for my leads. I guess what I'm asking is how do I wire it up so it swtiches my pod and swtiches my amp??? Also is it ok to daisy chain my boss delay and compressor through one loop??? I have an effects loop that goes in between my head and cab which I want all the effects to fun through. Can anyone please help me out??? Hahaha bit to much off and I can't figure out how to run it.???
You might want to first take a look at the rig diagrams at the bottom of the GCX page on the main Voodoo Lab site. This one in particular would be quite similar to what you are doing...

http://www.voodoolab.com/gcxdiagrams/05 ... tching.pdf

This drawing does not use the effect loop method you mention above but does utilize the parallel routing capabilities for the delay and reverb patches that were primarily being used from the G-Force.

It is perfectly acceptable to run multiple devices in a single GCX loop, the only thing to remember is that they will all be bypassed at once when the loop is turned off.

I hope that helps!
------------------====Cheers!====------------------
Image
---------==Voodoo Lab Magician & Tech==---------

standdown
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 4:33 pm

Re: new to gcx ground "major tom" control

Post by standdown »

Thanks again...still have some problems. I connected everything the way you said and realized that I want all my pedals and pod to run through the effects loop and still be able control loops in the gcx and think I may be slightly handicapped. The effects loop I have is an external fx loop not in the amp so I can't turn it on and off with the fx loop switching in the back of my amp. I think I'd have to use a gcx loop to control on and off of the loop and don't know how to route everything. Also still having problems controlling the pod with the midi I/O. Recognizes it but doesn't change patches when I set the channel from to another. I'm really sorry for all the babysitting just really want it to work for me. Thanks
Stfd

espboogie123
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 2:56 am

Re: new to gcx ground "major tom" control

Post by espboogie123 »

I get it... you should have mentioned that you had a two channel recto which I believe you have. No effects loop switching, only channel switching right?? In order to have a on/off effects loop, you would have to route:

amp effects send-> loop #A in -> A send -> loop #B in -> loop #B send -> pedal/POD in -> pedal/POD send -> loop #B return -> loop #B out -> loop #C in -> loop #C send -> pedal/POD in -> pedal/POD send -> loop #C return -> loop #C out -> etc.... Then if the ending/last pedal is loop #Z, it would be loop #Z out back to loop #A return. Loop #A out -> amps effects loop return.

With this configuration, loop #A would act like an effects loop on/off switch. All other loops will then need loop #A to be on if effect is going to be used.
I believe for your channel switching, you need a TRS to dual mono cable, also called a TRS to tip/ring cable. The TRS end would go in your amp ftswitching jack and one mono/tip to a loop #X OUT/N.O. input and the other mono/ring to loop #Y OUT/N.O. input. Loop #X will be one channel and loop #Y will be channel two.

I hope this isn't confusing. :shock:

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

Re: new to gcx ground "major tom" control

Post by JohnClark »

standdown wrote:Thanks again...still have some problems. I connected everything the way you said and realized that I want all my pedals and pod to run through the effects loop and still be able control loops in the gcx and think I may be slightly handicapped. The effects loop I have is an external fx loop not in the amp so I can't turn it on and off with the fx loop switching in the back of my amp. I think I'd have to use a gcx loop to control on and off of the loop and don't know how to route everything. Also still having problems controlling the pod with the midi I/O. Recognizes it but doesn't change patches when I set the channel from to another. I'm really sorry for all the babysitting just really want it to work for me. Thanks
Stfd

What is this external effects loop device you are using?

What does work on the POD? Are you able to use any of the buttons on the Ground Control Pro to recall patches?
------------------====Cheers!====------------------
Image
---------==Voodoo Lab Magician & Tech==---------

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

Re: new to gcx ground "major tom" control

Post by JohnClark »

espboogie123 wrote:I get it... you should have mentioned that you had a two channel recto which I believe you have. No effects loop switching, only channel switching right?? In order to have a on/off effects loop, you would have to route:

amp effects send-> loop #A in -> A send -> loop #B in -> loop #B send -> pedal/POD in -> pedal/POD send -> loop #B return -> loop #B out -> loop #C in -> loop #C send -> pedal/POD in -> pedal/POD send -> loop #C return -> loop #C out -> etc.... Then if the ending/last pedal is loop #Z, it would be loop #Z out back to loop #A return. Loop #A out -> amps effects loop return.

With this configuration, loop #A would act like an effects loop on/off switch. All other loops will then need loop #A to be on if effect is going to be used.
I believe for your channel switching, you need a TRS to dual mono cable, also called a TRS to tip/ring cable. The TRS end would go in your amp ftswitching jack and one mono/tip to a loop #X OUT/N.O. input and the other mono/ring to loop #Y OUT/N.O. input. Loop #X will be one channel and loop #Y will be channel two.

I hope this isn't confusing. :shock:

There is no need to use a GCX loop to bypass the other GCX loops in a chain. If you have three devices in an effects loop that are each switched by separate GCX loops, then the function of "Loop #A" would be accomplished by bypassing the three GCX loops with the effects. The effect send can run directly to the In of the first loop containing an effect, and the Out of the last loop containing an effect in this chain would run directly to the effect return. I hope that helps!
------------------====Cheers!====------------------
Image
---------==Voodoo Lab Magician & Tech==---------

espboogie123
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 2:56 am

Re: new to gcx ground "major tom" control

Post by espboogie123 »

JohnClark wrote: There is no need to use a GCX loop to bypass the other GCX loops in a chain. If you have three devices in an effects loop that are each switched by separate GCX loops, then the function of "Loop #A" would be accomplished by bypassing the three GCX loops with the effects. The effect send can run directly to the In of the first loop containing an effect, and the Out of the last loop containing an effect in this chain would run directly to the effect return. I hope that helps!
I completely agree and thought the same thing, but the OP wanted a on/off effects loop so that would accomplish that.

Post Reply