GCP, Pedal Switchers, M9 and Timefactor

[Batman]

Hi All,

Brand new member and also new to the world of MIDI. I've been doing a ton of reading both here and elsewhere so I am starting to get my head wrapped around the concepts.

I have been working toward a MIDI rig for a couple of months, I have two pedal switchers on my pedalboard and just purchased a GCP to tie it all together.

My Rig layout is as follows;

Guitar --> Unbuffered input of first pedal switcher --> TrebleBoost --> TS9 --> Scarab Deluxe --> Tuner --> Ouput of first pedal switcher --> NS2 Input --> NS2 Send --> Buffered input of second pedal switcher --> Blues King --> SD-1 --> Barbershop --> TRS Loop --> M9 --> Timefactor --> /TRS Loop --> Tech-21 Liverpool --> Output of second pedal switcher --> NS2 Return --> NS2 Output --> AB/Y box --> Stereo out to amps

GCP midi out --> midi in of first pedal switcher, midi out --> midi in second switcher, midi out --> Midi in of M9, midi out --> midi in of Timefactor

I tried unsuccessfully to get this setup to work with the GCP today. I went through the GCP setup per the manual, Named my Devices (M9 and Timefactor) enabled GCX1 expander and setup the IA Butons (4 Presets/Bank) to access just the loops of the pedal switchers. I can call the first four loops (1st pedal switcher) but am unable to call loops 5-8 from the second pedal switcher. I also setup the M9 and Timefactor to listen on channels 2 and 3 respectively but am also unable to get them to respond to CC calls from the GCP.

I suspect the midi cable from the first to second pedal switcher may be the issue so I will problem solve the cables tomorrow after the wife/kids clear the house.

Is there anything I may have overlooked before I start cutting cable ties off the bottom of my pedaltrain to free the midi cables?

[JohnClark]

Other than the cable between Pedal Switcher 1 and Pedal Switcher 2 (a failing cable there does seem to be the most likely culprit), be sure that both Pedal Switchers are powered up before the Ground Control Pro finishes its startup message. When that scrolling message stops, the Ground control Pro sends the SysEx message that configures the switchers so they know what number they are in the MIDI path.

Do the M9 and TimeFactor show any sign of receiving any MIDI data in the current configuration?

[Batman]

No, the signal chain appears to be dead after the first Pedal Switcher.

[Batman]

OK, both pedal switchers are working now. I swapped one of the MIDI cables and have the first two units in the signal chain working.

I am taking a linear approach to problem solving the rest of the signal chain. Next in line is the M9. I have it set to MIDI channel 1.

Are there any settings that I need to be aware of on the GCP that are specific to the M9?

Are MIDI cables directional? The reason I ask is the GCP is only powered from the Pedal Switcher if its MIDI cable is oriented one way.

[Batman]

I did have one bad MIDI cable so that has been replaced and the new one tested.

I've got both pedal switchers and the M9 working now but the Timefactor will not respond.

I have double checked that the GCP and Timefactor are both set to channel 2 but I cannot get the Timefactor to switch presets via a Program Change command from any of the 4 Preset/Bank Switches. I'm not sure what I've missed or done wrong at this point.

Any suggestions?

[Batman]

Solved!

I had to rearrange the order of the M9 and Timefactor in the MIDI signal path. It seems as though the Timefactor was not receiving messages through the M9 but the reverse seems to work fine.

I had to set the Timefactor MIDI OUTPUT to THRU but its all working now.

I'm seriously impressed with how easy it is to configure my rig now that I've gotten the signal path and CP/CC messages worked out.

Next up is getting the expression pedal configured to work with some of the M9 settings but that can wait until another day.