Using 4 or 10 prests on my GCP, that is the question

[Levenso]

Hey folks, I'm just about the create my presets with my new gear. I'll have my Ground control pro, my GCX and G-Major 2 in a few days (I play on a Mesa Mark V). I read a lot about those items but I still haven't made my mind on how I will use it, will I use 4 or 10 presets.

My band have a small setlist, like only 20 songs to play. Most are original songs and we have also have a few covers. For our compos, I have mostly the same tones, 2 crunchs (rock and Insane), 1 lead and a clean. I also need to add some modulation once in a while (Chorus, Phase, harmony). For the covers we play, I also use my crunchs and solo tones, but I also need some effect once in a while (auto wah, chorus, phase).

I suppose that if I use 4 presets, the parameters of my effects connected to the IA buttons will always stay the same, it's only an On/Off switch (would need an expression pedal maybe). I't's like having stompboxes. I can still create tones for almost every songs and link them to my 4 presets, using many banks. But my IA might become useless then.

Instead, if I use 10 presets, I can set all my tones and effects with the exact tempo and parameters. I probably can have everything in 2 banks, or more if I want to have my delays and modulation effects set with the song tempo.

Thus, while using 4 presets might be good with real stompboxes, if I want to take advantage of my effect processor, I'm probably better of with 10 presets?

Any advice?

[nyteowl]

...I suppose that if I use 4 presets, the parameters of my effects connected to the IA buttons will always stay the same, it's only an On/Off switch (would need an expression pedal maybe). It's like having stomp boxes. I can still create tones for almost every songs and link them to my 4 presets, using many banks. But my IA might become useless then.

Actually, that is not the case, because although your IA buttons will act as On/Off switches for individual effects as with a "Stomp Box" type setup, each preset you create can have custom effect parameters programmed into it.

In other words, you can create four different presets that each use Reverb, but each preset can use a different "flavor" of Reverb. For example, Preset 1 could use Spring, Preset 2 Hall, Preset 3 Room, and Preset 4 Plate, but you'll only need to assign one IA button (let's say IA button 1) to control your Reverb effect in Stomp Box mode. So regardless of which Preset you select, Button 1 will always control the Reverb On/Off function, but the Reverb type will not only vary from Preset to Preset, the Decay, Pre Delay, Shape, Size, Hi Color and Low Color parameters in each preset can vary widely, depending on how you program it.

Using the 10-Presets/Bank mode locks you into 10 specific presets with no ability to control (turn On/Off) individual effects within your signal chain, and also will not allow you to configure an IA button for Tap Tempo. On the other hand, using the 4-Presets Bank mode lets you use the 8 IA buttons to control individual effects - or to use one of those buttons as a Tap Tempo button - and it is quite simple to move between Preset Banks.