GCX and the ART SGX 2000

[amcnamee]

I have a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier that I would like to switch channels via my trusty old ART SGX 2000 and ART Ultrafoot Controller. The GCX looks like a good fit to enable the ART MIDI access to the Rectifier.

The question is will the GCX and the ART SGX 2000 get along.

I'll copy and paste a few blurps from the ART SGX 2000 User Manual to help determine if the 2 are compatible.

1) The MIDI/Phantom Power Question - the manual states "All MIDI Jacks are standard 5 pin DIN connectors utilizing standard MIDI connections. No phantom power is present on the unused terminals. ART recommends
these unused terminals remain unused." - I take this as meaning the phantom power coming from the GCX shouldn't be an issue?

2) MIDI Channels and Control Change messages. The manual states
"MIDI Channel
OFF-16 [1]
Sets MIDI send and receive channel number.
OMNI Mode
ON, OFF [ON]
Sets MIDI OMNI mode on or off.
The SGX 2000 is shipped from the factory in OMNI mode, allowing it to receive
MIDI PROGRAM numbers on any MIDI channel."

... plus.....

"PERFORMANCE MIDI [PM]
Performance Midi allows the SGX 2000 to have up to eight of its parameters per preset controlled simultaneously via MIDI. Selection of the parameter to be controlled, the actual MIDI controller, and the Low and High value of the
parameter may be programmed from the front panel."

So MIDI Channel 16 looks OK, I think the Performance Midi section is telling me that 8 messages are able to be sent at once, even though I should only need 1 @ a time to switch channels of the Rectifier.

Any insight will be appreciated.

Thx

[JohnClark]

The GCX responds to MIDI Control Change messages 80-87 on MIDI channel 16. A data value of 0 turns a loop off and a data value of 127 turns a loop on. It would appear that the above quotes say that the SGX 2000 is able to accept up to 8 simultaneous Control Change messages, but what it does not say is if the X-15 is able to send them and if so how. You are now armed with a revised version of your original question... it's the best I can do.

For the channel switching to work properly you will need to send multiple Control Changes at once in order to tell the GCX to turn off the previous channel control loop while turning on the next one. The Rectifier has no internal switching logic so you must do this in order to avoid turning multiple channels on at once. Good Luck!