Adding Midi to Mark V Rig

[satch4u3]

Hi guys,

I am thinking about integrating Midi into my Mark V rig but I can't decide what route to go and I was hoping some of you may have some advice from your expereince. My current Rig includes the Following:

Guitar > Boss TU-2 > Morley Wah > Eventide ModFactor > Digitech Whammy > MXR Micro Amp. These are on a 32" LYT Pedal board, connect with George L's, all powered by a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power Plus. Nova Delay in the Loop. This pedal sits on top of my Mark V conntected with 1 foot George L's. And I control Mark V channel switching with it'[s foot controller.

Here are some options I have been thinking about:

Ground Control Pro + RJM RG 16
In this senario I am thinking about picking up a 6U rack space and housing the pedals and maybe a Power conditioner along with the RG 16. I have a Digitech Whammy and an Eventide ModFactor that I could control via Midi to. Other pedals in the rack would be an OCD, Micro Amp and Nova Delay.

RJM MasterMind Midi Controller + RJM RG 16
Same situation as above except with a smaller midi controller.

Ground Control Pro or MasterMind + TC Electronic G Major 2 + RJM Mini Amp Gizmo
Here I would probably get rid of the ModFactor and the Nova Delay. Not sure!

Ground Control Pro + GCX
Here the GCX would be used for Amp Switching and Effects switching. I here the buffer in the GCX is not as nice as the RG16's. Also as less loops than the RG16.

What do you guys think? Your opinions and advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Tuna141]

I use a Ground Control pedal (older version) with a GCX to control my Mark IV - it also controls my rack as well, which includes Egnater IE-4 and Randall RM4 preamps which I can also select - they all use the Mark IV's power section. The setup works great with the IV and assume it will work well with the V as well.

 

[satch4u3]

Hi Tuna141,

Sounds like a nice setup. Are you using any effects? If so, how are you controlling those?

 

[SteveO]

I went down this same road. Eventually, I wound up getting a TC Electronics G System. It controls amp channel switching (which is all I really need with this unit), and my ModFactor went into one of the pre-preamp loops for pre-dirt modulation (the modulation in the G/S is post-preamp).

 

[satch4u3]

I went down this same road. Eventually, I wound up getting a TC Electronics G System. It controls amp channel switching (which is all I really need with this unit), and my ModFactor went into one of the pre-preamp loops for pre-dirt modulation (the modulation in the G/S is post-preamp).

I was thinking about the G System as well but I read that it has some issues with channel switching on the Mark V. That kind of turned me off from it. Also, from what I have ready, this can be a noisy solution and may require other equipment like the Hum X. You have it working I presume?

 

[Triple Cheeseburger]

I went down this same road. Eventually, I wound up getting a TC Electronics G System. It controls amp channel switching (which is all I really need with this unit), and my ModFactor went into one of the pre-preamp loops for pre-dirt modulation (the modulation in the G/S is post-preamp).

I was thinking about the G System as well but I read that it has some issues with channel switching on the Mark V. That kind of turned me off from it. Also, from what I have ready, this can be a noisy solution and may require other equipment like the Hum X. You have it working I presume?

can you elaborate on the channel switching problems? i have been looking at one of these as well

 

[FFFDFEFRFKFFF]

I think the issues were really just latency in the switching on the G System and the Mark V. I personally use a G System for all my effects and a Mini Amp Gizmo, with some pedals in the G System's loops, for my main set up and for a more quick, on-the-go kind of set up I use the Nova System and the regular footswitch that comes with the Mark.
I personally think of all the things you listed the Ground Control and RJ-16 would be the best since its more simplistic and the Ground Control Pro is sturdier, or appears so, than the Midi Mate. All the things you have listed are good but I beat the crap out of floor controllers in the heat of a sweet song and I think it'd be less likely to break a GCP than a Midi Mate. Also I want all of the options of the amp and the external switching jacks don't offer that so that's also why I'd lean more towards the RJ-16.

 

[satch4u3]

I found this posted by a user by the name of supereth regarding using th G-System for switching on the Mark V:

I spoke with Chris from Mesa regarding this today and he strongly discouraged me from using the G-System to switch the V. The reason being that the ground voltage from the G-System is not compatible with most Mesas. He specifically mentioned the Dual/Triple rectifiers and the Roadster having issues. This could be why the switching is slow. He also added that they've not done factory tests with the Mark V and the G-System so it'll be best to err on the side of caution. He recommended the RJM or Axxess products in conjunction with the G-system.

With this in mind I was kind of leaning away from the G System. Getting a G system along with a mini amp gizmo... To much money. I think I am leaning towards a GCP + G Major 2 + Mini Amp Gizmo.Still up in the air tho. :shock:

 

[>Photi G<]

I like the mini amp gizmo because it uses the DIN jack on the Mark V, and controls all 8 footswitch functions. All others use the Extention Switches via Latching 1/4" switches. You can only control the 3 channels, EQ and Solo with these. I personally like the PayneLabs K-Switch, because it has 2 of its own FX loops that can be switched independently, and has a similar programming interface to the mini amp gizmo. The problem is that it uses the 4 switches, instead of the DIN jack.

 

[satch4u3]

I really wish the Mark V had midi. :|

For you guys who have/had a G System; How does the G System, as a midi controller, stand up to somthing the a Ground Control Pro? The reason I ask is down the road... and I mean WAY down the road... I will probably want to upgrade to an Axe FX or something similar. To me the GCP would be the better solution in this case. But what do I know. I have not tired either!

 

[LPJunky]

My setup is not an all out rig but I wanted to keep it simple so I use a GT-10 with a RJM Mini Amp Gizmo like others have mentionned. I also added an external BOSS FS-6 (double CTL switches) to the GT-10 and programmed the GT-10 to send CC messages when activating the external CTLs. So I can switch the SOLO boost on/off and the FX loop on/off with it. Neat and compact and versatile.

 

[Tuna141]

satch4u3
Post subject: Re: Adding Midi to Mark V Rig

Hi Tuna141,

Sounds like a nice setup. Are you using any effects? If so, how are you controlling those?

Satch,
I'm using a G-Major in the rack for effects. If you PM me your email address and I'll send you a wiring schematic of my rig.

 

[satch4u3]

In the spirit of simplicty; What do you guys think of a setup like this... Compared to of course other senarios listed here.

Ground Control Pro or MasterMind + Mini Amp Gizmo + Eventide ModFactor(I already own) + Eventide Time Factor. Both the Eventide boxes are Midi controllable. I think effect-wise that would cover alot of ground. My Digitech Whammy is Midi controllable as well. Would using alot of midi devices daisy chained like this some how effect the speed of changing presets?

 

[Enchilada Jones]

In the spirit of simplicty; What do you guys think of a setup like this... Compared to of course other senarios listed here.

Ground Control Pro or MasterMind + Mini Amp Gizmo + Eventide ModFactor(I already own) + Eventide Time Factor. Both the Eventide boxes are Midi controllable. I think effect-wise that would cover alot of ground. My Digitech Whammy is Midi controllable as well. Would using alot of midi devices daisy chained like this some how effect the speed of changing presets?

If you know you are going to go AxeFx in the future then look into the Fractal Audio Systems MFC-101 as a footcontroller. It is a pretty comprehensive controller even when it isn't plugged into an AxeFx. You need the Gismo if you use the AxeFx because niether it, nor the MFC-101, does external switching.

I use the AxeFx with the MFC-101 and was thinking of getting the gismo at some point but right now the Mesa MarkV footswitch beside the MFC-101 is working pretty well. I have to stomp on the MarkV controller in addition to a stomp on the MFC-101 if I want a change on the AxeFx AND a change on the MarkV simultaneously but since I have the MFC-101 set up like a pedal board with basically 15 different stomps plus 2 of the 8 expression pedals in use right now (each can start or bypass another effect by simply moving them) so I have 17 different effect stomps plus the MarkV footcontroller at my feet all within one preset on the AxeFx.

anyway, look into the MFC-101 as possible midi floorboard switcher.

 

[SteveO]

I haven't had any issues switching the V with the G System. Some Boogies don't play well with the G/S due to the ground configuration in the external switching jacks on the amps, but the V works fine. There is a slight lag in channel switching, but it doesn't bother me at all. Noise and hum have never been a problem for me either with these two units.

 

[germangallardo]

I'm currently using this: Mark V + Axe-Fx Ultra (4 Cable Method) + Mini Amp Gizmo + Ground Control Pro.

For me it's amazing how the RJM switcher is working. I control everything via the Ground Control Pro, it's easy to program. Basically in each preset on the GCP you indicate which preset you want to call on the Axe-Fx and the Mini Amp Gizmo. It's a longer process to get it working vs the MFC-101 because you have to program the IAs state in every patch and the name of each preset. Other than that works great, I can turn on and off effects on each patch and switching from clean to crunch to lead with delays is super fast.

Hope this helps.

 

[satch4u3]

Thanks for all this information guys. I really appreciate it.

After all the considerations I think I am going to go with a Mini Amp Gizmo, a GCP and a G Major 2 in the loop. Then using the ModFactor(already own) for Pre-Dirt modulations. The ModFactor is also Midi controllable.

Another senario I am considering is a Mini Amp Gizmo, a GCP, an Eventide TimeFactor in the loop and Pre-Dirt modulation with the ModFactor . The TimeFactor is also midi controllable.

Alternativly I could not pick up a TimeFactor and stick with the Nova Delay in the loop as I can still control it in a preset fashion with the Mini Amp Gizmos ability to toggle the effects loop. It just seems like you would have alot more control with the TimeFactor in a midi rig.

I have never tried the G Major 2 or a TimeFactor. I own the Nova Delay and think it's great so I can assume the delay in the G Major 2 is great too. But I always hear great things about the TimeFactor. How good are the other effects in the GM2, like Reverb, Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Wha and Compression? Although I don't use compression at the moment. I hear the Pitch shifting is great in the GM2 as well.

 

[satch4u3]

I had a couple people PM me a while back, wondering what route I ended up taking on adding midi to my rig. So for those of you who are interested. Here's what I did.

I ended up going with a GCP, Ernie Ball JR VP 250k, Mini Amp Gizmo and a G-Major 2. The GM2 is in the loop and I have my Eventide ModFactor out in front. Everything is connected through midi and it all switches great! I am considering putting my Digitech Whammy in the midi chain to but the Whammy on the GM2 is really nice. Which was a big suprise cuz it is in the loop!

I have spent the past two days editing presets on the GM2 and programing the switching on the GCP and I have finally got it to where I need it. Tonight will be the first band rehersal since I have got the gear, so that will be the true test! But so far at home the GM2 sounds fantastic. What a nice peice of gear that thing is! No tone suckage folks.