G-Major with Heartbreaker = WOW!!! But I have questions....

I dug the G-Major out of my closet about a week or 2 ago. It seems that you never completely unpack when you move across the country.

Tried it in my Heartbreaker agian today, but this time I spent some time remembering how to use it.



Once I got the compression turned off on all of the presets and the output set to "Consumer," I was very impressed with some of the factory presets.

With just some slight tweaking, I was able to get some really interesting tones and some very familiar sounding ones.

I was able to get some of Gilmour's lead tones off of The Division Bell.



I have some questions though:

1. Does anybody here use the G-Major with a Mesa amp?

2. If so, do you use the Compressor in it?

3. Do you notice a significant loss in volume when the compressor is engaged?

4. What are some of your favorite factory presets to modify? & what amp & settings are you using as well.




I got the G-Major about a year ago with the hopes that it would let me find some new experimental tones. I haven't used rack effects in many years, since I sold my GP-100 & MP-1.

I thought about getting a few great pedals (which I ended up doing anyway later), but for the price the G-Major seemed like a better solution.


Also, what footpedal are you using? I have a Digitech Control 8 that seems a bit cumbersome.

I would like to be able to control the following:

1. Preset Up & Down - 1 at a time, not in banks

2. Individual FX On & Off - this is much more important to me than preset banks. I would like to set a preset and then control the parameters and effects in a "Stompbox" fashion.

3. I would also like to have Relay control so that I can change channels on my Heartbreaker or channels and EQ on my DC-5.



I thought about the Lexicon footswitch which is no longer in production, but read somewhere that they are very unreliable.

The G-Minor pedal is too limited for what I would like to do.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

1. Does anybody here use the G-Major with a Mesa amp?

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Not yet. My Roadster is still about 3-wks away. I have used it with other tube amps, with serial and parallel loops. I do plan on using it with the Roadster.

2. If so, do you use the Compressor in it?

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No, because it is in the FX loop. I never got good results with a comp. that way.

3. Do you notice a significant loss in volume when the compressor is engaged?

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I believe the newer firmware ( 1.7? ) addresed that with a make-up gain control in the compressor. (Mine is about a year old and has that function).

Also, what footpedal are you using? I have a Digitech Control 8 that seems a bit cumbersome.

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I use the Behringer FCB1010 ($150.00 new). It has 10 stomp switch (2 rows of 5) and 2 expression pedals. With a firmware change ($10.00 and it's super easy - just swap an eprom chip) you can then use it in "stomp box" mode where one row of 5 stomp switches controls preset changes, and the other row of stomp switches will turn effects on and off like stomp-boxes. And you can choose which row, top or bottom, does what. Super cool. I use the expression pedals with one for master volume (all the way down for silent tuning) and the other pedal to control things like chorus or tremolo speeds, or pitch bends.

There is also an awesome FREE programming software which makes the entire set-up a breeze, (made by Ripwerx) and gives you the ability to back up your settings on your PC thru MIDI. Even the MIDI interface is cheap ($30.00 or so)

You can research all this online. Do some google searches for FCB1010 (controller), Ripwerx (programming software) and Swell Sound (Osandust eprom upgrades)

Good luck,
Dom

Thanks Dom,

I've seen the Behringer pedal at Musician's Friend, but didn't know how sturdy it was.

I used to use a Roland FC-200 (I think) and it was built like a tank, but not extremely user friendly.

I really miss the Phantom Power on my MP-1 also.



I have a couple of other questions now though:

1. Did you get the eprom chip from Behringer?

2. What type of Midi interface do you use in your computer?

Thanks man, it is greatly appreciated.
Andy

I bought a Behringer FCB around Sept. 06' and it has the ability to do what Dom mentioned without upgrading the Eprom. You can think of each channel as a seperate footcontroller as you can program it for any function(changing channels, turning effects on/of, sending out midi messages for sequencers, etc). So if you hit button 1 you can have it go to your clean channel with delay...hit it twice it can turn the delay off and chorus on. Then for button2 you can have it stay on the same preset in your G-major but add Verb and a harmonizer. The flexibility is the greatest out of any controller in the price range and the construction is pretty good. I have my particular unit Phantom powered from my TA (I had to modify my TA and FCB to do this) so I don't need any external adapters and I use a standard 5 Pin midi cable. And, of course, you have the two expression pedals which can be assigned to any midi function (these are also programmable per button or preset).

Maybe Dom is talking about a "Custom" eprom that comes preprogrammed but I am not sure. If you used a 7 Pin Midi cable you could make a cable that will do your regular midi stuff, phantom power, and the amp switching functions. The yahoo group for the FCB is a great source of schematics and tips on modifying the FCB as well as has to use it.

Greg

Yes, the eprom is a custom chip, and was super easy to swap. It allows you to split the FCB1010 into sort of 2 controllers, one row sends the basic prg change (x2) and ctrl change (x5 I think) and the other row to toggle specific effects on and off. For example you can have the bottom row as stomp boxes (1-comp 2-chorus 3-delay 4-reverb 5-boost), and the top row to select amp channels and G-Maj patches. And you can still access the stock controller set-up as well.

I find I like the straight up controller (no stomp boxes) better. One stomp and you're all set up. You can stomp the same switch twice to send more CC messages to turn things on and off as well with the stock eprom just like disassembled said.

The updated eprom allows more tweaking with the PC software and is only necessary for the Stomp-Box mode.

Either way the FCB1010 is a solid unit, just don't throw it down a staircase :shock: . The phanthom power mod is a must, and is super easy. One cable from controller to rack 8)

$150.00 new for alot of control power. Great buy. Very easy to program with the Ripwerx software. It's easy to tweak on the road once you get used to how it works.

Download the manual from Behringer and see for yourself.

Dom