Stereo TC-100 rig

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domct203

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I’ve owned the TC-100 going on 3 years now. I really didn’t play it that much, mainly for practice at home with a Vertical 2X12. The attenuation is really handy for that.

It took me a long time to break away from my Roadster & Oversized 4X12’s. The Roadster has been my A-Rig since 2007. Many amps have come and gone (a few I still own and play occasionally) but I always come right back to the Roadster. A few years ago I bought a ‘backup’ head, but I ended up going down the stereo rabbit hole real fast. The main head is Voodoo Modded, it’s very similar to their Platinum mod, but tweaked a bit.

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I used the modded head as the main amp and just the power amp of the other head as the right channel, both on 4X12’s. Was great at rehearsal but not stage friendly at all for most places we would play where I could just bring one amp and cab.

Back to the TC-100.

Once I put a good EQ in the loop and changed the FX Loop Driver tube (V5) it became my favorite amp, hands down.

Not only am I really enjoying the tones and feel of the amp, with the multiple power settings, built in MIDI contol, and a cab clone you can’t argue the convenience that offers a gigging musician. It also sounds great on the Vertical 2X12 (with the right speakers).

Here’s a pick of the amps when I first started playing them in stereo. I had a simple pedalboard, and used a stereo chorus, delay & reverb in the FX Loops. It was my B-Rig I guess.

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The cabs are both loaded with an Eminence DV-77 on the bottom and a Celestion Redback up top.

I found that I really enjoyed playing these amps, and the more I got to know them the better they sounded. Time to move them into the A-Rig.

Everything in the A-Rig is MIDI controlled. The entire rig is built and wired by me. All cable snakes were made by me. Here is my ‘pedal’ board:

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The pedal on the left controls volume through my G-Major via MIDI, the tuner is fed from the isolated output of my wireless receiver. The pedal on the right is for my rack mount Cry-Baby wah. The ‘Louder’ box controls the Solo function of the amps via MIDI. The MIDI controller is a Voodoo labs Ground Control Pro.

Speaking of rack, here it is:

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From top to bottom. Line 6 G90 wireless. ART PR8 voltage regulator, Crybaby rack wah, TC G-Major, DMC (Voodoo Labs) GCX loop switcher, a drawer full of pedals and my connections to both amps and the pedalboard.

What’s in the drawer? Here you go:

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All the pedals except the EQ are in the loops of the GCX switcher. The EQ is midi controlled and it the last thing in the FX Loop signal chain. All pedals in the draw are fed power from the Eventide power supply.

All the pedals in the drawer use a custom snake that feeds the GCX loops. Makes it super easy to swap pedals around. Here’s a pic of the back of the drawer:

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Speaking of signal chain, here it is:

G90 wireless->Zio Preamp->Rack Wah->Input to GCX->SP Comp (GCX loop 1)->CS-3 (loop 2)->Decimator noise gate (loop 3)->805 Drive (loop 4)->Grid Slammer (loop 5)->EH C9 (loop 6)->loop 6 output to a TC Mimic pedal->Front of both amps->FX Loop sends to the GCX loop 7 input (loops 5-8 are stereo)->loop 7 output to the G-Major->G-Major outputs to loop 8 input->loop 8 output to the Source Audio EQ->FX Loop returns (Left & Right). This leaves me a GCX stereo loop in front of, and right after the G-Major for future toys LOL.

You may be thinking, ‘I don’t see a Zio or Mimic pedal in the drawer’, they are both always on (unless I play in dual mono, I’ll just manually turn off the Mimic) so no need to put them there, and they don’t fit.

Those pedals are on the back of the rack:

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If we play a small space the rack can sit off stage up to about 15 feet away, if it’s really tight I use the cab clones and in-ears and don’t use the cabs. I have all my G-Major presets duplicated, a mono version and a stereo version. Most places that are mic’ed are in mono, so I shut off the Mimic and use the mono presets. If I’m not mic’ed I use the stereo presets. That’s the beauty of a MIDI controlled rack system. I actually played a show that was hosted by a DJ and was in stereo thru the FOH. I got a lot of compliments on my tone that night.

And it all fits in the back of my ‘17 Ford Escape.

I think that’s it.

Yea, it’s a lot of gear to move, but really worth it to me. The TC-100 is considerably lighter than the Roadster (especially the one with Mercury iron) and the 2X12 cabs are easily lifted into the back of the car. I can manage the rack, but that’s the heaviest part of the rig and I usually get someone to help me (wife or band mate).

I don’t go crazy with the stereo effects, no ping pong delays or things like that.

Dom

[edit] forgot the rack wah in my signal chain.
 
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Thanks Bandit. I probably should have gone the guitar-tech route many years ago.

I absolutely love the convenience of MIDI control, it is liberating to eliminate that stage ‘tap dance’ to switch multiple effects and amp channels. Now it’s one press of a MIDI controller button, and I can concentrate on my playing instead of thinking about what effects and amp channels I need to switch for the upcoming chorus or lead passage.

FYI if you are looking to control your Roadsters (or other various amps) via MIDI I found this company that makes an absolutely wonderful and simplistic amp switcher:

https://emcustom.eu/amp-midi-switcher-interface.html
No external power needed, and Bluetooth capable so you can customize it with an app on your phone. I have one for each of my Roadster heads. They work flawlessly.

They also have a generic version with TRS outputs, but that needs external power.

Dom

[edit] The work of John Petrucci’s tech Maddi really inspired me, JP is known for his complex rigs, his setup since he started playing the JPC2 is what I emulated.

Here’s a previous rack I built, including the actual rack. It’s a good example of going way overboard. Started mono, then I added the Recto 2:100 and used one side in tandem with the Roadster head. I think I gigged with it only 4 times LOL. I had a trailer for our gear, complete with ramp when we were gigging a lot, but it was way too heavy to keep moving it in and out of our rehearsal studio, had to go up and down 3 steps, yea it’s as heavy as it looks.

The pedalboard fit into a compartment in the back cover of the rack, my goal was to have my entire rig in one package to make setup and tear down as fast as possible, most shows only gave 10 or 15 min max to change out acts.

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