Tube Amp Midi Rack help (Engl Invader, G-Major, GCX, Ground Control Pro)

[shannon]

So I recently purchased the Engl Invader 100 & it's a midi compatible head with midi in & thru. I'm thinking of picking up a TC Electronics G-Major & a Voodoo Labs GCX Switcher & Ground Control Pedal.

A few questions....

1. I hear the G-Major does amp switching. Will it do it through the midi thru?
I assume I would hook the midi cables up like this: GCP PEDAL > GCX SWITCHER > GMAJOR > INVADER. Correct?

2. On the Invader, making presets with all the various bells & whistles turned on & off in a cinch. However, can the GCX/GCP send instant access commands to toggle all the bells & whistles within the same preset? Like, can I make dedicated IA switches for Master B volume (solo boost) & the FX loops?

3. I was going to hook up the Gmajor to the FX for time based & modulation FXs, but can you use the 3-4 cable method & route FX like harmonies & whammy FX before the amp?

p.s. I'm REALLY new to midi stuff. In the past, I ran rack processors where I just switch presets, or I used a footcontroller that was designed for the processor & it had dedicated IA switches, so no midi programming necessary.

[Leon]

1. Yes and No. It can change your amp channels, but it does it through a relay switcher. I'm not sure how it would work for the Invader, but I had a special cable that allowed me to do it with my Mesa Nomad, without issues.

3. No. The GMajor only has stereo IN and OUT jacks. It can do whammy and (bad) harmonizing, but it'd be stuck in your FX loop.

[Matt C]

The GCX can control up to 8 momentary or latching switches. With the Road King, I use 4 outs on the GCX to do channel switching and lead boost. You should be able to switch everything on and off with it on the ENGL, provided the ENGL has individual jacks for each function.

[shannon]

The engl has midi in and thru. it also has a single trs jack for just channel switching, but not to toggle the other stuff. using the midi in is the best solution but i need to know how to hook it up the best way.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by shannon

The engl has midi in and thru. it also has a single trs jack for just channel switching, but not to toggle the other stuff. using the midi in is the best solution but i need to know how to hook it up the best way.

OK, the GMajor relay switch is also TRS. There's two options in the Global menu (IIRC) where you can choose RING OPEN, RING CLOSED, and another one for TIP OPEN, TIP CLOSED. You should be able to switch between everything with just one TRS cable

[Soopahmahn]

Axe-Fx.

[shannon]

Originally Posted by Leon

OK, the GMajor relay switch is also TRS. There's two options in the Global menu (IIRC) where you can choose RING OPEN, RING CLOSED, and another one for TIP OPEN, TIP CLOSED. You should be able to switch between everything with just one TRS cable

That takes care of channel switching but not toggling the fx loops, solo boost, lo/hi gain for each channel and the bright switch. the midi in will do that and thats why im asking about specifically midi.

[shannon]

Originally Posted by Soopstradamus

Axe-Fx.

Fuck off.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by shannon

That takes care of channel switching but not toggling the fx loops, solo boost, lo/hi gain for each channel and the bright switch. the midi in will do that and thats why im asking about specifically midi.

Right. So, you can MIDI all that other stuff with your MIDI controller, and just go through your GMajor.

...I think. I've never hooked up an Invader

[Mike]

The G-Major has MIDI thru. Since the Engl handles all its switching through MIDI, that's the best choice. BTW, unless you're going to use pedals/separate processors in loops, the GCX is useless to you. The Ground Control can handle the MIDI switching without the GCX.

Unless, of course, you need the loops, in which case you can ignore all but the first sentence.