I can't believe i'm doing this.. Rack Guys... Pedal Snake.

[PapaHett]

Once again.. I've decided to keep my G-Major. This is probably the 3rd or 4th time. I really love this thing.. The only thing that doesn't make it very usable is having to disconnect it and set it up again when i get to practice or a gig. It's very impractical.. And my rig takes long enough to set up as it is. So.. I'm keeping it... BUT i'm goinna have to get a Road Case with a 4 Space rack in it.. It's really the best way i can see.

So here i am.. back at square one. I have a new amp coming tomorrow (Tiny Terror), and my gears just kinda building up.. I'm trying to get rid of a Marshall MG, Roland Cube (Need to really sell both locally), Line6 Pod XTLIVE and Samson AG1.. and when i get another bit of money together.. I'm buying a Ground Control Pro. Embarassed

I need some help in designing my rig.. I want to make it Super Clean.. Where at practice i can plug in a few wires.. and i'm ready. The rig will consist of.. Marshall JVM with a G-Major in the Loop. A Furman Power Conditioner, which will hopefully power everything in my rig. On my pedal board, I want to have a WAH, a Volume Pedal and the Ground Control Pro.. Now heres where power distribution comes into play.. I've been reading into the 'Pedal Snake', i'm not sure if i have this right.. But would i be able to plug my guitar direct into the wah, and then have it linking into the Volume pedal, then having the pedal snake bring the signal to my Case.. and could i also power the GCP, Wah, and Volume Pedal with the Pedal Snake; ie by having the DC Brick in the Rack as well as sending the Midi from the GCP to the rig? Will this work.. Or am i thinking way off here. So basically, The Midi, Power and Guitar Signal going to the Rig from the Pedal Board via the Pedal Snake?

Ideally... I'd love be able to turn up at practice with the Cab, Rack Case, and Pedal Board.. Plug in The Cab, Power the Furman, and connect the pedal board.. and work away. Possible? Or just plan stupid?

Thanks Guys.
-Conor D-

Also, shoot me an email if you're in the UK, and interested in a Samson AG1, or Line6 Pod XTLIVE.. I need to get rid of these. wecomeinpeace @gmail.com

 

[chalnger86]

Absolutely, this is possible. What you're trying to do isn't that out of the ordinary, if you ask me. Essentially, you will plug your guitar into the wah and then run your signal back to your amp. Of course your G Major is in your Amp's FX loop. So the only other connections you need to make are power connections to your wah and GCP. Also, you would need your MIDI cable from GCP to G Major. Here's where I'm a tad confused... you mentioned you wanted to use your volume pedal in the signal chain. I would think you would want to connect it to the GCP and use it as an expression pedal or a post FX volume pedal. I guess this would be totally up to you, but either way, the pedal connections will remain connected on your pedal board anyway. (BTW, what volume pedal are you using that needs power? Usually they are passive animals) So, in summary, you would need two power lines, a MIDI line and an unbalanced guitar line between your pedal board and the rack. (I guess potentially a third power line.) The Power Brick should be capable of powering your wah and GCP (and the volume pedal, if need be).

I've heard some people putting the brick on the pedal board and supplying AC to the pedal board from a nearby outlet. I would recommend against this for fear of creating ground loops from potentially using two different circuits with two different ground potentials. Plus, keeping the brick in your rack allows you to plug it into the power conditioner. I think that's your best choice.

If you wanted to make things easiest, you could get a road case that can hold your Marshall head which includes an integrated 4 space rack. This way, everything in the rack can stay connected all the time. Your only connections will be your pedal snake, the cabinet speaker cable, and the AC line. To me, that's a pretty simple and quick set-up. You could even take it a step further and fashion a rack interface panel that has all your connections on the front of the rack instead of having to crawl around the back of your rack with a MiniMag stuck between your teeth trying to plug in all your stuff. It made my life a ton easier.

I hope this helped...it's about 4:30 am where I am and i'm pretty tired, so if I haven't been very clear, let me know and I can try to do a better job.