Juggernaut cost me two nights sleep!

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eecamichael

Active member
After watching the progress of building his new rack, I got the itch to combine my MK IV combo / G major and Triaxis / Intellifex separate setups. Here are the results.

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I let my neighbor's son borrow the ART and my Ibanez RG 550, and got them back this weekend after about 1 year. For as old as the SGX is, there is something about that piece...

The Roland D-110 is the sounds for the Step Pedals, Midi Pro switches the Mesa High Gain Amp Switcher and Mark IV, and the 4 A/B switches change between electric and piezo on my Parker Fly. GCX switches in and out the compressor and gate(arriving Tuesday), G Major, Intellifex, and deep and modern on the 2:90.

I have to thank him, as it sounds AMAZING, and I love the flexibility. The MK IV sounds SO much better from the 4x12 than the 1x12.
 
It was actually pretty funny - My wife wasn't pleased, and my seven year old kept coming in asking if he could test it!

My garage floor had cables all over it, and I kept thinking about routing and re-routing. I am very pleased with the results, and it is cool to get back to the big rack.
 
Yea, I keep wondering if I'm gonna have to purchase a GCX for switching, because I keep finding all the preamps for cheap.... :D

Hell I'm probably gonna have to get a seperate rack for storage. :LOL: :LOL:
 
I love the GCX, but the Mesa High Gain Amp Switcher is great. I was having issues with ground loops with the GCX, to the point where I gave up this rack project more than once.
 
hmmm.... I may have to look into it a little deeper. I think for now the way I'm gonna run it is:

2 Preamps, ADA 3TM and Egnater M4 one on each side of the VHT and the G-Major. then use my HBE A/B/C to switch which ever one I want on or off, or both on.....

That is until I figure out EXACTLY what I need/want this rig to do.

But the thing is starting to take shape.

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:D
 
That is going to be a sweet setup. I look forward to seeing the completed version. Love the ADAs. There won't be much you can't do with that rack!
 
I'm hoping so, Between the 3TM and the M4 there should be some AWESOME tone in my future. :D

Someday I may upgrade the G-major with something else, (G-force, eclipse??) but only if I do get to experimanting more with effects, if not, the Major should be more than enough.

My main thing is tones, I'm BAD about wanting different tones from day to day, so the rack set-up should be able to curb that need I have to swap rigs ever month. :D
 
eecamichael":19xrferw said:
I love the GCX, but the Mesa High Gain Amp Switcher is great. I was having issues with ground loops with the GCX, to the point where I gave up this rack project more than once.
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Hey... I've just put 2gether what is like the 9th incarnation of what I want for live use :LOL: :LOL: , KISS principle, since I'm basically burnt on building racks..... the iv to the rack to gcx/gcpro.... portable, easy to deal with in the event of failure, and MORE than enuff for the covers i'm looking to play out with (photo included) But more than once recently Ive thought of incorporating my 2:90 back to the rig and keep a useful preamp to cover the mark iv, more than anything else, as a backup, cause frankly I've NEVER gotten the tone out of the 2:90/preamp that i do from the Iv.... I ask this as I'm kinda comfortable an set but I wanna know what limitations you found in the GCX... ground loops? Please Xplain.. :)
 

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My IV is a widebody 1x12 combo, and sounds great on its own, but when I slave out of that back into the switcher and to the 2:90 out the 4x12, it sounds huge (the 1x12 is still on, as the MKIV needs a load).

With the GCX, I would route the guitar in the front panel, using #1 as the Triaxis, and #2 as the MKIV, then through effects to the 2:90. Pretty simple setup, and from what I can tell from the GCX site, it should work just fine. The hum I got was just annoying.

I think with any rack setup, you end up taking it apart and putting back together time after time because you think "I wonder if I can...?".

Needless to say, I swapped cables, and tried to isolate the problem many times, but finally gave up. In the end, it worked out well for me, as I have the GCX switching enough other stuff, and have no issues with hum or noise.

Check out some of Petrucci's old racks - I always wondered why he used the Mesa amp switcher AND a GCX or Midi Matrix.
 
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