lordriffenstein
New member
A couple of months ago, I got in contact with the guys from MarkL in Poland. We started discussing rack-gear and mailing back and forth about their looper systems etc. At first I was only looking at getting their looper but we kept talking and I was very impressed with their way of doing business and their thoughts on racks/rigs.
Instead of just ordering a looper/switcher from them, I decided to make more changes to my rack and I ordered their midicontroller and power station. When they heard that we would be having another ampfest at my place in early June, they decided to make a big road trip and join us. They ended up driving 14-15 hours to get to Belgium, that’s called dedication!!! They also worked their ass off to get the stuff I ordered ready and shipped to me in time for the ampfest so we could check it out and test it.
After the ampfest, I rewired my rack and installed both the LS16 looper/switcher as the Power station. I put everything on the pedalboard and was ready to roll. I have since used it for a couple of rehearsals and gigs and am pretty amazed about the quality.
The FC-25 midi controller has 6 presets and 12 IAs with a nice display and some additional features. It comes with an intuitive software that works via USB and is simple but works perfect. Using the software, you can use extra IAs (that you would get with the expanders) as virtual IAs which is a nice feature. The build quality of the board is spot on, good switches, clear display, bright LEDs. It has 2 ports for controllers and has 2 9v outputs to power wah/tuner/etc.
The LS16 looper/switcher is also a rack interface. It has 10 loops that are split in 2 groups of 6 and 4 but can also be used in stereo by combining certain sends/returns. It has a locking audio and xlr connector on the front panel for the snake that runs to the board. The xlr has midi but also power for the board. The LS16 also has 6 switches to change amp channels etc. The 2 groups of loops are separated so you can have both pedals before the amp and units in the loop without issues. The LS16 has a great buffer and is totally noiseless, no popping or clicking when switching loops in/out. When I switched out the GCX for the LS16, the difference was pretty stunning, the LS16 sounds way better than the GCX. They are working on a FULLY buffered version of the LS16 so I am very curious to hear that one as well.
The PowerStation is probably the least sexy part of this set but a vital part. Basically, you get a custom build power supply that has 220v, 9v AC and 9v DC outputs for a great price. I haven’t completely rewired the rack, so I’m not yet using the 9v DC outputs but I will be using them soon.
The pedalboard has the FC25 and a breakout box from MarkL. I installed my Silvermachine wah and TurboTuner (power from the controller) and an EB Jr for CC control and everything works just fine.
After I added the LS16 and powerstation to my rack and made some wiring changes, I was amazed at the tone and lack of any bad noises, which again proved that these guys know what they are doing. I’m looking forward to gigging with this setup even more than before. I had been using the rack for 2.5 years without making any changes and I was hesitant of messing with it but I am glad I did because it just got even better than before. At my last gig, our sound-engineer (who had no idea I changed something) came up to me and told me my rig sounded killer, better than ever which gave me a HUGE smile.
More info on the MarkL stuff: http://www.marklcustom.com/
Instead of just ordering a looper/switcher from them, I decided to make more changes to my rack and I ordered their midicontroller and power station. When they heard that we would be having another ampfest at my place in early June, they decided to make a big road trip and join us. They ended up driving 14-15 hours to get to Belgium, that’s called dedication!!! They also worked their ass off to get the stuff I ordered ready and shipped to me in time for the ampfest so we could check it out and test it.
After the ampfest, I rewired my rack and installed both the LS16 looper/switcher as the Power station. I put everything on the pedalboard and was ready to roll. I have since used it for a couple of rehearsals and gigs and am pretty amazed about the quality.
The FC-25 midi controller has 6 presets and 12 IAs with a nice display and some additional features. It comes with an intuitive software that works via USB and is simple but works perfect. Using the software, you can use extra IAs (that you would get with the expanders) as virtual IAs which is a nice feature. The build quality of the board is spot on, good switches, clear display, bright LEDs. It has 2 ports for controllers and has 2 9v outputs to power wah/tuner/etc.
The LS16 looper/switcher is also a rack interface. It has 10 loops that are split in 2 groups of 6 and 4 but can also be used in stereo by combining certain sends/returns. It has a locking audio and xlr connector on the front panel for the snake that runs to the board. The xlr has midi but also power for the board. The LS16 also has 6 switches to change amp channels etc. The 2 groups of loops are separated so you can have both pedals before the amp and units in the loop without issues. The LS16 has a great buffer and is totally noiseless, no popping or clicking when switching loops in/out. When I switched out the GCX for the LS16, the difference was pretty stunning, the LS16 sounds way better than the GCX. They are working on a FULLY buffered version of the LS16 so I am very curious to hear that one as well.
The PowerStation is probably the least sexy part of this set but a vital part. Basically, you get a custom build power supply that has 220v, 9v AC and 9v DC outputs for a great price. I haven’t completely rewired the rack, so I’m not yet using the 9v DC outputs but I will be using them soon.
The pedalboard has the FC25 and a breakout box from MarkL. I installed my Silvermachine wah and TurboTuner (power from the controller) and an EB Jr for CC control and everything works just fine.
After I added the LS16 and powerstation to my rack and made some wiring changes, I was amazed at the tone and lack of any bad noises, which again proved that these guys know what they are doing. I’m looking forward to gigging with this setup even more than before. I had been using the rack for 2.5 years without making any changes and I was hesitant of messing with it but I am glad I did because it just got even better than before. At my last gig, our sound-engineer (who had no idea I changed something) came up to me and told me my rig sounded killer, better than ever which gave me a HUGE smile.
More info on the MarkL stuff: http://www.marklcustom.com/
