rjm effect gizmo or gcx audio switcher?

[JimmyDoomsday]

i'm leaning toward the rjm, but the price is the only thing turning me off and the thing is never available on ebay. any glaringly obvious differences that would make the gizmo a more worthwhile purchase than the gcx? while on the subject, what are the main differences between the effect gizmo and the rjm rg-16? any info is greatly appreciated!

 

[MARK1970]

Not sure about the comparison between RJM and the GCX. The difference between an effects Gizmo and RG-16 is the gizmo switches fx and the the RG-16 can change amp channels aswell as 8 loops. You can actually use it to trigger other things too. The very best thing about RJM is customer service.

 

[nevusofota]

It depends on what you want to accomplish. If you just want to turn 8 or less loops on and off then save the money and go with the GCX. I forget its in my rig. No tone suck that I can notice. It switches instantly and silently.

I use it in my rack soley to take pedals in and out of my signal path. Some GCX loops are placed in front of the amp and some in the loop. To switch the channels on my EVH I have the midi out of the GCX go to an RJM mini amp gizmo then to the amp.

 

[JimmyDoomsday]

thanks for the responses guys. yeah, i probably should have mentioned what i'm using it for lol

i'm looking to accomplish true bypass of 6-8 fx pedals and the ability to loop them through my engl head (and possibly a second amp; which would be a fender combo i use for cleans) and also use a ground control unit to switch channels on the amp - can the gcx do that? also, can the gcx be connected through two amps simultaneously like the effect gizmo? if there isn't any noticeable sound or feature differences between the rjm and the gcx, i'll likely go with the gcx.

 

[nevusofota]

thanks for the responses guys. yeah, i probably should have mentioned what i'm using it for lol

i'm looking to accomplish true bypass of 6-8 fx pedals and the ability to loop them through my engl head (and possibly a second amp; which would be a fender combo i use for cleans) and also use a ground control unit to switch channels on the amp - can the gcx do that? also, can the gcx be connected through two amps simultaneously like the effect gizmo? if there isn't any noticeable sound or feature differences between the rjm and the gcx, i'll likely go with the gcx.

The GCX itself cannot change channels on the amp. It is just a looper. However, if the amp has a midi input than you would be switching channels on the amp with your Ground Control anyway. As far as I know some Engl amps have a midi in so it depends on which amp you have.

On the question of switching different amps in and out of your signal, yes you can do this. Think of your Fender amp as a stomp box. Use one of the loops to send a signal to the Fender. When you turn that loop on your signal will leave the GCX at that loop and go to the Fender, all loops after will have no signal going through them. When you turn the loop off your signal will bypass the "Fender amp" loop and will continue on to the other loops.

 

[JimmyDoomsday]

i have the engl savage 120 and it has a midi in, but it's their stupid 'printer cable' midi in. do you know if there's a cable that can out from a ground control unit to this kind of input?

 

[mrkmas]

The RJM site doesnt have ENGL listed as a company they have custom cables for. The only way I guess to switch the amp with midi would be to buy the ENGL Z-7 midi interface. This would allow you to switch the amp using normal midi switching, and would allow you to use other midi devices such as the GCX or RJM products with it.

 

[mrkmas]

You can also setup the gcx, effects fizmo, or rg16 to switch channels on amps with 1/4" jacks, which the ENGL Savage does have. Since you need atleast 6 loops, the effects gizmo would give you 4 loops for the front of the amp, 4 loops for the effects loop, and 4 jacks to switch the amp using the 1/4" jacks.

Effects gizmo new = 700
GCX and Z-7 new = 700

Might as well go for the one that will do it all and make life easier.

 

[nevusofota]

You can also setup the gcx, effects fizmo, or rg16 to switch channels on amps with 1/4" jacks, which the ENGL Savage does have. Since you need atleast 6 loops, the effects gizmo would give you 4 loops for the front of the amp, 4 loops for the effects loop, and 4 jacks to switch the amp using the 1/4" jacks.

Effects gizmo new = 700
GCX and Z-7 new = 700

Might as well go for the one that will do it all and make life easier.

I don't think the GCX has relays to switch amp channels. It just has loops, unless the send of each loop acts as a relay and I don't believe it does.

 

[ACShreds]

You can also setup the gcx, effects fizmo, or rg16 to switch channels on amps with 1/4" jacks, which the ENGL Savage does have. Since you need atleast 6 loops, the effects gizmo would give you 4 loops for the front of the amp, 4 loops for the effects loop, and 4 jacks to switch the amp using the 1/4" jacks.

Effects gizmo new = 700
GCX and Z-7 new = 700

Might as well go for the one that will do it all and make life easier.

I don't think the GCX has relays to switch amp channels. It just has loops, unless the send of each loop acts as a relay and I don't believe it does.

yes the out of each loop acts as a relay. i use the first 4 loops of my GCX for pedals and then 3 more to do relay switching on my Mark V.

 

[nevusofota]

You can also setup the gcx, effects fizmo, or rg16 to switch channels on amps with 1/4" jacks, which the ENGL Savage does have. Since you need atleast 6 loops, the effects gizmo would give you 4 loops for the front of the amp, 4 loops for the effects loop, and 4 jacks to switch the amp using the 1/4" jacks.

Effects gizmo new = 700
GCX and Z-7 new = 700

Might as well go for the one that will do it all and make life easier.

I don't think the GCX has relays to switch amp channels. It just has loops, unless the send of each loop acts as a relay and I don't believe it does.

yes the out of each loop acts as a relay. i use the first 4 loops of my GCX for pedals and then 3 more to do relay switching on my Mark V.

Thanks for the clarification.
This info makes the GCX a very good economic choice for the OP (as long as the amp uses 1/4" relays for channel switching as someone previously here stated it does.
Also, the RJM website doesn't say the Effects Gizmo has relays for amp switching but the Rack Gizmo does. This is $800.

 

[mrkmas]

You can also setup the gcx, effects fizmo, or rg16 to switch channels on amps with 1/4" jacks, which the ENGL Savage does have. Since you need atleast 6 loops, the effects gizmo would give you 4 loops for the front of the amp, 4 loops for the effects loop, and 4 jacks to switch the amp using the 1/4" jacks.

Effects gizmo new = 700
GCX and Z-7 new = 700

Might as well go for the one that will do it all and make life easier.

I don't think the GCX has relays to switch amp channels. It just has loops, unless the send of each loop acts as a relay and I don't believe it does.

yes the out of each loop acts as a relay. i use the first 4 loops of my GCX for pedals and then 3 more to do relay switching on my Mark V.

Thanks for the clarification.
This info makes the GCX a very good economic choice for the OP (as long as the amp uses 1/4" relays for channel switching as someone previously here stated it does.
Also, the RJM website doesn't say the Effects Gizmo has relays for amp switching but the Rack Gizmo does. This is $800.

If you go to the effects gizmo page on the rjm site and then if you click on "specs" it will say
"Loops 9-12 can also double as function switches, allowing you to control amplifier channel switching"
I was under the impression they meant relay switching. I may be wrong though.

 

[nevusofota]

You can also setup the gcx, effects fizmo, or rg16 to switch channels on amps with 1/4" jacks, which the ENGL Savage does have. Since you need atleast 6 loops, the effects gizmo would give you 4 loops for the front of the amp, 4 loops for the effects loop, and 4 jacks to switch the amp using the 1/4" jacks.

Effects gizmo new = 700
GCX and Z-7 new = 700

Might as well go for the one that will do it all and make life easier.

I don't think the GCX has relays to switch amp channels. It just has loops, unless the send of each loop acts as a relay and I don't believe it does.

yes the out of each loop acts as a relay. i use the first 4 loops of my GCX for pedals and then 3 more to do relay switching on my Mark V.

Thanks for the clarification.
This info makes the GCX a very good economic choice for the OP (as long as the amp uses 1/4" relays for channel switching as someone previously here stated it does.
Also, the RJM website doesn't say the Effects Gizmo has relays for amp switching but the Rack Gizmo does. This is $800.

If you go to the effects gizmo page on the rjm site and then if you click on "specs" it will say
"Loops 9-12 can also double as function switches, allowing you to control amplifier channel switching"
I was under the impression they meant relay switching. I may be wrong though.

I think you are correct. I was looking just under the "Benefits" tab where it just said audio loops. Those 4 loops appear to be able to switch channels also.

I hope this is helping the OP and not hijacking it . I have been interested in this topic recently also.

 

[mrkmas]

You can also setup the gcx, effects fizmo, or rg16 to switch channels on amps with 1/4" jacks, which the ENGL Savage does have. Since you need atleast 6 loops, the effects gizmo would give you 4 loops for the front of the amp, 4 loops for the effects loop, and 4 jacks to switch the amp using the 1/4" jacks.

Effects gizmo new = 700
GCX and Z-7 new = 700

Might as well go for the one that will do it all and make life easier.

I don't think the GCX has relays to switch amp channels. It just has loops, unless the send of each loop acts as a relay and I don't believe it does.

yes the out of each loop acts as a relay. i use the first 4 loops of my GCX for pedals and then 3 more to do relay switching on my Mark V.

Thanks for the clarification.
This info makes the GCX a very good economic choice for the OP (as long as the amp uses 1/4" relays for channel switching as someone previously here stated it does.
Also, the RJM website doesn't say the Effects Gizmo has relays for amp switching but the Rack Gizmo does. This is $800.

If you go to the effects gizmo page on the rjm site and then if you click on "specs" it will say
"Loops 9-12 can also double as function switches, allowing you to control amplifier channel switching"
I was under the impression they meant relay switching. I may be wrong though.

I think you are correct. I was looking just under the "Benefits" tab where it just said audio loops. Those 4 loops appear to be able to switch channels also.

I hope this is helping the OP and not hijacking it . I have been interested in this topic recently also.

Haha no problem. I noticed it by chance in the specs section. They really should have it listed on the benefits tab for obvious reasons though. Such a nice feature deserves a mention there.

 

[JimmyDoomsday]

again, i should have been more specific; i have already the z-10 footswitch for the engl, but i'm looking to ditch it in favor of utilizing just a ground control unit on a floorboard to control my fx pedals and amp channel switching without having to have BOTH the ground control AND the z-10 taking up space on the board. i'm kind of an idiot when it comes to all this. i just want my shit to be neat, organized, efficient, and not tone-sucked. thanks for all the help though guys!

 

[mrkmas]

As long as the Engl has 1/4" jacks to do switching ( I looked it up, and I believe it does, but you would know better than me), the Effects gizmo will do everything you need as long as..... you dont use more than 4 pedals in front of the amp, or 4 pedals in the loop. Otherwise, the Effects gizmo would handle all of the pedals, and amp switching. Just not sure about routing it through loops to a second amp.