Cancelled NGD, new rack stuff instead

[mr coffee]

Sometimes one has to decide what one wants and what one needs. I want a new axe, I really do. But I need to get my rig under control. I've got some things in the works, might well be able to swing the guitar I want soon enough anyway.

So anyway I took my Iron Label 8foff of layaway and put the bulk of the funds toward a Korg Pitchblack Pro rack tuner, a rack shelf and a Voodoo Lab Control Switcher. My old Sabine doesn't even register my low F#, the remote mute jack is wonky and it's hard to read from across the stage. The switcher is all about eliminating the tap dancing so I can focus on playing. I'd like something that does SysEx dumps, which I don't believe the CS does, but I only need about half a dozen patches anyway. This means reprogramming my DSP128+, but that should be a simple matter of copying patches around...

-m

 

[op1e]

I hear ya. I wanna get the Patchmate Loop 8 rack. Its supposedly more midi friendly and I want it to work with my 1101 and add some real drive pedals and get my gate outta my clean channel.

 

[mr coffee]

That's not a bad idea - my clean channel isn't even close to as noisy as my dirty channel, the gate is practically unnecessary. I'm not using any in-between tones right now, but I think if I ever go back to needing that kind of versatility I might look into the Nova Drive.

My stuff should arrive tomorrow; next step is buying a stack of TRS connectors and cutting up a mic cable so I can run balanced connections as much as possible.

-m

 

[mr coffee]

Got my order yesterday. Pitchblack Pro and Control Switcher ready to go:

I modded my ART X-12 controller to take phantom power over MIDI, a feature it should have come with. Simply run jumper wires from pins 1 & 3 to the legs of the barrel jack:

Powered up:

Everything racked, cabled and programmed!

It's really nice not to have to tap dance now, and to only have a single cable onstage, even though all I had at this point was the X-12 controlling my DSP128+ and a one button channel switch. I also used one relay of the Control Switcher for the mute on the tuner for more convenient muting when tuning or switching guitars. I didn't need the new shelf, as the tuner is so compact that I was able to zip-tie a power supply to the bottom of my existing shelf.

-m

 

[op1e]

Nice. I have the X-11 but its just around for a backup. I actually used a 9v clip wired to a broken DM-5 power supply cable running into it for power. Worked fine. I plan on putting that G Major up this weekend so I can order the Patchmate now that its up on Zzounds.

 

[mr coffee]

The X-11 was sooooooo ugly though, I never understood ART's obsession with cheesy pink graphics. LOL!!! I thought about Patchmate and GCX type stuff for a long time, but just can't justify it with my current rig. How much you think you'll ask for the G?

About the only thing I feel like I'm missing is a good chorus, I still kick myself often for letting go of all the Rockman stuff I had. The DSP128+ is good for delays and okay for reverbs, but the chorus is just wimpy, I want something liquid like my old CE-2. I'm thinking maybe one of these Boss RCE-10 half rack boxes that have been popping up cheap lately...

-m

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

Nice. Totally agree about tap dancing and one button patch changes, along with minimal cables on stage. Both very important to me, makes gigging so much better. I have the pitchblack pro too...nothing bad to say about it. Well, itd be nice if it powered up automatically when i turned on my rack. If you figure out that mod let me know!

 

[mr coffee]

Yeah, I noticed that. It forgets everything about it's state when it powers off. Minor niggle.

I know the Control Switcher can get firmware over MIDI, I wonder if it can do SysEx dumps. There's nothing documented, but...that would be great, I'd love to be able to restore my DSP and Switcher in the event of a crash. Admittedly I could reprogram the handful of patches I use pretty quickly in a pinch.

-m

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I used to have an original DSP 128, nice delays & verbs indeed.
I toured with a DSP256XL for about 7 years along with an ISP33B, and I tended to use the chorus and wah that was built into my ADA MP-2.

That's some gear I miss, nice to see some of the older things still in use.

 

[op1e]

The X-11 was sooooooo ugly though, I never understood ART's obsession with cheesy pink graphics. LOL!!! I thought about Patchmate and GCX type stuff for a long time, but just can't justify it with my current rig. How much you think you'll ask for the G?

About the only thing I feel like I'm missing is a good chorus, I still kick myself often for letting go of all the Rockman stuff I had. The DSP128+ is good for delays and okay for reverbs, but the chorus is just wimpy, I want something liquid like my old CE-2. I'm thinking maybe one of these Boss RCE-10 half rack boxes that have been popping up cheap lately...

-m

I just posted it here for 200. I'd ask less, but this thing is minty and its what I paid 3 months ago with shipping and all. I just ordered the Patchmate. Got Zzounds down from 449 - 288 to beat the GC price. Finally I can use the Bad Monkey just in front of the red channel, then my Crunch Box clone in front of the blue channel, plus the pesky gate on the clean channel gone. My 1101 is getting phased out more and more.

 

[op1e]

And as for the X-11, ya gotta remember it was the (post) 80's lol.