TC G-major questions

[7slinger]

I picked up a G-major yesterday, new, to try out with my 5150. I messed around with it for about 3 hours last night, and I'm left wondering if I had everything set up correctly. According to the manual, the input meter on the LCD display should max at about 3db, but I can't get it to read anywhere near that high. This is with the input and output knobs on the front of the G-major maxed. I have the unit set up with the mono in and out on the G-major through the effects loops on the 5150. The effects loop on the 5150 I'm guessing must be serial, because there's no mix knob or controls of any type. Are there internal settings that would be affecting this, other than individual patch levels?

I also noticed that the volume between factory presets seems to vary, greatly. I know most factory presets on units are junk, but I've never used a unit that had so much difference between them. I certainly plan on creating my own presets, but for now I was just scrolling through the factory presets. One of the presets, I actually turned the level of the preset down by 20db to get a level that was equal to just the amp without the loop engaged...seems weird.

Do you notice any difference in sound with the G-major on but bypassed? I've noticed that with the G-major on but bypassed and the effects loop engaged that there is a noticeable loss of "tone." It seems like the low end of the amp kind of gets snipped off. Running the amp straight in with nothing in the loop sounds awesome, but as soon as the loop gets called into action, tone loss. I wonder if it could be the loop? Could I just connect the send/return jacks with a short cable to check if the loop is affecting the tone itself? Would that work?

I've seen people talk about 'drykill' mode, but I think I remember that it's only for loops that are parallel? Anyway, I went through the whole manual and didn't see mention of it, so I thought I'd ask about that too

Lastly, should I only be using mono cables for my connections? I tried hooking it up with both mono cables and stereo cables, and the mono cables seemed to give me a stronger signal? Should this make any difference?

Thanks for your time and any answers you can provide.

Patrick

 

[stuh84]

First, you want mono cables, without question. You are using mono ins and outs, so you need mono ins and outs.

In terms of loss of tone, dont confuse it with a loss of volume. For some reason, the G Majors set each patch at quite a low input volume, so I always changed every single one to be exactly what I want. However if they are the same volume, and it is changing the tone...I don't know, I have mine on and when I turn the mix knob on my Engl to zero and there is a difference, but only really in volume.

For a start, I'd pull down the input and output volumes, because you are using gain from a digital unit, which, at least with the G Major, is not very pleasant.

Personally I wouldn't worry about the fact that its not hitting that signal level, I never have, all I've ever worried about is does the effects add to the sound, and does it change the tone without them engaged.

 

[Benzesp]

Factory volumes are set to -6, I found that setting it to 0 sounds a lot better and evens out the volume when bypassed. They do this so you can have a "solo boost". try setting the output volume to 0 see if it sounds better. Also Run as much input signal as you can without clipping.

 

[Austin]

hey man I had the same problem... TC put up a bulletin about it; basically the 5150's FX loop is hi-Z and not the best for the G-maj... I changed the input level like they said, and use my stage tuner as a buffer, and it works fine, but the triple rec FX loop sounds better. Here's the bullletin:

"The Peavey 5150 or 5150mkII heads have hi-z effect loop (instrument level).

The G-Major inputs (low impedance) require line level signal. The impedance mismatch results in an insufficient level of signal in the G-Major input generating a high floor noise, and/or a too high level in the return of the 5150 which could cause some distortion.

You will at least have to set the Input Range of the G-Major to Consumer and set the OutRange to i.e. 2dBu or 8dBu in order to get a satisfying result. You should perhaps try to insert another (hi-z input) unit in front of the G-Major as a "buffer"."

Answer

 

[zimbloth]

Also the reason some factory presets sound louder than others is often due to compressors. Those patches are usually meant for clean tones, to get them to sound consistent.

 

[7slinger]

hey man I had the same problem... TC put up a bulletin about it; basically the 5150's FX loop is hi-Z and not the best for the G-maj... I changed the input level like they said, and use my stage tuner as a buffer, and it works fine, but the triple rec FX loop sounds better. Here's the bullletin:

"The Peavey 5150 or 5150mkII heads have hi-z effect loop (instrument level).

The G-Major inputs (low impedance) require line level signal. The impedance mismatch results in an insufficient level of signal in the G-Major input generating a high floor noise, and/or a too high level in the return of the 5150 which could cause some distortion.

You will at least have to set the Input Range of the G-Major to Consumer and set the OutRange to i.e. 2dBu or 8dBu in order to get a satisfying result. You should perhaps try to insert another (hi-z input) unit in front of the G-Major as a "buffer"."

Answer

thanks alot for this little nugget, and thanks everybody else that's chiming in

would something like this Voodoo Lab - GCX Audio Switcher work like a "buffer" like the TC guys recommend? like having the G-major in one of the loops like this diagram? http://www.voodoolab.com/gcxdiagrams/01-Pedals_FXloop_AmpSw.pdf

 

[7 Dying Trees]

Oh, also, with the 5150, the actual channel volume controls the send of the effects loop. Basically, unfortunately, as you turn the channel volume up (as it has no dedicated overall master) you hit the g-major with more signal.

 

[7slinger]

so I messed around with settings tonight, and worked on levels. I was trying to get the 5150 to sound the same whether the effect loop with the Gmajor in it was engaged or not.

I changed to a user preset and shut off all the effects, including the gate, which from what I understand also contains the eq. I changed the Gmajor to consumer also. The front panel in/out knobs were set noon oclock for the input and 3 oclock for the output.

Internally the Gmajor was set up with the standard -6db preset level, the global in set at 0db and the global out set at -6db. It seems weird to me that they have these global menus for in/out levels, and also the knobs on the front of the unit...maybe I'm not understanding yet the difference between the two.

The amp was set up with channel 2 (red channel) pre gain 5 and post gain 1.5. When I turned the channel volume up on the amp, it did increase the input displayed on the input meter of the Gmajor, but even with the amp vol at 1.5 there seemed to be enough input, because I could hear the effects fine if I turned them on.

These settings got me pretty darned close to equal volumes between effects loop on/off. There is tonal change with the loop engaged, whether the Gmajor is on bypass or not. The low end of the signal seems to get chopped and the tone sounds brighter, more raw with the loop engaged. I still want to just put a patch cable from send/return for the effects loop to see if that causes tonal change too.

I'm wondering a bit about the tone change, if the Gmajor might be adding some gain to the tone, which would be bad I guess because it would mean the Gmajor is clipping. But my input level knob seems low enough that I shouldn't be hitting it too hard, and the "answer" from TC stated the 5150 loop doesn't send a strong enough signal in the first place. It's possible that just the low end cut with the loop engaged is making the tone seem "gainier" maybe?

Anyways, lots more tweaking to try. Are any of these settings similar at all to what you guys are using?

 

[7slinger]

cause I gotta figure out if I'm gonna keep this or not

anybody else see GC shitty new return policy? 14 days and a 15% restocking fee.

so I'm pretty much wondering if the settings I listed above are similar to anybody elses?

also wondering about the Voodoo Lab - GCX Audio Switcher , if it would work like the buffer the TC guys recommended, and just in general if anybody has used one and what they thought?

thanks