NPD: New pedalboard day! (VP Jr. content)

[darren]

My aging GT-6 setup was due for a change. I found a used G-System over on sevenstring.org, so i snapped it up. I have always loved the hardware design of these and the functionality built into them.

So here's my new setup... i still have a couple more cables to make, and then some serious patch programming, but i'm almost there.

YES! This board is 32" wide by 13" deep, and was designed to fit in a Levy's carrying bag for 49-note keyboard controllers. It's a perfect fit.

I've wanted one of these for ages, but they're about CAD$1800 new. I got this one used for less.

A pair of Ernie Ball VP Jr. (6181 25k) pedals for volume and expression control. These are seriously nice pedals. Solid, smooth, and machined out of solid blocks of aluminum.

The top may look nice, but i'm especially proud of the underside of the board. TC thoughtfully included threaded holes on the underside of the G-System, allowing it to be securely screwed down to a board (using M4 x 20mm stainless screws and finishing washers) without having to jimmy together something with brackets and/or velcro. Rubber feet keep it planted.

The threaded screws holding the feet onto the volume pedals were also removed and replaced with longer machine screws (#6-32 stainless) through to the back of the board, fastened with finishing washers.

Okay, so maybe using George L's cable for wires that won't have signal going through them is overkill, but they're compact and tidy, i have a few extra feet of it, and it allowed me to make these cables exactly to length very quickly.

The cables are attached to the board using nylon cable ties. They are attached to a pair of Y-adapters under the G-System's control board.

The G-System's control board connects to the "brain" via a regular CAT5 (Ethernet) cable. It has locking jacks, so i spent a bit more and got a 25-foot ruggedized cable with these locking Neutrik ends on it.

Here's the rack-in-progress. The 4U SKB shallow rack (XRACK-4) contains a power conditioner, the G-System brain, then a 2U rack shelf with a self-made magnetic/piezo input splitter box (soon to be replaced with a new version with a locking Neutrik jack), Decimator, Tube Screamer, Octave Fuzz and my Acoustic DI. My laptop is sitting up top for programming patches.

I should have it wrapped up and fully functional in the next couple of days.

 

[ScoobySteve]

Very cool board. I use a similar set jup (kind of) but I have the VP JR, and the EB Wah as well.

How exactly are you using the VP JR as an expression pedal for the G - System may I ask? I only inquire cause I use the Nova System, and was curious if the method was compatible.

 

[bkrumme]

Steve, you gotta use a Y cable into the TRS volume/expression jack. Then calibrate the pedal and you should be set.

 

[bkrumme]

Oh and Darren, if you want any advice on the G-System let me know. I've been using one for close to 4 years now. It's the only part of my rig that hasn't changed in that amount of time.

Depending on the amp you're using it might be a chore to get all of the levels right. So if you haven't already, go cruise the TC Electronic forum and look for a guy named Laird Williams. He put together a white paper on G-System amp integration which is rock solid and saved me a TON of trouble.

 

[73h Nils]

You're still selling that JP7, though?! D:

 

[darren]

Oh and Darren, if you want any advice on the G-System let me know. I've been using one for close to 4 years now. It's the only part of my rig that hasn't changed in that amount of time.

Depending on the amp you're using it might be a chore to get all of the levels right. So if you haven't already, go cruise the TC Electronic forum and look for a guy named Laird Williams. He put together a white paper on G-System amp integration which is rock solid and saved me a TON of trouble.

Been there, and done that! Laird's white paper was immensely helpful. I may have to get my F-30 modded, though... i think there's still a bit of leakage on the effects loop (i've already done the simple mod to convert the parallel effects loop to serial, but it's not 100% serial). This is resulting in what appears to be a bit of phasing, but i'll have to delve deeper into the programming and play the rig at volume to see if it's really an issue.

 

[Smellybum]

Behinf every great tone is a macbook! - just kidding nice setup.

 

[Oh3AreSicks]

That is an insanely clean setup!! Quite jealous. lol Congrats on the G-System. I've been wanting to try one out for a while.

 

[bkrumme]

Been there, and done that! Laird's white paper was immensely helpful. I may have to get my F-30 modded, though... i think there's still a bit of leakage on the effects loop (i've already done the simple mod to convert the parallel effects loop to serial, but it's not 100% serial). This is resulting in what appears to be a bit of phasing, but i'll have to delve deeper into the programming and play the rig at volume to see if it's really an issue.

I have the same issue with my Bogner Uberschall which has a series loop. It bleeds like none other, but I don't notice any phasing at higher volumes.

I'm hoping the Mark V won't have that issue...but I'm not counting on it.

 

[ScoobySteve]

If you don't mind me butting in Brad, but why what would be the benefit of modding to Series from Parallel with an FX processor?

 

[Music Man]

Very nice! T.C. makes great sounding stuff and the VP Juniors are so smooth. Best volume pedals I have ever used.

 

[mb99zz]

Great looking setup.

 

[bkrumme]

If you don't mind me butting in Brad, but why what would be the benefit of modding to Series from Parallel with an FX processor?

I think you've got it backwards, Steve. You want to mod from parallel to series. In a parallel loop you will get frequency (phase) cancellations with digital effects. This is because there is almost always some kind of tone modification, and because digital units, by nature, delay the signal passing through them.

Since there is a delay and tone coloration, the signals on the wet and dry sides of a parallel loop don't match up which causes phase cancellations. With effects on in the wet side of the loop, you would notice frequent drops in volume, thin tone, and other phenomenon.

 

[ScoobySteve]

I think you've got it backwards, Steve. You want to mod from parallel to series. In a parallel loop you will get frequency (phase) cancellations with digital effects. This is because there is almost always some kind of tone modification, and because digital units, by nature, delay the signal passing through them.

Since there is a delay and tone coloration, the signals on the wet and dry sides of a parallel loop don't match up which causes phase cancellations. With effects on in the wet side of the loop, you would notice frequent drops in volume, thin tone, and other phenomenon.

No, I wrote it correctly, just read what I wrote, again carefully, sorry.

This concerns me because I was thinking of a Suhr Minimixer to change my series loop to parallel so I can use a VP to blend in my FX from my Nova System. (Mentioned in the Morse thread I started.)

I'm such a newbie when it comes to tech stuff. Should I be worried?

 

[bkrumme]

No, I wrote it correctly, just read what I wrote, again carefully, sorry.

This concerns me because I was thinking of a Suhr Minimixer to change my series loop to parallel so I can use a VP to blend in my FX from my Nova System. (Mentioned in the Morse thread I started.)

I'm such a newbie when it comes to tech stuff. Should I be worried?

I saw the Morse post. There is a reason he splits his FX send and uses multiple amps. That's so he doesn't have to deal with phase/frequency cancellation. The signals are completely separate at that point and the blending work is done by his sound tech at the FoH mixing board.

I wouldn't worry. You can still achieve what you're looking to do, and the mixer is the key here. With the mixer, you will have more control over the blending of the wet and dry signals. Also, depending on what mixer you use, there may be some phase-alignment function included.

It's not going to sound exactly like Steve Morse, but it won't sound bad.

 

[darren]

To use digital effects successfully in a parallel effects loop, your processor needs to have a "dry kill" allowing you to blend a 100% wet signal (with none of the original signal coming through the effects loop). I'm not sure if the Nova System has a dry kill.

 

[darren]

I have the same issue with my Bogner Uberschall which has a series loop. It bleeds like none other, but I don't notice any phasing at higher volumes.

I'm hoping the Mark V won't have that issue...but I'm not counting on it.

Yeah, when i first plugged in and got it running, i didn't notice the phasing or drop-outs at all, as i was running my rig pretty loud. It was only when i was doing some tweaking later at night with the volume down that i started hearing volume and tone fluctuations. So hopefully higher volume will conquer the phase issues.

 

[ScoobySteve]

To use digital effects successfully in a parallel effects loop, your processor needs to have a "dry kill" allowing you to blend a 100% wet signal (with none of the original signal coming through the effects loop). I'm not sure if the Nova System has a dry kill.

I'm not sure either. I'm such a tech n00b.

 

[bkrumme]

To use digital effects successfully in a parallel effects loop, your processor needs to have a "dry kill" allowing you to blend a 100% wet signal (with none of the original signal coming through the effects loop). I'm not sure if the Nova System has a dry kill.

The dry kill would have to be on the amp's FX loop, otherwise you would still have dry signal passing through the amp's internals. A dry kill on the processor wouldn't change that. It would only change the internal mix in the processor, basically setting all of the FX mix parameters to 100% wet.

I'm not sure either. I'm such a tech n00b.

The Nova System doesn't have a kill dry.

 

[darren]

The dry kill would have to be on the amp's FX loop, otherwise you would still have dry signal passing through the amp's internals. A dry kill on the processor wouldn't change that. It would only change the internal mix in the processor, basically setting all of the FX mix parameters to 100% wet.

A "kill dry" does stop any phase-delayed dry signal from getting mixed with the amp's own dry signal path.

The TC G-Major (and G-Major II) have a "kill dry" that many people use successfully with Mesa amps that have parallel effects loops.