Mini Line Mixer Levels

[Sammy]

I have recently bought some RJM gear and its great!

I'm just trying to iron out some of the bugs in the way have set it up.

Rather than try and explain the whole set up, I have attached a PDF showing how I have patched everything in.



The rig works great. The point at which I'm running into trouble is with the Mini Line Mixer.
What I'm trying to do is run some effects groups in parallel to avoid muddying the signal when using a few effects at once.

I have arranged the 4 inputs to the mixer like this:

1. Guitar - Texas ranger - MLM
- this line is set up as a kind of boost, I really want to be pushing the front end of the amp a little more with it. When this loop is on it makes the guitar sound a little more present above the reverb which is good but makes the other effects sit too quiet in the mix. I don't want to run the ranger into the other pedals because it can make their effect too strong or muddy the signal too much and I don't want to put it at the end because it is a germanium boost so it needs my guitar to be going directly to it.

2. Guitar - Fuzz - Uni-Vibe - Octave - Delay - MLM
- The main effects chain. the OUT of the delay goes to the MLM

3. OUT 5-8 - BUFFER - IN 10, OUT 10
- end of effects chain, through buffer (also to enable TUNER OUT Function) Through loop 10 (used as a mute for silent tuning) to MLM

4. Guitar - Reverb - Boost - MLM
- Just as it looks, I have the boost after the reverb tank to bring the signal of the reveb higher in the mix than where it sits with the dry guitar sound when the other effects are off. i.e. the reverb sounds too weak without a slight boost.

I'm getting close to the sound I am trying to achieve but the way of getting there is really a bit difficult and it can be frustrating when a level is changed in one line, it affects all the others

I'm fairly new to this kind of setup and I am certainly sold on all its advantages. any suggestions or help on how to arrange my setup better would be very much appreciated

Cheers
Sam

 

[rjmmusic]

How many of those effects chains are you using at once (minimum and maximum)? It's pretty rare to see a configuration where there are gain pedals in parallel, and the level changes are probably one of the reasons.

 

[Sammy]

Hey thanks for your reply.

I usually use the effect gizmo and mastermind in IA mode.

Minimum, I would have just the reverb on and the mute loop for tuning. This is what I base my sound on which is clean to pushed, slightly dirty sound. The clean boost pedal after the reverb is only there to lift the reverb sound above the dry sound from the other loops when they are bypassed.

I use the ranger to boost the signal in the front end of the amp and get a little more drive and sustain. The way this sits above the reverb sound a little more is great as it stops the reverb sounding too washy.

Most loops I would have on at once would be 6 - Fuzz, Uni-Vibe, Octave, delay (out goes to MLM), Reverb (to MLM), and the mute loop (unmuted of course)

I like to use the ranger on or off for a few main things, off for really clean, more reverb sound, on, guitar volume full for good sustaining lead sound, on and with guitar volume down cleans up really nice and gives a more focused sound with less reverb.

Like you said, it is a bit unusual, I thought it was a bit 'different' when I set it up but running the ranger parallel to the reverb was the only way I could work out to achieve getting more front end push in the amp without over doing the reverb or having to cut it completely. To be honest I don't use the other effects a whole lot, I just like to have them there, some would be lucky to get in more than one or two songs in a 3 hour set.

I must be going about it the wrong way somewhere in there! Those issues aside, I think this gear is awesome, if I just want the sound of my guitar goin straight into my amp, I can have it, if I want dense effects, I can have that too! I can't believe I hadn't done this sooner!

 

[Sammy]

I realise I kind of missed the point of what you were saying a bit, sorry!

Minimum mixer lines I would want to be able to use would be 2, reverb an seperate boost.

I have delay to its own line ( so I can get effect trailing off if I use long delay repeats, I usually only use it as slapback or fairly short)

I would use 4 lines if I wanted the drive sound of the ranger and a delay or maybe univibe rather than fuzz.

 

[rjmmusic]

The only way I see you can make something like this work is with a MIDI controlled VCA or an effects processor with a programmable ouput level at the end of a chain. That way, you could make sure that the level is always consistent when you switch from preset to preset.