Hi y'all...
My first post here, seems like a nice place !
After a 40+ years research (damn, this makes me feel so old...), I finally found the ultimate tone tool I always dreamed of : I just received my Fractal Axe-Ultra, with a pair of Atomic powered wedges... Now I still have a lot to learn about using that gear, but out of the box, it sounds soooooooo much better than everything I tried for all that time !
I spent a few days last month with Dweezil Zappa and Thomas Nordegg, his guitar tech (also former guitar tech to Frank Zappa, Steve Vai and many others), and I really fell in love with this machine, that I could test extensively.
But I still have a few old pedals that I want to keep in my sound (and old Electric Mistress, a Clapton Digitech, a wonderfull Solidgoldfx Funkbox, T.C. Electronics Booster, etc.), so I also got a RJM Effect Gizmo, to be able to program their use with the Axe-Ultra patches. I asked DZ and Thomas what kind of audio loops switcher they would recommend, and their immediate answer was "RJM". And Dweezil uses 2 effect gizmos in his rig; so I guess I cant be wrong with that choice.
I'm totally new to midi , so some facts that are obvious to many of you will certainly be strange to me : apologies in advance if my questions seem stupid, but there are (at least!) 2 things I dont get yet :
- I'm planning to input my guitar into the Gizmo, run loops to my pedals (and program those loops on or off with midi, not sure how yet) then out of the gizmo into the Ultra. What I am wondering is : what input should I use for the guitar ?
The front input seems obvious, but DZ's guitar goes straight into the "Input 1-4" jack : unless I'm wrong, this bypasses the buffer.
Before getting into this input, the guitar signal goes through a bunch of pedals and is splitted through an Inwards Connections Guitar Splitter to the Gizmos. Maybe this splitter does the buffer's job ?
OK, I know I can try all solutions (and I certainly will), but I just like to understand how things work when they do or dont work...
- I dont have a midi pedalboard yet : Fractal audio should release one pretty soon that should be perfect for the Axe, and I'll get one when it's available (OK, this pedal board has been announced nearly 3 years ago, but I know for sure it's going to be out before the summer ends).
In the mean time, I have a lot of work to learn how to use and program the patches on the Ultra so I dont really miss a pedalboard for the moment.
But still I'd like to start using my old pedals with the Axe and the Gizmo.
It should be possible to use the Axe to send midi info to the Gizmo, so that the program in the Gizmo changes when I change the patches in the Axe. But I have no idea yet as how to do that. Can someone point me to some tutorials where I can get the info ? I googled a lot but I guess I dont use the right keywords...
Thanks very much in advance for your help !
I'll post pictures of my rig when I have it in order...
Th. :twisted:
My first post here, seems like a nice place !
After a 40+ years research (damn, this makes me feel so old...), I finally found the ultimate tone tool I always dreamed of : I just received my Fractal Axe-Ultra, with a pair of Atomic powered wedges... Now I still have a lot to learn about using that gear, but out of the box, it sounds soooooooo much better than everything I tried for all that time !
I spent a few days last month with Dweezil Zappa and Thomas Nordegg, his guitar tech (also former guitar tech to Frank Zappa, Steve Vai and many others), and I really fell in love with this machine, that I could test extensively.
But I still have a few old pedals that I want to keep in my sound (and old Electric Mistress, a Clapton Digitech, a wonderfull Solidgoldfx Funkbox, T.C. Electronics Booster, etc.), so I also got a RJM Effect Gizmo, to be able to program their use with the Axe-Ultra patches. I asked DZ and Thomas what kind of audio loops switcher they would recommend, and their immediate answer was "RJM". And Dweezil uses 2 effect gizmos in his rig; so I guess I cant be wrong with that choice.
I'm totally new to midi
, so some facts that are obvious to many of you will certainly be strange to me : apologies in advance if my questions seem stupid, but there are (at least!) 2 things I dont get yet :- I'm planning to input my guitar into the Gizmo, run loops to my pedals (and program those loops on or off with midi, not sure how yet) then out of the gizmo into the Ultra. What I am wondering is : what input should I use for the guitar ?
The front input seems obvious, but DZ's guitar goes straight into the "Input 1-4" jack : unless I'm wrong, this bypasses the buffer.
Before getting into this input, the guitar signal goes through a bunch of pedals and is splitted through an Inwards Connections Guitar Splitter to the Gizmos. Maybe this splitter does the buffer's job ?
OK, I know I can try all solutions (and I certainly will), but I just like to understand how things work when they do or dont work...
- I dont have a midi pedalboard yet : Fractal audio should release one pretty soon that should be perfect for the Axe, and I'll get one when it's available (OK, this pedal board has been announced nearly 3 years ago, but I know for sure it's going to be out before the summer ends).
In the mean time, I have a lot of work to learn how to use and program the patches on the Ultra so I dont really miss a pedalboard for the moment.
But still I'd like to start using my old pedals with the Axe and the Gizmo.
It should be possible to use the Axe to send midi info to the Gizmo, so that the program in the Gizmo changes when I change the patches in the Axe. But I have no idea yet as how to do that. Can someone point me to some tutorials where I can get the info ? I googled a lot but I guess I dont use the right keywords...
Thanks very much in advance for your help !
I'll post pictures of my rig when I have it in order...
Th. :twisted:
