Mini Gizmo and JSX setup assistance

G

GrampaBob

Member
Hi. I recently got a mini gizmo handed to me so I bought the JSX interface cable right from RJM. I'm having a bit of trouble as I'm getting non-consistant channel changes.

I have a Boss GT-8 hooked up in 4 cable method so the effects loop must be on at all times. I have the interface cable with yellow end going into the "amp" of the gizmo and the JSX end going into the footswitch jack on the head. I have my 5 pin MIDI cable running from the OUT of the GT to the MIDI IN on the gizmo. I also have my channel on the JSX set to ULTRA because that was required for the footswitch (not sure if that matters now, but it is)

So here's what I'd like to get going and the wet patches are already set, just need the channels to line up.

bank 20-1 clean channel 1, delay, chorus
bank 20-2 dirty dry channel 2
bank 20-3 channel 3 ultra with delay
bank 20-4 channel 2 with other effects

So I follow the instructions that came with the cable holding switch 8 when plugging in until everything flashes then stays on, then press switch 3. SO then the amp in on channel1 clean with the LED on gizmo on 1 and the write is green. I wanted the FX loop on to I pressed switch 5 and wrote it, it flahed a few times and so #1 and #5 is ON.

So now I want 20-2 so go there on teh GT, then I switch to LED 2 and also LED 5...write them, got the flashes.

Same for 20-3, went on the GT to 20-3, pressed in #3 and #5 so they both lit up and wrote them both....flashed looks good.

Now here's teh problem, when I kinda randomly switch between those 3 patches, of 20 times, maybe 3 times would go to the correct channel and work perfect. The other 17 times, it would be a mix of other random channels although the LEDs looks correct as I programmed them. Somtimes I can go from 20-2 to 20-3 and it will be ultra fine, but then i got back to 20-2 and its channels 2 fine, but go back to 20-3 again and its now channel 1 and nothing has happened exect me just switching my GT patch.

Can I get some help to get thru this thnx. BTW I did watch a few videos on the net and it sure seems easy, but not the results that I expected....yes I also have the manual and have looked at it but its over my head. I have another dozen banks to program as well.
 
GrampaBob said:
I also have my channel on the JSX set to ULTRA because that was required for the footswitch (not sure if that matters now, but it is)
Click to expand...
Yes, that's still required when using the Mini Amp Gizmo with the JSX.

Now here's teh problem, when I kinda randomly switch between those 3 patches, of 20 times, maybe 3 times would go to the correct channel and work perfect. The other 17 times, it would be a mix of other random channels although the LEDs looks correct as I programmed them. Somtimes I can go from 20-2 to 20-3 and it will be ultra fine, but then i got back to 20-2 and its channels 2 fine, but go back to 20-3 again and its now channel 1 and nothing has happened exect me just switching my GT patch.
Click to expand...
Are you saying that when you choose a patch, the correct lights come on on the Mini Amp Gizmo, but the channels do not behave correctly? Or that the Amp Gizmo does not turn the right switches on? If it's the first one (and the amp responds correctly to its own footswitch), then it sounds like you've got a defective cable, so I'd send it in to get it looked at / repaired. If it's the second one, then it sounds like the MIDI program change messages are either not being transmitted by the GT-8 correctly, or they're getting scrambled somehow. That would be a more complex situation, and I'm not personally familiar with the Boss.

I also have the manual and have looked at it but its over my head.
Click to expand...
Really? The manual's one of the easiest to understand I have ever read.
 
Bank and Patch no mismatch between GT and Mini amp gizmo

\mini amp gizmo 2 banks of 128

GT 8 Bank 0 U-1.1(Program Change 1) to U13.8 (Program Change 128) , Bank 1 U11.1(Program Change 1) to U20.10 (Program change 100)

s0 for U20.2 GT8 Should be sending the following 2 midi messages

CC 0 value 1
PC 92

and for U20.3

CC0 Value 1
PC 93

If you have a midi port on you pc you could check by connecting GT8 Midi out to PC Midi in then view in midi ox or similar

Male sure the GT8 is sending bank select messages and the mini amp gizmo is configured to recognize them
 
[quote="MartinCliffeAre you saying that when you choose a patch, the correct lights come on on the Mini Amp Gizmo, but the channels do not behave correctly? Or that the Amp Gizmo does not turn the right switches on? If it's the first one (and the amp responds correctly to its own footswitch), then it sounds like you've got a defective cable, so I'd send it in to get it looked at / repaired. If it's the second one, then it sounds like the MIDI program change messages are either not being transmitted by the GT-8 correctly, or they're getting scrambled somehow. That would be a more complex situation, and I'm not personally familiar with the Boss.[/quote]

Yes the channels aren't behaving as I woulda thought. Its a brand new cable just shipped to me and I'm sure it went thru proper testing before RJM shipped it.
 
4x4uk said:
Bank and Patch no mismatch between GT and Mini amp gizmo

\mini amp gizmo 2 banks of 128

GT 8 Bank 0 U-1.1(Program Change 1) to U13.8 (Program Change 128) , Bank 1 U11.1(Program Change 1) to U20.10 (Program change 100)

s0 for U20.2 GT8 Should be sending the following 2 midi messages

CC 0 value 1
PC 92

and for U20.3

CC0 Value 1
PC 93

If you have a midi port on you pc you could check by connecting GT8 Midi out to PC Midi in then view in midi ox or similar

Male sure the GT8 is sending bank select messages and the mini amp gizmo is configured to recognize them
Click to expand...

Heh that looks like chinese to me. I have no knowledge of what MIDI is. From teh videos put out from RJM I was under teh impressions the GT-10 and 8's are ready out of the box with the gizmo like they commented in their videos.

But anyway, I only have a regular computer, no midi ports. Is there anything button-wise on teh gizmo I can do to change something? Or maybe something I can view on my LCD readout on my GT that I need to look at?
 
If it helps I have no issues re-arranging my patches somewhere else in the user banks. I just started at 20 because that where I had it, but I can copy everything down to 1-1 if need be.

I appreciate you guys reading this thread btw.
 
GrampaBob said:
Yes the channels aren't behaving as I woulda thought. Its a brand new cable just shipped to me and I'm sure it went thru proper testing before RJM shipped it.
Click to expand...
RJM are a (very) small company. They sell a lot of cables. And occasionally solder joints do come loose in shipping (this is true of any cable, not just the RJM ones, although multi-pin connectors are more prone to this because of the much smaller contact area between cable and pin). With any manufacturing process, you perform quality control checks on a sample selection of what's going out there - it's impossible to test everything. So it's perfectly possible that one has slipped through the net. The advantage is, the JSX cable is very straightforward so it would be an easy fix.
 
GrampaBob said:
If it helps I have no issues re-arranging my patches somewhere else in the user banks. I just started at 20 because that where I had it, but I can copy everything down to 1-1 if need be.

I appreciate you guys reading this thread btw.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't need to if you are only using the User patches on the GT8 where you need amp channel switching.

as the amp Gizmo can cope with 256 different patches and there are only 200 User patches in the GT8.

YOu would only have an issue trying to use the factory presets as you would be using bank numbers above those recognized by the amp gizmo and exceeding the number of presets/patches the amp gizmo can cope with ie 400.
 
Thanks to everyone for chiming in to help!

Okay, if it's the case that the Mini Amp Gizmo shows the correct channel on the front panel, but the amp is not on the correct channel, that narrows down the problem a bit.

Please try this: press preset buttons on the GT-8 until the problem appears. Let's say for example that the Mini Amp Gizmo shows channel 3 on the front panel, but the GT-8 is actually on channel 1. Don't touch the GT-8 anymore (don't even touch any cables if you can help it!), just press the Mini Amp Gizmo's 2 button, then the 3 button, then the 1 button. Does the amp switch to the correct channel each time?

Also, it would be helpful to determine if there's any pattern at all to the error. Look for situations like this: "channel 2 always comes on correctly, but presets that call up channels 1 and 3 are sometimes wrong", or "when the problem happens, the amp always ends up in channel 1 instead of the channel I programmed".

I apologize for the trouble, and we'll get it sorted out ASAP!
 
MartinCliffe said:
GrampaBob said:
Yes the channels aren't behaving as I woulda thought. Its a brand new cable just shipped to me and I'm sure it went thru proper testing before RJM shipped it.
Click to expand...
RJM are a (very) small company. They sell a lot of cables. And occasionally solder joints do come loose in shipping (this is true of any cable, not just the RJM ones, although multi-pin connectors are more prone to this because of the much smaller contact area between cable and pin). With any manufacturing process, you perform quality control checks on a sample selection of what's going out there - it's impossible to test everything. So it's perfectly possible that one has slipped through the net. The advantage is, the JSX cable is very straightforward so it would be an easy fix.
Click to expand...

Actually, our manufacturer is supposed to test each cable (we only do certain cables in-house - custom ones and cables that are sold infrequently). Doing hundreds of cables a year, sometimes things slip through the cracks, though. :oops:

(Not that I'm sure that it's the cable at fault, but hopefully we'll figure that out shortly...)
 
rjmmusic said:
Thanks to everyone for chiming in to help!

Okay, if it's the case that the Mini Amp Gizmo shows the correct channel on the front panel, but the amp is not on the correct channel, that narrows down the problem a bit.

Please try this: press preset buttons on the GT-8 until the problem appears. Let's say for example that the Mini Amp Gizmo shows channel 3 on the front panel, but the GT-8 is actually on channel 1. Don't touch the GT-8 anymore (don't even touch any cables if you can help it!), just press the Mini Amp Gizmo's 2 button, then the 3 button, then the 1 button. Does the amp switch to the correct channel each time?

Also, it would be helpful to determine if there's any pattern at all to the error. Look for situations like this: "channel 2 always comes on correctly, but presets that call up channels 1 and 3 are sometimes wrong", or "when the problem happens, the amp always ends up in channel 1 instead of the channel I programmed".

I apologize for the trouble, and we'll get it sorted out ASAP!
Click to expand...

Ok right now its a little different then yesturday. Not sure what order I turned things on but today I turned my GT on first, then amp then gizmo. I also just plugged in the gizmo without pressing any buttons during powerup (not sure if I have to everytime or if it was only needed upon first use)

So right now, the gizmo went to LED#1 on and the write button was green but it was defaulted to channel2.

so bank 3 has LED 3 and LED 5 on which gives me ch3 and FX, good
going back to bank 2 gives me LED2 and LED5, good ch2 and FX loop
now when I goto bank 1 it quickly went to ch1 then flipped irght back to ch2 right away instantly but the gizmo shows LED1 and LED5 which is correct.

Now going back to bank 2 and bank 3 it changes normally and the LEDs are still good lining up with the correct channels.

Now on bank1 I have LED1 and LED5 amp on ch2, so when I press buttons, I get ch 2 and ch3 correct, but LED1 gives me same reaction of going to clean for an instant and flipping back to ch2
 
Okay, looks like we're getting somewhere! Does it happen when you switch manually? If you're on a preset that sets the amp to channel 3, what happens when you press the 1 button on the Mini Amp Gizmo?

BTW, What are you using to power the Mini Amp Gizmo?
 
yes same thing manually.....fast flip from clean back to ch2

I have a block plug (not a universal) ac adaptor output 9v - 1.0A negative tip
input 100-240V 50/60hz 0.5A
 
Where did you buy the Mini Amp Gizmo from, and where are you located? I think we need to take a look at both the Gizmo and cable.
 
I just had a similar question from another user, and it turns out that some of his switches were in momentary mode. That would cause the symptoms you're seeing!

Please do this:
1). Power down the Mini Amp Gizmo
2). Hold the 8 button and power up the Mini Amp Gizmo. Keep holding until the lights flash and stay on steady
3). Release the 8 button, then press the 3 button

Give it a try now and see if it's fixed...
 
The channel switching on the JSX (and the whole family) is a little odd - channel 2 is the default channel, selecting channel 3 overrides channel 2, and selecting channel 1 overrides them both. If it's flicking back to channel 2, that does sound like it's working as a momentary switch rather than a latching one.
 
rjmmusic said:
I just had a similar question from another user, and it turns out that some of his switches were in momentary mode. That would cause the symptoms you're seeing!

Please do this:
1). Power down the Mini Amp Gizmo
2). Hold the 8 button and power up the Mini Amp Gizmo. Keep holding until the lights flash and stay on steady
3). Release the 8 button, then press the 3 button

Give it a try now and see if it's fixed...
Click to expand...

Very interesting. It's working fine now after doing RJM's suggestion which is all that matters. But I'm just confused because I already carried out that routine (initially) because those are just the same instructions on the paper that came with my cable. Hrmm go figure. I also powered back down and re-started things in different patches and different equipment order and still works, as well as wrote some more, so we're good.

I appreciate all the help guys. If I have any further problems, I will be back for more help =)
 
It can happen if something is leaning on one of the buttons when the Mini Amp Gizmo powers up. You'll end up in the setup mode without knowing it.

Glad to hear we found the solution!
 
Should I hold those buttons down everytime I startup the gizmo? I found it still a bit glitchy at band practice. It did work most of the time. When it went glitchy I simply unplugged it and re-plugged it back in and it worked again.

But I didnt do the button sequence everytime because I couldnt remember if it erased my saved settings when doing the 8, then 3 buttons.

Is there a way to completely clear the memory and start from scratch? Or maybe thats not necessary. Is was used on a different setup before with a different interface cable before this JSX/Boss setup.
 
Okay, please describe what it's doing and we'll see if we can figure it out. The earlier problem is an all-or-nothing deal - either it happens all the time or it doesn't. It wouldn't happen once then stop happening by itself.

Doing the setup step repeatedly won't help (but won't clear your settings either, FYI). There is a factory reset you can do, but again, it won't fix an intermittent problem.

You can tell if the settings are incorrectly set to momentary just by listening to the Mini Amp Gizmo. If it's set to latching (the correct setting), each time you press a button on the front of the Mini Amp Gizmo, you should hear one click. If it's set to momentary, you'll hear two clicks very close together. Buttons 1, 2, 3 and 5 are the ones that affect the amp, so those are the ones you need to check.
 
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