Trying to figure out where to put my boost

C

Curtis Cook

Member
Hello all,

I ordered my Mastermind yesterday, and Im trying to get everything in order before it arrives. Keep in mind I'm a knuckle dragging, knob turning, kind of guitar player. Im giving up my LoopMaster bypass looper for the Mastermind, with the idea to minimize my "switch shuffle" on Sunday mornings.

Here is what I was thinking for my signal chain (keeping it as close to my current chain as possible, as Im very happy with my sound).

Keeley 4 knob comp to EP boost before the mastermind, as these are always on pedals for me. 1 POG II, 2 Morning Glory, 3 Bondi Sick As, 4 Cusack Screamer. Then use the insert point between 4 and 5 for my volume pedal. 5 Red Witch Phaser, 6 Cusack Trem. Then use the insert point between 6 and 7 for my EarthQuaker boost. Then go into my stereo stuff...7 EarthQuaker Avalanche Run, 8 Diamond Chorus, 9 Srymon Timeline, 10 Strymon BigSky. Id come out of the PBC in stereo, L to handwired AC30, R to a Morgan RCA35

Here are my questions:

1. Is it OK to put my boost in the insert point between 6/7? I like to step on it to bring lead lines to the front, and I don't want to put it in a loop because I'm never quite sure when Im going to use it. I like after OD and before delay and reverb.

2. Do any of the resident experts see anything wrong with my signal chain and how it would interact with the PBC?

3. How does it work if I only have one amp? I play a number of events over the course of the year where I can take only one amp. Currently I use a Goodwood Audio Interfacer. Im happy to continue to use it if its necessary.

4. I normally use my EP boost as a buffer at the beginning of my chain, and a JHS buffer at the end, can I eliminate the buffer at the end considering the buffers in the PCB.

Sorry I know this is a lot, and are probably very basic questions for most (Im sure Ill come up with more though) so I beg your understanding and patience in advance. Im a guy that just got my first smart phone two years ago, jumping into water over my head with both feet.
 
I'll take a stab at this. But first, congrats on getting the PBC. I suspect you'll love it.

Our signal chain is VERY close to being the same.
1. Putting your boost between loops 6/7 should be fine as long as you are not ever running your wet effects through the fx loop of an amp, at which point it might cause problems as you'd typically take the output of loop 6 to the front of the amp.

2. Are you planning to run loops 7-10 in series or parallel? The only thing I might suggest is to run your stereo effects: Chorus > delay > delay > reverb. Study the graphics in the manual on series vs. parallel routing to better understand how the PBC routes in the various scenarios. I doubt I could explain it. I have a couple of pedals in front of the PBC input (comp and volume), so that's not an issue.

3. You don't NEED the GW interface with the PBC, but it might make things like stereo to mono, or dual mono simpler. I have a similar interface from XTS that has the two stereo outs, and an fx loop send/return.

4. The buffers in the PBC are great, so you won't need the JHS at the end.

Read up on the midi implementation on the TL and BS, as the midi control of the PBC opens up a whole new world of possibilities!

Bill
 
Bill,

Thank you for the reply. I run everything (wet and dry) into the front end of both amps, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I was planning on running the stereo stuff in series (that is basically how they are now, if I understand correctly) and I couldn't be more pleased with my current sound, but thanks for the heads up. I may play around with them, Im sure more questions are to come.

The Interfacer is in then. I love the guys at GW and couldn't be happier with the products I own from them.

Do you utilize all three buffers?

The midi control of the TL and BS was one of the big reasons I purchased the PBC. I know it will be a big learning curve, but I think it will be worth it in the end.
 
You're welcome, Curtis. I just leave all three buffers on all the time. There's no harm in doing so, unless you had a vintage fuzz or something like that.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
Curtis Cook said:
The midi control of the TL and BS was one of the big reasons I purchased the PBC. I know it will be a big learning curve, but I think it will be worth it in the end.
Click to expand...

Nope....won't be hard at all. You'll be VERY surprised as to how quickly you pick that up. I have the Mobius, Timeline and BigSky and with the PBC it's easy.

I would recommend giving parallel a chance though...much cleaner sounding in my opinion, and I come from previously running series as you are. If you don't like it, so you click a few boxes and 5 minutes later, you're back in series...no wiring changes needed. Just my 2 cents...
 
Thanks, shoeless! Ill try both. My PBC should be here today. Im making the new top for my pedalboard this weekend, and beginning the process of mounting everything. Its like someone has taken your security blanket away. Ive had the same basic setup for the past four years, and no matter how much better the new thing is, its always a little scary.
 
I know what you mean!

With the PBC, you can switch from series to parallel by preset which is great if you want dirty repeats on some songs and not on others. Just be aware that "Kill Dry" on most pedals is global (but I think midi controllable on some?), and that's the only drawback.
 
boyce89976 said:
Just be aware that "Kill Dry" on most pedals is global (but I think midi controllable on some?), and that's the only drawback.
Click to expand...

Correct! But, it is NOT Midi controllable on any Strymon pedal...:( I asked them why not and didn't get any good reason, just that it wasn't available at this time. So, with the Strymon setup you're going to have to pick which way you'd like to roll, but I've been parallel for a while now and don't miss a thing...
 
boyce89976 said:
You're welcome, Curtis. I just leave all three buffers on all the time. There's no harm in doing so, unless you had a vintage fuzz or something like that.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
Click to expand...
Hi, there! New Mastermind PBC arriving this week (so excited and a little scared!) and so I am in the exact same boat at Curtis, trying to learn and layout in advance and with the almost same signal chain, many of the same boxes. However, in my situation there ARE fuzzes that were a recent development and I'm a little insecure as to what is the best location in the chain and how I should have buffering set.

I've not yet been able to get fuzz to work "with" the rest of my chain, but only when I have everything else bypassed (including my always-ons) before my Mob, TL, BS. With my pre-school understanding of buffering, I was hoping a bonus of using the mastermind would be to control where buffering does/doesn't happen in my chain and kind of force all the kids in the playground to get along.

I hope that all made sense. I was also thinking of making a new thread and saying, "Here's all my equipment. How would YOU lay it out?"

*I also was looking at an GW interfacer, but then asked for the autosum to mono mod on the PBC. Is there any advantage to still using a GW interfacer?

Thank you all. Love reading your posts
 
Tom Geris said:
Hi, there! New Mastermind PBC arriving this week (so excited and a little scared!) and so I am in the exact same boat at Curtis, trying to learn and layout in advance and with the almost same signal chain, many of the same boxes. However, in my situation there ARE fuzzes that were a recent development and I'm a little insecure as to what is the best location in the chain and how I should have buffering set.

I've not yet been able to get fuzz to work "with" the rest of my chain, but only when I have everything else bypassed (including my always-ons) before my Mob, TL, BS. With my pre-school understanding of buffering, I was hoping a bonus of using the mastermind would be to control where buffering does/doesn't happen in my chain and kind of force all the kids in the playground to get along.

I hope that all made sense. I was also thinking of making a new thread and saying, "Here's all my equipment. How would YOU lay it out?"

*I also was looking at an GW interfacer, but then asked for the autosum to mono mod on the PBC. Is there any advantage to still using a GW interfacer?

Thank you all. Love reading your posts
Click to expand...

I am certainly not an expert on fuzzes (or buffers for that matter)...but generally speaking...a fuzz has to be the VERY first thing after your guitar. So in the PBC, it would be loop 1. Fuzzes have a very low input impedance, and they rely on being first in the chain to sound right.

You can't have any buffers between the guitar and fuzz, it'll mess up that impedance. I believe on the PBC the first buffer is at the input (Ron correct me if I'm wrong) so if the fuzz is in loop 1, you'll need to turn that off for every preset where you use loop 1 (fuzz).

After that, I don't think it matters what pedals or buffers are on.
 
Tom Geris said:
Hi, there! New Mastermind PBC arriving this week (so excited and a little scared!) and so I am in the exact same boat at Curtis, trying to learn and layout in advance and with the almost same signal chain, many of the same boxes. However, in my situation there ARE fuzzes that were a recent development and I'm a little insecure as to what is the best location in the chain and how I should have buffering set.

I've not yet been able to get fuzz to work "with" the rest of my chain, but only when I have everything else bypassed (including my always-ons) before my Mob, TL, BS. With my pre-school understanding of buffering, I was hoping a bonus of using the mastermind would be to control where buffering does/doesn't happen in my chain and kind of force all the kids in the playground to get along.

I hope that all made sense. I was also thinking of making a new thread and saying, "Here's all my equipment. How would YOU lay it out?"

*I also was looking at an GW interfacer, but then asked for the autosum to mono mod on the PBC. Is there any advantage to still using a GW interfacer?

Thank you all. Love reading your posts
Click to expand...
@shoelesscraig nailed the fuzz question. Flexibility like that is one of the things that makes the PBC so great.

As for the interfacer... I would say it is still useful. My PBC has the mono mix down also, and I use a similar interfacer (by XTS) for a few reasons. If you're like me, once the PBC is wired up, it's not that easy to access the back of it for different routings:
- It gives me the ability to run stereo or mono, and to use the amp's fx loop or not.
- It puts all my I/O's in one spot at the edge of the pedalboard for easy access.

Those two alone make it worth it to me.
 
Thank you so much, guys!

I'm looking between the GW Outbox Tx and Interfacer, and it appears the Interfacer would give me a little more flexibility for similar money?

*Side note* - I just posted on another thread asking about where to get decent TRS to dual right angle cables from. Massive oversight in my research. Everything appears RadioShack-esque online and would love insider info. Thank you guys so much
 
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