The Mighty 6-Space Rack
Coming out of this rack is a tangle of wires. One set is for the mixer, the other for the pedalboard, I split these up then bound them together with split tubing from (again) Home Depot, which is about 1" wide, and cost maybe $3. I know online music retailers sell that stuff for a lot more, but just get it at Home Depot. It looks great, and now only 2 big snakes come out of the rack. Much neater than individual wires, and much easier to set up.
Behringer FCB1010 Midi Pedal
This is my pedalboard- what I see when I look down. The Behringer FCB-1010 is my midi controller (detailed notes below), and above that is the standard controller for my Echoplex.
This controls the rack. The top row of buttons controls the Echoplex, and the bottom row selects sounds for the synth as well as the different guitar sounds. One of the expression pedals controls the volume of the synth, and the other controls the feedback level on the Echoplex. Feedback is the rate in which the old loop decays as you either add new material or play over the loop. This is the one control all loopers should have but somehow do not.
The Behringer FCB-1010 Midi Pedal is a great pedal for the money. If you need some basic program changes, and a few CCs, this rocks. This UnOfficial firmware was developed with no help from Behringer (surprise), but by members of the FCB1010 Yahoo Group . Behringer repeatedly said they couldn't add any functions to this pedal. There is simply no way. Well, the designers are wrong. I really hate that they dropped the ball on this. It is great when the users take charge. Congrats to not only the firmware, but the software editor that supports it. This pedal is about the only thing from this company I would recommend. Fairly useless without the firmware and software editors, it is absolutely wonderful when upgraded with what should have been there in the first place.
Roland GT-Pro
This replaced my GP-100, and provides me with better tone, more options, and hours of delightful tweaking. The only things I miss is the GP-100's panable and reversible harmonies. But the connectivity and sound of this thing more than makes up for it.
Oberheim Echoplex Digital Pro
This is my favorite toy of all. Essentially, the Echoplex records sound as you play it, and after recording it, it repeats it over and over, until you tell it to fade out, or stop altogether. Now while it is playing back, you can overdub on the loop as much as you want. Instead of just a jamming tool, it is more suited to improvisers that are into changing the loop after it is recorded. I patch my Echoplex into my Mackie 1202vlz's AUX 1 send, so I can rout either straight guitar or guitar synth (or anything else plugged into the mixer) directly to it.
Boss VF-1 Effects Processor
I use this to provide compression and reverb for the piezo pickups as well as for acoustic guitar recording, since it has a digital out on it. It is a nice sounding effects unit, although probably overkill for what I use it for.
Roland XV-5050
I bought this to replace my 8 year old (archaic in keyboard years) Roland M-GS64. This one comes with 8 times more memory for samples than my old synth, and is expandable with 2 SRX expansion cards. While my old synth had about 5 parameters to tweak per sound, the XV has about 300 more The old synth had some good samples, particularly string, choir and basses. The XV has those too, and a whole lot more. By freeing myself from the GM sound set (and variations), it leaves open the possibility to create very dense, expansive sounds. The XV series can use stereo tones (4 per sound) and can import patches from the JV line. I used to have a JV-1010, and all the programming I did for that was transferable to the XV-5050. My basic programming starts with a sound that is close to what I want, and then I modify it.
The XV-5050 also has a great effects section, which it borrows from the Boss VF-1.
I use the XV-5050 mostly in performance mode, as I use another midi channel to trigger bass notes with my feet with my Behringer FCB1010. In performance mode, you have to share effects across patches, but I don't generally get too wild with those- I reserve wacko effects for my straight guitar signal.
The XV-5050 has some great orchestral sounds, pads, basses (including a great Stick), and pulsating sounds. Such a huge update compared to my old synth. It also imports Roland JV patches, which is great because I have collected several thousand online which I am still going through.
The XV series comes with a USB port and a great software editor. All gear that requires programming should come with these- I am hooked. I record with the digital output on the back. I never use it for sequencing, but record the actual audio of what I play.
In conjunction with my GI-10, the XV-5050 tracks very well. Even very fast passages fly by with no problems. Listening to my old synth, it is amazing how far advanced this one is. My M-GS64 was recently sold on Ebay, but lives on in the many recordings I have done with it.
Roland GI-10
The guitar cannot be plugged directly into a synth. In order to play the synth’s sounds, the guitar signal must be converted to midi information so the synth can understand. The Roland GI-10 is a half-rack spaced unit that takes the audio information from my RMC pickups (or my spare Yamaha G1d pickup) mounted on the guitar and converts it to midi. You then connect the midi ‘out’ of the GI-10 to the midi ‘in’ of your favorite synth or connect to the computer for softsynths.
I set mine with a bend range of 0, unless there is a part that I need specifically to bend- otherwise, with 6 strings, it is VERY easy to have string sounds that are way out of tune, due to unwanted bend messages being sent. I connect a volume pedal to the GI-10, for controlling volume of the synth’s sounds, and a Roland FS-5U unlatched pedal to act as a sustain pedal for the synth.
Right now, I only control 1 midi channel with all 6 strings of the guitar. This allows me to quickly switch between sounds, as opposed to using 1 midi channel for each string (6 channels). This allows me to change settings on each sound quickly, without having to do it on all 6 channels. I have not noticed any problems doing it this way, and I can’t think of musically useful instances where I would want a different sound on each string anyway- to me this always sounds very unnatural, like a bad keyboardist is playing.
A Note About Guitar Synthesizer Playing:
A Guitar synth is not a guitar. Therefore, it cannot be played like one. Techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs, strumming, tapping, most bends, and yes, finger picking usually sound terrible using a guitar synth. It usually winds up ‘sounding’ like a guitar player, or at best, a really awful keyboardist. I approach guitar synth playing totally different from straight guitar. I try to mimic the techniques the instruments use that I am trying to emulate. Learn the range of a clarinet, the expressiveness of an oboe, the attack of a piano and the way a harp glisses. It does take a lot of listening to other instruments- not just the notes, but the way the instrument is played. This will ensure accurate reproductions of the sampled instruments. Once these techniques are mastered, then it is fun to mix in a few ‘guitarisms’ in there.
Technique is very important. I pick every note, and this remains the best way to ensure accurate tracking of the synth. Sloppy playing translates overtly well to guitar synth, so it is important that your playing technique is pretty good.
When using a guitar synth, a volume pedal is almost mandatory to ‘swell in’ sounds like strings and horns. I tend to lean toward chordal work with the synth and leave the solos to the straight guitar sound. I do this simply because I like the way the guitar sounds for solos- that’s why I started playing guitar to begin with! Still, I do quite a bit of synth soloing too, mostly with instruments like trumpet, vibes, piano and recorder, many times doubling a guitar sound.
Mackie 1202-VLZ
This sits on top of the rack and I plug my whole setup into it. What a great sounding mixer! I don't think I will ever sell it, as it sounds too good.
This is the way I was using it (here is the tricky part!):
- Guitar preamp into channels 5 & 6 (stereo)
- The guitar synth goes into channels 7 & 8 (stereo)
- The Echoplex’ input goes into Aux Send 1- anything plugged into the mixer can be sent to the Echoplex. Aux Send 1 is set to pre-fader, this allows me to have a constant level going into the Echoplex, no matter where that channel’s fader knob is set. Having Aux Send 1 pre-fader makes it so I don’t overdrive the Echoplex’ input, it also makes it easier for me to make sure the volume between live playing and the loops remain exactly the same, making it difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. The Echoplex’ output goes into Aux Return 1.
- The Piezo output of my guitar goes in channel 4, to take advantage of the mic preamp.
- Channel 9 gets a separate signal from my XV-5050 for the the bass notes triggered by the midi foot controller.
- Channels 1, 2, 3, 11 & 12 are free, and can be used by any other musicians I play with.