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 Greg's rig: signal flow for the dynamic one-man orchestra 
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Post Greg's rig: signal flow for the dynamic one-man orchestra
Hi everyone, Upon seeing the photo from Saturday's AZUL release gig, Dean asked in another if I would post some details about my current rig.

In this trio, my role is very diverse, sometimes, I'm bass/guitar, sometimes I'm the orchestra, sometimes a gigantic ethno-dulcimer. Flexibility and a diversity of tones, without using MIDI triggered sounds is my goal. So lots of options for splitting and layering sounds are a must...

Here's the pic again, but with some markers to show you the individual items:

Image

1. The StepABout. This preamplifies, balances and equalizes both bass and melody signals before routing them through the A or B signal paths. The A signal path is usually used for the bass side and the B for the melody side, but they can be switched and combined in any way with the four switches on the box. Setting your basic tone before any other processing is a good idea. adding eq after other effects can add noise. Balancing the level of each side of the Stick relative to the other is important to avoid uneven levels in mono mode.

"A" PATH:

2a. SWR preamp on SM-400. With the StepABout, I mainly use this for the tube compressor, but before I had the StepABout, I used this preamp all the time. Great for the bass side of The Stick. signal is fed out into 3a.

3a. Boss SE-70 multi-effects for the A (bass) path. delay, filter, slow gear, ambient effects

4a. Behringer line mixer. This gives me a master level control for the power amp in on the SWR amp head (5a). It also gives me a way to patch out in the recording system or PA if needed.

5a. SWR SM-400 power amp. stereo or mono power for Bag End Cabinet(s).

6a. Bag End SX15-XLD (or something like that...) 15" with coax tweeter. Best cab for the sound I like, with a rear port, for big fat bass, nice mids, and spreads the sound and has a clear wide angle high-frequency response.


"B" PATH

2b. TC Fireworx. There is a little compression, plus a pitch transposer and filter I like to use on this for the B (usually melody) path.

3b. Pigtronix OFO (octave-fuzz-overdrive). The octave effect is a high octave not a low one, it's like a ring modulator sound, very cool before distortion or even by itself.

4b. Boss Metal Zone distortion. Seriously heavy distortion.

5b. Boss SE-70 multi-effects. everything from the slow gear, phaser, overdrive, pitch transposing, delay, reverb, rotary speaker.

6b. Fender Deluxe Reverb amp. great for the melody side, but don't put bass frequency note into it if possible…

Controllers:

CA1. Boss FC-50 changes patches on the A path SE-70
CA2. double switch for altering parameters with patches on the A path SE-70
CA3. EV-5 pedal controls the output level of the noise suppressor circuit on the A path SE-70
so it functions as a pre-delay volume pedal for that path (connected directly to the SE-70)

CB1. footswitch controls the filter on the TC Fireworx
CB2. Boss FC50 changes patches on the B path SE-70. CB3 and CB4 are converted to MIDI
controllers #7, #64 and #80 through this unit as well.
CB3. EV-5 pedal controls the output level of the noise suppressor circuit on the B path SE-70
so it functions as a pre-delay volume pedal for that path.
CB4. Two "latched" swathes with LEDs for altering parameters and bypassing individual effects
within the multi-effects patches on the B path SE-70.

Recording:

R1. Mac Powerbook running Logic, using an M-Audio interface with 8 inputs. stereo mics in from of the drums (AT-4050 set to omni), Direct from the trumpet effects processor, mic in front of the guitar amp and direct signal from 4a.

Enhancement:
G1, stainless steel travel mug with strong dark roast Melita cone drip. a little sugar, no cream.

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Last edited by greg on Tue Oct 01, 2013 3:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

Mon Sep 30, 2013 9:30 am
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Post Re: Greg's rig: signal flow for the dynamic one-man orchestr
:shock:
What a mess! :oops:
It's always a pain for me to just footswitch on/off one effect or patch :mrgreen:
I just can't imagine playing through your rig. Is it something you worked on at some point?

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Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:00 am
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Post Re: Greg's rig: signal flow for the dynamic one-man orchestr
S15BX-D

Is the bag end I think, the "B" indicates the larger cab and the x the coaxial

Brett


Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:21 am
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Post Re: Greg's rig: signal flow for the dynamic one-man orchestr
It looks exciting with all those pedals and cables, but when thinking about schlepping and setting it up I can't help feeling happy that I keep my stuff in-the-box. My current rig has 94 controller switches but 90 of them are sorted into 9x10 switches banks on a floor board with a scroll up/down pedal to it. Having it all accessible and spread out, like Greg's Circle, has the benefit of being able to reach everything directly without scrolling up a bank list (like I have to).

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Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:38 am
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Post Re: Greg's rig: signal flow for the dynamic one-man orchestr
:geek: :| :arrow: I have recently started to explore effects 'again' admittedly after seeing and hearing
Kevin Keith at FHA. Greg was there too but his set up was not as elaborate as this one....

Quote:
grozoeil wrote:
What a mess!


I admit that my first reaction was similar; the Zen Stick hackles on my neck bristling...

:twisted: But the looping festival is coming up and one wants to have all the tone's at one's feet right? :twisted:

Lets face it, sometimes it is worth the 'wires Hell' and speaking of "Zen" I have noticed that set up and tear down for performance or studio is an amazing psychlogical test for emotional balance...
How long does it take before one starts to swear? :oops: To know the what and where for all those wires,
and at the end of "the process" it works, yes?. That is no small feat in it's self (Elf) :|.

Thanks for posting this Greg, I plan to study it carefully...

~j~
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Last edited by JRJ on Sat Aug 05, 2017 7:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:07 am
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Post Re: Greg's rig: signal flow for the dynamic one-man orchestr
BTW, thanks for sharing with us your rig!
Do you know which effect processor John d'Earth is using?

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Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:49 am
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Post Re: Greg's rig: signal flow for the dynamic one-man orchestr
Thanks for all the colorful comments. It is admittedly a lot to set up, but as Per noted, spontaneity is the goal, so having everything laid out at my feet makes it possible to call up the various sections of this electric orchestra at a moment's notice.

I've been using essentially this same with the exception of the StepAbout, and the two distortion pedals, and the guitar amp, since about 2000. I've added and removed elements here and there, and I still program new sounds all the time, so to me it doesn't seem like a lot to set up.

Eventually I will get sick of it, I'm sure, but for now nothing sounds and feels as immediate like moving air with a largely analog system.

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Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:48 pm
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Post Re: Greg's rig: signal flow for the dynamic one-man orchestr
Thanks for the info, Greg. That "G1" thing is really high-tech!


Mon Sep 30, 2013 7:02 pm
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Post Re: Greg's rig: signal flow for the dynamic one-man orchestr
Thanks for doing this. It's neat to see what you like on each side.
I have been developing some tones for each side of my stick on my POD X3. I don't have the routing option or all the control of parameters at this time...


I am confused on one part...
Does CA3 and CB3 do the same thing? Or is it a typo and CB3 is for the B path SE-70?
I'm guessing the latter but just want to check.

Thanks Greg!

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Mon Sep 30, 2013 9:41 pm
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Post Re: Greg's rig: signal flow for the dynamic one-man orchestr
Skydiver wrote:
Thanks for doing this. It's neat to see what you like on each side.
I have been developing some tones for each side of my stick on my POD X3. I don't have the routing option or all the control of parameters at this time...


I am confused on one part...
Does CA3 and CB3 do the same thing? Or is it a typo and CB3 is for the B path SE-70?
I'm guessing the latter but just want to check.

Thanks Greg!
Hi Dean, you're welcome. And yes, you did catch a typo. fixed now..

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Tue Oct 01, 2013 3:29 am
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