Effects recommendation for Randall RM50: GMajor or Boss GT 8
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RD/Rich
Well-known member
Since you only need a tuner, delay, reverb and maybe some chorus, I would suggest getting the G-Major. It sounds great for the price and is pretty simple to set up. You'll need to buy a MIDI FS, which will add to the cost but it will be worth it for all of the flexibility you'll gain. The GT-8 is an awesome piece, but it takes a lot of tweeking and it would probably be over kill for what you want to do. I would also suggest getting a Peterson Strobostomp or Korg DTR tuner. The tuners on the GT-8 and G-Major are only OK.
joey_truelove
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With the TC Electronic legacy of delay, reverb and chorus effects I'd say it's a done deal. Those Danish guys know undistorted effects - for twisted noise you'll have to look elsewhere.
axecellent
Well-known member
I'd like to make a small correction to part of what RD/Rich posted.
You don't 'need' a MIDI controller of any kind for the G-Major. I don't have a MIDI controller for mine and everything runs smooth as silk. However, a MIDI controller will make it easier to adjust individual parameters and change patches since you won't have to scroll through menus. And if you ever intend to gig or play with other people, a MIDI controller will let you switch patches and etc without having to run to your rack all the time.
The tuner in the G-major pretty much sucks. I down tune a full step so that may play a part, but even then, when fretting an E the tuner is still pretty dodgy (with clean or distorted mods).
I use my G-Major in the parallel loop of my RM50 combo and it sounds great (I only use Rev, Chr, and Del as well). Sometimes I use the G-Major EQ, but that is rare.
Thomas
You don't 'need' a MIDI controller of any kind for the G-Major. I don't have a MIDI controller for mine and everything runs smooth as silk. However, a MIDI controller will make it easier to adjust individual parameters and change patches since you won't have to scroll through menus. And if you ever intend to gig or play with other people, a MIDI controller will let you switch patches and etc without having to run to your rack all the time.
The tuner in the G-major pretty much sucks. I down tune a full step so that may play a part, but even then, when fretting an E the tuner is still pretty dodgy (with clean or distorted mods).
I use my G-Major in the parallel loop of my RM50 combo and it sounds great (I only use Rev, Chr, and Del as well). Sometimes I use the G-Major EQ, but that is rare.
Thomas
RD/Rich
Well-known member
+1 very true...but it's like trying to make chocolate milk w/o the spoon. It can be done, but it's gonna be messy 
bduersch
Well-known member
While some of this is recap of what other folks have already said, I've owned several G-Majors and several GT8's over the years, so I feel morally obligated to weigh in...
The G-major has a solid base of effects (modulation, pitch shift, delay, reverb). In general, the quality of effects is good (the phaser is probably the most disappointing) and relatively transparent. I've never found it difficult to dial in decent sounds. To change patches on the fly during performance, you would need some sort of MIDI foot controller (perhaps you can use a standard 1/4" footswitch to do patch up/down, but I've never tried it).
The GT8 has a far wider range of effects in addition to all the amp models, although I don't find them to be as clean or transparent. Using the 4 cable method, you can put some effects in front of the amp and some in the loop. IMO this is the coolest feature of the GT8; however, if you read the manual, the GT8's loop is designed for instrument level (not line level), which is why (as Pete mentions above) you'll want to pick up the Ebtech line level shifter. Otherwise, the GT8 can suck the tone and feel out of your rig. Also, the GT8 has a great PC-based editor, which is helpful for dialing in the effects since there are so many options and parameters.
Both units have relay switching, which should allow you to change channels on the RM50 using a 1/4" cable. This is immediately useful with the Boss (since it is essentially its own foot controller) but this is where you would benefit from a separate MIDI foot controller to make the G-Major shine.
Net, I like both of them, for different reasons. So I'd say "which to choose" depends on several factors...
1) Do you want a lot of effects to play with (Boss) or just a few high quality effects (TC)?
2) Do you care about being able to have front-of-amp effects like wah, overdrive, distortion, compressor (Boss)?
3) Do you plan on adding additional rack gear in the future? If not, do you want to lug around a rack for just one piece of gear? Perhaps an all-in-one floor unit (Boss) will be easier to manage.
Hope this helps... I actually just picked up another GT8 to use with my RM50B. In the past I've had major tone suck issues with it, so I'm hoping the Ebtech box will make all the difference this time around. Plus, the GT8 has never made a lot of sense with my rack rig (if I'm already going to carry around a rack, why not use a G-Major or Lexicon unit?), but I've since stopped using FX with my M4 rig (sounds too good on its own).
Also, I kind of miss the models in it for recording scratch/demo tracks... I'm not the worlds biggest fan of modeling devices, but the ability to plug the GT8 directly into the console to throw down some quick tracks is great.
--B
The G-major has a solid base of effects (modulation, pitch shift, delay, reverb). In general, the quality of effects is good (the phaser is probably the most disappointing) and relatively transparent. I've never found it difficult to dial in decent sounds. To change patches on the fly during performance, you would need some sort of MIDI foot controller (perhaps you can use a standard 1/4" footswitch to do patch up/down, but I've never tried it).
The GT8 has a far wider range of effects in addition to all the amp models, although I don't find them to be as clean or transparent. Using the 4 cable method, you can put some effects in front of the amp and some in the loop. IMO this is the coolest feature of the GT8; however, if you read the manual, the GT8's loop is designed for instrument level (not line level), which is why (as Pete mentions above) you'll want to pick up the Ebtech line level shifter. Otherwise, the GT8 can suck the tone and feel out of your rig. Also, the GT8 has a great PC-based editor, which is helpful for dialing in the effects since there are so many options and parameters.
Both units have relay switching, which should allow you to change channels on the RM50 using a 1/4" cable. This is immediately useful with the Boss (since it is essentially its own foot controller) but this is where you would benefit from a separate MIDI foot controller to make the G-Major shine.
Net, I like both of them, for different reasons. So I'd say "which to choose" depends on several factors...
1) Do you want a lot of effects to play with (Boss) or just a few high quality effects (TC)?
2) Do you care about being able to have front-of-amp effects like wah, overdrive, distortion, compressor (Boss)?
3) Do you plan on adding additional rack gear in the future? If not, do you want to lug around a rack for just one piece of gear? Perhaps an all-in-one floor unit (Boss) will be easier to manage.
Hope this helps... I actually just picked up another GT8 to use with my RM50B. In the past I've had major tone suck issues with it, so I'm hoping the Ebtech box will make all the difference this time around. Plus, the GT8 has never made a lot of sense with my rack rig (if I'm already going to carry around a rack, why not use a G-Major or Lexicon unit?), but I've since stopped using FX with my M4 rig (sounds too good on its own).
Also, I kind of miss the models in it for recording scratch/demo tracks... I'm not the worlds biggest fan of modeling devices, but the ability to plug the GT8 directly into the console to throw down some quick tracks is great.
--B
bduersch
Well-known member
I'm not 100% positive since I'm waiting for all the gear to arrive, but based on what I've read and the setups other folks are using, I think it would be the following:
- guitar -> GT8 input
- GT8 loop send -> amp input (in theory both are instrument level, so no shift is needed)
- amp FX send -> Ebtech line level input
- Ebtech instrument level output -> GT8 loop return
- GT8 output -> amp FX return (in theory both are line leve, so no shift is needed)
Anyone able to confirm/deny this?
--B
- guitar -> GT8 input
- GT8 loop send -> amp input (in theory both are instrument level, so no shift is needed)
- amp FX send -> Ebtech line level input
- Ebtech instrument level output -> GT8 loop return
- GT8 output -> amp FX return (in theory both are line leve, so no shift is needed)
Anyone able to confirm/deny this?
--B
I just ran my GT-8 through the series loop on my Mod50 and it sounded fine. I adjusted the level on the GT-8 to about 60% or so and that seemed to do it. I tested it by setting up a "bypassed" setting on the GT-8 and then pulled and put it back in the loop until everything sounded exactly the same whether the GT-8 was in the loop or not. Worked surprisingly well. All the time based stuff sounded great in the loop and without an Ebtech
jarrett said:
That it sucked the life out of my MTS amps unless I used the Ebtech, as the loop in the RM stuff is line level and the GT8 is pedal level. Maybe there's a difference in the Eggy products, but I'm going out on a limb here and will guess that the actual loop is the same - tube driven, line level.
One way to help the issue is when you crank the channel masters, but it still doesn't sound as good in my opinion as the Ebtech.
bduersch
Well-known member
okstrat said:
Agree... I started with a GT6 and an RM100... can't remember the details, but there was something about the GT6's routing that I found limiting, so I upgraded to the GT8. Immediately I noticed that (particularly when using the 4CM) the amp lost some of its dynamic response (ie, the difference between picking gentle & hard was lost) and clean tones became more brittle (harsh high frequencies). So I sent my first GT8 back.
I still liked the idea of the GT8 and wanted to make it work, so after reading a bunch of threads on Boss GT Central about how to optimize the GT8 for 4CM, I bought a second one to use with a Rocktron Vendetta and H&K Triamp II. I also bought a Radial Dragster, which allows you to dial in a different "feel" when plugging into wireless/modeling units. After a lot of tweaking, the experience was slightly better (improved feel, less brittle), but still not up to par. So I sent the second GT8 back.
So now I'm giving the GT8 a third try... hoping the combination of the Dragster out front with the Ebtech to shift loop levels will make all the difference. The challenge is that the GT8 isn't really designed for 4CM (which is why the Ebtech box is necessary)... looks like the rackmount GT-PRO has adjustable line/instrument level switches for loops, so theoretically it should play nicer using the 4CM. But I'm trying to drop the rack, so that doesn't do me much good.
--B
That's a bummer. Could it be a cable length thing? I was using short 6 inch George L cables for my test purposes. Once I got the patch and output levels dialed in correctly, I could pull the return cable and not tell if the GT-8 was in the loop of the Mod50 or not.
bduersch
Well-known member
In my rig at the time I was trying to use 15 foot cables (basically needed enough to get from the back to the front of the stage), so that probably didn't help. I'll give it a shot with different cable lengths and see how big of a difference it makes. (Of course, shorter cables will not be really useful from a performance standpoint, so if longer cables really are sucking the tone then I'll probably be sending back my 3rd GT8)
--B
--B
Yeah I will eventually have to go to 20 footers, but I wanted to make sure it was the unit and not the cable that was giving the problem if there was one from the get go. Running multiple 20 foot cables is always a compromise, but they have to be made when playing live of course.
bduersch
Well-known member
Well, look at the bright side... 4 20-foot cables has still got to sound better than 4 wireless units. What a mess that'd be...
--B
What a mess that'd be...--B
