G-Major 2 not playing nice with my serial loop in LB100

[Kapo_Polenton]

Gents, anyone else experience any issues with the TC stuff in their RM100's?? Mine adds noise, there is a noticable volume cut, and the tone is altered slightly giving it a bit of a boost. Is my effects loop done or could this be related to loop tubes?? Any assistance would be appreciated. It just isn't cutting it right now. All I'm looking for is delay, bit of chorus, and maybe a touch of verb.

Just to note that I have played with the consumer-pro settings and it changes very little..if anything "consumer" adds gain.

 

[rblyn]

You are better off running that in the parelell loop, espeically for the delay and chorus effects. Anything you run the the serial loop is like running in front of your amp so it will effect your base tone big time...

 

[m0jo]

Anything you run the the serial loop is like running in front of your amp so it will effect your base tone big time...

What?
No it is running after the preamp, but all signal is going through it.

So it depends fully on the transparency of the effects unit. The G-Major2 should be pretty transparent.
Sticking it in the parallel loop will help, but it will kill a lot of the versatility and effects (tremolo is unusable, other effects will not sound as good).

But ok, if you want to do this, be sure to set killdry to on, this way the G-Major only outputs the effects sound and your RM100 mixes it with the dry signal. (not doing this will cause phase issues between the 2 dry signals since one is going through AD-DA conversion)

I would replace the loop buffer tubes first. Also: keep it in pro setting, since that is line-level, which is what the RM100 uses for its loops.

 

[rblyn]

Anything you run the the serial loop is like running in front of your amp so it will effect your base tone big time...

What?
No it is running after the preamp, but all signal is going through it.

So it depends fully on the transparency of the effects unit. The G-Major2 should be pretty transparent.
Sticking it in the parallel loop will help, but it will kill a lot of the versatility and effects (tremolo is unusable, other effects will not sound as good).

But ok, if you want to do this, be sure to set killdry to on, this way the G-Major only outputs the effects sound and your RM100 mixes it with the dry signal. (not doing this will cause phase issues between the 2 dry signals since one is going through AD-DA conversion)

I would replace the loop buffer tubes first. Also: keep it in pro setting, since that is line-level, which is what the RM100 uses for its loops.

It might be after the preamp but it will have the same affect on your tone. I had one of these and got rid of it- It will take some tinkering of the outputs of each to get "unity gain" and even after I matched the outputs, it still sounded like it sucked the tone a bit. For these effects he mentioned, he needs to use the paralell loop. Delay and Chorus always sound better that method. The serial loop is like having the G Major as a "pedal" in your chain....not the best application in my experience but to each his own.

 

[eyeball987]

So should I be running my RP1000 (4CM) in the serial or para loop? It's in the serial loop now.

 

[eedude]

don't run g majors or g systems in a parallel loop unless you do kill dry. The delayed dry path in the parallel loop causes comb filtering which sucks tone. Serial loops are boss in most cases. m0jo knows wuts up, so listen to him.

 

[rblyn]

So should I be running my RP1000 (4CM) in the serial or para loop? It's in the serial loop now.

4CM should use the serial loop...you're good.

 

[rblyn]

don't run g majors or g systems in a parallel loop unless you do kill dry. The delayed dry path in the parallel loop causes comb filtering which sucks tone. Serial loops are boss in most cases. m0jo knows wuts up, so listen to him.[/quot

If you read his post, he is only using the unit for delay, chorus and a bit of verb. He should be fine in the parallel loop using kill dry...

 

[m0jo]

Ah I missed that, scuze me. Yes if you only want delays, chorus and verb than running it in parallel will be fine (provided the killdry is enabled).
And yep, 4CM should be series loop. Also the RP1000 should be as transparent as my GSP1101 .. so you won't have tonesucking problems.

I'm sad to hear that the G-Major 2 does alter the tone. It's such a well designed unit.
How would you describe it's effect on the tone?

 

[tung]

I got my G-Major in serial loop for the last 4 years, no issues whatsoever.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I'm completely confused then.. yes I will be using on verb-delay - and chorus BUT hell the whole point of one of these units is to be able to use whatever I want down the line if i want to cop a certain sound. What if i want to change the pitch or combine some flange in there and play unchained? I messed around more with the input and output levels within the unit and then tweaked the external knobs for input and output levels. I can't get anything close to unity gain here.

All I can say is Buzz kill. I'm considering selling this thing and getting an ebtech line level box so I can stick some pedals in the loop but there too, will there be a volume cut? I think I have a bum lynchbox.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Mojo- I'll swap the tube (assuming it is the 2nd tube in the RM 100 or is it the very first top tube?) but it is not clearly labelled at all. Also, any tips on the type of tube that is best here? I'm assuming something low gain??

Looking at the unit, under the Gate/EQ there is routing and levels. I can set input and output levels. Any TC. Users here, can you let me know what you have yours set to? I simply cannot hit unity gain to save my life.

 

[rblyn]

I'm completely confused then.. yes I will be using on verb-delay - and chorus BUT hell the whole point of one of these units is to be able to use whatever I want down the line if i want to cop a certain sound. What if i want to change the pitch or combine some flange in there and play unchained? I messed around more with the input and output levels within the unit and then tweaked the external knobs for input and output levels. I can't get anything close to unity gain here.

All I can say is Buzz kill. I'm considering selling this thing and getting an ebtech line level box so I can stick some pedals in the loop but there too, will there be a volume cut? I think I have a bum lynchbox.

Kapo- These G Majors are not user friendly (probably the biggest complaint you hear about them) but they are good quality...I never got a good sound from mine either and sold it- I even had Rick Plester (a good friend of mine, produced some of my songs...look him up- endorsed by Randall/Dean and produced with Scorps, Schenker, Lynch-) help me out in setting it up and still didnt like what I was hearing. I did what I could with it...just wasnt for me I guess

 

[rblyn]

I got my G-Major in serial loop for the last 4 years, no issues whatsoever.

Hey Tung, all of our ears are different...the signal is always going to be converted digitally by the G Major (although very good quality) for most its fine and seems transparent but I have Boss floor units that sounded better to my ears. Never quite happy with it. TC Nova effects even sounded better to me. Let Kapo know how you have it set up...I know lots of folks who like them as well. Just not for me.

 

[Julia]

MFX rack units that run at line level can go in the serial loop. I've run lesser units than the G-Major 2 in it. There is a balancing act that needs to be done with the modules. It's the volume level of the module that needs to be adjusted so that it doesn't clip the unit.

Make note that when you put the unit in the serial loop it is always in the loop even when the effects are bypassed. Some units can do a full hardware bypass, and that's where the tone difference will be the most noticeable. When you speak of tone here it really isn't the change in character of the tone but the volume of your sound. It gets louder when you do the hardware bypass.

Best to just use the software type bypass of the effects to be more consistent and adjust your base guitar tone for that. It'll work fine.

Hint: don't turn up the volume on the module past 11:00. Clean modules need a compressor otherwise you will hard clip the unit. A unit like the dbx 166xl (or successor) will work fine there, and will act as a noise gate as well. You can leave it always on because your distorted tones are compressed anyway and typically beyond the point of the compressor.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Good tip.. yesterday I was probably at my most frustrated because I had the levels on the modules cranked up to about 3 p.m. They sound nice and full there and are very much like opening your amp up. Loud as hell with the volume just up and reminded me a lot of my JCM800. I'll try it the other way. Seems to me this is now a limiting factor or a design flaw in the way these modules were designed. Wonder what the "level" function was to serve besides the obvious gain and fullness which you'd think should just have been built into the base unit.

Julia can you let me know what your levels internally in software are set for the input and output levels?? Or anyone who is having more luck than I am?

 

[tung]

I got my G-Major in serial loop for the last 4 years, no issues whatsoever.

Hey Tung, all of our ears are different...the signal is always going to be converted digitally by the G Major (although very good quality) for most its fine and seems transparent but I have Boss floor units that sounded better to my ears. Never quite happy with it. TC Nova effects even sounded better to me. Let Kapo know how you have it set up...I know lots of folks who like them as well. Just not for me.

Yes, it is a personal preference for sure. I only my G-Major for delay-based effects, so that may have something to do with it. i tried both series and parallel, and series just sounded better and more direct, with less tone degenaration. I run an Eventide Timefactor on my 2nd MTS amp, it's more transparent, but I wouldn't say that the quality of delay effects are better than the G-Major.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

tung, what are you input and output levels set at in the software?

 

[tung]

tung, what are you input and output levels set at in the software?

About 65% for both input and output, about 2 o'clock if your dialing it in manually. Good luck.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Thanks for the input guys, the key was lowering the levels on the modules themselves.. now i have parity/unity gain and i am not clipping. There is a tad bit more noise with the unit in the circuit but it seems to be operating as intended.. now i can get to figuring out what all the features this thing has are.. thanks everyone and especially to Julia for the hint on the levels.

Still not sure what the point of the level control on the modules is for though..