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Using GigRig G2 + Carvin Legacy 3

2K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  mjstack 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I'm the proud owner of the new GigRig G2. It's a marvellous bit of switching gear, and the true-bypass matrix really makes everything crystal clear. However, I don't know where to start with the MIDI function as I've never dabbled in it with guitars before.

I want to change the channels of the Legacy 3 with the G2, via MIDI, so that channel changes are included in each profile of the G2. Does anyone have any idea of how to do this? Are there any other ways of channel switching with the use of these two devices?

Thanks
 
#2 · (Edited)
It looks like the gigrig works by sending program change (PC) messages. The value that would be sent depends on the bank your in on the gigrig and which switch you press. The gigrig manual has tables that lists the specific values sent.

The legacy 3 has 100 locations to store programs, which contains amp channel selection, boost, reverb, and LED backlight color.

So if you're in bank one on the gigrig and hit switch 5, a PC message with a value of 5 will be sent to the Legacy, calling up the fifth program stored on the Legacy. Bank 8, switch 5 would send a value 117 to Legacy, which would be invalid since the Legacy only has 100 locations.

I think the default midi channel used on the gigrig is 1, but can be changed from 1 to 10 for any preset. The Legacy responds to midi channel 1, 2, or 3 only. So make sure the midi channel is the same on both gigrig and the Legacy for any preset.

The gigrig looks like a nice device, but it's a shame it's not capable of sending midi CC messages, because your Legacy is capable of responding to these, which would allow for turning on/off particular amp features independent of aligning preset locations between two devices.

There may be other ways to control some functions on the Legacy 3. It has an independent reverb toggle via a 1/4" jack, and an FS44M footswitch jack which looks to be something proprietary from Carvin that allows changing of channels and boost.
 
#3 ·
Thanks mjstack, a more understandable overview than what is provided in the manuals of either product. I have got it working: both units are talking on channel 1, and I've saved the channel, boost and reverb settings on the amp to the corresponding footswitch I want to control it. So, it does exactly what I want it to do. The only problem I have now, is that it only intermittently works. That is, sometimes when you hit the footswitch to change to a new profile, all the gigrig settings and pedals on the profile switch over fine - but the amp doesn't change channels. I'd say the amp fails to change via MIDI about 30% of the time. It seems particularly bad when the amp is first taken out of standby mode. Is this a common problem with MIDI? Do you have any idea of how to fix such a problem?

Cheers
 
#4 ·
Sorry, but no clue what could be going on with that.

As a possible way to find out though, if you have a usb-to-midi device, you could probably intercept the midi messages being sent by the gigrig using a DAW. Might contain some clues.

Could be a timing issue? I guess I don't really know enough about midi to know if this is common or not. I do know that midi can become extremely confusing and complicated and a lot of things have to be exactly right.
 
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