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Thread: The "GigRig"

  1. #1
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    The "GigRig"

    I've been wanting to do it for ages, and finally went for it. For my own personal preferences at live gigs, nothing beats good pedals into a tube amp, except maybe the same pedals into two amps as a wet/dry setup. Nothing against multi-FX boxes, but they just don't do it for me. So, I always wanted a rig with all the pedals I like most, with a switching system so I could put them all in their own loops, and then have presets turn on whatever combo of pedals I wanted for a specific song or part of a song.

    For a long time I wanted the Voodoo Labs rig, but once I became a fan of That Pedal Show on YouTube, I was pretty quickly drooling over the GigRig G2 system, made by Daniel Steinhardt from That Pedal Show. Started saving my gig money, and now here we are.



    So, basically we have the Gigrig G2, which is powered by their modular system that allows you to have a much or as little power connection as you need. The G2 comes with their "Generator," which delivers an obscene amount of power if needed. From there you buy one of their "Distributor" boxes, which comes with 6, trim-to-length power cables. You can buy more Distributor boxes as needed, or, in my case one or two of their "Isolator" boxes so that certain pedals can be isolated from others to avoid hum/ground issues. I also had to buy a special "TimeLord" box to power the Strymon Timeline, since it requires a bunch more power than the Isolators normally put through.

    The loops are:
    1) Crybaby Wah
    2) MXR script reissue Phase 90
    3) [Empty, but will be a compressor]
    4) Fulltone OCD
    5) Vertex Dynamic Distortion (germanium fuzz and TS-9 hybrid)
    6) Mad Professor Twimble (Dumble-esque pedal)
    7) TheGigRig "Humdinger" (fastened underdeath) that allows for the wet/dry rig
    8) TC Corona chorus
    9) MXR Carbon Copy analog delay
    10) Strymon Timeline
    *) TC Polytune 3 (Tuner has its own output)
    *) Strymon MultiSwitch (to right of wah pedal) that controls Looper function of Timeline

    The G2 can be programmed so that any of the switches (which can be arranged in multiple banks) can turn on one or more loops at once. Or, any button can be in "stomp-box mode" so it only adds (or subtracts) one particular pedal to an active loop. I have one footswitch set to mute everything and activate the tuner, another that turns my amp's own tremolo circuit on and off, and another that sends tap-tempo info to the Strymon.

    The Humdinger's Isolated output goes to the "dry" amp, which is the AC-15, and the G2's main output goes to the "wet" amp, which is the '68 Custom DR. I have the G2 set so that the tails of the Timeline delay still continue to sound in the wet amp even after I switch back to a dry preset. Too cool.

    My initial plan was to replace the TC chorus with a Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl, which is an amazing chorus/vibrato pedal, but hearing what I have now in context with the two amps, I'm in no rush to change it.
    Last edited by pc; 09-27-2018 at 08:25 AM. Reason: Updated picture and description

  2. #2
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    Re: The "GigRig"

    The underneath, showing the little power boxes:


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    Re: The "GigRig"

    I wanted to have three overdrives to cover all the main flavors, and the OCD has been my go-to overdrive for well over a decade. The Twimble is great; so far, definitely preferable on Strats and Teles IMO. You can see a great demo of it here with Matt Schofield.

    However, I have to tell you that the Vertex Dynamic Distortion, the one I bought sort of "just because" I figured I should have a germanium fuzz-type in the rig, is absolutely blowing me away in terms of its sound, and it terms of how well it cleans up when you back off the guitar volume. Just phenomenal. Highly recommended.

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    Re: The "GigRig"

    Very interesting! I have the voo doo lab and a pedal board. Same type system. Nothing about multi-effects but this is the setup i like!

  5. #5

    Re: The "GigRig"

    Awesome!! I'm jealous.... :)
    Fuzz is proof God love us and wants us to be happy. - Franklin
    http://www.frankdenigris.com

  6. #6
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    Re: The "GigRig"

    Quote Originally Posted by Franklin View Post
    Awesome!! I'm jealous.... :)
    Thanks. It's been awhile since I had some gear at home that I spend all day at work chomping at the bit ("champing?" Never knew how to spell that word) to get home and play through it. Cranking it up and playing Black Dog is therapy for what ails you, for sure.

  7. #7
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    Re: The "GigRig"

    Quote Originally Posted by pc View Post
    I wanted to have three overdrives to cover all the main flavors, and the OCD has been my go-to overdrive for well over a decade. The Twimble is great; so far, definitely preferable on Strats and Teles IMO. You can see a great demo of it here with Matt Schofield.

    However, I have to tell you that the Vertex Dynamic Distortion, the one I bought sort of "just because" I figured I should have a germanium fuzz-type in the rig, is absolutely blowing me away in terms of its sound, and it terms of how well it cleans up when you back off the guitar volume. Just phenomenal. Highly recommended.
    Im sure it's a good pedal but FYI the guy who makes them was rehousing BBE wahs and selling them as original works and after he apologized for that he got busted doing some more shady **** pretty soon thereafter.

    Anyway grats on the G2, it's the best switcher on the market.

  8. #8
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    Re: The "GigRig"

    Quote Originally Posted by redisburning View Post
    Im sure it's a good pedal but FYI the guy who makes them was rehousing BBE wahs and selling them as original works and after he apologized for that he got busted doing some more shady **** pretty soon thereafter.

    Anyway grats on the G2, it's the best switcher on the market.
    Red, although I was aware of all of that, I still really appreciate you mentioning it in case I wasn’t, because I must say the backstory was a HUGE factor in whether or not I finally bought that pedal.

    I had originally missed all of the hoopla as it unfolded at TGP. Then, about a year ago, Vertex ads started showing up in my social media pages, which made me a bit suspicious. They put up some really nice demos of their various pedals, and none really knocked me over except for the Dynamic Distortion. That’s when I did some Googling, and learned all about the backstory. As I said, while mentally putting together this new rig that would be based around the G2, I had several months to think and rethink each pedal, and I was super-hesitant about the Vertex. Probably what turned it for me was reading that Robben Ford forgave him, forfitted any money he made from plugging the pedal he uses, and kept it on his board.

    I confess that I even kind of wanted to dislike it, hoping that the demos I heard were doctored to hell and gone in post, but not so, it seems. For me, in the end, it came down to the sounds I wanted. I have been a faithful OCD user for a LONG time, and, if I’m honest, although I don’t know the man personally, I think Fuller’s shameless egotism and bashing of competing products is a huge turn off. I’ve been tempted to back away from his stuff too; more than once.

    Anyway, thanks again for bringing it up, both in case I hadn’t known, and also because, if one Googles the story, it’s a hell of a thing.

  9. #9
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    Re: The "GigRig"

    And, done.



    MXR "script" Dyna-Comp now in place and the whole board wired for stereo, Wet/Dry/Wet operation, albeit with some temporary cables visible in the picture, which will be replaced with George L stuff when the last few connectors arrive.



    Which sounds AMAZING in the studio, but isn't something I'll do live. Just wet/dry mono operation at gigs.

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