Intro and 4 cable method for Boss GT-10

Synergy/MTS Forum

Help Support Synergy/MTS Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

leftofdial

New member
Joined
Jan 7, 2012
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hi Everybody,
I have been reading posts on this forum for close to 2 years now and started buying Randall stuff when they were closing the amps out.
I am not a very good player but sure do love to give it a go. Our band of 40 somethings plays stuff like Pixies Monkey Gone to Heaven, Husker Du's version of Love is All Around, Concrete Blonde Joey, Westerberg's Waitin for Somebody, as well as your typical cover band stuff like Shook me, Plowed, Own Worst Enemy,Photograph, 18 & life, etc....
Thank you to everyone who posts on this forum- it is a great resource!

My question is that I have bought a GT-10 and all the posts mention the 4 cable method but I can't find the actual instructions on how to do it. I have searched both for this and the power soak (below) but didn't see anything.
Can someone please point me to a previous post about what to do?
Or even just point me to a web page that will cover it, and then what settings to change on the GT-10 for the wet or dry? Sorry if this is a stupid question -I'm really bad at tech stuff.

Bonus question -- Is getting a power soak a good idea?

Thank you for helping out
Steve
 
I'm not familiar with the internal machinations of the GT10 but the essence of the 4 Cable Method is as follows:

guitar -> input of GT10 -> GT10 loop/FX out -> amp input -> amp FX send -> GT10 FX return -> GT10 output -> amp FX return

so basically guitar to GT10, GT10 to amp, amp to GT10, GT10 back to amp = 4 cables

re: wet vs dry - if you plan to use things like delay & reverb in the parallel loop you'll want to set those effects to completely wet. But if you want to use a mix of EQ, chorus, flange, etc along with delay & reverb, use the serial loop and control the wet/dry mix within each patch.

I'm sure someone will be along shortly to discuss unity gain, routing of effects within the GT10, etc.

I've never used a power soak. If you're seeking power tube distortion out of something like a JCM, I could see the appeal. But the MTS series all sound pretty good with the master volume turned down & great when loud enough for playing with other instruments.
 
Thank you for your help, VitaminG. I'll make some time to hook it up today. It has to sound better than what I've tried w/2 cables.
 
I believe Mattfig uses a GT10 so maybe hit him up for some advice. I recall him saying that he initially wasn't satisfied with it but then came across some settings that dialled everything in
 
I did....Until I realized the 4CM is not for me....I love my GT-10 but use it as a MIDI switcher and front FX...I found matching levels to be too inconsistent for my needs and time to spend...


The guy you need to talk to is rblyn...He's the guru....
 
Glad to help...if you have questions let me know. Ive found 4CM works great for me....Proper placement of all effects...MIDI switching...Boosts/Wah are amazing on the GT10. I have top shelf boost pedals and the many boosts on this thing are as good as any. The wah is GREAT- and totally tweakable- by frequency or you can limit the range of the wah to get just a "touch" which I lean towards... I dont care for the preamps unless they are the clean/Fender type (where I can create a fourth channel by turning off the send/return on the GT10 and bypassing the RM100 preamps- just killer to have this option) EDIT!!! THE SOLDANO SLO PREAMP KILLS ON THIS UNIT!! I have had the JF and Salvation Soldano mods and believe it or not, this SLO is pretty close!!!! Anyway- If you want to use 4CM- Try this-

GT10 input to guitar
GT10 send to Amp Input
Amp send (series!!!) to GT10 Return
Gt10 output to Amp return (series)

The key is getting unity gain on this thing....Once you do, its awesome. I can tweak the EQ on the fly (bump mids a couple db's litterall while playing) and there are extra CTRL pedals that act as "stomp boxes" so I can hit a boost/EQ/Delay on any channel Im using- and turn it off etc...

The trickiest part is setting the send/return levels on each channel so you get equal tone going in and out- It takes a while but the A/D converter is very good- I get very little coloration. Try starting each channel with a Send of 118 and Return of 82 and tweak from there. Also set your master output level to noon as a start.... You also need to go into the "System" button and set the Presence/Mid Q/High Q/Low Q to your liking....All of those may differ on yours depending on module or cabs used. I love the way I have mine set up- I play the RM100 without the Gt10 and find it DULL! (Yes, the GT10 makes it sound better to me) I've even taken the GT10 out to gigs with my RM20 and can make the RM20 a three channel amp (one straight Judge tone, One boosted for solos/add delay and third I turn off the Send/Return and get some KILLER EL84 driven clean tones through the Fender Blackfaced preamp on the GT10). So much you can do...But it does take time to learn the interface and it's a large unit (all in one) but if you set it up right- it will be the ONLY thing that sits in front of your amp....Let me know if you have any questions....Some on here use the Digitech RP pedals or Line 6 the same way with similar results. I cant imagine gigging without it....
 
Well....Have mentioned I really only used the clean preamps on this pedal.....messing around today with the actual high gain models on the GT10 and low and behold- There's a Soldano SLO model that actually kicks @ss! Great lead tones- Very warm and true to the original- I think its gonna be taking over one of my channels (and for leads its very fluid). Im gonna have to start trying the high gain Marshall stuff/Mesa as well. Shocking- With the RM100 power section pushing the GT10 Soldano preamp- It actually sounds killer!
 
Using the 4CM configuration with the GT10 means you need 3 signal (coax) cables and a MIDI cable running between your pedal unit and your amp stack. To me, this makes setup a pain since you have to somehow arrange all those cables so they don't get in the way.

Anyone care to compare a rack unit, say the DigiTech GSP1101, to the GT10? Obviously, with a rack unit, setup is simplified because you only need one cable between your pedal unit and your amp stack.
 
Graham Pearson said:
Using the 4CM configuration with the GT10 means you need 3 signal (coax) cables and a MIDI cable running between your pedal unit and your amp stack. To me, this makes setup a pain since you have to somehow arrange all those cables so they don't get in the way.

Anyone care to compare a rack unit, say the DigiTech GSP1101, to the GT10? Obviously, with a rack unit, setup is simplified because you only need one cable between your pedal unit and your amp stack.

Not sure I agree- I dumped my rack setup (Had a G Major) because this is quicker and no rack to carry/stack (and you have to connect cables that way as well, right? They are just in the back) I dont have any issues with arranging cables because I snaked them together- (even cheated with some colored tape) all you have to do is connect them into the GT10 and RM100. Takes no time at all....I think you are always going to have those who love rack setups and others who prefer the floor (multi efx or pedal) setups.
 
Graham Pearson said:
Using the 4CM configuration with the GT10 means you need 3 signal (coax) cables and a MIDI cable running between your pedal unit and your amp stack. To me, this makes setup a pain since you have to somehow arrange all those cables so they don't get in the way.

Sounds no more painful than an old-fashioned pedalboard with some of the pedals in the loop & midi for the Randall switcher. I run all cables to the left of the board & back to the amp, so they're out of way.

One cable or 4, you're going to have the same situation if you're running anything out front of stage. Unless you run rack fx & some kind of wireless midi switcher. But then even the wireless switcher needs power
 
VitaminG said:
Graham Pearson said:
Using the 4CM configuration with the GT10 means you need 3 signal (coax) cables and a MIDI cable running between your pedal unit and your amp stack. To me, this makes setup a pain since you have to somehow arrange all those cables so they don't get in the way.

Sounds no more painful than an old-fashioned pedalboard with some of the pedals in the loop & midi for the Randall switcher. I run all cables to the left of the board & back to the amp, so they're out of way.

One cable or 4, you're going to have the same situation if you're running anything out front of stage. Unless you run rack fx & some kind of wireless midi switcher. But then even the wireless switcher needs power

Yep G- I agree with you....its pretty much the same work. Its all a matter of preference...Since I snaked my cables togther, I cant imagine having a quicker set up than what I have (prob the easiest I ever had after about 25 years on stage playing) FWIW- Im still stoked over the Soldano SLO sim on this pedal. It's made its way into my rotation.Not so thrilled with the other preamps on the GT10 except the Fender cleans but this SLO sounds and feels great- Kind of ticked I didnt find it earlier! 8)
 
reprimand said:
finally someone explained this well. thanks you


No prob- For those who try the Boss GT 10 this way- It is NOT a plug and play type setup. ( I doubt the Digitech or Line 6 are either) Its going to take some tweaking to get it to sound right. I've seen a few on here who've tried it and within a day or so, they're giving up. Plugging it into the loop and turning it on is not going to sound good out of the box. First- You've got to learn the interface- It's got soooo many options but once you understand it, it makes the 4CM easy. After you learn how to use the pedal, you'll want to take some time to work through the send/returns/master/presence/EQ etc and dial those in against the dry signal until they match. I got mine to sound and feel EXACTLY the same so I know it can be done with both the RM100 and RM20- There's a lot of info out on the web for this pedal (especially at the Boss Forums)- It will get you started but you've got to work on the settings for each mod (which might vary slightly as the modded modules seem to be a bit hotter on the output) . Once you're setup this though- That's it-Save and done for good! At that point, you've got a complete setup with every possible effect/midi switching and volume/wah in one board. Snake your cables together and your set up time is minutes....You can run the GT10 in front of your preamps and get some good effects and midi switching but 4CM gives you proper placement of the effects. One more thing- If you're going to do any of the multi FX this way, invest in good cables- crap in means crap out....
 
Does anyone have any experience with a Lexicon MX400 being used in this manner? It looks to have four inputs and four outputs but I dont know if that means that one set could be used like an FX loop. I like my old Digitech 2120 FX but since it doesnt have a stereo FX loop I would not be able to use it wired as 4CM in a dual mono setup with two preamps. The MX400 looks like a nice solution except for the fact that it doesnt have support for a CC device like a wah or volume pedal, I will miss my Johnson J12 pedal for that.
 
Try to keep the module volume down....Are you opening the module up? It likes to be about 11 o clock or so...
 
For a brief period I was running 4CM (POD HD500, though) with my RM100 and it was frickin' awesome, however, the amp took a dump on me after having only owned it (used purchase) for just over sixty days. Had it repaired and haven't run 4CM since - only 'cause I really haven't had the chance, however, I'm suspicious I was running too much into the amp, thereby causing the failure (power supply sparked out, some resistors needed replacing and a preamp tube blew).

I suspect considerably more time needs to be put into this setup for me to get it running properly, however, once sussed out, it's an awesome way to go and snaking as previously described does indeed make setup/teardown a breeze.
 
Top