I need help with gear set up

[jbias12]

Hello all,

I'm in need of some gear set up help. I currently have a Mattocaster with a built in Fuzz Factory, Manson MBK2 pickup and Fernandes FSK 101 Sustainer. It's about to be sent away to be upgraded with a X-Y MIDI Controller screen built in, made famous by Matt Bellamy's MB-1 guitar.

 

What I need is help setting up the gear I own with the Korg Kaoss pad to work together and of course produce that Muse sound. Here's a list of the gear I currently own and all of my pedals are connected on a Pedal Train pedal board.

 

Amp:

-Marshall MA100C Tube Amp

 

Pedals:

-MXR Phase 90

-MXR Carbon Copy

-Boss Compression Sustainer

-Boss Metal Zone

-Boss Overdrive

-Chromatic Tuner

 

Any and all help on this issue is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Justin

[JJ]

Kaoss Pad goes at the end of the chain, always.

 

Tuner > Compressor > Overdrive > Phase 90 > Delay > (maybe put KP here) Amp

 

If your amp has what's called a Send/Return circuit, use that for the Kaoss Pad.

 

 

Left Metal Zone out because fuck the Metal Zone.

 

As a side note, Matt doesn't use the Fuzz Factory for any of his tones, and is purely there for the oscillation/squeal noises.

 

Have fun.

 

Jordan.

[jbias12]

Thanks Jordan.

 

Yea I'm definitely getting rid of the Metal Zone. There's no need for it any more and the same goes for the Fuzz Factory. As far as the set up goes, will the KP be connected through my pedal effects loop? or just be a stand alone? I'm currently deployed in Afghanistan so I'm trying to picture all of this in my head. I'm aware my guitar will have a seperate input jack for the KP controller screen. Oh and my amp does have seperate input and output jacks for send/recieve.

 

Thanks again,

Justin

[james90]

The KP should go in the effects loop, and I'd also suggest that you put the delay there (instead of in front of the amp)

[Dave.]

So basically:

 

Guitar-Tuner-Compressor-Overdrive-Phase 90-AMP-(effects loop send)-delay-KP-(effects loop return)

 

If you plan on playing live it might be worth while investing in a wireless system for the KP. One cable is enough to deal with.

[JJ]

Thanks Jordan.

 

Yea I'm definitely getting rid of the Metal Zone. There's no need for it any more and the same goes for the Fuzz Factory. As far as the set up goes, will the KP be connected through my pedal effects loop? or just be a stand alone? I'm currently deployed in Afghanistan so I'm trying to picture all of this in my head. I'm aware my guitar will have a seperate input jack for the KP controller screen. Oh and my amp does have seperate input and output jacks for send/recieve.

 

Thanks again,

Justin

 

Yeah that's basically it. Do you know how the controller screen has been implemented? Does it rely on MIDI cables or the popular VGA cable method? If MIDI, the ports are located on the back of the KP, and if the latter, there will have been some kind of work around/modification to the actual Kaoss Pad. Good call on getting rid of the Metal Zone, a nice overdrive can go a long way. Good luck in Afghanistan by the way!

[jbias12]

Dave,

Thanks for the input. Any suggestions on a good wireless system to use?

 

Jordan,

Not sure on which way the guitar will be set up. I'll email the guy doing it. Martin Sims in the UK built the original guitar and he'll be doing the guitar modifications. Here's a link to his guitar shop and also his FB page where he's already done one of these mods to a replica Manson MB-1:

 

http://www.simscustom.com/html/home.htm

 

https://www.facebook.com/sims.customshop#!/media/set/?set=a.269071529795943.58841.100000792949060&type=3

 

Basically I'm turning my Earls Court replica into the M1D1 Mirror in Matt's collection.

 

As always, thanks for the help guys.

[Bs]

Kaoss Pad goes at the end of the chain, always.

 

Not always.

 

I have a Loop Station after mine, but yeah, otherwise!

 

As a side note, Matt doesn't use the Fuzz Factory for any of his tones, and is purely there for the oscillation/squeal noises.

 

You can get some awesome Abso Tour Stockholm Syndrome tones out of it if you use it right though. I don't use my Fuzz Factory for squealy stuff. That's what the Fuzz Probe is for!

[JJ]

Dave,

Thanks for the input. Any suggestions on a good wireless system to use?

 

Jordan,

Not sure on which way the guitar will be set up. I'll email the guy doing it. Martin Sims in the UK built the original guitar and he'll be doing the guitar modifications. Here's a link to his guitar shop and also his FB page where he's already done one of these mods to a replica Manson MB-1:

 

http://www.simscustom.com/html/home.htm

 

https://www.facebook.com/sims.customshop#!/media/set/?set=a.269071529795943.58841.100000792949060&type=3

 

Basically I'm turning my Earls Court replica into the M1D1 Mirror in Matt's collection.

 

As always, thanks for the help guys.

 

Ah, yeah Sims are pretty good at what they do, so I'm assuming it's the MIDI way, which is a doddle to connect up to etc.

 

 

 

Not always.

 

I have a Loop Station after mine, but yeah, otherwise!

 

 

Ahhh true, I was thinking more if you don't have an FX loop, but If you wanted to loop some sounds then of course, KP before the loop station if you're a badman.

 

You can get some awesome Abso Tour Stockholm Syndrome tones out of it if you use it right though. I don't use my Fuzz Factory for squealy stuff. That's what the Fuzz Probe is for!

 

You have an FF and a fuzz probe?! Do you poop money? Jimbo?...IS THAT YOU ON ANOTHER ACCOUNT?

[Bs]

Haha, I have both, yeah, but sadly, I don't poop money. It would be useful. I use the Factory for my normal fuzz sounds, and the Probe for anything where I want some unusual effects. It creates some crazy sounds, completely aside from the squealy option. That's just scratching the surface of it really. Really cool pedal. I did save up for a while for my pedal collection though, so I just went for it once I got started.

[JJ]

Haha, I have both, yeah, but sadly, I don't poop money. It would be useful. I use the Factory for my normal fuzz sounds, and the Probe for anything where I want some unusual effects. It creates some crazy sounds, completely aside from the squealy option. That's just scratching the surface of it really. Really cool pedal. I did save up for a while for my pedal collection though, so I just went for it once I got started.

 

If you do decide to do a demo video, you must run them both at the same time for ultimate squeals.

[jbias12]

Ah, yeah Sims are pretty good at what they do, so I'm assuming it's the MIDI way, which is a doddle to connect up to etc.

 

 

I'm obviously new to this whole rig set up. So any suggestions/inputs on any extra gear I'll need to buy and secrets to hooking it all up correctly?

[JJ]

Hm, if you've not got them already, you'll need to get some RCA phono stereo to jack cables for your kaoss pad, or use the available mic input for your guitar signal. If you decide you don't want to use the Send/Return FX loop for whatever reason, you will need some sort of signal boost pedal as the Kaoss Pad sucks quite a lot of tone and volume. Other than that, you should be good to go!

[Olly.]

you got any photos of your guitar pre-midi pad? Sounds interesting.

[jbias12]

Sure thing. Here's one of my set up, me playing and one by herself when I was re-stringing.

[Dave.]

Sadly I am not sure of brands that do wireless MIDI cables but I'm sure a bit of Google research will help you

 

And sweet set-up Your mattocaster looks great!

[james90]

M-Audio makes a fairly cheap wireless MIDI pack (compared to the one Matt uses anyway, which is £400 or something like that), but it's getting some mixed reviews.

 

A user on here has one, and he seems to like it though.

 

JJ, I imagine this will use the standard 5 pin MIDI connector. It would seem that the VGA connector is only really used when the screen is removed from the kaoss pad, for whatever reason. There are guys making the separate screens now, so there's no need to do that anymore.

[Olly.]

Very nice!

[Bs]

If you do decide to do a demo video, you must run them both at the same time for ultimate squeals.

 

Never tried that, haha! I normally have the FF stuck on it's normal setting, and just use the Fuzz Probe for the effects, which definitely works best when using distortion too. I'll try that though if I remember.