I’m a sucker for midi control of analog gear. You get the best of both worlds: complete control of very specific presets, but without the questionable tone of a digital amp. And if there’s one thing Volbeat/former Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano is known for, it’s big tone from high-powered amps. He’s a Fryette endorse, and I’ve been a fan of his tone for quite a while. His main amps are a Sig:X and a Deliverance, or they were the last time I caught a photo of his setup.
T.C. Electronic caught up with him to focus on the pedal side of it. As I was saying, his midi control is pretty smart. Instead of a separate loop box and controller he has them combined into one unit, using Musicomlabs’ EFX MKIII (or maybe it’s an older MKII since my look at the video was a bit blocky on this poor internet connection that I’m currently on).
Of course, this wouldn’t be a T.C. video without some T.C. pedals to focus on. In this case, Rob is using a Spark Booster and Mojo Jojo… er, MojoMojo. I would have appreciated a look at the amps and guitars in this video, but still, that’s a well designed pedalboard down there. Take a look.
dump wagon / April 8, 2014 1:44 pm
That MusicomLab switcher looks pretty nice. I’ve been using a Cusack Pedalboard Tamer, which has been pretty good to me, but that MIDI in is tempting. Would be nice to have the actual pedalboard closer to the amp and have just the switcher at the front of the stage.
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Chris Alfano / April 8, 2014 2:25 pm
If you like the musicom but want more audio loops and more presets, check out the Providence PEC-2.
http://www.providence-ltd.com/products/audiorouting/pec2.html
Otherwise if you go for separate controllers and loop boxes I tend to like the Liquid Foot JR or Mini paired with an old (discontinued) Axess GRX4 or RJM Mini Effect Gizmo.
http://www.famcmusic.com/store/liquid-foot
https://www.rjmmusic.com/minieffectgizmo.php
I should really do a roundup post on some of this stuff…
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dump wagon / April 8, 2014 6:47 pm
I only use 8 of the 9 loops on the PBT, but having the loops and the switcher together means my pedalboard is pretty big. Breaking the two apart, or at least having an input for an external controller would free up a lot of front-of-stage space at the dive bars and basements I usually wind up playing.
I’d definitely read the shit out of a loop box roundup.
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