Matt Schofields reworked pedal board

Philtre

So, if I have 4 pedals that don't need isolating and 4 that do, I could run the 4 straight off the Distributor, and then the other 4 off of an Isolator connected to the Distributor?

peteri

On Matts board (as a former Quartermaster owner, now a G2) - I noticed a small improvement in tone, which I put down to shorter signal path, it's good - but in terms of that the G2 is absolutely better, and that's confirmed by Gigrig, since the Quartermaster is relay based it does impact the sound, just not as much as a lot of pedals.

For me the massive advantage was all the footswitches are consistent - they are in a row at the bottom of the board, all level, all feeling the same - make life much easier for me than looking for the right pedal to hit.

In terms of the power supply system, it does get pricey and it seems a bit odd when you order all the bits, but honestly I wouldn't use anything else.

It is very, very flexible and you end up with each pedal getting what it needs - there are other ways of doing it, but those solutions aren't cheap either and you're basically limited to how many outputs the unit has or daisy chaining.

With the Gigrig solution, you never need to do that you 'just' buy another distributor, isolator, doubler whatever and you can lay things out how you like on the board.

At the end of the day it's a powersupply, it's not cheap, and there are alternatives so it won't save the world - but it is an interesting take.

Not everything they sell makes sense to me (I'm just returning the new Midi-driver for example and the patchbays look expensive for what they are), but the core products are solid. Although like most things not perfect - I'd like better Midi implementation on the G2 for example (and will likely get an Osmosis mapper to work around that, which doesn't sit well with me), I found it too easy to get ground loops on the quartermaster series - so please don't think I'm a complete fanboi!

vasselmeyer

Philtre said:

So, if I have 4 pedals that don't need isolating and 4 that do, I could run the 4 straight off the Distributor, and then the other 4 off of an Isolator connected to the Distributor?

That is correct. Check it out here: https://www.thegigrig.com/power

robinbowes

WilliamAyerst said:

I know the Generator makes sense, but I can't help but feel it's entirely overengineered for what it does... separate invertors, distributors, etc.

Not really. As you actually say yourself, it makes sense. It's extremely flexible.

At the heart is a powerful switching supply that can supply 5A (the Generator itself). However, it has only one output, and you probably need more than that so you need some way to split this into multiple outputs. This is what the Distributor is for - it's just a splitter - 1-in, 6-out.

The key issue of the Gigrig modular supply system is the isolation. This is what the Isolator is for - it gives you four isolated 9V outputs from one 9V input.

What if you need an output with more current that the Isolator can provide, or with a different voltage? This is where the various high voltage/high current adaptors come in.

I've recently started using a Helix, and sold my G2 + Generator, but I've kept all the rest of the power supply components and use them on my discrete boards with a Johnny Shredfreak switching supply.

R.

impmann

My issue with the power supply is those clip in wires. Experience tells me that these types of connectors go intermittent with movement and they are nowhere near as strong as a soldered connection. It seems an odd choice for a piece of 'pro' equipment. Plus if you total up the costs and complexity vs a Voodoo Labs (for example) set up, it does seem excessive IMHO.

LaCathedrale_UK

robinbowes said:

WilliamAyerst said:

I know the Generator makes sense, but I can't help but feel it's entirely overengineered for what it does... separate invertors, distributors, etc.

Not really. As you actually say yourself, it makes sense. It's extremely flexible.

At the heart is a powerful switching supply that can supply 5A (the Generator itself). However, it has only one output, and you probably need more than that so you need some way to split this into multiple outputs. This is what the Distributor is for - it's just a splitter - 1-in, 6-out.

The key issue of the Gigrig modular supply system is the isolation. This is what the Isolator is for - it gives you four isolated 9V outputs from one 9V input.

What if you need an output with more current that the Isolator can provide, or with a different voltage? This is where the various high voltage/high current adaptors come in.

I've recently started using a Helix, and sold my G2 + Generator, but I've kept all the rest of the power supply components and use them on my discrete boards with a Johnny Shredfreak switching supply.

R.

So the cynic in me says, if there's only one output, why not just bundle the distributor and the generator together? Rather than separate isolators, why not just have different sizes of distributors which provide isolated outputs? I'm not really that fussed and I don't have an iron in that fire - but there is such a thing as over-egging a design.

robinbowes

WilliamAyerst said:

So the cynic in me says, if there's only one output, why not just bundle the distributor and the generator together? Rather than separate isolators, why not just have different sizes of distributors which provide isolated outputs? I'm not really that fussed and I don't have an iron in that fire - but there is such a thing as over-egging a design.

Simple: flexibility.

With different combinations of three components you can do many things.

R.

John_P

The gigrig stuff does look good and I get that it's useful having the flexibility but I bet they would sell a lot if they combined them they give one box with 8 isolated outputs.  

The new board looks a lot more practical with the switching at the front. and it can only help get rid of some of the noise he had in the previous show by only having the selected drive pedal in the signal path.