FX8 & Grandmeister 36 presets

ronny88

ronny88

Member
Hi Everyone

Can I use the midi of the FX8 to switch the presets on my Grandmeister? I have not been able to figure out how to do this. If anyone is able to explain how to accomplish this I would greatly appreciate it
 
I don't have the FX8 - but I do have a Grandmeister as a standby rig to my AxeFX (well ... one of the couple or 3 standby rigs lol).

The first thing to do is going to be getting the H&K to 'listen' on a different MIDI channel than it's factory default (and also ensure it's MIDI Omni mode is turned off)

It factory defaults to MIDI Channel 1/Omni On - but I assume the FX8 uses that channel by default too - so you want to set up the H&K to use Channel 2 and avoid any clashing/confusion coming out of the FX8 Midi Out/Thru port.

The procedure on how to do that is on page 9 of the Grandmeister User Manual. Get it into edit mode by being on Standby - then hold the Noise Gate and FX-Loop buttons simultaneously for 3 seconds. You want OMNI=off (turn FX-Access LED off) and MIDI Channel=2 (just the 'Ultra' LED On). You have to scroll through the various MIDI Channels by using either the Noise Gate or FX-Loop button until you get the correct channel selected.

Once all that is done and saved you then know that the FX8 must be set up to send out MIDI PC (Program Change) messages (and additional CC messages if you want) on Channel 2.

I see from FX8 manual there's a few ways to set up the outgoing MIDI. The 'per scene' method (Pg 51 of FX8 Manual) looks the easiest to work from to me ..... assuming you use Scenes and want fairly basic Channel switching on the H&K that is?

Other FX8 users out there might think another way is better?

I can't find an actual MIDI PC chart for the H&K - so not sure what PC value corresponds to each amp channel - shouldn't take long to work it out with trial and error tho ... PC=1 probably is 'Clean' channel and PC=4 prob 'Ultra' channel.

Sending CC messages per Scene might be something you want to do too ..... there's a Chart on pg 10 of the Grandmeister Manual. 'On/Off' type FX/functions on the H&K will respond to 0= off and 127= On ..... other variable type FX will vary in intensity between 0 and 127.

When your MIDI cable is connected between amp and FX8, the H&K should probably be powered up first (so it's ready and listening for MIDI) and FX8 powered up second.
 
I've been running a Grandmeister with an FX8 for over a year. Works perfectly and I can't even remember having to set anything up, although that may be as I'd previously set the H & K up to work with a Switch Dr Looper.

Super simple though...it must be if I managed it and yes you can choose channel switching per scene.

Just got an AX8 and the combination of the FX8 and the GM will be a tough act to follow.

Good luck
 
I did make a boo boo in my previous post. The Program Change coming from the Scene on the FX8 has no direct influence on the amp channel selection - it just calls up a preset on the amp .... and that preset holds the amp channel info.

From what I see from further manual reading you probably just need to plug in a midi cable from FX8 Out to H&K in and set up each scene to send PC and/or CC data on the default MIDI channel 1 and not do anything on the H&K side. The only reason to maybe change the MIDI channel on the H&K would be if you had Out/Thru MIDI turned on in the FX8 so any incoming midi PC data to the FX8 would pass thru to the amp. But you likely won't have any incoming MIDI on the FX8 so you should be ok.
 
Yes ^^^^ This is spot on.

My set up only uses one Midi cable from the out on the FX8 to the Midi In on the GM (plus my 4 cables for 4CM) and sends the preset number per scene for the GM.

Good luck. As I say it worked flawlessly from day one and gives so many options for tones per FX8 preset.
 
I have the fx8 and grandmaster36.
It took some time to figure out, but I got it to work for me. I use fx8 edit and in the midi section, I put in a new program number on each switch I want to change a program on the amp. Like 10 will be clean and 11 will be lead. I don't have it in front of me but its cc # I think. The channel # on the amp is usually way off what I want, so I make my changes with the amp knobs, (clean, crunch, lead) dial, and the watt settings in the back, then hold down the save button on the GM36 until it flashes. So now, anytime I hit that switch on the FX8, it also changes to the program number I set up of the GM. Only one midi cable from the fx8 to the GM midi in.

Hope this helps you. Works great for me
 
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