Re: Now that we have to choice: MFC-101 vs GORDIUS LITTLE GI
MisterE said:
If I had the money, I would buy both,
I do own both, and both are excellent. What a world we live in to have such niche awesomeness!
Joost, I see you've already chosen the LG, and I'm sure you'll get awesome mileage out of it, but I felt this was a bit of an LG-fest that I felt compelled to offer some counterbalance.
Disclaimers: Xavier is a good friend; some of you may know me as his former USA upgrade/service tech. On the other side, you may also know that I suggested many features for, and then helped with the manual for the MFC.
Anyway, I wanted to add my story here. I was a Gordius fan from very early on.. one of the first in the US, I think. I helped create the "variables" feature and some other wild creative tools which I "needed" to properly control a big rig... Eventides. Guitar synths. Racks/pedals du jour. Switchblade. Etc. etc. I had banks designed to do all kinds of cool crazy stuff... "because I could." You guys have hit on a lot of what made this sort of tinkering possible with the LG. Deep flexibility. Intricate detail. Computers.
Then the big rig went away. OK, now you're on to me: this is really an Axe-Fx story more than anything else. This ultimately changed everything, but not without a period of adjustment. It took me some time to become aware of "option-itis"... as I sought it out, then rejected it. For a time, with the Ultra and the Gordius, I struggled because I always felt "compelled" to use them to their potential. I'd imagine interesting things, set them up, go, "ooh" and then generally... get back to dreaming and scheming... dialing and trial-ing. I found it hard to port this system into musical applications, whether practicing, playing, jamming, or gigging. I also began to compose less. Perform less. PLAY less. I had become a sort of scientist.
In time, I also started to make chances to observe great players and their gear up close... I saw not scientists but artists. I was struck by how relatively simple they'd keep things at their feet -- even those with truly wild sonic palettes. Dedicated controls, available all the time, made the pedalboard more of an "instrument" than a "control panel" for these guys. Then I took a step in the right direction by settling into a very simple controller setup and starting to let the Axe-Fx do the heavy lifting. For me, this kind of nullifies the "it's incredibly deep" PRO of the LG, and even turns it into a potential CON (requiring wisdom and willpower to contain).
In this light, you'll understand why I have come to appreciate the "Grab and Go" quality of the MFC, as well as the simplicity with which it can be reprogrammed if needed, even on the fly. Axe-Fx mode really means having one less box to twiddle with. If subtlety or complexity of control are needed, these ARE on tap in the MFC (custom MIDI, down to hex code, per preset/IA)... but I have really learned to lean on the incredible Ultra for this.
With both units in my studio, I use the MFC-101 with my Axe-Fx. Clinchers:
- I don't need to do anything, ever, to get my MFC to sync to the Axe-Fx. Unbox. Connect. Powerup. Done.
- I can edit anything in a pinch without a computer.
- The MFC is still a "one hander" but offers more onboard footswitches.
- I appreciate its flatter layout -- I never cared for the sloped front of the LF.
- I like its rugged stable feel. I was skittish about clobbering the encoder on top of my LG (I was perhaps hypersensitive about this because I found and helped test the fix for a bug in that unit where accidentally stepping on the unit in a certain way caused it to stop working.)
So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Again, this wasn't to steer you one way or another -- I have, use, and love my own LG -- but I wanted to tell my story and make some points that I think were underrepresented in this thread.
-m@
PS: I also think it is important to point out for prosperity that the MFC is at the very beginning of its lifecycle. If it follows even approximately the same kind of upgrade path that the Axe-Fx has taken, there will be many enhancements and improvements made to satisfy both the mainstream and the fringe. Cliff, for instance, has already stated that some new features are coming in resonse to MFC "wishlisting" here.
