Relay switching with Mesa

Using humbuster cables. TRS out of fx8 to TS on amp channel relays. Choose the "both" option when turning relays on in your presets.


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Good video. I also have a Mark V. Can you do a video on how you are connecting to the foot switch rear. Also I am getting clipping thru the output #1 what are your settings for unity gain? I just noticed this yesterday when playing. I think if I just turn down my loop nob I will get rid of clip. My loop nob is at 50%(12 on clock).
Thx Tony
 
My loop is also at noon with no clipping, I keep my "pad" at 6 decibels with passive pickups, 12 with active. Try turning settings of effects down on the axe rather than using the loop adjustment on the head! If you have a compressor cranked, dirt pedal or something that adds a bunch of gain that could be what is causing the clipping


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Out of the fx 8 I'm going "relay 1" to "channel 2" on head, and then "relay 2" to "channel 3" on head. When neither are engaged it stays on your clean channel, and only switches when you activate one of the relays in your preset.


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thegrando127 said:
Out of the fx 8 I'm going "relay 1" to "channel 2" on head, and then "relay 2" to "channel 3" on head. When neither are engaged it stays on your clean channel, and only switches when you activate one of the relays in your preset.


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Click to expand...


NICE! So I do not need the mini amp gizmo. Just 2 cables as described. I am using the Dimarzio liquid fires & crunch pick ups in my Ibanez. Having a tough time getting a good tone with them. WWJD. (What would John Do)
 
Yeah those are hot pickups! No amp gizmo for sure, that's the main reason I've been waiting for this rig. Just get 4 humbuster cables from fractal, one for axe out to amp main input, the one for axe effects out to amp loop return and two for relays. I also recommend getting the 30 footers if you are gigging as you'll want this at front of stage and the 15 footers don't quite cut it unless you are playing little bars


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Also for anyone curious about whether or not those cables help with noise, I used this same setup for two weeks with regular cables (no relays tho) waiting on my humbusters to ship, and I couldn't believe the difference with those cables. It's pretty much silent aside from amp static when the head is cranked now.


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How do you set up your each channel master and out volume on your Mark V 3-channels?
Do you push each channel master past noon or throttle back on channels and push output volume up?
 
When I'm playing live I like the master output to be around 11 o'clock. Anything after that I'll get a little feedback on lead channel. Then I set the lead channel volume as high as I can before it starts feeding back, and then match channel 1 and 2 to that so that they are all the same volume


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You want the master up as far as you can to get the full power of the amp and you get that nice Mesa growl


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Ok. I received my cables today. Works great! Switching is smooth. I noticed in my relay block there are (2) switches in (Axe Edit) When put to Both they switch between #2 & #3 channels. When put to off they switch between #1 & #3 channels. What are you using to mute? I can't seem to get tuner to mute. I changed this in settings to off or pre or post still guitar goes through?
 
This is a great post. I've been searching all over the forums for this info. I got my FX8 a few day ago and I love it. I'm just using a 4-channel TS snake at low volumes into a Mark V25 that the guys at Rapco made for me. Noise isn't an issue at low volumes, BUT it probably will be at higher volumes. I also have a Mark II C+ and two Dual Rectos, which I'll be testing, soon. My plan is to make a 4-channel Humbuster TRS to TS snake. I was searching to find out if a Humbuster would work for the relay. I want all 4 pair in the snake to be Humbusters, so I can use the relay cable as an audio cable, if one of the other 3 cables in the snake fail. You can always just run a regular guitar cable for channel switching, if you have to. This is about being prepared in the event of a problem in the snake.

I'm looking at making a 4-channel Humbuster snake out of Mogami 2931 snake cable. Has anyone else done this? During my research, I see a lot of recommendations for Bes-Tronics, I'm going to check them out, as well. The thing I like about Mogami is it is VERY flexible and very light. I'm all about light and efficient, but also durable and reliable. Anyone that has done fly dates knows how easy it is to exceed the airline baggage weight limits. :(

Thanks again for the info. Rig photos coming, when I'm done. :)
 
I have made a bunch of humbucker patch cables to bring in a few external fx, I put an eventide space humbuster out to the post.

You want 2 TRS Y cables out of the stereo cables, then you can use 4 relay channels. The other 2 make humbuster, and you are golden. It's easy to make them from the manual, and totally worth doing yourself for a nice easy snake concept like that. I did the same thing, but built my own snake, your approach is better.
 
Choral Mist said:
This would work if you only need one switching signal. One relay will switch the amp and the other will do nothing.
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Choral Mist. Thanks for the info, but I don't think that's exactly what I meant. To be clear, I'm talking about a 4-pair snake, ALL wired has Humbusters and plugged in as follows:
1 - Humbuster out to front of amp
2 - Humbuster in from amp EFX send
3 - Humbuster out to amp EFX return
4 - Humbuster to footswitch jack to channel switch Mark V 25, Mark II C+ or using 2 of the 3 channels of a Dual Recto

I understand that using only ONE relay can only control ONE channel. I know all Mesa amps default to a specific channel when no footswitch plugged it (usually the Clean channel?). To control all three channels of a Dual Recto, you'd need a Relay cable in both channels 2 AND 3. If neither of those is engaged, you get the clean channel.
Choral Mist said:
This would work if you only need one switching signal. One relay will switch the amp and the other will do nothing.
Click to expand...

For a mono/one amp setup, I only need one relay. I have an old snake, made from Mogami 2932 8-pair cable that I'm going to re-purpose for a stereo setup with my 3-channel Dual Rectos. Most local gigs I play, I take minimal gear and run mono. Weight and convenience is the primary concern, so a lightweight 4-channel snake from Mogami 2931 will probably be the main rig. Even running 3-channel Dual Rectos, I find I can easily just use 2 channels and set my solo settings with a hotter output, which emulates what I normally do with a 3rd channel, anyway.
 
Bob DeLellis said:
Choral Mist. Thanks for the info, but I don't think that's exactly what I meant. To be clear, I'm talking about a 4-pair snake, ALL wired has Humbusters and plugged in as follows:
1 - Humbuster out to front of amp
2 - Humbuster in from amp EFX send
3 - Humbuster out to amp EFX return
4 - Humbuster to footswitch jack to channel switch Mark V 25, Mark II C+ or using 2 of the 3 channels of a Dual Recto

I understand that using only ONE relay can only control ONE channel. I know all Mesa amps default to a specific channel when no footswitch plugged it (usually the Clean channel?). To control all three channels of a Dual Recto, you'd need a Relay cable in both channels 2 AND 3. If neither of those is engaged, you get the clean channel.


For a mono/one amp setup, I only need one relay. I have an old snake, made from Mogami 2932 8-pair cable that I'm going to re-purpose for a stereo setup with my 3-channel Dual Rectos. Most local gigs I play, I take minimal gear and run mono. Weight and convenience is the primary concern, so a lightweight 4-channel snake from Mogami 2931 will probably be the main rig. Even running 3-channel Dual Rectos, I find I can easily just use 2 channels and set my solo settings with a hotter output, which emulates what I normally do with a 3rd channel, anyway.
Click to expand...

If I am reading this correctly, you are planning on running a Humbuster cable from your RELAY (1 or 2) out on the FX8 to your amp. If you do this you will be defeating one of the relays on that output. The Relay output has two relays: TIP-to-SLEEVE and RING-to-SLEEVE. To utilize these correctly you need a TRS-to-TRS cable.

Additonally, Humbuster technology is built into the outputs of the FX8. Running Humbuster from the EFX send on your amp will not buy you any addtional noise reduction.
 
Bob DeLellis said:
Choral Mist. Thanks for the info, but I don't think that's exactly what I meant. To be clear, I'm talking about a 4-pair snake, ALL wired has Humbusters and plugged in as follows:
1 - Humbuster out to front of amp
2 - Humbuster in from amp EFX send
3 - Humbuster out to amp EFX return
4 - Humbuster to footswitch jack to channel switch Mark V 25, Mark II C+ or using 2 of the 3 channels of a Dual Recto

I understand that using only ONE relay can only control ONE channel. I know all Mesa amps default to a specific channel when no footswitch plugged it (usually the Clean channel?). To control all three channels of a Dual Recto, you'd need a Relay cable in both channels 2 AND 3. If neither of those is engaged, you get the clean channel.
Click to expand...

Bob, I actually understood your plan fully, and I really like it (will probably steal the idea for my setup). I wasn't quite clear in my response. Since each relay output is actually switching 2 relays, as Joe mentioned, because the humbuster shorts one signal to shield on the amp end, you lose the functionality of that 2nd relay channel, although it won't hurt anything. I wasn't sure if that was a concern to you, and it sounds like it's not.

I run a Soldano X88 that works similarly for switching the 3 channels, so I will require access to the 2 separate relays, and therefore will personally wire one cable as a straight TRS-TRS for the switching signals (I'm not worried about redundancy).

I'm guessing that "humbuster" outputs are just balanced drivers, and so using the humbuster cable amounts the usual trick of driving an unbalanced input from a balanced output. I.e. a noise-rejection middle ground between unbalanced and fully balanced. As Joe said, humbuster in the return path isn't necessary--so there's another potentially redundant cable that could easily be swapped and replaced with guitar cable in case of emergency.

I was going to bundle individual cables into a makeshift snake, but I think I'll order myself some 2931 and build up a custom snake. Thanks for the idea!!
 
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