Need help thinking through this. And I’m on the clock because I have a return policy ending this weekend so I need to make a decision.
I built a pedal board with UA Ruby, Enigmatic and Lion as well as the HX Stomp for effects. I’m controlling it with a Morningstar MC8 Pro, powering with a Strymon Zuma.
I like the UA sounds, but I’m not a fan of the Stomp sound quality, though it has nice features (dual signal path, lots of routing flexibility, good selection of basic fx like compressor, delay, basic reverbs etc). I just don’t think the overall sound is that great.
Plus, the UA hardware is maddening to use, even though Dream Chimp has made it more tolerable. But it still leaves a lot to be desired.
I also feel completely locked in because I can’t add too much more to this board.
I’m considering selling/returning it all to build a modular system around gig performer.
My thinking is this would give me dramatically more options in terms of sounds I can download and use without having to add or sell off hardware (maybe an external drive in case i really start running complicated plugins, but I don’t think that’s a big deal).
I can still pick up UA Paradise Guitar Studio for all the UA amp sounds and various effects that I like, and also download something like Scuffham for additional amp sounds, plus whatever other effects I feel like picking up down the road.
The setup would be a mac mini and motu 2 in/4 out interface, and I would use my ipad for a screen. I’d control gig performer with midi with the MC8 Pro.
I’ve been told setups like this are seamless for switching, but is that with cc commands only, or pc commands as well?
I’m just getting my mind around using midi to control hardware. Is it more difficult to figure out using midi to control plug ins?
What else is there to watch out for? Sound quality should be good, right? UA stuff should sound like UA stuff, etc?
Is gig performer pretty intuitive to use?
Is there anything else for me to beware of?
Thanks for any help you can give.
Welcome to the gang! Here you can find articles about some of our users: Index of guitarists and bassists
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A special version of Overloud TH-U already comes bundled with Gig Performer. Scuffham Amps S-Gear is also a great solution, we have community templates built around it.
Click here to see the most recent one: Jam rackspace for S-Gear by Scuffham Amps
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I’ve been told setups like this are seamless for switching, but is that with cc commands only, or pc commands as well?
You can use PC messages, CC messages, Note messages, whatever you like 
Some users had a switch that sends computer keyboard letters! That works as well.
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Is it more difficult to figure out using midi to control plug ins?
In Gig Performer, everything is easy. Since I may be biased, I compiled various quotes from Gig Performer users here: Gig Performer is easy to use - Short Stories
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What else is there to watch out for?
Only thing to watch for is getting addicted. People confirmed that using Gig Performer spreads addiction! A very nasty disease - tell your band mates!
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Sound quality should be good, right?
It’s awesome: MOTU and Mac is a great combination. You can hear here some demos: Using GP to create an unlimited guitar modeller
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Is gig performer pretty intuitive to use?
Sure thing. I wrote a blog article about it: [blog] Gig Performer is Extremely Easy, Intuitive, and Fun to Use
@telecast
I’ve been using GigPerformer for about 3 years at this point and was in a similar situation around that point in time. In my primary band, I do something a little less common and use a hybrid setup where I have both a physical pedalboard and use more traditional stomp effects in tandem with VSTs and have found migrating a few steps at a time from a traditional setup to an all in the box setup to be the path of least resistance for myself. In my second band where I play bass, everything is in the box and I just use a basic MIDI foot controller.
Depending on what you need to return this weekend, starting with the hybrid path and not forcing a large paradigm change all at once might be a little easier to digest. An easy first move here could be replacing the UA amp pedals you aren’t fond of with VSTs that model amps you do enjoy and just running the remainder of your pedalboard into those VSTs.
While I do plan to eventually retire my current pedalboard and replace it with a midi-controller that replaces the remaining stomps with VSTs, for now I am really enjoying the hybrid approach and love the combination of using amp modellers and a wide variety of FX plugins with physical stomp boxes.
Everything else I perform on stage (keys, percussion, vocals) is controlled via an iPad app, a Novation Launch Control, or the Keylab keyboard, and I’ve had no issues with patch changes, CC parameter changes, etc … Controlling the rig via a MIDI controller that fits your needs should work fine. GigPerformer does a really solid job of mapping of MIDI messages to widgets so you can visually see and control what you need to, and hide everything else you don’t.
I am also using a MOTU interface; I went with an 848 because I’m also doing keys, percussion and vocals and our band uses a mixer that accepts AVB, so a single ethernet cable is less work than a bigger channel snake. I can’t recommend the MOTU interfaces enough - they’re really solid for live-stage use.
While I am running a more complex setup, I started small and found GigPerformer to be incredibly intuitive right from the get-go. My tones with the current setup absolutely curb-stomp my prior rig of mic’ing up two physical Mesas, and my IEMs and FOH never sounded this good before.
Is there anything else for me to beware of? – You ideally need a laptop that you can and will dedicate to just being a performance machine / guitar rig, or be ready to sanity test your rig often. Don’t update plugins on a whim and don’t update the machine an hour before the gig, etc … If you can gel with that, GigPerformer is an incredible canvas to paint with.
Sean
Hey man thanks for the info. What are you running GP on, a Mac?
No problem @telecast
Yeah, I’m current using an M4Max MacBook Pro with 64gb of ram, but I originally got this machine for development and it’s overkill for most rigs.
Until early last year I was doing the prior iteration of this rig on a much older 2016 Touchbar Macbook Pro with 16gb of ram. For just guitar that last Macbook was fine and never had issues. When I introduced all of the other instruments and AVB became part of the setup, 16gb was a bit limiting.
I also have an older M1Max from work that I keep as a backup machine on gigs. That M1 will still power the current rig fine. You can do a ton even with an older Macbook at this point. If I had to replace either MBP, I would just buy a 2nd-hand MBP that had enough ram and do the same thing over again.