Voodoo Lab GCX Guitar Audio Switcher Reviews

4.7/5.0 based on 6 customer reviews

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Customer Reviews

Rodney Zimmerman
from Akron, OH USA
July 24, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist

Voodoo Labs GCX Switcher

This does what is advertised. It responds quickly to midi messages for on and for off. It is sonically transparent. I did side by side comparisons with gear that I own that already have "true bypass" by daisy chaining them in bypass mode, or by looping them through the GCX bypassed, and there was no audible difference. I read online that there might be a mod to turn each of the 8 loops into stereo loops, and I would like more info on that - because 8 loops is not enough for me and I don't want another backspace to be used up for another switcher!

Noah
from Massachusetts
August 23, 2011

Amazing for Pedals - GCX and GCP Review

I need to start this review by saying that I am not a effects/rack guitar player. I use 8 effects with this unit, but the real reason I bought it was to be able to preset combinations of pedals.

I had a regular pedal board and was playing behind a well known artist when I heard about GCX. I was skeptical at first but after watching the videos and emailing VL a bunch of times I bought one. Now I'm sold on the idea.

The main reason I bought it is because it allowed me to step on one button and have three pedals come on and hit it again and have them all go off - very useful if you're reproducing album tracks and are not a tap dancer.

The things I have come to love about it (and I hope to clear up people's questions) are:

1- With GCP the top 8 buttons can act just like 8 pedals on a board

2- The lower 4 buttons can be presets of any combinations (and they can be named). You use the bank up/down to go to 4 more presets. So if you're on tour and play the same set every night you just put 4 presets in and name them the song title and have the intro, bridge, chorus, solo on 1234. Hit bank up and be all set for the next song.

If you want to add/remove an effect while in a preset hust hit one of the top 8 buttons just like you would on a pedal board. Simple.

3- Programming is simple - just set the combination, hold sown edit and go through the menu and hit save. Simple.

4- Has a great buffer in it. Everyone talks True Bypass but honestly on a big stage the buffer sounds great (long cable). You can run it without the buffer as well.

5- QUIET - I thought my regular board was quiet this is unreal. No hums, etc... much quieter can't believe it. With 8 tb pedals hooked together that's a lot of extra cable. This just goes through the pedals that are turned on. Not sure why but it will clean up your sound.

6- Cabling will cost you some money. It's too bad they dont have the in/out switchable wired inside. You need an extra cable on every channel. Use Georgle L so you can make them an inch long.

7- Security - I never thought of this when I bought it but some pedals are expensive. I use the Klon which costs over a grand now (was $240 when I bought it), Boss CE-1, original Tube Screamer and a Slow Gear.

I did a bar band gig with a friend as a fill in and all my pedals were in the rack and no yahoo could see/steal them plus they're not getting stepped on (you leave them on all the time) so they're in great condition.

IN CLOSING - The GCX is a killer system for anyone who plays a lot.

Things to figure in are cabling cost (you'll need about 50 connectors and I bought the 50' roll of cable - all George L), cost of a rack case (I am using a 4 space case as I use a Chandler analog delay, the GCX and shelf and I have to push my pedals down to slide it out so figure 3 free spaces for a shelf to work with clearance, and an SKP shelf - expensive but well made.

Also - at first I hooked this up and sliding the shelf would pull things out, things were getting caught up, etc... so I redid it with cable ties and added length to some pedals now it's fine but you're looking as 3+ hours to get it wired up and sliding out as it should. Make sire you do it somewhere that allows you to access both sides of the case and where you can check cable lengths/clearance before you cut.

Buy a package of small cable ties as well.

DISCLAIMER - There are other ways to use the system. This is how I am using it.

Ted
from Ocala,FL
May 16, 2011Music Background:
Semi-Pro

A must have....

This is an absolute must have if you are an effects junkie.For those that dont know what this thing does is it has 8 loops in the rear.You can basically hook up 8 pedals or 8 effect processors,or basically 8 of anything into it.Lets say you got a song that requires a flanger,chorus,delay and another effect to be turned on for part of a song,and then turned off at a different part of the song.Without it you would be tap dancing to turn stuff on and off,with the GCX you click 1 button and BAM,all on or off,or any combination you want!! Voodoo Lab support is insane also,I have posted on their forum and got an answer from voodoo lab in minutes before!! I have 2 GCX,you cant go wrong with anything from Voodoo!!

Matt Strakis
from Indianapolis, IN
January 4, 2013Music Background:
Studio Engineer, Musician, Live Audio Technician

Simple and reliable!

The GCX is a GREAT solution combined with the ground control pro for your guitar switching needs! I couldn't ask for an easier system for controlling all of my guitar equipment!

David Knife
from Baltimore, MD
April 16, 2012Music Background:
Musician

Excellent Product!

I recently picked up the GCX since I was looking for a unit to select my pedals and amp channels. These ease of use on this is incredible. I did not pick up the ground controller due to the price, however I am using a Rocktro midi mate. Set up was a breeze, it's practically noiseless as well. I highly recommended the GCX switcher of your looking for a great all around solution!

seth
from United States
March 6, 2012Music Background:
hobbyist

spend the money already!

I put off buying this for years because I couldn't justify spending 800 for something that would turn 3 stomps into 1. BUT tax refund time and I went for both this and the ground control and it is worth every penny. It's basically 8 loops that you can use for either amp switching or pedals. One thing i would like to point out is the TONE improvement...having 4 pedals on a board all hooked up really can degrade tone, even when they are off, but with these loops, when the loop is off the whole pedal is taken out of the signal path, and you get to keep that nice top-end of your strings! it's very nice. I run it with a mesa roadster, which takes up most of the loops for switching (channel 1-4 and loop) leaving 3 pedal slots available for a EQ+DS-1, CS-5 and a EQ+OD808. I run a PODxt Pro in the fx loop of the roadster and the great thing about this piece of gear is that with MIDI from the GCX you can change programs on the POD as well, so with one stomp I can go from orange channel with DS-1 dry to red channel with OD808 and the chorus pedal, turn on the FX loop and change the POD program to an analog delay w/mod and a huge reverb, all with just one button tap! well worth the money!!!