Voodoo Lab Control Switcher

In my amp system, I have two amps running together at the same time. The voodoo lab control switcher along with any midi-controller, makes life easy once I have to change channels on these amps. You get 4 relays that can be switched in and out along with any midiprogram number. These relays are great because you can switch any signal with them (some older switching units use CMOS switches that can be blown very easily), no matter what switching voltage you're dealing with. So essentially, you can't brake it. Programming is very simple! Anybody can do it! The unit is very strong and durable but the push buttons are tiny and fragile. I put the switcher in a little pedalboard I had laying around and put that on top of the amps. This way, you can also mount a 230V outlet with it because the seperate power supply is not very handy to always have to carry along seperatly. Just a general 230V input on the unit itself would be more easily but then again, the unit itself would become severely more big and probably more prone to hum. This unit is absolutely dead-silent!

I purchased this product to help use my mesa mark v and dual rectifier with my midi rig (voodoo labs gcx)

It is a simple product, clearly labelled, and almost very plug and play.

All I had to do to get it to work was plug the power in, connect my cables (runs mesas via 4 separate guitar cables), then program it as a second gcx within my ground control pro. each cable corresponded to a numbered loop (1 to 4) within this 'second gcx' and to a control on the mesa, in the rectifiers case, 1 to 4 off was just clean channel, 1 was channel 2, 2 was channel 3, 3 was solo and 4 was fx loop.

The quality was not quite the same feel as other voodoo labs stuff I own, feeling much lighter and the led to signify the power is not as bright as I would have expected, however this is a very minor thing, nitpicking even. it is a metal structure and once it is plugged in, does not require touching again, so it does not need to be as sturdy. The lightness could also be seen as a positive as well if you wish to sit this on top of the amp, however I have mine in my rack unit.

I would recommend this without a doubt. Especially for mesa users as it means that you can use your midi switching without sacrificing banks in your gcx to act as switchers for the amp.

I'm using this with my Engl Screamer 50 combo and works like a charm.

Pros:
- Easy presets (midi PC messages) configurations.
- DIN 5 pins can be used instead of mono jacks for easy plugin. You need to DIY the cable or buy it from Voodoo Labs.

Cons:
- Fixed midi CC messages implementation to activate the switchs independetly. But you can chose among several ranges.
- There is no way to list/view the current midi mappings.

I bought this to use with a DigiTech GNX3000 and a Mesa Boogie Mark 4 combo. It was easy to set up and very quick to get up and running. I did find there is a slight drop out when changing patches on the GNX3000 but this is actually down to the DigiTech unit and not the control switcher. I tried the switcher with another fx unit and an ADA midi pedal and there was no drop out of sound at all. I am able to control most of the settings on the Boogie including all channels and the EQ. The control switcher is a useful bit of kit that saves me having to do a little dance every time I want a different sound. I would recommend it to anybody who has a multi-fx unit that they want to use with an amp that has external switching capability.