The GigRig G3 £1,095

Dan Steinhardt… I know that name, don’t I?

More than likely, yes! If you have even a passing interest in stompboxes, you’ll recognise Dan from his co-presenting role on That Pedal Show. But long before YouTube, Dan established his reputation via The GigRig, his company dedicated to pedalboard assembly and workflow solutions that can be found under the feet of rockstars a-plenty.

You mentioned loops. Is this something to do with Ed Sheeran?

Nope, we’re talking about loops, not loopers – so much like a more-advanced version of the effects loop on the back of your amp. What you see here is The GigRig G3, the latest incarnation of The GigRig’s famed switching systems. The new line-up features four products: the G3, G3 Atom, G3 Hub and G3 Extension Kit. Both the G3 and G3 Atom are switching units, allowing you to connect your pedals into 12 mono loops, or six stereo loops (G3) or six mono or stereo loops (G3 Atom), all of which are true bypass. Once you’ve got it all wired up, you can save different combinations of effects to the units’ 99 presets for instant recall – think multi-effects flexibility but with your favourite pedals.

Right, I’ve got a mix of vintage and modern pedals. Will it play nice with them?

Yes! By routing the pedals in loops, you’re not daisychaining pedals from different eras into one another. They stay isolated – and thanks to the input VCA buffer, you can present them with the level that they were

designed to ‘see’. There’s also a preset-specific output VCA, so you can have complete control of your output levels for each slot. Between all these features, you can get around the tone-suck that’s often experienced with pick ’n’ mix pedalboards.

I’m listening! What else do they do?

Well, aside from letting you hang up your tap-dancing shoes for now, it’s all about flexibility. Want to run your pedalboard into two amps but without the annoying earth problems? It can do that for you in stereo, dual mono or wet/dry configurations. Plus you can adjust the phase between the two outputs to make sure both your signals are firing in the same direction at the same time. The G3 allows you to easily swap your pedal order or send different combinations of pedals to different outputs. Both units can also carry over trails from time-based effects, such as delays and reverbs, when you switch presets, so you don’t need to worry about chopping your signal. They also feature some hefty MIDI functionality…

MIDI? So I can fire my keyboard player?

Not in relation to your pedalboard! The G3 series works with the MIDI sockets you might have on some of your pedals. So you can send out up to 15 program and control-change messages per preset to your pedals, and if you hook up an expression pedal (there are sockets for two), you can send out multiple CC messages with different heel/toe values at once. We’d say it’s best to keep the Ivory Boffin, at least until you’ve worked it out.

And what about the other two boxes?

Those are the G3 Extension Kit and G3 Hub. Let’s say you want to keep all your pedals in a rack drawer off the stage but still control it from a G3 at your feet. Well, that’s where the G3 Extension Kit comes in. Then there’s the G3 Hub. If you’re lucky enough to have a tech controlling your pedals, or you want to chain a number of G3s together, the Hub allows you to do so. It can link up to six G3 units together at once, mirroring and synchronising the settings across each one.

Go on, then. How much?

The G3 comes in at £1,095, while the G3 Atom is priced at £795. Both are available for pre-order at the time of writing, with shipping starting mid-November. Pricing on the Extension Kit and Hub is TBC.

STEREO OUTPUTS DISPLAY DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY These switchers take the headaches out of dual-amp setups, eliminating the noise and quirks that can arise with going stereo With 99 presets available, The GigRig has included a bright display to make sure you know where you’re at, at all times If you’re so inclined, both units offer some comprehensive MIDI functionality, plus there’s Bluetooth for managing presets and settings from your phone FLEXIBLE SWITCHING Tap-dancing be damned! The G3/G3 Atom’s primary function is to give you instant, flexible recall of all your pedal combinations

JARGON CRUNCHING Effects loops: The G3 units run up to 12 loops, but it’s important not to get effects loops confused with ‘looper’ pedals. These are completely different, with loopers digitally sampling your playing, and loops referring to a physical connection. The signal leaves the unit, goes through whatever you place in the chain, then back into the G3, just like the effects loop on the back of your amp.