Fwiw, as much as I loathe the GT's UI, one thing is remarkable: As I'm using the global block functionality (aka "Stombox" feature) for anything relevant and as on the main board my core amp tones are generated externally, I actually hardly ever need to deal much with editing anymore. Everything is based on one master patch and the FX chain is never changed (which also results in delay/reverb spillovers to work all the time)
Maybe interesting to some, so far organisation goes sort of as follows:
I run the amp scenario pretty much the Boss way, as in having a dual amp divider thing set up, just that the amps are replaced by the FX loops running into my external pedals. -> No need to ever touch the GT or an editor to adjust any core tones.
The essential global blocks I'm using are:
- The compressor running before the divider split.
- An EQ running behind the divider split.
- A drive so far running in front of the dirt amp loop. This might be subject to change.
- A delay (one of the vanilla delays, set to 1/4 notes).
- A reverb (Hall 2, 2,3s hall time, a bit dampened).
I'm always using a combination of the pre-compressor (Boss Comp, pretty light compression, pretty high attack time, tone turned up just a bit, the entire thing serving to add a little "meat" to the guitars decay rather than doing any noticeable compression) and the post-EQ (set to bump 500Hz ever so slightly atm, otherwise it's really just defining the overall level) to get to a lead version of whatever is active in the divider loop. This has been working just great for any kinda tones from clean to very dirty during the last, say, 2 decades for me. I first came up with this very scenario when I got my first loop switcher. Balancing the compressor and EQ outputs is a tad delicate, but once you know how they interact with clean and dirt tones, it's pretty easy.
I'm also pretty much always using a reverb for clean lead tones (or thickened up rhythm tones, but for those I use the clean lead patch and back up my guitar volume) and a delay for dirt leads (I need to try placing reverb and delay in mix dividers so I can add a bit of reverb to the delay as well, simply to "un-sharpen" or wash up the attacks a bit, really too bad there's just one reverb available per patch, that's one of the main drawbacks for me in terms of FX flexibility).
And finally these are always switched on together: pre-compressor, post-EQ, reverb and/or delay.
Then the following global block parameters are routed to the six encoders (too bad their settings are global, it'd add a LOT of flexibility in case you could decide whether you wanted them to be the same all throughout or patch based):
- 1 Overdrive Gain (might be subject to change)
- 2 Overdrive Level
- 3 Compressor Output
- 4 EQ Output
- 5 Delay Mix
- 6 Reverb Mix
With all that I can very easily adjust all relevant levels in a matter of 1-2 minutes during soundcheck and as everything is either globally valid or executed by an external, non programmable device, I never need to re-save anything. I can even very quickly finetune things during a gig. Yes, it requires bowing down for a moment, but that's absolutely fine as it's a very, very fast process due to the way things are organized. In case you were reading more of this thread, you will know that I used TouchOSC on a tablet before, but as I still have plenty of analog stuff on the board, it turned out to annoy me that I had to deal with both the tablet on a stand and things on the floor. Also took considerably more time because of that.
I do now only have some FX and the Master Delay left to adjust on the unit, two of the FX are pre-amp and also set to work globally (a phaser and a tremolo), the other 2 FX and the Master Delay are reserved for what I'd call a "Playground" patch, allowing me to do some spacey swells, add funky FX and what not. That very patch is a subject to regular change thing entirely.
For now my main bank (that really covers pretty much everything I ever need to deliver) covers clean rhythm, clean lead, dirt rhythm, dirt lead and either that very playground patch or a patch for the acoustic that I bring for some gigs.
I do then have the three leftmost top switches set up to add the FX blocks (no need for me to have the bank switches there), CTL 2/3 are used for Tap Tempo and Mode/Tuner. Tap Tempo will be externalized but for now I see no urgent reason.
There's still some things that could certainly be optimized. For instance, I may just use the "Curnum" function (which is actually fantastic) to switch the clean rhythm to a clean lead tone, as I pretty much never need to switch to a clean lead tone from a dirt patch. That'd already free up one patch. And I may as well tinker around with a single patch allowing me to do pretty much everything, kinda like a kitchen sink preset, but there might not be enough assign slots for that to really work.
Oh, and then there's the situations when I use the GT on its own. For now, I actually just copied the very same patches I use with the full board and simply replaced the loops with the internal amps, also set to work globally (Natural and X-Crunch). For these patches, I actually created a new TouchOSC patch allowing me to control the relevant parameters of the amps (gain, BMT and level) from the tablet. Could as well use the Android editor, but I don't want to feel insulted any time I use it.
I still need to think about some things allowing me to organize patches a bit better, but for the time being this is very comfortable already and, as said, the best thing being that I never have to deal with the gruesome UIs in important situations anymore at all.
