RMC V9SF-001 - VG-99 Internal Subsonic Filter board

Started by Elantric, March 23, 2008, 05:22:55 PM

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Elantric


strudl

#26
I received and installed the RMC mod board and

  • instantly got better playability of the GR-300 and alt tuning patches.
    Great improvment for my Godin LGXT-SA and XTSA.

    The modification also improved the midi tracking for external synth.

    Sensitivity adjustment on the VG are now at 15. Works great for the internal sound but seems low for Midi tracking.

    Looks like I will stick to the GI-20 to track external sound. Midi implementation of the VG-99 is weak. I would have expect at least the same as the GI-20. Looks like the two development teams were not on the same floor. The only good thing with the VG-99 Midi is that he alt tuning get to the external synth side. But tracking and latency are not as good as with the GI-20. I tested both the MIDI out and the USB connection.  Cuirous about other comments of other GI-20 and VG user. I will post the same question on the MIDI forum.


    • Godin LGXT-SA, Godn XTSA, Godin Multiac Nylon, VG-99, GI-20, Sonar 7, Guitar Rig 3, Eventide Eclipse,

      • [/
      li]

Brent Flash

#27
Quote from: strudl on July 13, 2008, 08:44:20 AM
I received and installed the RMC mod board and
  • instantly got better playability of the GR-300 and alt tuning patches.
  • Great improvment for my Godin LGXT-SA and XTSA.
  • The modification also improved the midi tracking for external synth.
Sensibility adjustment on the VG are now at 15. Works great for the internal sound but seems low for Midi tracking.
Looks like I will stick to the GI-20 to track external sound. Midi implementation of the VG-99 is weak. I would have expect at least the same as the GI-20. Looks like the two development teams were not on the same floor. The only good thing with the VG-99 Midi is that he alt tuning get to the external synth side. But tracking and latency are not as good as with the GI-20. I tested both the MIDI out and the USB connection.  Cuirous about other comments of other GI-20 and VG user. I will post the same question on the NIDI forum.

Hey strudl, I have nothing to comment about your post but wanted to welcome you to the group. I see you have been a member for a while but this is your first post. Welcome!
Flash

feloniouspunk

Quote from: strudl on July 13, 2008, 08:44:20 AM

Great improvment for my Godin LGXT-SA and XTSA.

I have a Baggs equipped LGX-SA and to me it sounds great and tracks external sources very well.  But if things can be improved, I would like to know.  Do you think I would benefit from the filter as well?
Lots of Gear. :)

Elantric


Billy Kaffadrin

BTW, turns out the noise I have been getting when I whack the casing of the VG99 only happens when the 13 pin cable is disconnected.  And having a compressed patch increases the noise.  You do have to turn it up a bit to hear well, but even so it's noticable.  RMC thought there might be a difference between the VG99 input signal when terminated (cable connected) and unterminated (no cable); he was right.   So at least that's one less issue to worry about.

I do habitually turn things up to check things - the other day I was working on a desk that had a channel locked, so even when it had the fader down the fader was open! - and the room noise through the announcer mic was npt a good thing.  Had I not checked the show I was integrating would have made air with a much higher noise floor... 

But anyway, without the RMC filters yet, and having a trem bridge on my Brian Moore I9, I do find I have to be a lot more careful in how I handle my guitar than with my ESP Strat/GK2 setup.  All kinds of low frequency noise just wants to happen...

szilard

I've installed the subsonic filter recently and it cleans up the GR-300 patch nicely. Two thumbs up. I just thought I'd mention that if you have a tremolo bridge that's still noisy, at least on the Godin LGXT (LR Baggs), so you have to be little careful with the whammy bar, but I find it's usable. That's clearly an advantage to the mag pu.

charles.monteiro

Quote from: strudl on July 13, 2008, 08:44:20 AM
I received and installed the RMC mod board and

  • instantly got better playability of the GR-300 and alt tuning patches.
    Great improvment for my Godin LGXT-SA and XTSA.

    The modification also improved the midi tracking for external synth.

    Sensibility adjustment on the VG are now at 15. Works great for the internal sound but seems low for Midi tracking.

    Looks like I will stick to the GI-20 to track external sound. Midi implementation of the VG-99 is weak. I would have expect at least the same as the GI-20. Looks like the two development teams were not on the same floor. The only good thing with the VG-99 Midi is that he alt tuning get to the external synth side. But tracking and latency are not as good as with the GI-20. I tested both the MIDI out and the USB connection.  Cuirous about other comments of other GI-20 and VG user. I will post the same question on the NIDI forum.


    • Godin LGXT-SA, Godn XTSA, Godin Multiac Nylon, VG-99, GI-20, Sonar 7, Guitar Rig 3, Eventide Eclipse,

      • [/
      li]
I purchased one as well , got it at least a month back. I have not tried installing it yet because I'm swamped but partly I dread it :)

So I guess it went pretty smooth as far as taking things apart, no lost screws :). Any words of advise on the install of the RMC subsonic filter i.e. beyond the instructions provided by RMC ?

thanks[/list]

Elantric


baranger1

Thats the new high voltage GK board!
Best to put your left hand in your pocket when installing that one.

baranger1

Here is the prototype of the Subsonic filter.
It was a bit big and needed its own Roland stand!
Not only did it tune out the subsonic it did did a good job at tuning a long wire down to 160 meters.


Kevin M

Quote from: baranger1 on August 05, 2008, 04:48:46 PM
Here is the prototype of the Subsonic filter.
It was a bit big and needed its own Roland stand!
Not only did it tune out the subsonic it did did a good job at tuning a long wire down to 160 meters.



Haha!  Is that an external backup device (aka a filing cabinet) for it that I see in the background?

dpcoffin

#37
Any consensus yet about whether or not the GK-3 and the RMC mod sound identical in all cases? I'm just climbing on board and so far it seems the best bet (for sharing compatible patches and otherwise adhering to a "Standard") will be to add (ugh!) a GK-3 to my RMC-equipped (tele-type piezo bridge, no trem) guitar. Am I clearly wrong, or is this still a matter of debate?
Thanks!
dpc



Elantric

#39
Everyones ears are different.

But we have a set up a poll - and the voting is overwhelming that the GK-3 works best with the VG-99 Factory patches.
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php/topic,492.0.html
That is not to say that you could not create superior sounds with your RMC piezo -- using your own programming skills.

But the VG-99 with piezo hex GK PU (RMC, Graphtech Ghost, L R Baggs) has known problems:

* Low frequency noise on GR-300 model
* Low Frequency rumble on all patches if you have piezo saddles on a strat type floating tremolo bridge.
* a basic bright somewhat brittle sound on all patches compared to the GK-3


Richard McClish at RMC developed the VG-99 Subsonic Filter board to help solve the first two of the problems stated above. this does help a lot, and I would recommend it for ALL VG-99 users with Piezo hex pickups. Roland did cut some corners on the VG-99, and omitted the front end analog filter section that was present on the old VG-8  / VG-88. The RMC Subsonic Filter - re introduced this necessary circuit for piezo users.

Also Be sure your VG-99 Firmware is at version 1.04 - Roland updated the Firmware in Jan. 2008 - as a band aid software solution for Piezo PU users- it added 4 new programmable Piezo PU "memory slots" and a 2 band Piezo EQ to the GK Pickup Type selection area ,  but the RMC subsonic filter does provide a further signal processing solution to the issues stated above.


My 2 cents - I play mostly Mike Campbell Tom Petty - vintage rock sounds, and all Piezos sound very brittle to my ears compared (with or without the RMC Subsonic filter board) to the Roland GK-3. I cant get warm classic rock / blues tones - when using piezos and trying to get a decent lead tone with the VG-99, I always hear a sound similar to plugging an Ovation Acoustic into a Marshall. I had same problems with VG-8, VG-88, and now VG-99  when running piezo hex pick ups. I have used RMC. Ghost, LR Baggs - they all sound the same to me.   Its not a sound I would want. But in anothers hands - it could be just fine.


My favorite GK pu to use with the VG-99 is the Yamaha G1D, and Roland GK-3

Lerxst

I just recently purchased and installed Rich's modification. This had to be one of the easiest upgrades I've ever done. Rich included a very well written instruction page that I decided to make a pictorial out of for those (like me) who like pictures to go along with words. The attached pdf is for the most part verbatim of Rich's instructions with a few added comments. Hope this takes any fear out of installing this as it only took a Phillips screwdriver and my thumbnail to install it...

Enjoy!  8)

~Lerxst

Elantric

Lerxst - Awesome Subsonic Filter Installation  guide !

I cant thank you enough !

Hey Tell me about your 335?

MikeC

Lerxst

your PDF guide is excellent. wish i'd downloaded it 30 minutes ago while I was fitting the RMC board. doh! luckily Richard's notes are really simple to follow. trickiest part i found was re-fitting the two screws that hold the board; the one with the earth tag kept wanting to fall into the casing of the VG! all working fine now, and the improvement is well worth the cost and (minimal) hassle. all the patches are playable now and my sub-woofer only woofs when its supposed to. Nice work Richard!  :)

Mike

charles.monteiro

yes, thank you very much. I have had the unit sitting around for about 2 months. The pics make this a lot better to attempt. The only thing better would have been a YouTube video . Not complaining :) I guess its best to use a magnetic screwdriver in case things fall in.


Lerxst


Hey thanks for the thanks everyone! I guess I could have done a youtube, but didn't want anybody to see how many margaritas I was drinking when I did the installation.  ;) :-[




Quote from: sustainiac on September 12, 2008, 07:36:05 AM
Lerxst - Awesome Subsonic Filter Installation  guide !

I cant thank you enough !

Hey Tell me about your 335?



I would be happy to talk about my kinda 335 which I affectionately call "The Borg" It is an Ibanez 335 copy that was made in Korea in the mid 90's. When I bought it I really loved the playability/action/intonation and price, but the pickups were junk so I replaced them with a couple of DiMarzio dual sound PU's split inside with push-push pots and the guitar instantly became a tone monster. Shortly after that I also replaced the string nut with a graphite one. I was very happy with the guitar up until about two months ago when it started breaking strings at the bridge. I took to my friend who is a luthier, and he did some light filing that helped but I realized that the bridge was also junk. I was thinking "I'll get some string saver saddles and put them in the bridge so I won't have to worry about buying a complete new bridge". Well you know that's how it starts. After looking at Graphtech's site, I thought "ooo – I'll put in acoustic saddles so it can be like my Parkers"....

One thing led to another and by the end of it, I had replaced all of the hardware (which now had to be all black) and added the complete Graphtech system. So here's the run down:

•   Complete Graphtech acoustic/hex system
•   DiMarzio Dual sound PU's
•   Graphite string nut
•   Tone Pro's locking bridge (with of course, string saver acoustic saddles)
•   Tone Pro's locking tailpiece
•   Sperzel locking tuners
•   Cats eye "ringo" Q-Parts knobs
•   Carvin pickup selector switch
•   Stew Mac three way switch for acoustic/blend/magnetic
•   Traditional black strap buttons

The forward knobs are for the magnetic volume, and the rear knobs are acoustic volume with dark switch (push-push), and the other for MIDI volume. I also moved the acoustic/magnetic jack from the face of the guitar to the side just below the 13 pin jack.

Here's a pic of "The Borg" and my newest baby – the Alex Lifeson 355... :)

~Lerxst


kneagle

Quote from: sustainiac on April 07, 2008, 03:50:50 PM
I'll use it with an Acoustic with RMC PU - I'll report my findings after I install it.

Hi -

Did you ever follow up with this? Could you point me to the link?

Thanks,
Ken

Tom K

Hi guys, I'm new here. This is my first post. Great site!

Will the RMC Piezo Subsonic Filter affect the VG-99 bass patches (less bottom end)?

Also, I use a GraphTech Ghost system and I wonder if anybody have specs on the Traction switch on the 13 pin board ?
It's supposed to remove low frequency information, and the switch has two positions. What are the high pass or band pass
frequencies?

feloniouspunk

#47
Quote
Will the RMC Piezo Subsonic Filter affect the VG-99 bass patches (less bottom end)?

No
Lots of Gear. :)

ztones

any update on this filter?  Are you guys happy with it?  How big is it and how does it connect to the VG?

feloniouspunk

The filter is a replacement part that requires you to open up the VG-99 and replace the 13-pin input.  Not hard to do at all. 
Lots of Gear. :)