After years of frustration with a GigRig G3, I’ve rebuilt my board around the MC8 Pro and two ML10X units. The board itself is a Schmidt Array SA550XDM. I initially planned to use Square Plug 550-S right-angles on the ML10Xs, but clearance was too tight, so I went with SPS7-S connectors for the insert cables. Most of the patching is done with BTPA CA-0492, and I used Mogami 2552 for stereo-to-stereo runs (Clean, Onward, Lossy). I also added rubber feet to the top of the ML10Xs to protect the button clusters from the lid.
The cable runs aren’t as tidy as some of my previous builds. Fitting everything underneath was a real challenge, but now that it’s all wired, I’ll probably go back and clean it up. I was honestly worried the board wouldn’t have enough room, but it worked out better than expected.
I wired the loops based on what made sense for cabling, not necessarily final signal order, since I can reorder everything virtually. For example, keeping the Zuul’s key and gate I/O on the same loop made wiring simpler than splitting them with Model feT or Clean.
Now the fun begins… figuring out how to organize my presets. Would love to hear how you all manage stompbox-style control on your ML10Xs. Are you using loop toggle/set messages, or just switching presets? Thanks for reading. I’m really stoked to be back with Morningstar.
lol dont wanna fly with this thing - i think you will want to end up just switching presets because most of the time you will want to be changing the order too. i have found if you have one ‘main’ ml10x you can have buttons on the mc8 for bypassing individual pedals, then for all your other presets just have them rearrange / swap order for you. also since you cant see your ml10s your better off just doing presets.
on my board i have the ml10x and other midi pedals chained after my H90, so that way if i dont have my mc6 pro plugged in, i can put all the pedals on the same channel and they will change pcs together so its basically the same experience
Quick question, where does your guitar plug in and then exit to amp and does the last midi controlled effect (for me, hx effects) need to loop midi out to mc8 pro in? Thanks. Newbie with midi. I too tried the gig rig. Nice product but never resonated with me.
There’s a 1/4” locking Neutrik jack on the right side of the board that goes straight to input of the EUNA. The output of the EUNA goes into the first ML10X.
There’s a patch bay on the left side of the board setup for four cable method, the jacks that go to the amp input and effect loop send are in the ML10X loop with the noise gate.
I’m using a Dr. Z Maz 38NR mkII and a Fender 68’ Deluxe Reverb. When I record, I typically stereo out from the board into my audio interface, and from there I usually use the UAFX Ruby and Dream plug-ins or the Line 6 Helix Native.
Keen to know what your frustrations with the G3 were and how you are approaching ‘stompbox’ mode with the setup. After a few months of use are you still happy with the change?
I am a long time G3 user (on a Schmidt Array board) contemplating a switch as per the opening post. I would also be very interested to learn how the poster got on with the change over and if there are any downsides or problems that have arisen.
For my own part, I have very few midi pedals. The change would be primarily to have a smaller footprint controller with colour screens that show what is happening much more clearly than a G3. The cost to upgrade to a G3S would be considerably more than a MC8 Pro and ML10X and the GS3 screens are very limited.
I can definitely understand why the G3 would still be appealing if you’re working mostly with analog pedals and need a simple, tactile loop switcher. But for my setup, with several MIDI pedals and a need for flexible routing, the G3 really started to show its limitations.
The Morningstar ecosystem (MC8 Pro and ML10X) has been a big improvement for me. No downsides so far. Once everything was wired and configured, the transition was smooth. The Morningstar editor is far more powerful and intuitive compared to what GigRig offers. With the G3, even as part of the beta team, I often ran into unstable firmware builds, and bug reports would go unanswered. That kind of experience made it hard to trust the platform long term.
Now that the new rig is dialed in, I’m spending more time playing and less time troubleshooting. The MC8 Pro’s color screens and flexible layout are a major upgrade from the G3’s limited display and footswitch LEDs, and preset feedback is much clearer during performance.
If you don’t have many MIDI pedals, the G3 might still work well for your needs, but for anyone with a growing MIDI setup or who wants deeper control, Morningstar is a huge leap forward. It’s not just the footprint, it’s the overall experience.
Yeah, happy to share. A few months in, I’m still really glad I made the switch. It took some setup time to get everything dialed, but now that it’s up and running, the Morningstar setup feels way more flexible and reliable.
Most of my issues with the G3 were firmware-related. The hardware’s solid, no complaints there, but the software was buggy and updates were slow. I was on the beta team and would regularly get builds that broke things, report the issues, and then hear nothing back. Some of those bugs ended up in public releases, which was pretty frustrating. The final straw was the MIDI Clock Tap Tempo feature — I’d been waiting on it for years, and when it finally shipped, it turned out the tap clock was completely separate from preset tempo and wildly inaccurate. I’d tap in 120 and get 135. Not great.
For stompbox mode, I’ve set up a 3-page bank on the MC8 Pro: one page to toggle individual ML10X loops on and off, with tap tempo and tuner always accessible. The last page has some utility stuff like ML10X routing presets, expression pedal assignments, and a global bypass. Long-pressing on any of my MIDI pedal switches jumps to a dedicated preset bank for that pedal, so I can quickly grab a favorite preset and jump back to the stompbox bank.
All in all, I’m super happy I made the switch. No regrets, and honestly, I won’t be giving GigRig another look.
Awesome, really appreciate your feedback. I presume it is very easy to set up a simple switch across to a Stompbox mode page after enagaging a base tone preset? I tend to set a base tone and then bring in and out overdrives/delays etc as need be.
Also can you confirm there is no latency in using the midi control to engage a stompbox.
