Sound Sculpture Switchblade GL

The Switchblade GL is easy to use, once you've taken some time to read the manual. It can be programmed manually and through PC/Mac with Javablade. Programming it manually has the advantage that in live situations you know how to adjust the settings.

The sound is excellent: I don't hear it at all, and there is no hum (or ground loop) even though I use a lot of amps and effects. Switching is noiseless.

Looks reliable, but I only have it for two months.

Mailed Ken, got instant reply.

I play a lot of styles, mainly jazz, but also rock, pop, acustic guitar and sitar. Main reason to buy it was that I wanted to combine all the equipment I have in one setup (16 HE rack), so I don't have to re-arrange my setup each time depending on the guitar I want to use. Now I have only two inputs (magnetic and piezo), the Switchblade will direct the input to the apparatus I need.
Equipment:
Pre ams:Tri Axis and Peacre
Axon NGC 77 midi converter, Yamaha MU90r synth
Effects: Tc Electronic G-Force and Boss SE70, Fulltone Fulldrive II
Fishman Aura
Motu 828 II (as input and mixer)
Power amps: Mesa Boogie 2:90 and Peavey 50:50 and to Mackie mixer for sound system (acustic guitar)

The Switchblade GL makes it possible to combine all of this. Midi programming is easy, every patch can send program changes (and more) to every separate midi channel. Or not: this way you can leave the delay while changing the pre amp, so you don't get clicks.

Another nice feature is the volume control with a contious controller (pedal in midi foot controller). You can blend a overdriven sound (Fulldrive) with a clean sound from another source.

All in all a great device for a gear-a-holic. Maybe, when I'm old, and am satisfied with just one amp I won't need the Switchblade. Untill then, it stays. When lost or stolen, and if I have enough money (it is expensive!) I would replace it.

This much flexibility and power requires a bit of a learning curve. But the manual walks you through the initial setup and gets you going right away. I had tones within an hour. For any issues I've had that were particular to my setup, Ken has immediately responded with helpful answers.

I'm going to gush now: This thing sounds like a piece of wire -- the highest compliment I could pay to a product like this! Ken doesn't use VCA's (voltage controlled amplifiers) or op-amps to do his level control and mixing. Sonically, this is a HUGE WIN.

The GL also gives you the flexibility to sum and split many times. So you can split your guitar signal into three different amp heads (or several effects), then mix them back together (stereo or mono, with full control over each level) without paying a sonic penalty. You can do that several times in a single patch.

Most designers these days would either build a switching system or build a mixing system. A switcher generally gives you zero sound control and a mixing system generally gives you bad sound quality.

The Switchblade GL is a ROUTING system that doesn't need relays (for the audio switching) or VCA's (for the mixing). It's "anything-to-anything" and allows you to do things that normally require a dozen line mixers and tons of Y cables.

And you can adjust the attenuation of any signal at any point in the paths to get just the right mix and gain staging.

Very reliable, with good industrial engineering. I've never had a hardware or firmware glitch. The jacks on the back are high quality TRS, and they are placed on .70" centers which means I could use Neutrik 1/4" plugs just fine. I've seen other similar units that require you to use Switchcraft plugs just to get them to fit.

The LCD display is bright and clear, and the layout is all-pro. Well done.

Ken at Sound Sculpture is the designer and owner, and he personally responds to your needs. With Ken, I get all the personal attention and help that the stars used to get from Bradshaw, for a product that is light years ahead of those systems.

I remember having guitar players come into the studio with huge Bradshaw rigs costing 10's of thousands of dollars. They were completely customized and required 3 rack spaces just for the dang power supply. Usually everything was covered in Dynamo labeling tape and required alot of TLC. It could patch devices in and out just fine, but the sound had to go through the gear in the same order, every time.

As a router, the Switchblade GL can do SO much more than any other system, and it's all in 1 rack space! I love mixing in different amp heads into my sound, along with a pre-amp, then using pedals and rack effects in ways that you just don't do when you have a pedal board.

Speaking of pedals, I just use a cheap-ass Behringer pedal controller board to switch presets in the GL and for the controller pedals. The GL handles all the other patch changes sent to my other effects and amps, and also relay-switches amp channels and special tones in my Boogie final amplifier. I assign one foot controller as the volume into the Boogie, then use the other pedal to control something else (like fading between two different pedals).

You can get tonal complexity with this rig that just isn't possible with any other setup.

Ever go out of one head for the perfect clean tone, then back into another head for the perfect overdrive? You can also run them in parallel and control the mix of clean/overdrive signal with a footpedal. So instead of switching from clean to crunch, you can FADE it. Then step on a switch and you're back to simply your guitar running straight into the amp with nothing else.

As a recording engineer, I often mix a compressed signal along with the dry signal to get control without killing the tone. That kind of setup is easy with the GL, and fully adjustable.

One of the things I learned about when I started using the GL is that some of my gear (pedals, amps) was not phase correct! For example, the phase flips when you go into overdrive with a Fender Hot Rod DeVille. Ken had the solution: Simply assign one of the 16 I/O's to be a phase swap channel, with a balanced phase swapping cable going from the In to the Out. Now I can phase correct any signal.

For guitar amps/preamps I use:

- 4x10 Fender Hot Rod DeVille combo into an 8 Ohm THD Hot Plate
- Vox AC30CCH head into a 16 Ohm THD Hot Plate
- Soldano Series II SP-77 dual channel preamp (modified)
- Pig Nose practice amp used as a preamp

Pedals:

- Seymour Duncan Tone Booster
- Barber Tone Press
- Visual Sound H20
- Visual Sound Route 66
- Boss Blues Driver

Rack Effects:

- TC Electronic G-Major

Final amplification:

- Mesa Boogie 2:90 stereo tube amp

Speakers:

- A pair of Pacific Wood Works ported 1x12 Thiele cabs, loaded with EVM-12L (200W) speakers

Guitars:

- Gretsch 6120 double cutaway, w/Bigsby and string mute
- Stevie Ray Vaughan signature Fender Strat
- Epiphone Les Paul Custom
- Fender Mexican Tele

Profession:

I was a recording engineer/producer for 10 years in Nashville and NOT a pro guitar player. I'm not even in the music business anymore, and am now a retail executive. But I've been a sound designer all my life, and I just couldn't resist having the options that the Switchblade GL gives me. I don't have time anymore to spend hours patching together different sounds with wire and mixers, chasing buzzes and hums and noise. Even for a hobbyist like me, it was worth the cost to get all this extra sound out of my gear, and to have instant MIDI recall and realtime control of complex setups.

It's not a simple device, but the buyer has to know what he's goin' to buy.

It requires a lot of time for studying the manual and exploring the software: but at the end I realized it was worth.(*)


(my english is not so good: I hope I wrote correctly that sentence and also the rest of the review)

This machine simply has 16 inps and 16 outs and it manages all the interconnections between the six pedals and three rack multieffects I use.The interconnections can be programmed in series or in parallel with (almost) total flexibility.

It's the heart of a complex rack I use with my basses and my Chapman Stick.I used Klotz cables for the connections; especially, I built some balanced cables for the 3 rack devices.And in terms of noise the result is almost perfect.

I use to connect to the Switchblade:
- hand-made little external stereo preamp (for the stick)
- Roland RSP550 (in stereo)
- Digitech DHP55 (in stereo)
- Tc Electronics Stereo Triple C (just added)
- Sansamp BDDI
- Mxr distortion+
- Boss Oc2 (1984 model)
- Boss Tw1 (early '80 model)
- Boss SYB3
- Ibanez BP10 bass compressor (goin' to be no more used).

connecting the older pedals in parallel and mixing their sound with the original sound of the bass gave me incredible results.and try to make the same thing with the distortion+.....

between the outputs , I selected two main outs but also two auxiliary outs (dedicated to the stereo signals from the rack multieffects). signal from the main outs goes to my amp; signal from the auxiliary outs goes to the pa. So I can play as I had a 'triamp' system.

yes, I really depend on it. but actually I can't afford the cost of a backup device.

I own it since July 2004 and it's simply the device I dreamed about.

It also has a great section about MIDI continous controllers: I use the SB with a RFX Midi Wizard .It's a midi pedalboard with 8 jack CC inputs and the first two of the are dedicated to the SB loops.And I still have to explore some of these functions of the SB.

At Sound Sculpture there's also available a dedicated software for PC: you can connect the SB to the pc via midi and store and edit the patches.
But at first I choosed to learn to program te SB from the front panel, so if just before a show it happens that I need to apply some quick correction to the presets , I can.

It takes a while to get the hang of programming the unit. Once you get each input/output labled it's pretty straight forward using the software interface over MIDI. In my case I spent an evening just figuring things out.

I'm using the SwitchBlade in a full rack system. It's exceptionally verstile for effects routing, including complex routing to multiple devices or amplifiers. Very quite no crosstalk.

Has never failed me. Works every time flawlessly. It's had daily use for over five months.

As others have said, customer service is absolutely the best. Ken helped me on two separate occasions to solve MIDI problems using Windows XP and complex MIDI routing using eMagic Unitor 8. Ken is very responsive.

This is the key component in my rack system. I can't imagine running my home studio without it. In fact since I'm out of available ports on my present device I plan to buy another unit soon. I know this seems like a lot of money for a switcher but trust me it's worth every penny.

Takes a little studying the manual at first, but then everything begins to quickly fall in place. It's actually very easy to use.

It's very quiet, and that's the main thing that sold me. Switching is seemless. I use Monster Cables to insure great sound quality.

Haven't had mine long enough to had any complaints. So I'll assume the best.

Awesome. They couldn't be more helpful. Nice people.

If you want to hit a preset and have everything exactly how you want it. You can't beat this product. It gives you ultimate control of your FX. But if you're all about experimenting with sounds, turning things on and off and exploring, then think Bradshaw. To me, the switchblade is ideal for touring. Combine it with an ALL ACCESS pedal and you are as close to God as you can get.

Front panel programing easy once you get the hang of it. The main drawback is that the input/output names are short and all uppercase Alpha-Numeric, as are the patch names. a much easier way to go is to use the free switchblade software to program the unit via MIDI. The software still has some rough edges and isn't yet complete (you can only upload to the unit from the computer, you can't save from the unit to the computer).

I like exhaustive 'reference' manuals with a tutorial section. This manual was a disappointment as it was basically only tutorial.

Excellent. Clear and TRANSPARENT If you turn it way up and play an input that's 'off' you will hear a tiny bit of crosstalk, but thats to be expected from a 16X16 digitally controlled analog mixing matrix jammed into 1 rack space. The transformer hum is picked up by the chassis and, while not an issue live, can be annoying in a mixdown/post production situation.

Yes, though I wouldn't use it with the computer software live. Sometimes when you use the 'winblade' software, the unit locks up during an update.

EXCELLENT! Ken (the owner and designer) is a techno-freak who loves to talk tech and offer lots of advice and applications ideas. I called him once about controlled feedback within the effects chain (as opposed to from an amp) and he outlined several possibilities in great detail. The tech support, in some ways, makes up for the paltry manual.

The cadillac of off-the-shelf switchers that allows you ANY combination of stereo/mono and parallel/serial effects setups including parallel with branches into a serial side chain, stereo to mono, mono to stereo, stereo to different effects - anything you can imagine - and all with input and output gain on every effect. The bells and whistles he added (like this gain staging) are all eminently practical and useful, not useless crap. And it kicks Bradshaw's ass, in my humble opinion.

I play a wide range of music from rock to electro-acoustic and film scoring. I use the unit with my mixer (aux sends 1-4 from the mixer go to the unit) from there I can set up multiple effects chains and return to 4 channels in the mixer (of course you could return to the aux returns, but I like an eq and fader on each channel) I typically send guitar through aux1, a viola with a pickup through aux2 and a mic through aux3, and I often have the guitar and mic both feeding into the unit at once on separate of partially separate/partially mixed chains. It's got 16 ins and 16 outs. With my 4 mixer ins/outs used, I've got 12 left - they 'feed' a Duncan cry-baby volume/wah (mono), a Sansamp PSA-1 (Stereo, and it's awesome!), 2 Lexicon PCM-70's (Each mono in, stereo out), a Lexicon PCM-42 (Mono) and an Eventide H-3000 (Stereo in/out) - an awesome guitar effects rack that's also an awesome studio mixdown rack. I've also got aux5/aux6 going to the unit on spare wires that I can use for mixdown situations (I use the two 'spare' spaces from the mono/stereo PCM-70s).

Amazingly easy to use. You name all your inputs and outputs, and about five minutes later, you're seeing what happens when you run your signal thru a POD, then to a Reverb, then to ANOTHER preamp, then out to your amp--while blending in some of Preamp #2's output back into Preamp #1 (all under footpedal control) for realtime, completely controllable totally out-of-control feedback effects. At least, that's what I did. All my effect in parallel. All of them in series. Some on one side, some on the other. One preamp panned Left, one panned Right, clean signal thru reverb in the center. and on and on and on.

Completely transparent. You can't even hear that it's there. I wonder if I could even tell the difference if, for a particular configuration, I unplugged the switchblade and just used teensy balanced cables instead: I think I probably couldn't (I realize that some purists will call me crazy, but this thing is CRYSTAL CLEAR...)

Built like a tank, solid steel chassis. Seems pretty darn dependable to me.

The guys I talked to not only answered my questions (including quick answers on a weekend), but they gave great suggestions. Exactly what I want from Customer Support.

Perfect unit. Does exactly what the manufacturer claims. I don't think I've ever been this happy with anything, ever. I know I'm ranting and raving about a switching matrix box, but I don't care. The Switchblade RULES! Sure, it's expensive, but try to get Bob Bradshaw to do a setup for you...then you'll be talking major $$.

All you need is set inputs and outputs once, and then you can configure each preset as you prefer in one moment. Manual is well done too: you learn the basics first, then you go deeper to high programming.

I connect to Switchblade two Soldano "Gary Moore", a Soldano SP77, two Lexicon Jam-Man, Quadraverb 2, Quadraverb GT, BBE Sonic Maximizer, guitars and pedals, and sound quality is everytime great. Switchblade is really transparent: besides, you can configure each level, use two continuous controllers, and there's also an internal assignable LFO. My sound is re-born!

It's built so well. A solid metal chassis encloses the motherboard: you can totally depend on it.

Well, guys at Sound Sculpture helped me a lot even before i bought it. Each question, problem, suggestion... They replied me immediately.

It's not a "cheap" device, but it's the best choice you can do if you want a really high quality in your sound. One effect only can corrupt your sound, if connections are not perfect. Before of this i used a Rocktron Patch Mate and a Rocktron Rack Interface to connect all my gear, but quality is not comparable. There are not many devices that can do this: if you don't order a custom setup to Bob Bradshaw or Pete Cornish (he asked me over 35.000 dollars only for a box to switch on/off five pedals connected in series!), the only one similar is the AM16B, by 360 systems. It's a little more complicated to use, it's not so configurable and is a bit moe expensive. But many possibilities to control fx in real time are only on Switchblade.