PRODUCT REVIEW
RJM
MasterMind
MIDI Controller
B Y GARYC. C. GUZMAN
Sometimes you say a certain four letter word to a guitar player and they run
screaming. No, not a vulgarity—I’m talking about MIDI! Other guitarists claim to
be “old school” and insist they have no
need for MIDI; all they need is their Les
Paul and their Marshall. Oh, and their
wah pedal… and that Uni-Vibe pedal,
and… next thing you know, they’re keeping it truly “old school” by tap dancing
all over their pedals like a rock version of
Riverdance! It’s those guitarists that could
use a little MIDI in their lives. They need a
device that will combine multiple foot taps
for different effects into just one foot tap,
thus saving time, and stage space, too.
RJM Music Technology is introducing a MIDI foot controller called the
Mastermind. It is designed to work in conjunction with all of RJM’s products, such as
the Amp Gizmo, the RG- 16 Audio/Function
Switcher and their new products as well:
the Mini-Amp Gizmo and the Effects
Gizmo. The Amp Gizmo allows you to control all of the footswitchable features of an
amp, while the Effects Gizmo can control
up to 12 effect pedals, all with a MIDI controller. The RG- 16 allows the guitarist to
control effect pedals, rack gear, amp functions and other electronic devices from a
single MIDI footswitch. Although all of the
RJM products work well with any other
MIDI foot controller, RJM now has a MIDI
controller they can call its own.
The Mastermind is powerful, compact and
durable enough for the touring guitarist.
It contains 125 presets, transmits up to
four Program Change messages and eight
Controller messages per preset, and can
control up to fourteen MIDI devices on
separate MIDI channels. It has an expression pedal input, phantom power capability and a remote in-jack to allow the
synchronized use of multiple MasterMind
controllers.
For this review, we’ll be looking at how the
Mastermind works with the RG- 16
