RJM Music Mastermind GT/10

The RJM Music Mastermind GT/10 is a MIDI foot controller made by RJM Music: a floor unit with 10 buttons, with an LCD display over every button, that you program to send MIDI commands to the rest of your rig, whether that is a modeler, a profiler, a rack of effects or a set of MIDI-capable pedals. It does not process your guitar signal at all. Instead, it is the control surface that lets you change presets, toggle individual effects, move through banks and set tap tempo without touching anything by hand¹.

What sets the GT/10 apart from most controllers is its display arrangement. Every one of the ten buttons has its own LCD display directly above it, and a large main LCD in the middle of the unit shows the preset number, preset name and/or song name¹. RJM describes the Mastermind GT line as "the result of years of research and development, using modern technology to create what we believe is the best MIDI foot controller ever made"¹. A RockBoard PedalPedia entry calls it powerful and rugged after nearly a decade of use on stages and studios, and the go-to controller for many of the world's leading touring bands².

What it is and what it does

The GT/10 is a member of RJM's Mastermind GT family of MIDI foot controllers. It is listed at a sale price of £1,138.00 GBP on RJM's store¹.

The core of the unit is programmability. Any button can be set to perform any function, including preset changes, IA (instant access) toggles, bank up/down and tap tempo, and the LCD above each button indicates what that button does¹. Buttons can send multiple MIDI messages of several types in a single press, which is what lets one stomp change a preset on your modeler, switch a loop on a switcher and set a tempo all at once³.

Connections: MIDI, USB, expression and switches

The back panel covers every way a modern rig might talk to the controller:

Four expression pedal inputs is generous for a controller this size, and the same jacks double as external switch inputs, so a player running a big rig can add footswitches for functions that did not fit on the main ten¹. On the larger GT/16, RJM specifies that the four expression inputs accept linear or log pedals using TRS jacks, at high or low impedance³.

Power

RJM's product page specifies 12V DC at 800mA, center positive, on a 2.1mm ID / 5.5mm OD barrel connector¹. A RockBoard PedalPedia listing gives a different figure: 12V DC, center negative, at 700mA². The two sources disagree on both polarity and current, so it is worth working from RJM's own specification when choosing a supply. Either way, this is not a 9V pedalboard-standard supply, and the 800mA draw rules out sharing a typical low-current daisy chain with stompboxes.

How it compares with the GT/16

The Mastermind GT/16 is the GT/10's larger sibling, and the differences are mostly a matter of size and preset count³:

Both share the same 19.4-inch width and 3.25-inch height, so the GT/16 is simply deeper, with six more buttons¹³. Curiously, the smaller GT/10 holds more presets: 768 against the GT/16's 384, both with 16 pages of buttons and 16 connected devices¹³. The GT/16 draws more current, at 1.2A against 800mA¹³.

Where it came from and what reviewers said

The Mastermind GT line has been reviewed by the press, and the GT/10 remains in RJM's current lineup as a pre-order item¹. It is listed at a sale price of £1,138.00 GBP on RJM's store¹, while the GT/16 is sold out¹.

The GT/10 itself is listed at a sale price of £1,138.00 GBP on RJM's store¹.

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