RJM Effect Gizmo

The RJM Effect Gizmo is a rack mountable, MIDI controllable 12-loop audio switcher¹. It sits in your rack between your guitar and your amplifier, with your effects pedals or rack units plugged into its loops, and it brings each one in or out of the signal path under MIDI control. RJM describes it as a programmable true bypass loop switcher, and says it packs the most true bypass audio loops in a single rack space². Instead of tap dancing on individual pedals mid-song, you call up one preset and the whole combination changes at once.

The Effect Gizmo is a loop switcher made by RJM Music, designed for easy programmability using the front panel buttons and LEDs². As of late 2026 the maker's store lists it as sold out but available for pre-order, at a sale price of £835.00 GBP².

Loops, wiring and stereo

The 12 loops are not all wired the same way, and that matters for how you plan a rack. Loops 1 to 4 are internally wired in series, loops 5 to 8 are internally wired in series, and loops 9 to 12 are independent². The two series groups mean you do not need short jumper cables to chain effects within each group: plug a pedal into loop 1 and the next into loop 2 and they sit in line automatically. The independent loops 9 to 12 give you flexibility for effects you want placed elsewhere in the chain or used as utility connections.

Loops 9 to 12 accept stereo (TRS) connections, so stereo effects such as delay or chorus can be switched without collapsing to mono². Those same four loops can also double as function switches, allowing you to control amplifier channel switching¹². In a typical rack rig, that means one MIDI preset can simultaneously engage a delay in loop 10 and flip your amp from its clean channel to its overdrive channel.

Buffer and Click Stopper

Two features address the classic problems of loop switchers: treble loss and switching clicks.

• Buffer: A high quality audio buffer is built in, which can be placed anywhere in the audio path². It is bypassable, and it can be positioned at any insert point between loops using patch cables¹. A buffer near the input counteracts the treble loss caused by long cable runs and certain effects, which is a real concern in a rack where cables can run several feet.
• Click Stopper: RJM's "Click Stopper" technology greatly reduces the switching noise associated with relay based switchers². Writing about the smaller Mini Effect Gizmo, MusicPlayers.com's Scott Kahn explained how it works on that unit: the click-stopper technology reduces audible clicks when disengaging audio loops by muting the output while the relays switch a pedal out of the signal path³.

Programming and MIDI control

Programming is done from the front panel. You select a preset on your MIDI controller, use the Effect Gizmo's buttons to turn the devices you want on, and hold the Write button to store the settings¹. The front panel buttons and LEDs make the process readable without a computer². Up to 256 separate programs can be saved in memory, arranged in two banks of 128¹².

The Effect Gizmo works with all MIDI footswitches and is compatible with all standard MIDI controllers¹². Its XLR MIDI input connector provides bidirectional MIDI communication and phantom power to a MIDI controller¹. The unit can also provide phantom power through the MIDI In jack, at 9VAC over pins 6 and 7 of a 7-pin MIDI cable¹, which lets a single cable carry both MIDI data and power to a footswitch on stage.

The all-stereo special-order version

The standard Effect Gizmo has stereo loops only in positions 9 to 12. For players running an entirely stereo rig, the Effect Gizmo can be special ordered with all stereo loops¹. RJM notes that a full stereo Effect Gizmo takes an additional 2 to 3 business days to build².

Related RJM switchers

The Effect Gizmo sits in a family of RJM switching products. The Mini Effect Gizmo X is a compact, MIDI controlled switcher that can switch up to 6 effects, with true bypass loops that can switch either mono or stereo effects, a switchable input buffer, fully user-programmable loop order, and up to 1024 presets⁴. It works especially well with RJM's Mastermind series controllers and the full size Effect Gizmo⁴. Like the Effect Gizmo, it was listed as sold out with pre-orders open as of October 2026⁴.

RJM's earlier Rack Gizmo, reviewed by MusicPlayers.com in 2011, was both an audio loop switcher and a function switcher, an evolutionary upgrade to the RG-16, with up to 256 programs in internal memory⁵. Reviewing the RG-16's 2007 release, the same publication wrote that RJM "raised the bar for audio loopers and function switchers"⁵. In a Premier Guitar interview, RJM's Ron Menelli described the company's approach to the related Amp Gizmo, a MIDI-controlled replacement for an amplifier's footswitch, with special interface cables for amps that use proprietary connectors⁶.

For players weighing a rack switcher against a pedalboard-sized one, the MIDI pedals page covers the controller side of the equation.

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