Some minor tweaks. The Chasebliss EXP replaced the LOOPI for better foot control of all the modulation and trem effect rates on the FM9.
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I got asked two questions, repeating my answers here.
Why run an FM9 and a VP4?
I can do more.
I run kitchen sink presets. So I'll stay on one preset all night and treat it more like a traditional rig. Bringing effects in and out on a whim as we play a gig. I use scenes for some quick access to a bunch of things on at once. The life of a musician playing in a band that's got a heavy bit of improvisaiton to what they do.
I offload all the drive block work to the VP4 and that frees up a bunch of CPU. I also use the VP4 for wild combinations of strange things. Like pulling up the Zapped preset on it mid-Zappa tune to bring in dyna-flange sounds. Or my Delay God preset which lets me do all kinds of crazy delay-based sounds.
What do the various knobs and pedals do?
The red and blue knobs are expression controllers on the VP4. Right now they only get used in one patch to control the motor speed and feedback of a Lo-Fi Tape model on the delay block. I use them to put my signal in to self-osciallation and then modulate the pitch in real time. I usually do it if we end a show with a Neil Young tune like Ohio.
The EXP is attached to the FM9. It controls the rate of all the modulation effects (phaser, chorus, rotary) in my preset along with the rate of the tremolo. If I want a little more chop or if I want to make it undulate more than pulsate, I'll roll it up and down with the EXP. Previously I had a little expression box with a big knob on it on the far left side that was kind of suitable for turning with the side of my shoe, but it was pretty easy to fall off balance doing that in the moment so hopefully I stay on my feet better tonight with the EXP in place.
The Moog expression pedal is attached to the FM9 and just does wah duty.
The EXP2 does random things depending on the scene I'm on but mostly it gets used against the pitch block doing some amount of bending. I have +2 step, -2 step and +12 step modes on the pitch block it controls that I use as the mood strikes me.
The AirTurn turns pages in SongBook Pro on my iPad -- I use that for setlists and my per-song notes on my charts.
Just finished my FM9 build on a Temple 34. Did all the cabling myself with Squareplug connectors. Need to make one more TRS cable for the mission engineering expression pedal toe switch, and I have the IEC Mains Mod on back order at Sweetwater, then it’s fully done, but totally playable now. The punch panels are from Megalodon Sound on Etsy. I highly recommend checking them out. Built much better than the Temple ones and considerably cheaper! Working on the hard case next. Will post that in the Case thread once complete.
