Thoughts on the FC-6

FrankenStrat

Experienced
I received my FC-6 yesterday and spent the evening with it.

It is an impressive piece of equipment. I would say the killer features are how the FC is so tightly sync’d to the Axe FX and the ease of setup. Very powerful and capable.

The FC-6 can do a lot. To all of the people who have struggled with choosing which FC to get, the FC-6 probably could handle what you want to do. The question really comes down IMO to “will you be happy with how it does so?”. I have my FC-6 setup for my workflow with preset changes, scene changes and a stomp box setup. Everything flows very smoothly and intuitively.

The general approach I went for was to have presses change sound and use holds to navigate and access utilities.

I do think the FC-6 has a bit of a math problem. The Axe III supports 8 scenes per preset and 24 Per Preset Controllers. I defined the following layouts to support my workflow:
  • Layout 1 - Preset Navigation
  • Layout 2 - Scenes 1 thru 6
  • Layout 3 - Scenes 7 thru 8
  • Layout 4 - PP 1 thru 6
  • Layout 5 - PP 7 thru 12
  • Layout 6 - PP 13 thru 18
  • Layout 7 - PP 19 thru 24
  • Layout 8 - Looper
I use hold functions and layout links to navigate through this workflow. 6 buttons and 8 scenes, a mathematical mismatch that has to be resolved if you need/want access to all 8 scenes. In the case of Scenes, I did not like using hold functions for Scenes 7-8. The delay inherent to hold button increased the difficulty of timing the scene change. As a result I ended up with a second layout for Scenes 7-8.

The second scene layout (layout 3) has 4 unmapped buttons. This is the first place that I think the FC has “math challenges”. With the 12 I could have linked all 8 scenes to a single layout and had PPs 1-4 on the same layout as “priority IAs”, that single scene layout would serve the majority of my in performance switching needs.

The second place that there is a small math problem in my opinion for the FC-6 is with the PP (per preset) controllers. There are 24 PPs available per preset. It takes 4 layouts to expose all of the PPs if you need/want access to them all. The navigation through those layouts requires some attention, but it is not “painful”. Perhaps one could say it is less efficient. On an FC-12, all 24 PPs could be exposed with just 2 layouts.

On the FC-12 I could have implemented my workflow in 5 layouts instead of 8. I am not saying the FC-12 is better than the FC-6 with this statement. I do not say this as a negative, but to provide insight for those who are tying to choose between the FC-6 and FC-12. My advice is to think about how you want to navigate, read the manual, and plan out your layouts before you purchase. Then choose. I think this would probably help most people determine if they actually need a 12 or if a 6 will serve their needs.

I think that the FC-6 is a very powerful piece of equipment. It is far more capable than one might initially expect given that it has half of the buttons of an FC-12. I think for those trying to choose, the question really boils down to: “how efficient do you want to be?”. For less navigation and higher efficiency, an FC-12 will get you there. For those who have lighter demands or are not concerned by efficiency the FC-6 is a very capable choice.
 
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It really comes down to size, convenience and money. If I had an Axe FX III (holding out for next gen AX-8) I'd go for the FC-6 because my needs are simple and I like the compact size,
Yeah, if comes down to form factor or cost I think those are easy calls for people to make. The value proposition and rationale is pretty clear.

I wanted to provide some insight to those for whom form factor and/or cost is not an issue. In that case the differentiation becomes murky as witnessed by some of the struggles FMs have had in choosing between an FC-6 and FC-12.
 
I use toggles to have access to 8 scenes in 4 switches. Except on my preset layout, I always use switch 3 for tap/tuner and switch 6 for layout up/down. I also use the layout link feature to go automatically to scenes after I select a preset. On my preset page switch 3 is Bank-1/tuner and 6 is Bank+/scenes.

I still have some unassigned hold switches, but on most layouts I have them doing various things. On all layouts I have switch 1 hold set to "reveal hold" to remind me what they all are. :) Almost every day I find a better way to accomplish things.

The FC-6 effectively has 10 layouts, so it can do a lot, but with more page turning than the FC-12. I chose the 6 because of size and weight, but if that didn't matter, the 12 would have been the easy pick.

Danny W.
 
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In the case of Scenes, I did not like using hold functions for Scenes 7-8. The delay inherent to hold button increased the difficulty of timing the scene change. As a result I ended up with a second layout for Scenes 7-8.

Instead of the "Hold Function" for this.....use the "Scene Toggle" option.

Works just the same imho as a dedicated scene switch (no delay hold).
 
I’ve said it before, but think it’s worth saying again.....IF the FC6 could utilize the 4 external control switches for functions such as switching layout pages, changing presets etc, I think the 6 dynamic switches on the unit itself could more than cover most people’s needs. As it stands it works great, but you do need to devote a switch function or two for getting around, so that does cut down a bit on other options. Utilizing the already there external switches to handle a few of those tasks would really open the unit up.

I’d personally like to build a little single row switch box for external switches which I’d position above the LCD screen. Great form factor, as adding a little depth doesn’t take as much stage real estate as the width of the 12, and with up to 4 switches, it could almost be thought of as a FC10.

Hopefully that functionality will be added sooner or later
 
@reclavea, @Danny W., thanks for the pointer on scene toggling. That will probably eliminate the need for the second scene layout.

I am really pushing for consistency with the FC-6 as the depth of the layout heirarchy could easily lead to disorientation about where you are in the layout heirarchy. So I want the navigation (hold) buttons to be consistent across all layouts (e.g Lower Left Button Hold always returns to the Scene Layout).

I am also tinkering around with the idea of a 5 layout setup where there is a single Preset layout and 4 Per Preset layouts to access PP #1 - #24. Scenes, IAs, Channels, really any button function for that matter could be mapped via Per Preset Controllers. Though my initial thought is that would probably work far better on an FC-12.
 
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Works just the same imho as a dedicated scene switch (no delay hold).
It's dependent on how you work, but it's not the same for me:

For example, let's say you have 2 buttons to toggle between 4 scenes:

Toggle 1/2
Toggle 3/4

If I'm on scene 2 and need to get to scene 4, I've got to first change to scene 3 because the first tap of the button will always go there.
 
It's dependent on how you work, but it's not the same for me:

For example, let's say you have 2 buttons to toggle between 4 scenes:

Toggle 1/2
Toggle 3/4

If I'm on scene 2 and need to get to scene 4, I've got to first change to scene 3 because the first tap of the button will always go there.


Could do 1/2 as a toggle (works great for two basic on the fly tones) and then have another switch with a press for 3, hold for 5, second with press for 4, hold for 6 etc. then you’ve got 4 on the fly scenes and can still easily access 5 and 6, which could be less used ones. If one changes often between lots of scenes then it’s probably a no go, but I don’t know if everyone actually uses all the scenes. I like to say I do in theory, but in actual use I seem to just make use of a couple per preset, other than specific specialized effects combos.

I think in determining a product choice one needs to weigh what they’d really use, vs, what they could envision using simply because they can dream it. I totally thought I for sure needed a 12, was going to have 8 scenes, was going to use them all, but really haven’t yet set up a patch with that many. Maybe sometime, but my reality and aspirations didn’t quite match up lol
 
After thinking through the use of scene toggle buttons, I landed right where @unix-guy was pointing out. Also, when activating a secondary when another secondary is active i think there would be some type of sonic artifact as you moved through the primary scene.

While scene toggles may not be a fit for what I am doing now. It is good to have them in my toolbox.
 
It's dependent on how you work, but it's not the same for me:

For example, let's say you have 2 buttons to toggle between 4 scenes:

Toggle 1/2
Toggle 3/4

If I'm on scene 2 and need to get to scene 4, I've got to first change to scene 3 because the first tap of the button will always go there.

For sure...

But I was pointing out the ops dilemma of holding ...which he found the delay timing discrepancy ...not so with between scenes 7&8 and using the toggle instead. Also... a quick “2 step” can be negligible if coming from a scene other than scene 7 to get to scene 8.

I been weighing these out myself in finalizing my setups.
 
For sure...

But I was pointing out the ops dilemma of holding ...which he found the delay timing discrepancy ...not so with between scenes 7&8 and using the toggle instead. Also... a quick “2 step” can be negligible if coming from a scene other than scene 7 to get to scene 8.

I been weighing these out myself in finalizing my setups.
Sure... Like I said, it's dependent on your use case and how you prefer to do things.

Since the OP didn't want the delay from using Hold, my assumption was that the double tap also wouldn't work for him.

But it's good to have these options, and for many the toggle option is very useful.
 
Sure... Like I said, it's dependent on your use case and how you prefer to do things.

Since the OP didn't want the delay from using Hold, my assumption was that the double tap also wouldn't work for him.

But it's good to have these options, and for many the toggle option is very useful.


Similarly, if you can put your scenes in order of use, the scenes increment/decrement can access all eight with one or two switches.

Danny W.
 
Similarly, if you can put your scenes in order of use, the scenes increment/decrement can access all eight with one or two switches.

Danny W.
Definitely.

Would absolutely not work for me as my presets are all kitchen sink variety, and I play many songs (often, the whole night) on a single preset... So there is not any "order" for me.
 
Similarly, if you can put your scenes in order of use, the scenes increment/decrement can access all eight with one or two switches.

Danny W.
Absolutely you can. Where @unix-guy has a “kitchen sink” preset, I am looking for a “kitchen sink” FC layout.

I use about 12 different presets. The presets really do not have a pattern (i.e # of scenes, effects, or channels) and what is important to have access to on the FC is different from preset to preset. I am playing with the idea of Layout 1 being a Preset layout then having 4 “per preset” layouts.

Since “per preset controllers” can do anything a button can, this provides ultimate flexibility. Also, PP buttons whose PP Controller is “unassigned” do not light up.

The downside is that each preset has to be configured to expose what you want on the FC, but with only a dozen presets that is manageable IMO.

I think this would be a really great setup on an FC-12 but as I think through it, would also work on an FC-6.
 
For me, I just don't want to be carrying a larger board around. The 6 fits nicely on my Pedaltrain metro 24 along with my WL-50 and a couple of the fantastic EV-2s.
 
@PBGas ...To be able to take a simple looking six buttons and get such comprehensive configurations is something that is hard to get your head around until you actually use it.

Man, ain't that the truth. I studied the manual and read/watched as much as I could before pulling the trigger on the FC-6, but I'm doing FAR more with it than I ever imagined I'd be able to.
 
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