All effects - is one more effect impossible? Wrong approach?

F

Fretts

Member
First - I may be going about this the wrong way, or also, I may not have a firm grasp of how to use what is available...
I have a pedalboard type layout that is all effects; all 9 switches are assigned to effects. Two switches already have a per-preset function that changes channels to get variation on those exact effects. A third switch toggles the tuner. Those three work exactly as expected.
Now I want to add a multiband compressor to the situation. There is room for it in the row - I have already loaded the block and edited it to my liking. But my instinct to assign it "under" my switch labeled "flanger" has failed. I have set up per-preset #4 to engage it on Hold, and it is visible in the FC control view in FM9Edit. When I hold down that flanger switch to get the compressor, I get the message that Comp1 is not in this preset. The flanger effect still works fine. I wanted the second function for that switch to engage the multiband compressor. FWIW, I don't expect to ever use those two at the same time; it would be one or the other.
So - am I going about this wrong?
If the way I am trying to do it is not workable, what approach would work?

Thank you!
Jeff
 
unix-guy: OK -- that was exactly correct and now I CAN invoke the Multiband Compressor with a long press,...but the LED ring doesn't light up. My switching is not ideal - if I tap to turn it off, the flanger engages instead, the ring lights up and the MBC stays on too. If I remember to long press both times, I can get the MBC to turn on and off alone, but the light ring stays dark. Isn't there a way to get that light illuminated after a long press?

A related minor thing, but still bugs me is: when I invoke a second function on a switch, I'm not able to get the little display window at the switch to show the second label and keep it showing. It shows for a moment, but then disappears and only the original label shows. Is there a way to "fix" this?
:trophy:
 
Fretts said:
unix-guy: OK -- that was exactly correct and now I CAN invoke the Multiband Compressor with a long press,...but the LED ring doesn't light up. My switching is not ideal - if I tap to turn it off, the flanger engages instead, the ring lights up and the MBC stays on too. If I remember to long press both times, I can get the MBC to turn on and off alone, but the light ring stays dark. Isn't there a way to get that light illuminated after a long press?

A related minor thing, but still bugs me is: when I invoke a second function on a switch, I'm not able to get the little display window at the switch to show the second label and keep it showing. It shows for a moment, but then disappears and only the original label shows. Is there a way to "fix" this?
:trophy:
Click to expand...
This is how Hold functions work.

The LED ring only reflects the Tap function.

The mini display only shows the Hold function label when it fires.

If you have not already, I'd strongly suggest giving the Footswitch Functions Guide a read. It won't take too long and you'll be much more informed about how things work and what is possible.
 
Thank you -- I did read it but there's just so much information that it all melts into a blur!
If I were to set up a multiplexer and a mixer, would I have results closer to what I want by switching between a flanger and a multiband compressor that way?
 
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Fretts said:
Thank you -- I did read it but there's just so much information that it all melts into a blur!
If I were to set up a multiplexer and a mixer, would I have results closer to what I want by switching between a flanger and a multiband compressor that way?
Click to expand...
The Mixer and Multiplexer are for controlling the audio signal. I'm not sure how that helps your switching needs?
 
Neither am I, never used the feature. I saw an illustration for AxeFX III where that setup was used to switch among four Drive instances. Which is still a different scenario than switching to an entirely different block.
Since I am using twelve virtual pedals now, I may need to look at an FC6!
 
Fretts said:
Neither am I, never used the feature. I saw an illustration for AxeFX III where that setup was used to switch among four Drive instances. Which is still a different scenario than switching to an entirely different block.
Since I am using twelve virtual pedals now, I may need to look at an FC6!
Click to expand...
Why not just use multiple layouts?

You don't have to put everything in one...
 
My hope was to create something that would replace and even go beyond my existing pedalboard. With that as my goal, I wouldn't want to switch among layouts - I wanted all the effects laid out in a single interface, like a real pedalboard has.

It's starting to dawn on me that other players, who must have had the same goal in mind, have just created an even bigger pedalboard, on which one of the devices is the FM9, and a number of other traditional pedals flesh out the board. I may have overestimated what I could get the FM9 to do without procedural footwork. It is by far the most capable and most detailed modeler available but it can't do everything in the universe with 9 switches.

I seem to have three paths available to me from here - add an FC6 with its additional cost, size and cabling requirements, or create a big pedalboard with the FM9 and some additional pedals, or - revert to all traditional pedals and a switcher (I still have a GigRig G2) and call this experiment a grand fact-finding expedition. From what I have seen, there should be no lack of buyers if I decide it was a noble effort and want out.
 
Fretts said:
My hope was to create something that would replace and even go beyond my existing pedalboard. With that as my goal, I wouldn't want to switch among layouts - I wanted all the effects laid out in a single interface, like a real pedalboard has.
Click to expand...
"real pedalboard"? Which "real pedalboard"? The old ones without loop switchers?

The uses of pedals with amps changed over the years as people tried to gain more flexibility. This is my view of the timeline:
  1. When we first started seeing various pedals, there were so few that daisy-chaining one or a few wasn't a complicated task. Hendrix, Clapton and others strung them together on the stage.
  2. The pedal market took off and people started building boards with a variety of types of pedals "for that sound" and connected them all. Daisy-chaining was still the only solution so we ran into power, noise, and impedance problems. Changing the layout took too long and was likely to cause signal failures. "Kitchen-sink" became the popular term used.
  3. We started to see switchers being added to pedalboards to improve their flexibility. The board didn't have to be rewired, the switcher could do it using pre-programmed loops that allowed pedals to be placed in whatever position they needed to be in to achieve a particular sound.
  4. Modelers came out about the same time, with the ability to create multiple virtual pedal boards, making it possible to switch quickly from one to another.
  5. People began using the modelers like they did their big boards as in #2 above, putting everything into one "preset" in the Fractal world, ignoring the abilities of #3 and #4, and bumping up against the CPU limits then requesting more.
I've never figured out why.
 
The main reason is, in performance, the absolute minimum of nonmusical activity is desirable. The reason I went with the programmable G2 switcher was to minimize the footwork and housekeeping during and between songs. I was projecting that a modeler like the FM9 would compact things even more, eliminating physical interconnects - which it does - making layout changes at home easy - which it also does, and being a smaller and more convenient system - which it is up to a point. Where I am hitting a wall with it, and finding it inferior to the physical approach, is when I want to add a tenth or eleventh effect to a nine-switch environment. If I stay in Fractal World, I would have to add an FC6 or bigger, which translates to a bigger setup with interconnects and a big pedalboard again to hold it. Another issue for a veteran player like me, who got his first pedal in 1967, is visual; nearly every pedal I own looks a bit different. I know what it is by its appearance and location on the board. Neat tidy modelers have rows of identical buttons, identical looking labels, and a few colors that don't engage under all circumstances. Modeling isn't utopia, at least in my opinion. It offers advantages, but it's just a new innovation to add to the existing roster of great effects. Some of the unique boutique effects which I find appealing, aren't worth modeling because of their narrow appeal.

I expect that after I reset, accept reality and adjust my expectations a bit, I may incorporate the FM9 into a hybrid system and think of it as the best thing since the 12AX7. At this particular moment, I have bumped up against its limits and am frustrated that it can't be what I want it to be instead of what it is.
--Jeff
 
How many of those effects do you actually need to enable or disable individually in a given song?

Are you really needing to turn on / off 10+ effects? I build kitchen-sink presets and I don't have that many :)

You can make presets with just what you need and use per-preset switch assignments.

You could use different layouts for different songs, thus keeping the non-musical changes to a minimum.

You could incorporate a small midi controller such as the Voes MX-5 to get more switches without a lot more space.
 
Another thought:

You do know that every switch has 2 potential functions? One on tap and one on hold.
 
I think that perhaps you are focused on how to do something rather than what you want to achieve…

Presets and scenes will cover everything you need to achieve without excess toe tapping… my fx switching is limited to the occasional delay or drive on/off
 
Fretts said:
It shows for a moment, but then disappears and only the original label shows. Is there a way to "fix" this?
Click to expand...
Not the fix you are asking for, but know that you can increase the time for the message that is shown on the bottomside of the main display.
Search for "Message hold" in the manual.
 
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