Build your own external switch box....How?

[Larry Kehl]

Just a suggestion, and you probably already looked at the topology but if you do build such a box and it is to be used in gig situation not just "home" then I would OFFSET the the three pots like this:

- Left and right pots (volume and echo feedback in your example) to the furthest upper left hand corner of the box and upper right hand corner respectively (both as close to edge as possible.

- Then the center pot (echo volume in your example) in the center lower edge as close to edge as it can be installed.

Don't forgot to allow for three TRS jacks (one per pot) someplace on back or each side or... wherever you want them.

With this config you can use a smaller project box then I did and when using your feet to adjust pot X there is less chance of moving the other two pots. Also you could probably, if desired, use those Wingman knobs without any between pots interferenace. Actaully those Wingmen knobs do look easier to use with a shoe'ed/booted foot.

Given the above config is not as aesthetically pleaseing as a uniformly spaced set of pots but IMHO a lot more pragmatic. As I mentioned above, somewhere, the reason I didn't exactaly was becasue I also wanted all four stand-in switches in same project box - so top row edge was already accounted for by those momentary switches

Good luck and if you do build one love to see a pic (I haven't acid etched anything since I quite making my own project PCB's)

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Just a suggestion, and you probably already looked at the topology but if you do build such a box and it is to be used in gig situation not just "home" then I would OFFSET the the three pots

Good luck and if you do build one love to see a pic (I haven't acid etched anything since I quite making my own project PCB's)

Actually, mine will have 2 or 3 switches up front and one knob close to the back, so as long as the knob is large enough, access should be fine for my size 9s. Gotta find a big knob....

Hmmm...this might be "the one":

https://www.parts-express.com/large...KsabfRpp4LF1NiziPjiYE4KPsZpYHYSRoCctEQAvD_BwE

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Actually, mine will have 2 or 3 switches up front and one knob close to the back, so as long as the knob is large enough, access should be fine for my size 9s.

Was looking at all the pedalboards on another thread, saw a few people talking about the Mission spring-loaded auto-off pedal for wah. I always kept a real wah due to my habit of using it as an adjustable fixed-frequency filter, which the auto-off ones don't do well unless you can stand very still with your foot on it. Found out there are two wah blocks, so will be adding a knob to the box I will be building, to use with the second wah, for the filter trick, and replacing my real wah with the spring-loaded controller and wah block 1. Had to go back and order another knob, so I ordered 3 more to have matching ones around for future use....

 

[Jozsef Kiss]

Completed. I have not painted nor tested yet, and will do so soon. I'll keep you all posted and then offer to build if you all like and want to purchase.

Hello!
I have FC -12 pedals.
I would like to add two external switches to switch the presets.
I can not do!
How to!
Please help!

I watched this video, but it's only good for the FC-6 pedal.
This does not work with the FC-12.
Thanks for the help!

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Hello!
I have FC -12 pedals.
I would like to add two external switches to switch the presets.
I can not do!
How to!
Please help!

I watched this video, but it's only good for the FC-6 pedal.
This does not work with the FC-12.
Thanks for the help!

It is possible with the FC-12. You just need to use the last four empty spots in Layout 9 to store the switch functionality settings for your four external switches to use. I think later in the video, that is even mentioned.

 

[ssmorga78]

What he said

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

It's right here:

 

[Jozsef Kiss]

It's right here:

Thanks!

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

@Jozsef Kiss - You can do anything that a regular on-board switch can do, including

• accept "per preset override" from the "Per-Preset FC" tab's switch settings
  
  
• set up a static "per-preset" switch setting in the Functions page by selecting "Per Preset" and setting up a "Placeholder" for any of your Per-Preset FC switches

The difference is that on the latter, you can choose the Tap function from one "Per-Preset FC" switch and the Hold function from another, if you wish.

Take this for example. PP #19 is set up to do Scene +1 with limits to scenes 1 through 3 on tap, and to return to Scene 1 on hold:

PP#20 is set up to do Scene -1 on tap with no hold function assigned:

On one of my layouts, I have set up the Per-Preset Placeholder for #19 and #20, so that the layout automagically picks up those two PP# settings and puts them in, which lets me have different lower/upper limits per preset on how far the Scene +/- 1 buttons can go before wrapping back around to the beginning of the list.

Note that I could have put the hold function that goes back to Scene 1 on the top row button's hold function if I wanted to.
The Tap and Hold are each separately configurable to pick the Tap or Hold function from any of the PP# switch setups.


Here, I have put a Per-Preset Override onto the #10- button, coincidentally, using PP switch #9. Normally, it would load whatever was in PP#22, per the tap/hold switch settings down in the functions panel, but here I have overridden that.

HTH! There's a lot to wrap your head around with this thing.

 

[Jozsef Kiss]

Thank you very much for the information!
Great help for me!
Unfortunately, I can not speak English.
So that's how I gather information.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Örülök, hogy tudtam segíteni.

 

[sb-SG]

Has anyone experienced any inconsistency using DIY foot switches? The response from my FC-12 using a an external dual switch isn't quite as dependable as I would expect - sometimes it doesn't switch (set for virtual toggle & normal polarity) and it's the switch on the Ring rather than tip that seems to be unreliable. I am using TRS end to end into a DIY box with stereo 1/4" in to 2 foot switches - not exactly rocket science! If I split the ext switch 1&2 to 2 mono's to 2 separate switches in 2 separate boxes it seems OK. Seems odd - we are just grounding a tip or ring to do a 2 switch. I was set to blame cheap switches but same in version with two separate boxes...!

Bit more investigation does seem to indicate that a pair of switches with a common ground (sleeve) results in just Ext Switch 1 working OK and Ext switch 2 does not work.
However, and to reiterate, if I split with a Y cable (TRS to 2 x mono) into two separate switch boxes then both work perfectly.
Is the sleeve actually a ground as such?!

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Has anyone experienced any inconsistency using DIY foot switches?

I occasionally get the hold action triggering both hold and tap functions on one switch. I will have to open it up to see if it's the ring switch. I was thinking it was the switch itself, as they were only a couple dollars each, but who knows?

 

[sb-SG]

If I move the functions over to the other Ext Switch pair of 3 & 4 the results are exactly the same i.e. 3 functions fine and 4 does not.
And if I split with a Y then once again ext switch 3 and 4 both work fine. So this is consistent between both switch pairs.
I have had a meter to check the foot switch is momentarily closing and changed TRS cable - always the same.
Axe FX is set for "virtual toggle " polarity "normal".
This seems odd.
I am starting to wonder how reliably the FC is reading a change of switch state...
Perplexed.

 

[ruso]

Any idea what kind of momentary switches FAS is using in the FC-6 and FC-12? Fractal Audio is marketing these as proprietary Solid State Switching (SSSTM) technology. Surely these are off the shelf components and not manufactured to FAS’s specifications? I’d imagine that they’d only settle for the absolute highest quality and I’d prefer a switchbox to use the same.

 

[iaresee]

Any idea what kind of momentary switches FAS is using in the FC-6 and FC-12? Fractal Audio is marketing these as proprietary Solid State Switching (SSSTM) technology. Surely these are off the shelf components and not manufactured to FAS’s specifications? I’d imagine that they’d only settle for the absolute highest quality and I’d prefer a switchbox to use the same.

They’re proprietary. There’s a plunger mechanism that makes contact with a capacitive touch pad to actuate the switch. There’s some notes from Cliff on the forum about the design I think. Search might pull up the posts.

 

[sb-SG]

Here's photos of one setup that works (2 box.jpg - two enclosures using one switch from each) and the other one that doesn't (TRS.jpg - one enclosure - using 2 of 6 switches). Same switches that work fine with other equipment yet when in the same enclosure only one ext FC will trigger.
What the hell is going on here??!!

 

[fuzzyoctaves]

If you opt for NO (normally open) switches instead of NC (normally closed) you'll need to reverse the polarity for them in the FC configuration section on the Axe-Fx III.

Is this backwards? I have a box with four switches -1 and 2 are non-latching and NO and 3 and 4 are latching and NC. I set the polarity for 1&2 to be Reverse and 3&4 to be Normal. In the modifier visual matrix, the yellow dot is top right. I'm assuming I am wrong here somehow, but I can't figure it out any other way.

 

[mr_fender]

It depends on how you want to use the switch. If you want to use it as a stand-in switch and be able to utilize the hold function of that switch, then yes NO switches should be set to REVERSE polarity. If you don't need to use a hold function with that external switch, then you can set the polarity for whichever state you want the modifier value to be in when not pressed. With a NO switch, REVERSE polarity will have the modifier at the END position (right side of the graph) when not pressed. Normal polarity will have it at the START position (left side of the graph) when not pressed.

For modifiers, you can always reverse the state of the modifier by swapping the Start and End values if the polarity doesn't match what you are trying to do.

Also, NO and NC only applies to momentary (non-latching) switches. Latching switches don't have a "normal" state since they can be both open and closed when not being pressed. For latching switches the polarity setting doesn't really matter unless your switch also has an LED to indicate it's on or off state. In that case, you can use the polarity setting to make your switch's action match the LED state.

 

[fuzzyoctaves]

It depends on how you want to use the switch. If you want to use it as a stand-in switch and be able to utilize the hold function of that switch, then yes NO switches should be set to REVERSE polarity. If you don't need to use a hold function with that external switch, then you can set the polarity for whichever state you want the modifier value to be in when not pressed. With a NO switch, REVERSE polarity will have the modifier at the END position (right side of the graph) when not pressed. Normal polarity will have it at the START position (left side of the graph) when not pressed.

For modifiers, you can always reverse the state of the modifier by swapping the Start and End values if the polarity doesn't match what you are trying to do.

Also, NO and NC only applies to momentary (non-latching) switches. Latching switches don't have a "normal" state since they can be both open and closed when not being pressed. For latching switches the polarity setting doesn't really matter unless your switch also has an LED to indicate it's on or off state. In that case, you can use the polarity setting to make your switch's action match the LED state.

Great info as usual!

And yep, my latching switches have LEDs...