FC-12: More than one expression pedal needed?

Chad Beattie

Chad Beattie

Experienced
Those that have received their FC-12’s, do you feel like you still need more than one expression pedal? Asking for a friend who only ordered one ;)
 
You can set it up so that one pedal can do a variety of different fictions depending on the scene etc selected

That means one may work well for many people’s needs. I personally use 4, as I like a dedicated function, always

I don’t want to remember in a given scene my wah becomes a whammy etc. I want to always have a wah, a volume, and so forth.

One can do a lot, but having multiple pedals is still how I’m going to roll
 
I recently downsized my main touring board to have a single expression pedal. I have had up to three at times, but as I've gotten to understand the AxeFX III, I have found that it's actually pretty easy to set up my patches with a single controller. Two caveats: (1) I use an RJM Mastermind pedal (but the FC 6/12 have very similar capabilities), and (2) I don't use a volume pedal onstage. To speak to #2: I volume level all patches / scenes with a LUFS meter, and make minor tweaks during tech rehearsals. After that, I never change my output volume. This eliminates the temptation to turn up during the course of the performance, and ensures the FOH engineer doesn't have to make adjustments to compensate for any changes I make. Because it's (intentionally) inconvenient to change my volume, I have to make sure it's where I want it for every song / solo / preset / scene. But it's worth it. Just my $0.02
 
lqdsnddist said:
You can set it up so that one pedal can do a variety of different fictions depending on the scene etc selected

That means one may work well for many people’s needs. I personally use 4, as I like a dedicated function, always

I don’t want to remember in a given scene my wah becomes a whammy etc. I want to always have a wah, a volume, and so forth.

One can do a lot, but having multiple pedals is still how I’m going to roll
Click to expand...

Thanks, those are good points. I ordered one EV-2 to start with. Coming from and FCB1010 I’ve never used a real expression pedal before. Are all four of yours the same kind? Recommendations as to what pedals work best?
 
lqdsnddist said:
I personally use 4, as I like a dedicated function, always
Click to expand...
Same.

Although while I was reviewing the manual before it was released, I did suggest an idea to Matt regarding dynamic reassignment of external controllers (which I used to do with my Gordius). He seemed to think it was a good idea, so I'm hoping that feature gets added and then I can lose 1 or 2.
 
Chad Beattie said:
Recommendations as to what pedals work best?
Click to expand...
For Wah or Whammy, you can't beat a spring loaded Mission EP-1.

I'm using 1 for each. My others are also EP-1 without the spring, 1 is for controlling rate (primarily for Rotary) and the other is used to bring in more delay (it's assigned to a couple parameters in the delay block).

I think I'd prefer an EV-1 or EV-2 for the 2nd two because they have a bigger sweep and thus more precision... Which is a big consideration depending on what you're controlling.
 
Chad Beattie said:
Thanks, those are good points. I ordered one EV-2 to start with. Coming from and FCB1010 I’ve never used a real expression pedal before. Are all four of yours the same kind? Recommendations as to what pedals work best?
Click to expand...

No, I like different pedals for different rolls. The spring loaded mission is fantastic for wah as it’s a familiar sweep and the auto engage is nice as you take your foot off and the wah turns off

For things where I want finer control and/or more travel, I like my Ernie Ball VP Jrs which have a great angle, travel etc, and they are real cheap if you mod the pot yourself. Ev1 or 2 would be great options too

This is the main reason I use different pedals, wouldn’t want to wah with a super long travel and a wah type travel is difficult to easily adjust a mix with as it’s such drastic changes over small distances
 
Thanks everyone for the info. Didn't realize all of the different expression pedals and which usage they are good for. This helps. I will probably expand further once the FC-12 shows up and the EV-2. My main use right now is volume swells. But would like to do wah/whammy and adjust rotary speeds. I was using one pedal for reverb hold but figure with the FC-12 I could have a button do that now.
 
You might find a scene/channel change between rotor speeds can work as well as a pedal too. I find I don’t want O slow and don’t want 10 fast so most of the range of the pedal is wasted, and if I dial in the min and max settings I’m using more or less as just slow and fast, which can be done with a switch just as easily, saving room.

I’ve also built some little boxes with a pot and a big knob I can adjust with my foot. They plug into the EXP jacks and act like an EXP pedal, just a smaller form factor. Great for things like output level if you want to adjust on the fly for your monitor and not walk over to the unit.

I’ve meant to work on a box like that with a side mounted knob which I could roll up/down with my foot. Position it on the side of the FC and it would add like an inch it 2 width, so big space saving over a real eXP pedal but could do some of the same tasks
 
lqdsnddist said:
I’ve meant to work on a box like that with a side mounted knob which I could roll up/down with my foot. Position it on the side of the FC and it would add like an inch it 2 width, so big space saving over a real eXP pedal but could do some of the same tasks
Click to expand...
That has sort of been done before ;)
images
 
unix-guy said:
Same.

Although while I was reviewing the manual before it was released, I did suggest an idea to Matt regarding dynamic reassignment of external controllers (which I used to do with my Gordius). He seemed to think it was a good idea, so I'm hoping that feature gets added and then I can lose 1 or 2.
Click to expand...

I would get a lot of good use out of that. Being able to have a switch on the FC6/12 that can reassign the expression pedal would be very useful!

That said, I think 1 expression pedal is not enough if I used the FC6 or 12 (getting the 12 either way). I use wah, volume and effects (3 pedals).
 
Matt_B_77 said:
That has sort of been done before ;)
images
Click to expand...

Used to have one, loved the “balls” control

I was thinking more of the Retroman UberVibe though, which has a big side mounted pot for the speed control.

I doubt I’m the first to do it for an EXP pedal either, but it certainly does sound like it would save some space and work great on the side of the FC
 
lqdsnddist said:
You can set it up so that one pedal can do a variety of different functions
Click to expand...

How would you set the the Axe FXIII and FC-12 to use one volume pedal for Volume, Wah, Whammy, or controlling the speed of the Rotary? I'd love to be able to do that. Has anyone made a video showing how to do this?
 
trancegodz said:
How would you set the the Axe FXIII and FC-12 to use one volume pedal for Volume, Wah, Whammy, or controlling the speed of the Rotary? I'd love to be able to do that. Has anyone made a video showing how to do this?
Click to expand...

There is a recent video where a user has one pedal, 6 different functions, and a Fc6

It’s in the FC controller video thread

Amazing how much flexibility the thing has
 
trancegodz said:
How would you set the the Axe FXIII and FC-12 to use one volume pedal for Volume, Wah, Whammy, or controlling the speed of the Rotary? I'd love to be able to do that. Has anyone made a video showing how to do this?
Click to expand...

That would be the video I made here.

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...ntrolling-7-different-pedal-functions.146716/

With the use of channels, and/or the multiplexer (which I chose NOT to use), I don't see why you couldn't use one pedal for all your needs, as long as they are applied to scenes. For me that's the key.
 
My setup is 2 pedals. One controls volume on out 1 which goes to my personal monitor, volume levels vary a lot on stage so I need this control. Out 2 goes to FOH which I always set at the same level, so the soundman gets a consistent signal week after week (even though I'm not sure he knows what to do with it).

Pedal 2 can be wah, delay mix, whammy or whatever else. If I didn't have to lug it around I would have 4 expression pedals because there is so much you can do with them and controllers.

I use Roland Ev-5 atm because they are very light, have their own cord and work well. No reliability issues. The similar m-audio are really cheap and work well too. They would be a cheap route to experiment with.
 
I use two but could get by with just one and have it control a few features. But my needs are fairly simple. Wah and volume mainly. But I do have a couple of presets where I use the one for wah it control a delay level on a preset.
 
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