FC: which external switches?

Guitarman69

Inspired
I have never had a use for an external switch before. With the new implementation for the FC, I was wondering what some of you prefer to use with your rigs. Which ones are durable, with room for a big foot to not step on the wrong switch?
 
I ordered a few different ones to try out. I'm thinking instead of having all four switches in one box, to have a few dual boxes so I can place on either side of the FC. I have these showing up today to test out:

Dual Momentary External Footswitch for Drum Machine & Guitar Effects Pedal Foot Switch with 6.35mm Stereo Cable
Footswitch Pedal,Foot Switch,DUAL SWITCH MOSKY Full Metal Shell

They are also easy to build to suit your needs. You can get blank enclosures and space things out as much as you need. I may end up doing that but wanted something to test out right away. And Amazon had 1 day shipping for these.
 
The Chinese switch boxes are offered about as cheap as you can DIY, and do work, but the only issues I've had with them is that they are just a bit too small, too close together, so where its hard to hit just one switch. I want to build a slightly larger enclosure so I can keep the same relative spacing as the FC switches themselves
 
I ordered a few different ones to try out. I'm thinking instead of having all four switches in one box, to have a few dual boxes so I can place on either side of the FC. I have these showing up today to test out:

Dual Momentary External Footswitch for Drum Machine & Guitar Effects Pedal Foot Switch with 6.35mm Stereo Cable
Footswitch Pedal,Foot Switch,DUAL SWITCH MOSKY Full Metal Shell

They are also easy to build to suit your needs. You can get blank enclosures and space things out as much as you need. I may end up doing that but wanted something to test out right away. And Amazon had 1 day shipping for these.
I got these incoming as well......
 
I got these incoming as well......

The Drum Machine switch definitely feels a bit more stable. Has rubber on the bottom also. Switch spacing is less than the FC spacing. I have bigger work type boots on and can hit each switch ok. Spacing is wider on the other switch box, but that one is less sturdy.

For both of these, I had to set the 'reverse' polarity option for things to function the way you would expect for tap and hold. After that was resolved, works great!

The profile is low enough on the Drum Machine box that it may work sitting right in front of the FC. Here are some pics of various arrangements. (The FC-6 is someone else's I'm helping setup). Honestly my biggest challenge now is there are too many options!!! I suppose if I'm only using two expression pedals, I could add two more switches using the unused pedal jacks also.

Photo May 07, 2 31 00 PM.jpg Photo May 07, 2 31 47 PM.jpg Photo May 07, 2 31 52 PM.jpg side-by-side.jpg
fc-12-and-ext.jpg fc-6-ext.jpg
 
The Drum Machine switch definitely feels a bit more stable. Has rubber on the bottom also. Switch spacing is less than the FC spacing. I have bigger work type boots on and can hit each switch ok. Spacing is wider on the other switch box, but that one is less sturdy.

For both of these, I had to set the 'reverse' polarity option for things to function the way you would expect for tap and hold. After that was resolved, works great!

The profile is low enough on the Drum Machine box that it may work sitting right in front of the FC. Here are some pics of various arrangements. (The FC-6 is someone else's I'm helping setup). Honestly my biggest challenge now is there are too many options!!! I suppose if I'm only using two expression pedals, I could add two more switches using the unused pedal jacks also.

View attachment 54708 View attachment 54709 View attachment 54710 View attachment 54713
View attachment 54711 View attachment 54712

Thanks for the pictures and your feedback on those switches. I think I like the FS-5s that Matt mentioned. They are more expensive than what you purchased but I like the size and spacing on them. I just watched Chris' video and noticed that he uses the FS-5 also.
 
I ordered a pair of the black dual ones. I'm planning to put them in front of my expression pedals so that the cable runs between the expression pedals up to the top of the board.
 
I ordered a pair of the black dual ones. I'm planning to put them in front of my expression pedals so that the cable runs between the expression pedals up to the top of the board.

I also ordered a pair of the black dual ones. I only have room width-wise for one of them on my pedal board, I'm planning to fabricate a stepped riser to place them on to allow the second one to sit behind and above the first one and still be accessible. If they end up being too close together for practical use, I'll gut them and build a stepped narrow enclosure to put the switches in, similar to a single vertical row on the MFC-101.
 
What about something with LED's?

I made 2 dual switch boxes to use with my MFC. They work fine with the FC-12 (obviously) but I would love to have LED's on them.
I understand they can be added but I have no clue how to do it. Need schematic for dummies too (can't read schematic).

Mine also have latching switch buttons so not ideal.

Here's the previous setup prior to getting the FC-12.

MFC.JPG
 
I've seen posts stating the FC emits 5v that will power an LED.

I've seen posts suggesting that it might.

It has to setup some potential gap. That's what it uses to know if the switch is open or closed. But there's nothing that indicates how much current draw it can support on this connection. Having the potential energy there doesn't mean you have the ability to deliver the power at the rate it's required by the LED to light it. Might be okay, might not. Go with caution here.
 
It has to setup some potential gap. That's what it uses to know if the switch is open or closed. But there's nothing that indicates how much current draw it can support on this connection. Having the potential energy there doesn't mean you have the ability to deliver the power at the rate it's required by the LED to light it. Might be okay, might not. Go with caution here.
+1.
 
Just use momentary switches for functions such as changing layouts, bank etc, and the FC will reflect the change, so you don’t need LED’s.

For things like turning a given effect on/off your better with an internal switch as it’s always going to reflect the correct status upon loading et al, not to mention the scribble strip which will help you know what it is controlling.
 
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