FM3 Super Gig Rig!

Poparad

Power User
I finally finished assembling my FM3 pedalboard so I figured I'd do a walkthrough video to share some ideas for anyone else building their own pedalboard. My goals were to make this as quick and easy to transport and set up at gigs (back when gigs existed) but also provide maximum flexibility in routing for my monitors, FOH, multiple guitars, and outboard gear.

One correction: It's a Gator mixer bag, not a Mackie brand.

Two things I forgot to mention in the video: I have the FM3 mounted to the Pedaltrain board with 3M Dual Lock. I took off the FM3's feet and rubber side bumpers to reduce space and the Dual Lock is thick enough that it provides enough clearance for the FM3's air intake on the underside to still get enough air to keep the unit cool.

Second, a little pedalboard hack tip: For smaller pedals that don't quite line up with the rails of the Pedaltrain for secure attachment or for mounting underneath, I bought some sheets of clear acrylic from the hardware store and cut them to size. I put velcro on both sides of the acrylic squares and mounted that first to the pedalboard and attached the pedals on top of that.

Hopefully this is useful to you guys!

 
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Do you have the FM3 bottom vent sitting over one of the gaps in the board or the dual lock alone is enough clearance?
 
Do you have the FM3 bottom vent sitting over one of the gaps in the board or the dual lock alone is enough clearance?

A little bit of both. The vent is about half over one of the gaps in the board, but there is enough clearance that it seems to work. I've had it running for hours at a time since mounting it and I've kept an eye on the temp gauge and it almost never gets hot enough to even kick on the fan (it tends to stay around 47°C for me).
 
How do you program and make it work, just like FC-6 for use with OMG9,
with morning star having 6-buttons?....Genious work well done~!

It's not quite that powerful that it can replicate the OMG9, unfortunately. I just have it set up to change scenes on each of the six buttons on tap. On hold of each button, I've got other functions programmed, for example, the "FX1" and "FX2" in the picture jump to a different bank that has common effects (delay, chorus, etc) that I might want to change on and off and that gives me a second set of 6 buttons I can quickly access. In each of those secondary banks, I have one button set up to "return" back to the previous bank on hold (another great new feature on the MC6 MKII that the MK1 didn't have).
 
Impressive array! I am not only amazed that you could figure all that out, but obviously you can remember where everything is and how to access it while playing live. I could never do that! LOL. Kudos. Nice rig. Thanks for the walk through! I did get a couple of ideas from your setup. 👍
 
Well done good sir! I believe that might be the most loaded underside of a Pedaltrain I have ever seen.
 
Great work. I really like the dual volume pedals and the way you've implemented the external pedals and loops. The Specular Tempus is an amazing little pedal too.
 
Way cool and great work! Always happy to see an old BOSS pedal among all the high tech digital equipment stuff these days.
 
Wow! How did you cut and shape the acrylic attached to the top of your FM3? Router?

There's a specialty knife for cutting acrylic and plexiglass. It looks a lot like an X-acto knife. It's kind of a bitch to cut, though. You have to score a groove in it over and over again until you can break the piece in two by hand.
 
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