How much do I need an FC-6?

panman

Member
I play in a cover band and need to be able to switch to the next preset (i have one for every song cause why not) quickly and on average switch between 3 scenes in a given song. Does this match any of you other guy's use case and if so are those 3 switches enough? I've heard a lot about how efficient the FM3 is with 3 buttons but I have a hard time wrapping my little monkey brain around how my usage could be done quickly with 3 buttons. Thanks in advance.
 
If you're switching on avg between 3 scenes then you would just need to organize your presets according to setlist and simply just go down or up in order depending on your preference, and you could simply set the hold function on one of the footswitches to go up or down.
 
Depends. If you set up your song specific presets to match your setlist, I'd imagine youd have...
View 1
Button 1 Press (PRESET +1)
Button 1 HOLD (PRESET -1)
Button 2 (VIEW +1)
Button 3 (whatever you want maybe tap tempo/tuner)
View 2
Button 1 - 3 (SCENE Select 1-3)
View 3 and 4 - whatever you need....maybe list a few song specific presets incase you need to run a song during rehearsal

to me, the above sounds like a PIA if your band needs to change setlist song orders on the fly, or run a specific song in rehearsal that you'd then have to navigate to.... also for each gig, you'd have to re-order your presets to match the setlist again - not a lot of flexibility, and would create a lot of wasted time managing your preset order.

If you had an FC6 though, you could set it up differently
View 1
Button 1-3 (Scenes 1-3)
Buttons 4-9 (Song specific preset)
View 2
Buttons 1-3 (Scenes 1-3)
Buttons 4-9 (Song specific preset)
View 3 and 4 (repeat above - add a tap tempo/tuner in there somewhere)

Gives a lot of flexibility.

Just ideas - not how you have to do it.
 
What someone said above if you have 3 scenes you can see them all fine but if you use 5 or 6 scenes
the visual aspect of the OMG9
really cant be beat
to be able to see 6 presets 6 scenes and 5 fx with the press of a button to me makes the FC6 a good buy
 
If you have the money to spend on an FC6 it is a worthwhile investment. If money is tight you can buy (2) two button footswitches fairly cheap and have 7 switches. That is still a pretty powerful system when you see what you can do with each footswitch.
 
I’m in a similar situation. I sold my FC6. I use 1 button per scene. If a song needs anything else I can almost always accomplish it by adding a hold/momentary. I really don’t miss the fc6 at all. I did add a 2 button extra switch but just have it to move presets up and down. I really don’t need it, just saves me from changing songs by hand.
 
Depends. If you set up your song specific presets to match your setlist, I'd imagine youd have...
View 1
Button 1 Press (PRESET +1)
Button 1 HOLD (PRESET -1)
Button 2 (VIEW +1)
Button 3 (whatever you want maybe tap tempo/tuner)
View 2
Button 1 - 3 (SCENE Select 1-3)
View 3 and 4 - whatever you need....maybe list a few song specific presets incase you need to run a song during rehearsal

to me, the above sounds like a PIA if your band needs to change setlist song orders on the fly, or run a specific song in rehearsal that you'd then have to navigate to.... also for each gig, you'd have to re-order your presets to match the setlist again - not a lot of flexibility, and would create a lot of wasted time managing your preset order.

If you had an FC6 though, you could set it up differently
View 1
Button 1-3 (Scenes 1-3)
Buttons 4-9 (Song specific preset)
View 2
Buttons 1-3 (Scenes 1-3)
Buttons 4-9 (Song specific preset)
View 3 and 4 (repeat above - add a tap tempo/tuner in there somewhere)

Gives a lot of flexibility.

Just ideas - not how you have to do it.
Thanks for this man. This really lets me know what each setup would look like. Super helpful.
 
I was going to get the FC6 but my current setup is giving me a lot of options with the three switches.
Presets 1, 2, and 3. (Each preset can have four different amps and cabs).

Scenes set to toggle so that switch 1 goes back and from from Scene 1 & 2, switch 2 does Scenes 3 & 4, and switch 3 toggles Scenes 5 & 6.

Then I have Effects set for any three oddball effects that I may want once in a while like a phaser or delay.

One of my presets is set on autopilot with Delay blending in when I play higher notes (using pitch as a controller for the delay mix parameter) and chorus mix controlled by envelope so that volume knob roll off will blend in a touch of chorus.

There’s an amazing amount of flexibility available but if you’re a power user, the FC6 may still be necessary. Ymmv.
 
I cant imagine using the FM3 without the FC6 I'm guessing w/o a fc6 I'd becoming Fred Astaire "tap dancing legend"...
 
I’m in a similar situation - “cover” band, a P&W gig at a church where we play the songs exactly like the albums. One preset per song so I can dial in specific tempos and delays. When I had an AX8, I’d create scenes for every section of the song. That was pretty easy with 8 switches, although keeping track without scene names was tricky. I’ve always arranged the presets in set order because it doesn’t change by the time I get to rehearsal.

But with the FM3, I’ve made an effort to keep things really simple. Three scenes per song - the main tone, a lead/boost/alt tone, and an ambient tone for swells. I have an MC6 but I don’t really want to use it live. I definitely don’t want the extra weight/size of an FC6.

Here’s my switch layout with just an FM3 and EV-2. EV-2 is always just a volume block for these sets.

Switch 1 tap - Scene 1/2 toggle
Switch 1 hold - “extra sauce” momentary control switch that ramps up delay feedback, Plex Verb mix, and Reverb time.

Switch 2 tap - Scene 3 (ambient swells)
Switch 2 hold - Plex Verb stack mode latching control switch (for a constant layer under the swells)

Switch 3 tap - Preset +1
Switch 3 hold - View +1

The other 3 views in my modified Perform layout give access to specific effect toggles, tuner, preset banking, etc. Switch 3 tap is always Preset +1, and it wraps between the song presets in the set. Switch 3 hold is always View +1.

I feel like this strategy has forced me to focus on playing. Less twiddling, less tap dancing, less staring at my board lol.
 
I would not want to use it without some additional controller. You can make the 3 buttons do a lot of stuff but quickly end up managing their state which is not something you want to deal with on stage.

At least here in Europe the FC6 is just overpriced so I would just get a good MIDI controller with 4-6 buttons instead for a setup that is more compact and cheaper overall.
 
I play in a cover band and need to be able to switch to the next preset (i have one for every song cause why not) quickly and on average switch between 3 scenes in a given song. Does this match any of you other guy's use case and if so are those 3 switches enough? I've heard a lot about how efficient the FM3 is with 3 buttons but I have a hard time wrapping my little monkey brain around how my usage could be done quickly with 3 buttons. Thanks in advance.
I play in a cover band as well and I played a gig with my FM3 only 2 days after getting it. I didn't get the FC-6 and as of right now, I don't think I will need to, but YMMV. My band primarily varies between Classic Rock and Country, so I only need 2 presets. I don't know if you have tried it yet (I didn't right out of the box) but the perform layout is a godsend for situations like this. Also, I have a lead foot and changing the hold time to .75 in the controller section made a world of difference for me as well.
 
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So I got one after about 9 months of owning the FM-3 but I actually ended up returning it almost right away.
It’s a really nice piece of kit but with a two button external footswitch I can do everything I could do with the FC-6 so to me it felt like a huge increase in size and weight for minimal benefit. The tap/toggle/hold features really do make it extremely versatile.

Just my thoughts.
 
I sold my FC6. I found that the FM3 with two stand-in switches works fine for me. I use per-song presets with scenes. If I were operating with more of a stomp-box mindset I would have probably kept the FC6, but would not have been happy with the size of the two units together. Definitely NOT worth doubling the footprint of the FM3, IMO.
 
Another item to consider here is preset management and upkeep. People often complain about having to tweak all of their presets with each firmware update. You can certainly get away with using the FM3 alone, especially if you use a preset for every song, but remember that every preset you create may need to be tweaked with future firmware updates and that can get time consuming if you have a large set.

I have an FC6 and really like the flexibility of creating layouts for the FM3 alone or with the FC6 depending on the show. Sometimes I am primarily playing acoustic guitar and I can get away with a preset that requires only a few scenes. Other times I need the OMG9 layout where I can easily access several scenes on a "Kitchen Sink" style preset. When Cygnus arrives, I will only have to adjust about 4-5 presets rather than 50. I also appreciate the extra footswitch/expression pedal inputs that you get with the FC6. You just have to decide what your priorities are and how much you need the extra access and flexibility that the FC6 offers.
 
Another item to consider here is preset management and upkeep. People often complain about having to tweak all of their presets with each firmware update. You can certainly get away with using the FM3 alone, especially if you use a preset for every song, but remember that every preset you create may need to be tweaked with future firmware updates and that can get time consuming if you have a large set.

I have an FC6 and really like the flexibility of creating layouts for the FM3 alone or with the FC6 depending on the show. Sometimes I am primarily playing acoustic guitar and I can get away with a preset that requires only a few scenes. Other times I need the OMG9 layout where I can easily access several scenes on a "Kitchen Sink" style preset. When Cygnus arrives, I will only have to adjust about 4-5 presets rather than 50. I also appreciate the extra footswitch/expression pedal inputs that you get with the FC6. You just have to decide what your priorities are and how much you need the extra access and flexibility that the FC6 offers.
Theres so many great arguments for and against the FC-6. I can really appreciate everyone's p.o.v. on it. I want an fc6 and I know I don't need it as much as I originally thought. Like someone said earlier, I can always use the fc6 when I eventually crack and get a used Axe III. :) I do feel like I need to pair down my presets. I know having 20-30 different presets is a little absurd.


edit: added preset pair down idea
 
i play at a church that does songs that uses a ton of different effects. I just use the FM3 and its fine without the FC-6.

I assign one button to go to the next preset---and then i use 4 scenes and Im good to go!
 
I was tempted to getting one but i really want a minimalist setup. I ended getting an Airstep since i feel it's a lot more diverse, i can use it with reaper, pc, obs, etc and live as well.

The only thing that's a bummer is i wish there was a display screen in the Airstep because there's times i don't know my face from my a$$ and i forget what i programmed lol
 
Another reason to have a (long overdue) Setlist function implemented. Use the three onboard switches to change scenes on press, you could maybe use one button on Hold to increment preset, another to change view for accessing upper scenes and another for tuner. You could also add an external (or two in case you don't use an expression pedal) dual switch and the options are even better.
 
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