How to Use the POD HD500 as a MIDI Controller for the Axe-FX II

AZG

Experienced
I recently received my Axe2 and with the help this thread and some over at TGP, I managed to get my HD500 controlling my Axe-FX II very nicely (I think it should also work with 1st Generation Axe’s). I uploaded the following presets to Line 6 Custom Tone that are fully setup and working. They were setup to work with Axe2 preset 0 (59 Bassguy), but work well with most presets. Just download them, connect the MIDI cable and make a few of the adjustments below and you should be up and running. If you want everything to work perfectly (synced LED's, proper effect displayed on screen, etc) you need to dedicate a set list/bank on the HD to controlling the Axe and then create presets on the HD that match the first 64 preset on the Axe. I am not sure if it is possible to control more than the first 64 presets on the Axe.

HD500 Presets:
Axe-FX II MIDI – Rotary: This is an example of how to turn on the Rotary effect with the toe switch and control its speed using the pedal.
Axe-FX II MIDI – Wah: This is an example of how to turn on the Wah effect with the toe switch and control the effect using the pedal.


Axe-FX Global MIDI setings:
MIDI channel: 1
Prog change: ON
Display offset: 1
Send realtime sysex: OFF
MIDI PC offset: 0

Axe-FX Preset Level Settings:
Set an external controller in the Axe preset for the Wah or Rotary (depending on patch) to External 2 so it will respond the pedal movements.

Below is the basic info on how the MIDI is setup in the HD500 patches. You may need to change the View setting on the HD500 so you can access foot switches 5 - 8.

HD500 FS or Pedal = Axe-FX effect = MIDI CC#
FS1 = Compressor1 = CC# 43
FS2 = Drive1 = CC# 49
FS3 = Chorus1 = CC# 41
FS4 = Delay1 = CC# 47
FS5 = Phaser1 = CC# 75
FS6 = Flanger1 = CC# 56
FS7 = Tremolo or Rotary = CC# 90 or 86
FS8 = Reverb1 = CC# 83

Looper = MultiDelay1 = CC# 69 (correctly turns on the multi delay, but also turns on looper screen and functions until you tune it back off)

Tap = Tap Tempo = CC# 14

Toe Switch = Wah1 = CC# 97

Exp1 = Out1 Volume = CC# 11
Exp2 = External 2 = CC# 17

Hopefully this will help others trying to use a HD500 as a MIDI controller for an Axe-FX.
 
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Thanks for this AZG. It's easy to understand and I'm new to midi stuff. Are the LED's synced or indicate that an effect is on/off? My Ultra comes in today and can't wait to try this out.
 
Thanks for this AZG. It's easy to understand and I'm new to midi stuff. Are the LED's synced or indicate that an effect is on/off? My Ultra comes in today and can't wait to try this out.
Yes the LED's are synced If you set up your presets correctly on the HD. If you want it to work perfectly you need to dedicate a set list/bank on the HD to controlling the Axe and then create presets on the HD that match the first 64 preset on the Axe. I am not sure if it is possible to control more than the first 64 presets on the Axe. The presets I uploaded to Customtone were created to work with the first preset on the Axe2 (59 Bassguy). Being that you are using an Ultra, it will not be as big a help. But if you look it over you should get a good idea of how it works.

Good luck!
 
Ok, I got the volume pedal and looper to work, I just can't seem to get it to turn on/off effects in the Axe-Fx. It registers the MIDI light on the front panel but nothing happens. I'm sure I must be doing something wrong on the HD500 side. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? I tried everything in here as well.
 
Ok, I got the volume pedal and looper to work, I just can't seem to get it to turn on/off effects in the Axe-Fx. It registers the MIDI light on the front panel but nothing happens. I'm sure I must be doing something wrong on the HD500 side. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? I tried everything in here as well.
Did you try the presets I loaded to Line 6 Customtone? They should work just fine since the CC#'s have not changed from the 1st gen to 2nd gen axes. Just make sure that your Axe-Fx preset has a distortion, delay, reverb, etc. in it and it should turn them off and on just fine by turning them on/off on the HD.
 
Did you try the presets I loaded to Line 6 Customtone? They should work just fine since the CC#'s have not changed from the 1st gen to 2nd gen axes. Just make sure that your Axe-Fx preset has a distortion, delay, reverb, etc. in it and it should turn them off and on just fine by turning them on/off on the HD.
Yes I forgot to mention that I did download both patches as tried them, like I said the volume works great, just not switching the other effects on and off. And yes I made sure I added the effects in the Axe-Fx as well. Is there anything else I need to change in the settings in the HD500? This is also my first time messing with anything that's MIDI, so thanks for walking me through all this.
 
I assume that you have the both the Axe and HD set to MIDI channel 1? I also set the HD500's "Footswitch Mode" to pedal board mode so I can see all 8 effects on screen. I don't think this would make a difference, but maybe you should try it. The tread I reference in the first post was about using the HD with the Ultra so obviously it does work with 1st gen Axe's. Maybe you should try doing factory resets of both units to see if that resolves the problem. Not sure what else to suggest. Good luck!
 
Jeez, just figured out the SNAFU. I just checked my I/O-->CTRL page and the Drive1 BYP was set to 11, not 49. Not sure how it changed, but I did just get this about a week ago. And of course when I was creating my patch on the Axe-Fx I was only testing the Drive blocks first. I changed it back to 49, added all the other effects and made sure the LED's corresponded with what was on/off. Everything works as it should. Now if I could figure out how to use the tuner in the HD500. Big thanks again. I'm lovin this thing.
 
Hey guys! Nice to meet you! First post here... Sorry for disturbing but Im brazilian and dont have many sources of info here for the axe fx 2...

I would REALLY appreciate your help in my set up...

I have a boss gt-100 as a midi controller for the axe fx 2. Basically for switching presets. Thats ok! My nightmare is when trying to use the wah and its footswitch to turn on and off the effect! Ive seen a video tutorial on that subject with the MFC and the mission sp-1 pedal (watch?v=YVTDJGCmFdM). I could assign the exp pedal to control the wah block (Ext Crtl 1 = CC16). But only with the autoengage option. The exp pedal switch is acting like a momentary switch (Ext Crtl = CC17). Eventhough in the gt100 its set to toggle. I mean that I can assign it to turn the wah block on and of, but it doesnt stay on or off when I press it. It insist to be momentary... It sucks! I cant use my wah block with this set up. I dont like the autoengage... This is sad because I need to do the same thing for the whammy.... And also would like to use the exp pedal as a volume pedal plus wah or whammy together...

In my gt100 it works flawless. So I hope there is something in the axe fx 2 programing that Im not quite mastering...

Clearing things up...

what I cant do is to set the exp pedal switch to be set to on or off like you did with the mission sp-1 pedal on this video at 13:04

(watch?v=YVTDJGCmFdM)


Thanks very very much!

regards!
 
Hi, Im just having a bit of trouble setting the external controller for the wah, can someone please be a little more specific with setting that external controller for the wah pedal?
 
I've been running a Axe Fx Ultra controled by my hd500 to great results.
Prior to the HD500, I had a FC-300 by Roland and although it offers far more complex Midi capabilities, user friendliness is not one of it's fortes. I setup my hd500 with a second expression pedaal hooked up in bank mode. This allows me to use fs1 to fs4, the toe switch and the two expression pedals to control CC aan let fs5 to fs8 and banks switches to take care of the patch switching.

As a bonus, you also get a tap-tempo with feedback light indicator and a looper mode which can be setup to control the ultra's looper! Works a threat!

Now, the folowing is just me being thorough but it's even possible to setup the hd500 to reflect the settings of any given patch on the Ultra. For that purpose, i create a mirroring patch if you will on the HD500 in which i setup the same fx chain (e.g. comp, drive, octaver, amp block, chorus, delay) so for my rhythm patch in the Ultra, the drive is engaged by default, so i turn on the drive pedal in the corresponding HD500 patch, assign it to the hd500 fs2, setup fs2 to send cc22, setup the Ultra to tie External 2 to cc22, assign External 2 to the to the Ultra Drive block and voila: the hd500 fs2 controls my Ultra drive block and shows the on/off status on the hd500 to boot! Just remember to specify in the HD500 midi assignment which status (0 or 127) each fs needs to send by default on patch load, to match the on/of status of the Axe blocks and dito HD500 leds.

All these assigns can be done using the fomidable PODHD500 Edit software in conjunction with the Axe Edit software. I use the midi-merge function in the Axe-Edit software (i use version 1.0.188 on windows 10). MIDI-wise, I hook up the pc with the Ultra using a cheap LogiLink 'usb to midi' device. I then connect the HD500 to the PC via USB for enabling me to use the HD500 Editor and I connect the HD500 midi out port to the midi in of my external soundcard (t.c. electronic Konnekt 24D) using a standard 5-pin MIDI cable).

This setup is by no means a necessity to get things working, every aspect can be taken care of using the onboard interface of both the Ultra and the HD500 but it's nice to be able to setup the patches using the GUI and be able to test controlers and pacthes at the same time using the HD500 hardware.

Once you have setup a clean, rhythm lead and solo patch, it's just a matter of copy pasting the patches in both devices and using corresponding names which allows you to instantly see what patch is active on the Ultra, without you having to holler yourself to your rack every time to get some ease of mind whilst you should be concentrating on your playing and crowd interaction.

Oh, and another bonus: any time you're bass player wants to tune (hey, sometimes they realy do!), just tell him to insert his jack in the input of the pod and press the tuner button and presto, tuner at your feet!

I'm planning on making a video on this subject since it's struck me how easy it is to setup the HD500 to work with the Ultra. No doubt, it's just as easy to setup the Axe II and the XL or a Kemper or any vst/daw for that matter.

I'm pretty sure the MFC101 is Midi-Walhalla but in my live setup, just plain overkill. I've picked up my hd500 with second pedal and custom case for 200 euro's (not to shabby), so the glaring price diffence may swing you to try this rather pleasing approach in controling the Tone Monster that is the Axe Fx, be it Ultra, II, XL.

....and last but not least: in the horror event that your Axe goes south on you mids performance, the HD500, if setup properly with mirrored patches and a lot of patience ... can step in and save the day: just hook it up to your PA or the FOH and you're on your way.

Kind regards,
Tijl - Belgium
 
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