MFC and Mission SP1 Toe Switch Problem

Narzugon

Narzugon

Power User
I've upgraded my Axe II MkI and MFC MkII to an XL+ and a MkIII. I manually configured the XL+, copied my presets and cabs over and called that a day.

The MFC however hasn't been playing well no matter what I do. My main issue is my toe switches are not working on my two Mission SP1's.

Wiring: (P=Pedal TS=Toe Switch)
P1/Exp wired to Exp Pedal 1 Port
P1/TS wired to Exp Pedal 2 Port
P2/Exp wired to Exp Pedal 3 Port
P2/TS wired to Exp Pedal 4 Port

As a side note I'm using 4 ext switches that are each wired to Switch Ports 1+2 and 3+4. They work great.

MFC Config:
Setup > XP 1&2 are calibrated and working. (Expression Pedals)
Setup > XP 2&3 Min ? Max ? (Toe Switches)

Midi > XP1=#016 BegPDL
Midi > XP2=#017 BegPDL
Midi > XP3=#018 BegPDL
Midi > XP4=#019 BegPDL

In each preset I now use External Controllers 1-4 as I see fit. This was the exact wiring and configuration I used with the MFC MkII. Same cables, same everything. Why are they not working here? What am I over looking?

**Edit: As noted below, the Toe Switches are not calibrating on the Mk III but do calibrate on the Mk II.
 
Last edited:
You may need to use TRS cables for the switches as well. The expression pedal inputs are expecting three contacts, not two. For a latching switch (which I think the SP1's have), the switch should alternate the connection between tip to ring and tip to sleeve. With a TS cable, the ring and sleeve are one, so the tip gets connected to the same point in either position.
 
I'm sure you know this and are probably not doing this... But if you are just using the switches to engage tbd effect being controlled by the pedal, you could just use auto engage instead.
 
That'd do as a work around for sure. I'm just not a fan of auto engage. I use one toe switch to engage a wah/whammy and the other pedal's toe switch for x/y's.

Good call on the calibration. I did calibrate the switches along with the pedals last night. I just attempted to calibrate them again just to be thorough and they seem to be intermittent. So now it's looking like a bad cable or failed/failing switches. I'll be back!
 
Looks like a support ticket is in order.

Disconnected all cables to MFC including midi.
Powered with AC Adaptor.
Factory reset.
Tried Expression pedal with a known good TRS/TRS cable that was not on my pedal board.
Connected to SP-1's XP port.
Connected to MFC's XP Port 1.
Calibrated with no issues.
Disconnected from the SP-1's XP port and connected to the SP-1's TS port.
Attempted calibration. Intermittent at best.
Ex: Trying to calibrate the minimum value it may take upwards of 7 clicks of the toe switch. Sometimes it would never calibrate.
Rebooted with same results.
Tried another known good cable and tested both with a multimeter.

Plugged into my MFC MkII and tested.
No issues with the same pedal, cable and port on MFC.
 
You might need to solder a resistor between 10k and 100k ohms across the outer two lugs of the switch (ring and sleeve contacts) to make it look more like a pot to the MFC. The stock switch setup has infinite resistance between the ring and sleeve contacts (no connection) and that might be messing with the calibration.
 
Makes sense I guess. I just keep going back to why does it work with my older MkII? Maybe something changed with the MkIII's?
 
no resister in my sp-1 toe switch, and it works fine with my mfc mkIII. I can not remember though the settings for the pedal port. seems like it was pretty easy to get working when I set it up several years ago.
 
Update: Spoke with support (awesome as always). The Mk III was replaced. Still the same issue unfortunately. I spoke with someone at Mission Engineering. They said since the switch works on the Mk II MFC it's most likely not a SP-1 switch problem. A long shot is maybe the newer MFC has different switch debounce code? I'm awaiting a reply from Fractal support.

I posted two short vids showing the calibration process working on one and failing on the other. Has anyone ever run into this or see something I've missed?

**Edit - Removed Vids due to issue being resolved**
 
Last edited:
Weird. Should work ok on the MKIII. I threw together a quick test switch with a spare latching DPDT stomp switch and TRS jack. It calibrated normally on the XP ports on my MKIII.

Out of curiosity, how are you powering your MFC's? Is it possible the MKIII requires just a hair more power or voltage and your setup is not quite giving it enough. I remember reading something about not enough juice from phantom power over long cables causing weird things on an MFC.
 
Last edited:
You are the man mr_fender! I was about to grab some parts tomorrow and try the same thing. To answer your question, I've tried both phantom and direct to the wall. During that video it was phantom powered but right now I have it powered directly from a wall outlet as I've been reconfiguring with MFC-Edit and saving backups as I go.

And thanks for throwing that test together!
 
Last edited:
Issue resolved. Turns out FW 3.09 beta was causing it. Rolling back to 3.08 resolved the issue.

Posted results in case anyone runs into this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom