Mission Engineering Exp Pedals

GreatGreen

GreatGreen

Power User
I'm only going to be able to buy either the SP-1 or SP-2 expression pedal, but whichever one I get, I'd like it to pull double duty. That is, I'd like it to default as a standard volume pedal, but when engaged, I'd like it to swap from controlling volume to controlling another modifier like a wah or rotary or whatever else.

Is this possible with both the SP-1 and SP-2 pedals? Also, if it is possible with both, is one a lot easier to work with in this regard?
 
They can both do some form of that. The SP-2 really only makes a couple specific things easier to set up: leaving one effect audible & parked at maximum (for whatever the pedal controls) while you control the other, or using toe-off auto-engage without any additional blocks. Other than that, you'll have far more options with the SP-1 switch since it can change actual parameters on the Axe-FX. (The auto-engage thing is pretty simple to replicate w/ an extra block or two.) If you have a capable enough controller (basically anything w/ preset mapping & per-preset pedal CC#, MFC-101 included) you can use a preset switch to do the same thing the SP-2 switch would do, and you wouldn't be limited to leaving one CC# at maximum when controlling the other.
 
Yeah, an SP-1 sounds like it would be fine for me. All I really want the pedal to do is swap from controlling volume to controlling another effect and back.

As long as I enter a patch with the volume block enabled and the effect block bypassed, I could set the SP-1's switch to both toggle the volume block and wah/rotary/octave/whatever block at the same time, then back to normal with another click, right?
 
I've got another question about the SP-1, if anybody can help me out.

The standard edition's switch is a latching switch, correct? Wouldn't that be bad to pair with something like an Axe-Fx? What if you set, say, a wah block in a patch to bypass and activate based on the switch on the SP-1. Would going into the patch with the wrong latch setting (like if you engaged the switch in a previous patch but never disengaged it) mean the wah would be automatically activated when you activated the patch with the wah block because you never "un-latched" the switch on the expression pedal?

I just made an order this afternoon for a standard SP-1, and I'm wondering if I need to call them back in the morning and change the order to a momentary switching version. If I change patches and think I'm going to sound like one thing, but then I hear the patch I'm expecting, but with the wah pedal engaged and like half way pressed also, is not a situation I'd really like to deal with.
 
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Momentary vs. latching doesn't matter right now if you're using it as an Ext Ctrl. The momentary logic doesn't reset at preset change so it's just like having a latching switch. You can use PC RST to prevent the preset from immediately reflecting the state but you'll have to press the switch twice to change if it started out opposite of the preset value.
 
Yeah, that doesn't sound quite like what I'm looking for. I think a momentary switch would probably be better because it sounds like that setup would always allow me to switch to a patch and have it always recall in the exact state I saved it in, and pressing the footswitch on the SP-1 would always activate the effect the first time I clicked the pedal.

If I'm understanding you correctly, it seems like a latching switch would cause a situation where roughly half of the time I wanted to use the pedal to activate an effect, I'd have to press the switch twice before it did anything. Yeah, that's not going to work. I'll give Mission a call in the morning.
 
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GreatGreen said:
I think a momentary switch would probably be better because it sounds like that setup would always allow me to switch to a patch and have it always recall in the exact state I saved it in, and pressing the footswitch on the SP-1 would always activate the effect the first time I clicked the pedal.

If I'm understanding you correctly, it seems like a latching switch would cause a situation where roughly half of the time I wanted to use the pedal to activate an effect, I'd have to press the switch twice before it did anything. Yeah, that's not going to work. I'll give Mission a call in the morning.
Click to expand...

I don't think the MFC can do that. What I meant above is the momentary switch would have the same issues as the latching switch.

edit: You would gain one other thing with a momentary switch: the option of true momentary function (like a keyboard sustain pedal) in certain presets.
 
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Just curious, but how could the momentary switch version possibly have the same problem as the latching switch version of the SP-1? A momentary switch doesn't toggle, it just sends a small signal blip, which the Axe-Fx would interpret as a modifier or bypass switch or whatever.

Unless I'm just seriously misunderstanding something, there is no way a momentary switch would have the same "must click twice to activate effect under certain conditions" issue as a latching switch... right?

edit: Also, I just checked the MFC-101 manual (pages 32-33) and it turns out you can setup an external momentary switch to behave as a toggle/latching switch, which would allow you to toggle an effect on or off however you like, then patch changes would always activate with their regularly saved state, and you would always only need to press the switch once to activate whatever effect you have it connected to without worrying about what state the switch started in.
 
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GreatGreen said:
Just curious, but how could the momentary switch version possibly have the same problem as the latching switch version of the SP-1? A momentary switch doesn't toggle, it just sends a small signal blip, which the Axe-Fx would interpret as a modifier or bypass switch or whatever.
Click to expand...

Because the MFC (with momentary switch configured for latching imitation) alternates between sending on & off values with each switch press, regardless of any preset changes along the way. At least I think it's like that. The Axe-FX does this with a momentary switch connected to its pedal port.
 
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