Pedalboard build in <<<ultra slo mo>>>

[Joe Bfstplk]

Moved into a separate thread from the Pedalboards show-and-tell.

Ok, I am going to do my post as a sort of timeline, starting with almost nothing but the FC12, and a few pedals sitting on my floor and update as things progress.

A humble beginning:
Haven't even taken the tape off the screens yet! Mismatched pedals I had laying around. The big one doesn't even have a 1/4" TRS cord to hook it up yet. Using Layouts 7 and 8, sort-of.

• I re-imagined 7 more like 2, but with some preset controls on the previously unused "hold" slots.
• Similarly, using my "camp kitchen" preset as a starting point, 8 is a mixture of control switches and effects bypass switches, with one channel toggle thrown in for switching between two different amp/speaker pairs as a unit.
• Big pedal will be master volume
• EV pedal controls Echo Volume
• R pedal controls echo Repeats

UPDATE STARDATE 20190717.0026:
Acquired a TRS cable, so now have the big Boss volume hooked up. Will likely keep that, as I like its sweep, and it means buying one less pedal to have all metal-housed controllers. Just need to get something for the Delay Input to replace the old plastic Roland "EV" controller pedal. I have a Mission EV-1 with spring on its way, but have been using the "R" pedal for wah to try the thing out. So far, so good. Only occasionally hit the "off" at the heel position, and I'm sure there's a good explanation of setting up and fine-tuning a wah controller somewhere....

Also, moved the various non-scene/program/layout changing goodies to per-preset overrides, and tightened up the preset block arrangement, with updated screenshots replacing the originals above.


UPDATE STARDATE 20190725.2226:
Coming soon Newly arrived: A Mission EV-1 with spring for wah duty, so my old Budda Bud Wah can go on a shelf with its finicky toe switch....

Also changed up the FC layout to have a bit different, per-song-oriented way of doing things:

1. Bank Up and 1-3 Preset switches, layered with Bank Down and 4-6 Preset switches on HOLD
2. Tap Tempo now on top of Reveal Hold (for now--building a little two-switch box to offload the Hold Reveal and Layout Toggle switch),the front panel of which is polished up to 2000 grit, and will be buffed to a more mirror-like finish as soon as I can find where my random orbital buffer hides
3. Scene switch set up as Increment with the "Vizzini" switch on HOLD (to go back to the beginning), i.e., Go To Scene 1, using the Per-Preset placeholders, and PP#24 on every preset will have the customized scene switch set up to loop through all scenes used for that song, in order.

Here's the external switch, so far:

Remaining switches are using the Per-Preset Override, which gives me a lot of freedom to play with stuff, and still have the same core functions on switches 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10 in every preset. Notice that some patches have very few things to tinker with, and some have all 6 remaining switches loaded up.


Gotta love how versatile the FC12 is, in combination with the AxeFX III....


UPDATE STARDATE 20190729.2351:
Courtesy of @merlyn4life, two virtually new EV-2 pedals, currently made of "unobtanium" on the Fractal site, to replace the big Boss and the old Roland.

Thanks, merlyn4life!

Labeled the twin EV-2 pedals so that they can easily be hooked back up to Line #1 and Line #2 from the FC:

Need to go back and get the lighter blue, as it looks darker after drying than it did in the bottle.


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Will edit and add more as more comes.

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[Joe Bfstplk]

UPDATE STARDATE 20190802.1526:
New external switch for Layout / Tuner and Bank +1 / -1 functions.

Start with a polished (down to 2000 grit) aluminum box, and mask off the lettering:

Ruin all that hard work polishing the front by spraying FeCl solution on it:

Rinse and peel:

Voilà! New footswitch!

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

A minor detail update. Lighter shade of blue, so it can be seen on the black background, and filled in the word "Fractal" with white paint. The other letters are way too small. Getting the paint in the larger letters without going outside them was hard enough!

Anyhoo, the obligatory pic:

Link to pic, since it won't load. :/

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Another minor update: Got a green, springless wah controller from Mission to replace the one I bought just a couple weeks ago.

Matches my numbering color scheme for the pedals - blue/white = 1, orange/white = 2, and now green/white = 3.

In case anyone is not an old ma-bell wiring guy, those are the color combinations for lines 1, 2, and 3 respectively in telco wiring bundles. Most houses wired with real telco wire (as opposed to the red/green/black/yellow cheapo wire some electricians will wire your phone jacks with) will have three pairs in the cable, so you get these three color pairings.

I am thinking I need to find a small syringe to get the white paint into the letters of "AUDIO SYSTEMS" to finish the job, but even as they are, they look good, IMHO.

After using an analog wah pedal since the mid '80s, the spring didn't agree with my foot's desired wah pedal feel. I guess you can't teach an old foot new tricks.

Springy black one will be up for sale soon. It's spotless, and still has the protective plastic peel-off on the bottom. Heck, there isn't even any dust in the rubber grippy bit on the top of the pedal. The thing is literally a couple weeks old - can show receipts if needed.

 

[chucma]

Starting to look good! Have you decided on which pedal board yet (if any)?

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Starting to look good! Have you decided on which pedal board yet (if any)?

Thanks!

Not yet. I still have one more box yet to build, for the remaining controller knob and two switches. I saw some nice ones at NAMM in LA back in January when I was there, though.

 

[chucma]

Cool! Keen to see where you go with this!

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

New stuff a-brewin'....

https://v-z-a.com/sites/v-z-a.com/files/20190819_224543.jpg

Not sure why the photo is upside-down.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

I think it's ready to jump from 2000 grit to #7 compound with the random-orbital buffer:

 

[getlostinsound]

I think it's ready to jump from 2000 grit to #7 compound with the random-orbital buffer:

Yeah I can't see your KRK Rokit G3 speaker quite clearly enough in the reflection yet

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Yeah I can't see your KRK Rokit G3 speaker quite clearly enough in the reflection yet

You are correct. The reflection is not good enough to see it is a Rokit8.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Ok, so it's not technically part of my pedalboard, but it connects to it (once removed):

Link to pic, which doesn't seem to want to show up: https://v-z-a.com/sites/v-z-a.com/files/20191102_224812.jpg

Still waiting on the masking decal to come so I can build the big knob/switch box.

So, I took a lovely drive up to Flagstaff and tried out the Spacestation XL. I almost didn't buy it, as it didn't impress me that much with the Leslie. Then I remembered seeing the stock stereo spread is 50% on those. I bumped it up to 121%, and it came alive. You could hear the rotor pass in front of you, moving from one side to the other and around the back. You could hear it bouncing off the room just like the real thing. The stereo imaging is amazing with this thing. I ran my #2 pedal up, to bring in my chorus group of blocks (11 total voices), and the guitar went from coming out of the speaker (as one would expect) to being literally everywhere.

As you can see, it followed me home. Took the long way home (someone should write a song about that ). I rolled down through Oak Creek Canyon just as the leaves were all turning. Gorgeous view, wonderfully twisty roads there, in Sedona, and going up over Mingus Mountain through Jerome to Prescott.

 

[Rex]

Sedona has some wonderful scenery.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Sedona has some wonderful scenery.

Yup. Timing was perfect. Late afternoon, around 5-5:30. Oak Creek Canyon was on fire with (mostly) bright yellow leaves.

 

[aziz]

The per preset switches confuse me. I'm a simple guy.

 

[unix-guy]

The per preset switches confuse me. I'm a simple guy.

Huh?

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

The per preset switches confuse me. I'm a simple guy.

...and that's OK. Just because the Axe and FC can do complicated stuff, doesn't mean that it is required to do complicated stuff just because it can.

If a static layout of buttons on your FC gets the job done, then you are golden - it can do that, too.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Ok, so various events and whatnot have included a bit of a course-change on the pedalboard.

Still waiting on the decal for the multi-switch box, so that I can finish that up, but the FC12 magically transmogrified into a pair of FC6es.
"Life finds a way", I guess.

 

[lqdsnddist]

Dual FC6's make way more sense to me in terms of flexibility (though obviously a FC12 is cheaper, and buying a FC12, selling it, and then buying another FC6 costs even more as I'm sure you know all too well lol) but I'm sure once your actually using it, you forgot about the money because it just plain works

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Dual FC6's make way more sense to me in terms of flexibility (though obviously a FC12 is cheaper, and buying a FC12, selling it, and then buying another FC6 costs even more as I'm sure you know all too well lol) but I'm sure once your actually using it, you forgot about the money because it just plain works

Yes. No more yoga stretches and gymnastic feats required to hit all 12 buttons all the way out on one end of the footswitch.

In retrospect, the 12 makes more sense to me now as a nice all-in-one-place unit for someone who only uses controllers occasionally, only has one or two, and primarily uses button stomps to get where he/she is going. The pair of 6es seems much better suited to a controller-focused setup. I now have room for 5 more pedals or knobs or any combination thereof, as well as four more controller switches....