stringrazor
Inspired
Had my 1st AXE/FX II screw-up at a gig this weekend. We did a 2-night stand at a venue in Nevada and had MIDI switching issues. I run an FCB1010 and phantom power it from the Axe/FX using an appropriate power supply plugged into the AXE's phantom power jack and a 7-to-5 pin MIDI cable pigtail. I also run Fracpad via USB to a tablet on my mic stand so I can see the name of the chosen Axe patch, since the FCB pedal just shows it's own internal patch #. It's been working fine for over a year at gigs and rehearsals.
This weekend at 1st night setup, Fracpad was fine but the Axe was getting no MIDI data from the FCB. The MIDI data indicator on the AXE wasn't blinking and the patches/scenes/block bypass functions wouldn't trigger from the pedal. After some frantic MIDI cable swapping, removing the pigtail and phantom power and resorting to powering the FCB via direct AC, the Axe started receiving MIDI again. We did sound check and the 2-set gig w/o further incident.
For the next night, we left everything set up at the club. We did a sound check again before the gig and all was well MIDI-wise HOWEVER during the 1st set the FCB seemed to lose communication with the Axe and I was unable to play my harmonizer riffs for one song which was very disturbing. Then it started working again and continued working for the rest of the night. Not sure what I did, if anything to cause and/or resolve the issue! For sure it was the phantom power or 7-5 pigtail because I the FCB was still AC powered from the previous night's setup.
Now that I'm back home, I need to debug the issue to insure it never happens again. I have not had a chance yet to even see if I can recreate the problem. Anyone ever have a similar experience? Any conjecture on what the issue was/is? While I was frantically debugging onstage during 1st night sound check, I connected the FCB MIDI out to MIDI in of my synth module (I double on keys) and it was definitely sending MIDI so I suspect the issue was with the AXE. I'm wondering if the MIDI jack solder pads may need to be re-flowed...
This weekend at 1st night setup, Fracpad was fine but the Axe was getting no MIDI data from the FCB. The MIDI data indicator on the AXE wasn't blinking and the patches/scenes/block bypass functions wouldn't trigger from the pedal. After some frantic MIDI cable swapping, removing the pigtail and phantom power and resorting to powering the FCB via direct AC, the Axe started receiving MIDI again. We did sound check and the 2-set gig w/o further incident.
For the next night, we left everything set up at the club. We did a sound check again before the gig and all was well MIDI-wise HOWEVER during the 1st set the FCB seemed to lose communication with the Axe and I was unable to play my harmonizer riffs for one song which was very disturbing. Then it started working again and continued working for the rest of the night. Not sure what I did, if anything to cause and/or resolve the issue! For sure it was the phantom power or 7-5 pigtail because I the FCB was still AC powered from the previous night's setup.
Now that I'm back home, I need to debug the issue to insure it never happens again. I have not had a chance yet to even see if I can recreate the problem. Anyone ever have a similar experience? Any conjecture on what the issue was/is? While I was frantically debugging onstage during 1st night sound check, I connected the FCB MIDI out to MIDI in of my synth module (I double on keys) and it was definitely sending MIDI so I suspect the issue was with the AXE. I'm wondering if the MIDI jack solder pads may need to be re-flowed...
