Stock FCB1010 - What more could you want?

[Ugly Bunny]

I'm rockin' the Axe FX III and recently acquired the FCB1010 and learned how to program MIDI with it. Based on lots of reading on the web, I went ahead and bought the UnO chip but... It's still sitting in the package. The more I think about it, other than momentary switching, I can't imagine any function that I can't do with the stock firmware. Am I crazy? Or maybe just simple-minded lol!

Here's my current setup:

Bank 00: My "Everything" Bank
Pedal
1: Looper Rec
2: Looper Play
3: Looper Undo
4: Looper Once
5: Tap Tempo
6: Scene INC
7: Scene DEC
8: Delay 1 ON/OFF (universal)
9: Mod 1 ON/OFF (universal)
0: Tuner On/OFF toggle

Bank 01: My "Patch/Scene" Bank
Pedal:
1: Patch: Mesa Mark IV (with 8 scenes)
2: Patch: Dumble (4 scenes)
3: Patch: Dual Clean (1 scene)
4: Patch: Kingman Acoustic (2 scenes)
5: Overdrive 1 ON/OFF
6: Scene 1/5 Toggle
7: Scene 2/6 Toggle
8: Scene 3/7 Toggle
9: Scene 4/8 Toggle
10: Tuner ON/OFF Toggle
EXP 1: Volume 1 (Universal)
EXP 2: Wah 1 (Universal)

As you can see, I have most bases covered; I'm sure there's probably some specific or niche effects that I can't accomplish, but really, just bouncing between these two banks allows me just a ton of flexibility and accessibility. For instance, I'm on a clean Mark IV sound, jump down to bank 00 and create a loop. Jump back up to bank 01 and hit a crunch tone to practice over. I have access to tap tempo, the tuner, effects, etc etc. I've got other ideas about setting up bank 02 for several more effects or functions. Maybe have a 5th preset on pedal 5 and use bank 01 as my effect toggle bank. I don't know.

Is there something I'm missing or just not getting about what makes the stock firmware so crippled that people need to upgrade? I sort of bought into the hype and got the chip preemptively, but I may just hang on to it and wait on the install. What are some examples of what's possible with aftermarket chips that you just cannot accomplish with the stock chip?

Just wondering if it's even really worth it to go through the upgrade process, you know? I don't really do anything too wild or complex, so maybe I'm not the target audience for it lol! Thanks in advance, guys. Love

 

[stringrazor]

With stock FCB chip, you can only have one LED on at a time and it can't be toggled on/off. You must press another switch which will then light the LED for that switch. That's fine if you mainly use patch and scene changes but if you like to use the FCB to control FX blocks like you would on a conventional pedal board, the LED are basically useless. That's the reason I got the Uno chip many years ago (well before I got an Axe/FX II).

 

[Ugly Bunny]

With stock FCB chip, you can only have one LED on at a time and it can't be toggled on/off. You must press another switch which will then light the LED for that switch. That's fine if you mainly use patch and scene changes but if you like to use the FCB to control FX blocks like you would on a conventional pedal board, the LED are basically useless. That's the reason I got the Uno chip many years ago (well before I got an Axe/FX II).

Yeah, I have noticed that. That's kind of an annoying limitation, but not deal-breaking just yet. I may throw the UnO in it after all. Although, I can see that becoming an issue if the on/off states aren't perfectly preserved on the pedal and retrieved directly from the Axe, which I don't think is possible yet... I don't know. More research is needed