Using external footswitches, head-scratcher

K

Knobs McGee

Inspired
Calling all AX8 experts.

Here is what I’d like to do…I have two external momentary footswitches connected to the pedal 2 and 4 jacks so I can leave the AX8 in sticky “Single Preset/Bank” mode and still turn two blocks off and on in each preset without exiting to “Footswitch” page. I’d like to set them up to turn my most commonly switched blocks off and on from the external, 2-switch pedal.

I started with a preset which has the tremolo block defaulted to on. I have bypass on the tremolo block mixer page set to be controlled by “External 2” which is routed to “Pedal 2” on the "Controller" page by default. I have “Pedal 2’ set to “Momentary” mode in the “Pedal” page but it has no effect when I click it.

Any idea what I’ve missed?

Thanks, in advance, for your advice.

Knobs
 
does your footswitch have a polarity switch? if so try toggling it back and forth, also check that PEDAL2 and PEDAL4 are not assigned to anything else under SETUP > I/O > CTRL

Also i just tested it in my end and it worked on the AX8 screen BUT on AX8-EDIT it doesn't seem to be updating the block to show as ACTIVE/BYPASS it just stays in whatever state it was before BUT it does turn the blocks ON/OFF
 
And you said the switch is set to momentary mode... I believe that means it will only have effect when you are holding it down. If you want to tap it to switch from A to B, it should be set to latching instead of momentary. May be obvious, but I could see it being a source of confusion and could cause what you describe.
 
Using external switches to control BYPASS mode on blocks, has been a disappointing experience for me. It kind of works, but not as smoothly as it should IMO.

If you don't change presets or scenes, it works fine, but everytime you change preset or scene, you need to "reset" the internal controller with one click - IF you had engaged the block using the switch before you changed to a different preset. If the block was disengaged when you left the preset, there is no problem.
 
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Thanks for all the input everyone. Sorry so late but it was a busy-work day. To answer some back questions. I'm not using TRS as the manual says it's not needed for a switch. Joe, I'm not sure what you mean by "attached any thing to external 2". I highlited bypass, hit Enter and selected External 2. Once I do, onboard switch 2 nolonger kills the block but pedal 2 doesn't do it either. For testing, I just have a phone plug which I can short to emulate a switch so I can leave the AX8 on the table for programming . I don't see how changing polarity would have an effect. I think the jack just sees polarity or no polarity. I tried it in Momentary and Latching with no results, even if I hold the switch. Anything else.
 
Knobs McGee said:
Thanks for all the input everyone. Sorry so late but it was a busy-work day. To answer some back questions. I'm not using TRS as the manual says it's not needed for a switch. Joe, I'm not sure what you mean by "attached any thing to external 2". I highlited bypass, hit Enter and selected External 2. Once I do, onboard switch 2 nolonger kills the block but pedal 2 doesn't do it either. For testing, I just have a phone plug which I can short to emulate a switch so I can leave the AX8 on the table for programming . I don't see how changing polarity would have an effect. I think the jack just sees polarity or no polarity. I tried it in Momentary and Latching with no results, even if I hold the switch. Anything else.
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Did you check on the calibrate page that the pedal is working ? did it go from 0 to 100 ?
 
I didn't try the calibration function but that's a good idea. Actually, I discovered something at band rehearsal last night that will probably solve this issue. If so, I'll be happy to have the pedal working but embarrassed by my stupid mistake. I'll check it out this evening. Regardless, thanks again to all of you for helping me work on this.
 
Okay, one problem solved and two more discovered.

Unless somebody really needs to know, I’d prefer not to talk about the dumb mistake that led to the issue at the source of this thread (large but fragile ego…maybe I should run for president). Anyway, I can now assign parameters to be controlled by the double footswitch

So, I now have another issue, on some presets, where the footswitch that now bypasses and engages my assigned effect parameter, let’s say “reverb bypass” for example, also turns on what sounds like a wah pedal at the same time, even though there’s no wah block inserted to turn on. When I first turn on the reverb (or whatever) from the remote footswitch, it sounds like a wah pedal is being swept to the toe position and then held at the same time the reverb turns on. This makes the dry tone sound thin and nasal, but with reverb added. Perhaps it’s a high-pass or band-pass filter being engaged at the same time, don’t know. This doesn’t occur on all presets and has only been triggered by the #1 jack (so far).

I’ve read that multiple parameters can be controlled from the same jack. Is there a way to see at a glance if there’s multiple parameters being switched from the same controller Jack and what they are?

The other issue is the footswitch controlled effect’s default state is now intermittent. Even though I’ve saved the preset with the effect on, sometimes, when I recall the preset, it’s off. Of course, the connected momentary footswitch’s default is always open. Its default state was stable when the effect was being controlled from an on-board footswitches (1-8).

Any ideas on these surprises?

Knobs
 
- Glad I'm not the only one who makes boneheaded mistakes on this thing! :) No need to discuss- I'm sure we've all been there, egos and all.

- Not real sure about the wah sound... Maybe find a baseline fractal patch, copy to a new preset, add the verb there with your controller, and see if it sounds the same. My guess is that in the last few days of messing around with the preset you've attached some goofy things together, assuming it's the same preset. Once it's saved like that it's easy to not realize it happened, particularly when you're trouble shooting something else.

- First thing I'd look at with the default state issue is scene revert. Look it up in the manual- it gives you the ability to have scenes either always return to default values vs. save the enable/disable changes you've made until you leave the preset. At least I think that's right... I'd have to look it up in the manual again :) I set mine a couple months back and never again touched it.

Hope this helps-
 
I believe that the Wha is assigned to Ext #2 in most of the Factory presets? If there is no Wha in the preset, then I would need to see the preset to figure that one out.

Also, the "AX8' remembers the last state of the external switches. If you switch on something, then go to another scene or preset, then step on the switch to turn on something, it will send an 'off' message first because the last message was an 'on' message. So you have to press on the switch again to re-sink it.

my (clunky) work-around is to remember to switch the external switch back to the state I need after selecting a new scene or preset.

One other work-around is to use a latching switch with an LED, so you can always see the switch state. But you still have to remember to switch the external switch back to the state you need after selecting a new scene or preset.

I wish that there was a per-preset option to reset (or not) the external switch states when selecting a scene or a new preset like with the on-board switches.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, gents.

I didn't realize that the AX8 would recall the parameter state from the last time a preset was open. I assumed it would go by the state from when it was last saved.

I'd contemplated using latching switches when I built the pedal but wasn't sure whether or not the AX8 would bring up a preset with the state dictated by the state of the switch. Sounds like I didn't gain anything by using momentary.

I should have some time tomorrow to try your suggestions.

Thanks again,

Knobs
 
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