foot switch FU 3 question

[geenads]

Anybody else have the problem with winding about 15 feet (or however long it is) of cord around the footswich when packing up? I get worried about the thing shorting out. Is it possible to install a jack running into it so u could choose the length of cord you need depending on Stage size. Sometimes I only got about 2 feet to manuver in and I got about 15 feet of FU3 stashed/wadded up behind the amp (got a short head MK1VA).. Any thoughts?

www.train-wreck.com

 

[Russ]

I wouldn't wrap the cord around the footswitch. Just coil it up so that there isn't too much tension on the coil and set it on top or through the handle. The smart thing to do would be to get a nylon bag to store the cable in and a velcro strap to tie it to the footswitch or handle while not using it. Just be careful with the amount of pressure that you put on the cable going into the footswitch. As far as the length of cable goes and having it wadded up behind the amp, take a minute to coil the excess neatly without much weight on the connector into the head and tuck it behind the speaker cab with enough cable let out to get to where you need your footswitch to be. Then, tape everything down as necessary. It is too bad that Mesa makes the footswitch hardwired to the cable. It would be nice for portability if they made it a quick connect or even a simple midi plug. I think that the CAT5 style connector would work great in this case even though the little retainer latch would tend to break in time. This would be ok though because CAT5 is relatively cheap and can be had in electronics shops in various lengths pre-terminated and even in spools up in the thousands of feet that you could make your own custom legnths out of.

 

[mr_fender]

I agree on the FS cable. Coiling the cable neatly is much better for the conductors. If you twist the cable a bit while you are coiling, it will roll up much better. I much prefer the DIN/MIDI cable approach used on the newer Boogies. You can get MIDI cables in many different lengths and with right angle connectors too. The Cat 5 idea is cool tool. I like the way Line-6 does it with their Variax guitars. It's regular Cat 5, but it has a locking connector much like a Male XLR connector. It makes it much more durable, as regular Cat 5 is pretty flimsy. If you traced down the pin connections inside the pedal and on the amp end, you could make an adapter to go to whatever kind of cable you wanted. I though about doing somthing like this and integrating a Reverb footswitch through the same cable. I wish it had a Reverb switch built into the FU-3.