Pedal Controller Question

[cyber104]

Hi Guys:

Please forgive me if the question I'm about to ask sounds dumb - but - a LOT of you guys are much better versed in pedals and controllers than I am.

Here's what I was hoping to find..........

I have a Series 2 Rectoverb and I really need a 3rd channel.

I like the clean channel 1 and I really like the modern channel 2. But at times I need something in between.

So I use a Bad Monkey in channel 1.

But when I kick in channel 2, I need to kick off the Bad Monkey and I'm not that quick or coordinated - hell, I have enough trouble playing the dang guitar.

Anyway, is there anything available that would replace my Mesa footswitch that could select channel 1 clean, select channel 1 with the Bad Monkey and then select channel 2 with the Bad Monkey turned off?

Thanks!
Chris

 

[Mobi]

Hi,

I had the same problem as you. I have a 3 channel dual rec, and a pedalboard. I am tired of tap dancing as I wanted to do the following : I want to be able to step on 1 switch, which will enable my clean channel + chorus + disable my maxon OD + disable my noisegate. When I select my distortion channel (I use channel3) I want the maxon to be enabled, chorus disabled and noisegate enabled.

Over doing some research this is the solution I found : You need to make the amp midi switchable. In my case I bought a voodoolab control switcher. I attached it to the back grille of the amp, and I habe 4 short cables running from the 'external switching' outputs from the amp to this control switcher. (channel 1, 2 , 3 and solo boost. I don't use the fx loop)

Now to be able to program/control your amp channels + your effects, you need some kind of ground control unit. There are many brands and models that have such devices, but as I'm using a pedaltrain 2 and I have very limited space on my pedalboard, I decided to buy a Musicomlab EFX III+ . It has 8 loops + midi. I have 7 fx pedals on my board. All of them are connected to the Musicomlab. Then from the voodoolab control switcher on the back of my amp I run 1 midi cable to the midi port on the musicomlab. I can program this musicomlab so that when I push 1 button it selects the clean channel on my amp + it enables the FX I want.

This is now my ideal setup to be able to control my amp channels + fx with only 1 step on a button, instead of the tap dancing that I used to do. I can recommend this solution but it is not a cheap one unfortunately.

 

[boss4]

Yes, midi its the way to go, but to your setup I think it is expensive and is too much for so little! My next objective is the gcx audio switcher and the ground control but I have, at least, ten stomp boxes that I have to get arround and do much more tap dance than you (clean with chorus and delay to distortion with od for example - tap one to take the delay out, tap two the chorus, tap three the channel and tap four the od). Now, this is tap dance! In your case, at least until you get more effects or an fx processor, I dont see any reason to buy such an expensive gear.

 

[Mobi]

Yep I agree, that would be major overkill and $$$ for what he's doing with only 1 or 2 fx. Even for me, with 7 stompboxes, I feel it is very expensive to buy that control switcher + musicomlab, and I have doubted to buy this stuff for weeks, but finally decided to go ahead with it as I am not able to switch everything correctly when playing live.

My other option of course was to ditch all the pedals and go for a rack FX with ground control, but that would have been even more expensive.

 

[domct203]

Hey Chris,
Check out Loop-Master. It looks like they have what you are looking for:
http://www.loop-master.com/product_info.php?products_id=81

If I remember correctly, fluff191 had one of those pedals, maybe shoot him a PM?

If you want complete control of you rig MIDI is the way to go.

Dom

 

[joeydego]

What you're trying to do is a good idea, but you have to decide what's more important: complete control or your cash. I've spent several grand building a well oiled rig based around my triple rec and TC Electronic G system. Yea, its expensive but I only spent the money once and now when I hit a single button on the floor it simultaneously selects pedals, amp channel and digital effects. That to me is worth the money.

 

[elvis]

Almost any setup is expandable. I currently have a G System on my MR that I have used with many amps over the last several years. That is a very nice all-in-one setup, but is also expandable via MIDI to control additional effects, loop switchers (for more pedals) or control switchers (for amp control). You can get a used G for around $700, maybe less. They have been around for like 8 years, so there have been many software upgrades and there's a sizeable used market. They are built like tanks, and reasonable size.

I also have a Ground Control Pro/GCX + Effects Gizmo. This is currently on my Dyne, mostly because I wanted to try out a few pedals, and a few became several. So I skipped the multi-FX processor and went the switcher route. I like the flexibility of it, but it's much more complicated than the G System, and I miss some of the multi-FX capability. But it's also expandable. I currently have a GCX (handles 8 pedals) plus an effects gizmo and a BOB-8 (handles 8 more effects, plus 8 control switches).


Both systems work well, but have limitations. I bought both used, and paid about $1000 each. The G was $1000 up front, but had more functionality (multi effects with individual control + control switches + pedal power + Footswitch). The GCP/GCX was $500, then I had to add pedals and eventually the Gizmo. Counting the pedal cost (more than $1000), the GXC system is MUCH more expensive.

 

[markblasco]

If you can handle a soldering iron, it wouldn't be difficult to put together a pedal that had 2 switches, one to activate a loop with your overdrive pedal, and one to switch channels on your amp. Just make sure the switches are close enough together that you are able to hit them both with one foot (maybe make them front and back, so your full foot activates both, but it's easy to just activate the front one or back one with your toes). This way you can do what you want without any midi.