Smaller footswitch?

[borisson]

Hi,
i dont really need all the 8 buttons on the footswitch so i was wondering if there is something out there i could use instead of the mesa footswitch. (no midi)
I need something which is smaller so i can put it on my pedalboard. I would need channel switching, eq and solo, in total 5 buttons.
Thanks for help

 

[ericfrape]

There are four 1/4 inch jacks you can use on the back of of the amp to control all of those features, so I'm sure you could find a set of latch type pedals and wire it up that way to potentially save space - may also wan to check out the mini amp gizmo but it is midi controlled which may not work for you based on your question.

 

[MrMarkIII]

Four control jacks = two Boss FS-6's.

 

[Hendog]

I dont mind the size. It fits nicely below my pedalboard.

The problem is that I keep accidentally hitting CH2 when I mean to just hit LOOP.

 

[borisson]

Four control jacks = two Boss FS-6's.

thanks that is a grest idea!
In what position has to be the knob on the backpanel of the amp?
If i hit the switch assigned to the channel 3 and than again is it going to switch back to the channel one? Or can anybody describe how would the switching generaly work this way?
Thanks

 

[MrMarkIII]

Four control jacks = two Boss FS-6's.

thanks that is a grest idea!
In what position has to be the knob on the backpanel of the amp?
If i hit the switch assigned to the channel 3 and than again is it going to switch back to the channel one? Or can anybody describe how would the switching generaly work this way?
Thanks

Yeah, channel one is the default, but it is a bit unclear in what position the rear selector knob should be to use the external jacks.
(There's no "EXT SW" position, as on the Mark IV.)
The external switch jacks override the Mark V footswitch, so I'd guess the rear knob setting either doesn't matter, or it should be set to channel one.

 

[LPJunky]

Behavior of those jacks is a bit limiting. If you keep the Mesa footswitch and it happens to be on Ch3 than enabling the rear jack for CH 2 will not work. Higher CH selection on the Mesa footswitch has precedence. Also from what I can see the jacks will induce more poping that using the mesa footswitch.

 

[theroan]

You could be gutsy and go for a re-housing of the footswitch in a smaller enclosure.

 

[DaveDaveDave]

Or you could get a Mini Amp Gizmo and use whatever midi pedalboard or multi effects unit you like instead of the Mesa switch. I'm planning on a G-System with a Mini Amp Gizmo - which will actually shrink my pedalboard.

Dave

 

[borisson]

Behavior of those jacks is a bit limiting. If you keep the Mesa footswitch and it happens to be on Ch3 than enabling the rear jack for CH 2 will not work. Higher CH selection on the Mesa footswitch has precedence. Also from what I can see the jacks will induce more poping that using the mesa footswitch.

if im going to use these boss switches i wont be using the mesa switch

 

[LPJunky]

Behavior of those jacks is a bit limiting. If you keep the Mesa footswitch and it happens to be on Ch3 than enabling the rear jack for CH 2 will not work. Higher CH selection on the Mesa footswitch has precedence. Also from what I can see the jacks will induce more poping that using the mesa footswitch.

if im going to use these boss switches i wont be using the mesa switch

I understand that but figured it was the right place to mention it. Still the popping issue needs to be address. I have an FS-6 at home will test tonight. The FS-6 runs with a 9-volt.

 

[borisson]

Behavior of those jacks is a bit limiting. If you keep the Mesa footswitch and it happens to be on Ch3 than enabling the rear jack for CH 2 will not work. Higher CH selection on the Mesa footswitch has precedence. Also from what I can see the jacks will induce more poping that using the mesa footswitch.

if im going to use these boss switches i wont be using the mesa switch

I understand that but figured it was the right place to mention it. Still the popping issue needs to be address. I have an FS-6 at home will test tonight. The FS-6 runs with a 9-volt.

That would be a great help! Thanks LPJunky!!!

 

[LPJunky]

Alright! The FS-6 works great. I removed the Mesa footswitch and selected FRXloop all at the back and tried all combination of power settings. As expected when you mix 10W with 45W or 90W it pops like mad but if you work only in 45W and 90W there is no such problems. All is explained in the manual so this is not a surprise. When the footwich cable is unplugged the reverb is enabled by default. I also tried to use a third FS-5L (it can slide on the side of the FS-6 to have a three buton block), its black an can be used for the SOLO fucntion or the GEQ.

All works great.

 

[borisson]

Alright! The FS-6 works great. I removed the Mesa footswitch and selected FRXloop all at the back and tried all combination of power settings. As expected when you mix 10W with 45W or 90W it pops like mad but if you work only in 45W and 90W there is no such problems. All is explained in the manual so this is not a surprise. When the footwich cable is unplugged the reverb is enabled by default. I also tried to use a third FS-5L (it can slide on the side of the FS-6 to have a three buton block), its black an can be used for the SOLO fucntion or the GEQ.

All works great.

Thanks! So the rear selecter knob is on channel one as default? When you press the third channel (boss fs 6 - B switch) and than want to change to channel 2 you just press the A switch on the boss?
I would rather take four FS-5L switches as i like the black color better and i would have more flexibility on the pedalboard. Hope this would work too.

thanks again

 

[LPJunky]

Yes and no. The read selector was on CH 1. The FS-6 is 2 independent footswitchs, so if you have both engaged the MkV will select CH 3. You have to deselect CH 3 for the CH 2 to be used. If you go between CH 2 and CH 3 you could let CH 2 selected at all time. Well you can't eliminate the step dancing without the mini gizmo + MIDI thing but that is the price to pay.

From want I've read on the G-Major it looks like it has 2 amp controls which would allow to select any of the three MkV channels....

 

[litesnsirens]

I had called mesa on this issue when I had the Triple Rec. I'm not sure if they wire them similarly but the following was brought to my attention. First off these features where included specifically for guys that want to create a midi set up. One difference is that Mark V defaults to channel one the Trip Rec to channel 2, but the same principals may apply.

If I remember correctly you still had to put it on footswitch position on the back of the amp. I was warned to be careful if trying to access all three channels, because if I defaulted to channel 2 (on the Trip Rec) and then hit a switch to turn on channel 1, I would have to turn off channel 1 before hitting another switch to turn on channel 3. So engaging another channel didn't defeat the previous channel unless you set it up via midi to do so. If you fail to turn off one channel before selecting the next you will turn on both channels at the same time which I was assured by Mesa was a bad thing for the amp.

So I would suggest before going nilly willy with your footswitching scheme that you call Mesa and clarify this issue. If they have used a different scheme for this amp then they will likely be able to help you with the best way to approach your set up. If it's the same as the Trip Rec. It's going to be a big pain in the *** to operate safely without midi and you'd be better to stick with the footswitch provided.