Smaller footswitch

[griff3]

I'm trying to get my pedalboard a little more club friendly and the drag right now is the footswitch for the Mark V head.

I never turn the reverb on, the FX loop is on all the time, the EQ is on all the time, I only need 2 channel switches at the boost switch... and I could get away without that on as well probably.

Has anyone used any kind of smaller footswitches with success? It's nice to have the lights on the footswitches... Does anyone know if the old school Mark II and Mark III switches will actually light up off the channel switch jacks in the back of the Mark V? I'm sure I could a couple of those somewhere.

Thanks,
Griff

 

[rika_gd]

well..MKV has four 1/4 jacks in the rear panel for external switching, I dont remember right now but I think they are ch2, ch3, solo and FX so you can use ch2, ch3 and solo with a footswitch..note that ch1 is on when ch2 or ch3 are not activated, pretty simple uh?

 

[griff3]

Yes, I'm aware of that and how that works. I was more looking for suggestions on the actual footswitch itself.

I know I could just use a Boss or some generic footswitch to change channels. But I wanted to see if anyone actually had any experience with a particular footswitch that they really liked.

Griff

 

[kdorsey]

Man, this would be a really nice matrix to post for all Mesa models: foot switch specs for all things Mesa/Boogie. We'd need to know if the switch is simply a shorting style or if it's energized for LED power. In theory, if the switch type and voltage match, then you should be able to mix-n-match from other models. To me, the really nice foot switch designs come from the later models (Recto/MarkV) and us older model guys could benefit from a good consolidated switch box...though VooDooMan's 4 switch MkIII box is SWEET! (search eBay under Mesa Boogie Mk III)

Sorry. I don't have a direct answer, but if someone can confirm that the MkV switches are standard shorting type, then you should be able to use legacy (Mk II/III) switch boxes. I've made my own for the MkIII and they worked.

 

[Mark Fore]

The price you pay for an amp with a ton of features :lol:

Your only other option aside from a custom after market switch is the MIDI route. Get an RJM music mini amp gizmo and a Liquid Foot Jr. foot controller and you can get a ton of flexibility out of it.

 

[griff3]

The MIDI route is definitely an option I've considered, but it's total overkill for me. The liquid foot (or any comparable controller) is bigger than I want my whole pedalboard to be. I don't use a lot of effects so it's just a matter of keeping it all small and on the floor in front of me.

Griff

 

[domct203]

The external trigger jacks are just simple short tip to sleeve connections that do not provide power for an LED.

You could build a simple 3 switch box, with some LED's that power off a 9V battery. It would probably fit in a standard pedal enclosure. Here is a quick concept schematic:

SW1 and SW2 are 3PDT and control channels 1, 2 & 3. When SW1's LED is on, CH1 is active, regardless of SW2's setting. When SW1's LED is off, SW2 can be used to toggle between channel 2 & 3. SW3 is a DPDT and controls SOLO independently.

Dom

 

[rika_gd]

The external trigger jacks are just simple short tip to sleeve connections that do not provide power for an LED.

You could build a simple 3 switch box, with some LED's that power off a 9V battery. It would probably fit in a standard pedal enclosure. Here is a quick concept schematic:

SW1 and SW2 are 3PDT and control channels 1, 2 & 3. When SW1's LED is on, CH1 is active, regardless of SW2's setting. When SW1's LED is off, SW2 can be used to toggle between channel 2 & 3. SW3 is a DPDT and controls SOLO independently.

Dom

yeah! it could be even smaller if you remove ch1 switch

 

[rika_gd]

plus a midi interface will force you to use another artifact and the midi pedalboards are bigger than the mark v footswitch so its not the way to go

 

[litesnsirens]

Keep in mind that those external switches are meant for a midi type setup so there is a potential to get into a situation that is not good for the amp. ie: channel 1 is fine and the default, so if you engage a swtich in the channel 2 or 3 footswitch control it will turn off channel 1 and turn on 2 or 3. However if you have a switcher in both of those channels, and you engage channel 2 via the footswitch, you are good at this point. Channel 1 is defeated and you are now in channel 2. This is not the case if you now decide to engage channel 3, channel 2 will not disengage just because you activate channel 3 via another external footswitch controller. This is not good, according to the Mesa rep that I spoke to on the phone when I had previously called about this exact same dilemna.

So bottom line is that it could get quite awkward if you want to go back and forth between channel 2 and 3 because you would have to turn off the previous channel before activating the next channel.

You all may know all this already, but I didn't see it mentioned and figured it should be just in case. I would hate to see someone inadvertently damage their Mark V.

 

[domct203]

Keep in mind that those external switches are meant for a midi type setup so there is a potential to get into a situation that is not good for the amp. ie: channel 1 is fine and the default, so if you engage a swtich in the channel 2 or 3 footswitch control it will turn off channel 1 and turn on 2 or 3. However if you have a switcher in both of those channels, and you engage channel 2 via the footswitch, you are good at this point. Channel 1 is defeated and you are now in channel 2. This is not the case if you now decide to engage channel 3, channel 2 will not disengage just because you activate channel 3 via another external footswitch controller. This is not good, according to the Mesa rep that I spoke to on the phone when I had previously called about this exact same dilemna.

So bottom line is that it could get quite awkward if you want to go back and forth between channel 2 and 3 because you would have to turn off the previous channel before activating the next channel.

You all may know all this already, but I didn't see it mentioned and figured it should be just in case. I would hate to see someone inadvertently damage their Mark V.

My schematic above addresses that. SW2 toggles between ch2 & ch3, so it's one or the other, never both. SW1 'removes' SW2 from the switching, making the MKV default to channel 1. There is no possibility of having more than one channel active at one time.

With all that said, I personally use MIDI, and the original footswitch is second to MIDI for flexibility. I just tried to show the OP that the idea of a small simple and safe DIY footswitch was possible.

Dom

 

[Mark Fore]

The MIDI route is definitely an option I've considered, but it's total overkill for me. The liquid foot (or any comparable controller) is bigger than I want my whole pedalboard to be. I don't use a lot of effects so it's just a matter of keeping it all small and on the floor in front of me.

Griff

Liquid Foot JUNIOR... if that is still too big, I got nothing else to suggest. Something has to give whether it's your command over the amp's functionality or your pedalboard area. A Liquid Foot Jr. and a mini amp gizmo is not much to add for the functionality it controls.

 

[rika_gd]

The MIDI route is definitely an option I've considered, but it's total overkill for me. The liquid foot (or any comparable controller) is bigger than I want my whole pedalboard to be. I don't use a lot of effects so it's just a matter of keeping it all small and on the floor in front of me.

Griff

Liquid Foot JUNIOR... if that is still too big, I got nothing else to suggest. Something has to give whether it's your command over the amp's functionality or your pedalboard area. A Liquid Foot Jr. and a mini amp gizmo is not much to add for the functionality it controls.

but thats bigger than the MKV footswitch! plus a lot of money and now you have more cables, stuff and configuration to be aware of..I dont think its a good idea, for his aplication I mean