Footswitch for Roland Cube 20XL

HAL9000

Rightio, I've got a Cube 20XL and the recommended (by Roland of course) footswitch is the Roland FS-6. However at around £45 it seems a tad on the pricey side for something to go with what is essentially a bedroom amp. Does anyone know if I can use a cheaper footswitch (such as the Marshall one) instead. Thanks.

Paul_C

I made one for myself from bits from Maplin, it doesn't have all of the functionality of an FS-6, but it works to change patches on my RC-50 - cost around a tenner.

Kebabkid

If you're not handy with the soldering iron to go the Maplin's route, it might be worth speaking to Bright Onion Pedals and seeing if they can make something for you, although the last option on this link says it's based on an FS-6 and comes in about a tenner cheaper than the Roland pedal
http://www.brightonion.co.uk/roland-and-boss/

ICBM

I don't know if the Roland needs a latching or momentary switch - the FS-6 has both options - but you can find out.

Plug a spare cable into the footswitch jack, then short the tip to the sleeve with something (eg a paper clip). If whichever function is controlled by the tip only stays changed when the short is in place, you need a latching switch. It it switches on or off each time contact is made, you need momentary.

If it's latching, any standard amp footswitch without LEDs should work. *Some* with LEDs might, but the LEDs may or may not work, so it's safer to avoid them.

If it's momentary, these are rarer but I think there's a Behringer dual switch for one of their amps I came across recently.

Actually I've just seen that Behringer do a copy of the FS-6 which can also be used as a dual A/B box for about £30 as well...

HAL9000

Thanks for the replies.

ICBM - I assume the Behringer footswitch you mention is their AB200?

I see that Marshall also do a two-button footswitch for around £20 - Does anyone know if that would do the biz?

ICBM

It depends if you need latching or momentary. The Marshall one is latching.

The Behringer is the AB200, yes. They also do a simple plain dual momentary switch for the Ultra Twin amp, but I can't find it separately.

There's also a cheap dual momentary switch on Ebay for £14.50 - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FS2N-dual-non-latching-footswitch-/181059810415?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item2a2801746f - but the latching one done by the same company has LEDs in series so it probably won't work.

Kebabkid

Bespeco also make some that you can attach together and they look like the Behringer & Boss switches and they're sturdy and cheap. They also have a polarity switch on the back

HAL9000

Will this switch do the biz?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chord-FS2N-dual-non-latching-footswitch/dp/B004M3DLUW

Also, I see that the Boss FS-6 has a polarity switch - is this something I need to be concerned with?

Thanks