Midi footswitches?

the_jaffa

Hello,

Glad I've found this place after suffering withdrawal symptoms for the last month of BR being down.

I've got an Alesis Midiverb 2 that I use with my guitar as a reverb unit but want to use some sort of midi footswitch to change patches without having to input them manually on the unit.  Only trouble is, I've had absolutely nothing to do with Midi at all and don't know what to look for.

I'd like to keep it relatively cheap, small and simple but don't know whether that is even possible.

Can anyone help with any suggestions?

Cheers

trolley

I have a Behringer FCB 1010. Cheap(ish) & cheerful.
Prone to odd things - but I can't swear it isn't me, since I've never used MIDI before

Si_

I've had an FCB1010 in the past and hated it, difficult to program, too large, and just felt cheap.

Look for a Peak midi controller, you can buy them direct from the manufacturer and there excellent..

http://www.peak2005.com/j/midi-foot-controllers/15-fcb4n2-programmable-midi-foot-controller-ver20.html

the_jaffa

Cheers, that Behringer one looks way too big for me really and I have no need for the expression pedals.  Doesn't seem that cheap either really.

That Peak one looks a lot lot more like it.

The other one I've just seen is the Midi Mouse.  Anyone got any thoughts on them or other suggestions?

Drew_TNBD

I'd go for a Midi Moose if all you need is program changes.

the_jaffa

Moose rather than Mouse?

Do these things just plug and play or is it likely to be more complicated than that?  As I mentioned, I've no experience of midi at all.  I basically want it to be able to change the patch on the fly, so I guess I use the switch to line up the next patch and then hit go when I want the swap.  Is that right or am I way wide of the mark?

digitalscream

I've got a Boss FC100 somewhere around here (modded for an external power supply in my own hamfisted way). That should pretty much do what you're asking...could do it for £40 delivered if you're amenable?

ragingben

FCB1010 is exceptional for the money if you use the Uno firmware and program it on a editor, but it would possibly be overkill. If you need to be able to send cc messages as well as pc you may struggle with any of the simpilar solutions as a lot don't do cc, just pc. Also consider if you are going to want any other midi fx at any point - some switches only work on one channel

John_P

the_jaffa said:

Moose rather than Mouse?

Do these things just plug and play or is it likely to be more complicated than that?  As I mentioned, I've no experience of midi at all.  I basically want it to be able to change the patch on the fly, so I guess I use the switch to line up the next patch and then hit go when I want the swap.  Is that right or am I way wide of the mark?

It should be as simple as connecting the board to the midiverb -  you hit the button and it sends a midi patch change code and changes to the new patch.   I can't recall whether you can store patch on the alesis (iirc you can't) so it could mean a couple of clicks to get to the patch you want unless you find a pedal board you can edit.  The fcb is good and you can edit it (but it's not intuitive) I've had a few smaller ones that didn't edit (rolls midi buddy and digitech control 7).
The boss unit digitalscream is selling looks a good buy - I could be tempted if I needed one at that price.

hotpickups

I'm just gagging for someone to come up with a midi switch so I can stack fx of my möbius together. The gig rig does something like the G2's stomp box features but that is £800. So amazed that isn't anything with this feature alone. Maybe it will soon now dan of the gigrig has set the standard

the_jaffa

I've spent a fair bit of time looking further into these today.  I really think that the big ones like the Behringer and the Boss are just too big, long and OTT for what I need.  The Peak or the Midi Mouse seem to fit the bill really pretty well I think.  They appear to do just what I wanted and are nice and small and tidy for adding to my board.

Cheers for all the advice everyone.

keithf

have a look about for a RFX Midi buddy,built great ,totaly bombproof and very cheap for what they are

Van_Hayden

I've got a G Minor that you might be able to get to do what you want. If you want to give it a try drop me a line.

http://www.tcelectronic.com/media/667690/tcelectronic-gminor-manual-english.pdf

geepers0677

Plus one for the midi moose. 

Midi mouse also good but a faff to change up the banks. Moose is King.

the_jaffa

Van_Hayden, that would be fantastic, cheers.  Would let me see if what I am hoping is even feasible.  I'm not long from having a wrist operation so little point in getting it now but I'll give you a shout in due course.

moz91

Just to hijack this topic, is there anything smaller than the fcb1010 that I could get to do CC and PC without spending a fortune? Fcb is AMAZING for money but trying to downsize...