switchers.. want v need - single pedal per loop v multiple etc

matt_sefton

stickyfiddle said:

In 20 years doing daft shit with pedals I've never once seriously considered a switcher. If I'm not getting paid multiple hundreds a night and playing multiple nights a week I don't see any value in it

Pretty much sums up my thoughts. And I’ve got 24 pedals on my board so that’s a lot of daft shit!

paulmapp8306

Ive been thinking about this myself - the original post anyway.

For those that want to turn multiple things on and off with one press - and maybe sent midi info (PC  or CCs) then intelligent switchers are only a good thing.

for those that dont - from a signal integrity perspective it depends the pedals.   If you have some with nice buffers theres probably no need, and actually the cable length your adding v short links with no switcher may make things worse when multiple pedals are on at once..  If you have lots of true bypass and no buffers having a basic switcher with maybe a buffer on its output is worth doing.

There is another aspect, which is being able to put more on a small board, or a multi tiered board.   In the latter case you can put pedals you dont fiddle with under a tier and use the switcher to turn them on/off.    In the latter case, I think you save more space by having pedals close together but adding a switcher than having them further apart - which you need to do in order to be able to hit only the FS you intend to in many cases (mini of multi switch pedal).  Also means you can use a deeper board and have all your switches along the front and not be reaching to the back to engage some.

So - its really on a case by case basic dependant on what pedals you have, how you operate multiple pedals on/off at the same time, pedalboard size/style and logistics of layout.  

Supportact

I've considered it but I don't use a switcher, that's mostly because I don't tend to turn many pedals off and on mid song. Except maybe a boost/od for solos. So I feel like having a switcher would just add more weight and complexity. Also my live board only has 9 pedals on it so maybe I just haven't got to that stage yet and in a year I'll have the full set up. 

paulmapp8306

Supportact said:

I've considered it but I don't use a switcher, that's mostly because I don't tend to turn many pedals off and on mid song. Except maybe a boost/od for solos. So I feel like having a switcher would just add more weight and complexity. Also my live board only has 9 pedals on it so maybe I just haven't got to that stage yet and in a year I'll have the full set up. 

I have 10- pedals, each in it sown loop.   for me, having all the switches up front - squeezing the pedals tight for a compact board, and only needing the think about access to the the twin drive buttons and tap tempos is worth it.  

To be fair - Ive been using Fractal gear for 20 (nearly) years and always used a switcher for that - a rocktron all access (that I also used before fractal gear for rack modulation units), MFC 101 then the FC 12 so Im kind of used to having one even if its not quite the same reasoning on an analogue rig.  

Boromedic

^^ I think that's why I like the DPC 5, gives me a kind of programmable analogue board if you like with easy access to individual settings as needed. Best of all worlds for me. 

stickyfiddle

To be fair I don't disagree they must be amazing if you want to switch 2 things off and 3 things on and change a patch with MIDI all with a single button press. I just don't need that sort of functionality. 

There is a bit of me that loves the idea but I also suspect it's another rabbit hole I don't really have time or energy for. But please do remind me of this in a year if my new project takes off and gets busy - I might end up with a Helix and bugger all else...  

Lebarque

Unplug your pedalboard and plug your guitar straight into your amp with a 10ft cable. 

Do you like the tone and feel better? 

I did, so concluded that my bunch of true bypass and buffered pedals chained together were having a negative affect on my tone when bypassed.

So I got a switcher a few years ago (Gigrig QMX in my case) and haven't looked back.

As well as the tonal benefits of being able to remove everything from my signal path when not in use, there are a few added bonuses:

- If a patch cable fails, the whole rig doesn't go down.
- All switches in the front row - no stepping over needed
- Easier pedalboard Tetris since they don't have to go in chain order. 
- Flip flop mode on the QMX allows me to switch multiple pedals with one stomp

I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting. 

Programmable switchers offer another level of functionality, but also complexity - something I'm always keen to keep minimal. So I've not gone there....yet

In summary, I'm a convert.

paulmapp8306

Lebarque said:

Unplug your pedalboard and plug your guitar straight into your amp with a 10ft cable. 

Do you like the tone and feel better? 

I did, so concluded that my bunch of true bypass and buffered pedals chained together were having a negative affect on my tone when bypassed.

So I got a switcher a few years ago (Gigrig QMX in my case) and haven't looked back.

As well as the tonal benefits of being able to remove everything from my signal path when not in use, there are a few added bonuses:

- If a patch cable fails, the whole rig doesn't go down.
- All switches in the front row - no stepping over needed
- Easier pedalboard Tetris since they don't have to go in chain order. 
- Flip flop mode on the QMX allows me to switch multiple pedals with one stomp

I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting. 

Programmable switchers offer another level of functionality, but also complexity - something I'm always keen to keep minimal. So I've not gone there....yet

In summary, I'm a convert.

pretty much sums up where Im at.