Re: MIDI Pedal Limitations (was: Loop III and MIDI)

[Catilyne <catilyne@icicle.net>]

At 03:20 PM 1/3/2004, Relay wrote:
>I want to chime in again that the Peavey PC1600x turns any "dumb" MIDI 
>pedal
>into a "smart" one--you can control your EDP big time with this fader
>equipped button box and send any preset from a box like the MIDI Mouse to 
>do
>anything (OK, most things) you desire . . . And there's one on eBay now,
>only $339 with buy it now!

I'll certainly second that(!!!).

And if you're patient, you can find the PC1600x for a lot less than $339 
even.  After taking the advice of others here on the list (thanks to 
Duncan, Gary, et al) I picked up one on Ebay a few weeks ago for around 
half that -- ~$160.

There's been quite a bit of talk about the FCB1010, and I liked that one a 
lot, but my problems with it were twofold.  My first issue is that I'm 
tweaking about a half-dozen different modules and needed a single 
controller that could be reconfigured to switch between separate devices 
from section-to-section or song-to-song.  In this respect, the FCB, as 
well 
as many of the other available controllers, are pretty much hardwired to 
the same MIDI channel without manually re-editing a preset -- not very 
conducive to tweaking on the fly.  If you're dedicating a single foot 
controller to a single device, you very well may not be subject to this 
consideration, though.

My second problem with the FCB1010 was merely in its size.  I wanted a 
controller that could easily be stuffed into a backpack or the back of a 
small rack, and the FCB is just too darn long.

So far, the optimum solution has been to use the PC1600x with an generic 
Digitech MC7 pedal (small, cheap, only transmits MIDI program changes) and 
a couple of simple expression pedals.  I can use the MC7 to trigger any of 
the 16 configurable buttons on the PC1600x, and change the function of the 
entire footpedal merely by switching patches.  The expression pedals can 
be 
similarly reprogrammed.  Both PC1600x and MC7 are each only about 14-15 
inches long, so it's easy to toss them in a bag and go.  I probably could 
get similar results from a Digitech PMC-10, but those are OOP, they're 
getting somewhat scarce, and I couldn't find one when I had the cash.

         -c-

_____
"i want to reach my hand into the dark and *feel* what reaches back"
                                                 -recoil