Iconoclast Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Posted in this forum because this is where the MIDI genius's hang out. This is a tech issue with a guitar amp, but since it involves MIDI...it's wasted on most guitar players. I bought a used amplifier from an out of business manufacturer that is missing the original footswitch. The original footswitch controlled 3 two state switches: 1. Channel 1/2 2. Preamp distortion Boost on/off 3. Volume 1/2 (amp has 2 master volumes so you can pre-set a lead volume) The cable that connects the footswitch to the amp splits into 2 1/4 inch jacks. 1 is TS and 1 is TRS and they plug into the back of the amp. According to the amp documentation "The foot switch jack sockets can also be operated from a Patch bay/ MIDI switcher.This allows all the foot switchfunctions to be managed by a MIDI operated unit." I have no idea what piece of hardware they could be talking about. Anyone able to help or point me to the box/footswitch that would be midi programable that would output to 2 different 1/4 inch jacks, one of which would be a TS and the other TRS? I'm pretty MIDI literate when it comes to keyboard issues, but in this regime I'm clueless. Quote You want me to start this song too slow or too fast? Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 34 minutes ago, Iconoclast said: According to the amp documentation "The foot switch jack sockets can also be operated from a Patch bay/ MIDI switcher.This allows all the foot switchfunctions to be managed by a MIDI operated unit." I think they're talking about a gadget that accepts MIDI and can flip a relay to connect terminals in a TRS connector. That can then be used to control things that expect a footswitch. (I suspect that kind of device is more a guitar-world "thing" than one for us keyboardists. If something on a keyboard needs controlling, it can normally be done by "pure" MIDI). Cheers, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iconoclast Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 I understand that part of it. I'm hoping that someone can point me to the specific box that does this, i.e. takes a midi or physical command input and turns it into a voltage on a TS/TRS cord(s). Quote You want me to start this song too slow or too fast? Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 It's probably just a momentary switch. Lots of midi loop pedals have amp switching via per patch. My decibel 11 switch doctor has it. 1 Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 A quick google reveals the Suhr MicroMIDI https://www.suhr.com/product/micro-midi-control/. Advance S640 if they ship from Italy http://www.advancetubetech.com/prodotti/prodotti.asp?artid=817 Sound Sculpture Footsim https://www.soundsculpture.com/footsim Cheers, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Did you want to keep what amp you have a secret or something? Name the amp, post a picture/schematic if you want help that is actually of use to your situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iconoclast Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 Elmwood Modena. Not trying to be coy. They're pretty rare. There is no schematic to my knowledge. I thought my description in the OP had the material points. I don't know if that tells you anything the quote from the manual didn't tell you. Quote You want me to start this song too slow or too fast? Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 2 hours ago, Iconoclast said: Elmwood Modena. Not trying to be coy. They're pretty rare. There is no schematic to my knowledge. I thought my description in the OP had the material points. I don't know if that tells you anything the quote from the manual didn't tell you. other have used a RJM RG-16 switcher/looper with Modenas (assuming you don't have the one with the weird rs-232 cable), but they're old and expensive. Just curious why you want midi? why not grab a three old switches from your pile of old junk and plug 'em into the amp? (just share the ground on the TRS and split tip to one switch and ring to another) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iconoclast Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 Not comitted to anything except witch makes the amp easy to use and is hopefully close to the original design intent, and as cheap as possible Quote You want me to start this song too slow or too fast? Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 13 hours ago, Iconoclast said: Not comitted to anything except witch makes the amp easy to use and is hopefully close to the original design intent, and as cheap as possible then non-midi, old-school footswitches are your answer. easy peasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iconoclast Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 I've really learned up on this and there's actually several solutions depending on how integrated you want to be. The "easy peasy" wasn't as easy as I thought but I finally found what I think would be the most elegant cheap solution. Requires a 9v to light the lights I think. I haven't actually tried this yet because the amp is getting re-tubed at the moment. These switches have modular edges to fit together. The dual footswitch has a TRS jack with selectable polarities. Another solution, if you use any kind of midi controller in your rig, is this product by Voodoo labs that takes midi signals and turns them into TS relays. For my purposes I'd need to use 3 of the jacks and then join 2 of them with an adapter, a solution that I don't love. https://voodoolab.com/product/control-switcher/ Another option would be the Morningstar MC6 PRO. New, they're pretty pricey at around $500 but they're on Reverb for less than $400. They're super programmable and can control a whole lot of things and even have a lot of keyboard applications. The PRO version includes two mini TRS jacks that can be programmed as relay switches. https://www.morningstar.io/mc6-pro A really elegant, but slightly expensive solution is just use a Line6 HX FX as your pedalboard. It has 2 TRS jacks that can be set as relay switches that can change with either patch changes or snapshot changes, so it completely integrates your amplifier into your board. Additionally with two effects loops available, it's extremely versatile. Right now they're $499 brand new, which isn't cheap but you get an unreal amount of capability. This youtube shows a guy using one to change a two channel amp, but the principle would certainly apply to an amp with more capability. Two weeks ago I had no idea how to solve this problem but now I got a lot of info on how to fix this baby. I'm actually leaning towards getting an HX FX just because of all the other capability you get with it. But in the meantime I'll probably just piece together some Boss footswitches and see if that will work. Quote You want me to start this song too slow or too fast? Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thethirdapple Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 OBNE There are a couple other companies making something similar, I use this one to send midi controlled changes to the VCF input of a Juno6. PEACE _ _ _ Quote When musical machines communicate, we had better listen… http://youtube.com/@ecoutezpourentendre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iconoclast Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 Hmmm, are you sure that's the same as sending a relay channel switch? Or can you fool the amp into thinking it's a relay? Because if you can, you're right, there's a lot of products that will do that. If not, then there's not that many that expressly send relay switch info. Quote You want me to start this song too slow or too fast? Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.F.N. Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Looking at the pedal board for the Elmwood (Swedish!) Modena, there seems to be two cables going out, one TS and one TRS, so you need to figure that out. Quote "You live every day. You only die once." Where is Major Tom? - - - - - Band Rig: PC3, HX3 w. B4D, 61SLMkII Other stuff: Prologue 16, KingKORG, Opsix, DM12D, Argon8m, EX5R, Toraiz AS-1, IK Uno, Toraiz SP-16, Erica LXR-02, QY-700, SQ64, Beatstep Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thethirdapple Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 1 hour ago, Iconoclast said: Hmmm, are you sure that's the same as sending a relay channel switch? Or can you fool the amp into thinking it's a relay? Because if you can, you're right, there's a lot of products that will do that. If not, then there's not that many that expressly send relay switch info. True that, i may have initially misunderstood… Which amp are you referencing? Amp switch from Saturnworks pedals. PEACE _ _ _ Quote When musical machines communicate, we had better listen… http://youtube.com/@ecoutezpourentendre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iconoclast Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 It's in the OP. Elmwood Modena. The complication was that the amp takes two separate input relays, one is TS and one is TRS. I learned from another owner that the TS controls controls the channel 1/2 switch, I think the tip of the TRS is boost on/off, and the sleeve is MV 1/2. So a simple amp switch like the one above wouldn't be able to control all functions. Fortunately the dudes at Boss build their relay switches like puzzle pieces so you can slide them together to form a single piece. 1 Quote You want me to start this song too slow or too fast? Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thethirdapple Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 1 hour ago, Iconoclast said: It's in the OP. Elmwood Modena. geez did I even read your post !?!? 🫣 PEACE _ _ _ Quote When musical machines communicate, we had better listen… http://youtube.com/@ecoutezpourentendre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.F.N. Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 29 minutes ago, Thethirdapple said: geez did I even read your post !?!? 🫣 PEACE _ _ _ Afaicr all the information was not in the op originally... 1 Quote "You live every day. You only die once." Where is Major Tom? - - - - - Band Rig: PC3, HX3 w. B4D, 61SLMkII Other stuff: Prologue 16, KingKORG, Opsix, DM12D, Argon8m, EX5R, Toraiz AS-1, IK Uno, Toraiz SP-16, Erica LXR-02, QY-700, SQ64, Beatstep Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Out of production amp from a closed company in Sweden I believe. Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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