Expression pedal advice

C

cwelcher

Member
Hey all, first post so please be kind...

I've recently upgraded my rig from a PODxtPro (rack) with its FBV pedalboard to a Fractal AxeFx-II and Mastermind GT. Now I need to buy some expression pedals. I've looked at the FAQ and done some research on MIDI expression pedals. I don't have any close musician friends around me that use expression pedals to reference so I thought I would seek out advice from the greater community.

I read the FAQ about "approved" expression pedals for the original Mastermind but I wanted something else. At this point I'm leaning towards the pedals from Mission Engineering, the SP-1 and EP-1.

http://missionengineering.com/shop/sp-1/ (for volume and block on/off switching)
http://missionengineering.com/shop/ep-1/ (spring loaded for auto-sensing wah)

Questions:

[1] Are these good quality pedals?
[2] Do you think that they will work OK with the Mastermind GT and AxeFx-II?

Thanks in advance for any insights.

... Chris
 
I use pedals all the time for everything from crazy bips and bloops sounds to adding more delay and compression for leads to softening the distortion over a soft B section. Confirm with Ron that the pedals you choose will work. I have a forest of BOSS FV-500L pedals that worked very well with the Mastermind, but no longer work with the GT. I am back to using my Ernie Ball pedals, and they tend to drift upwards after being heel downed. Oh well. Ultimately, I will be running pedals to all four GT inputs and the master pedal input on the Axe Fx II. A total of five.
 
I'm going to get an FV-500 in here so I can take some pictures - modifying them to work with the GT should be pretty easy as long as you're okay with a little soldering.

I will post a couple of messages separately regarding compatible expression pedals, and how to get things working with an Axe-Fx.
 
I can send you mine. As long as I get them back. I am on the bench for at least the next 4 months, and they do not work anyway. I am using my Ernie Ball pedals right now.
 
I know from experience that the FV500 is reverse polarity to the likes of the Rocktron Hex, so it'll need its tip and ring connectors switching to work with the GT (or indeed the standard MasterMind in my experience)
 
My BOSS pedals worked just fine with my Mastermind. That is the part that I do not understand. I even hooked my Mastermind back up to see if the pedals still worked and they do. When I was putting together my Axe Fx II rig, Terry told me to switch to the BOSS FV-500L pedals, from my Ernie Ball pedals. That was fine with me because I did not like the Ernie Ball pedals anyway. I think I can change the input connector, on my FV-500Ls, out to a plastic connector so there will be no ground issues, and switch the wiring as well. I think I can even do it and still maintain 2 of the inputs with original wiring in case I have to switch to my B rig for any reason.
 
In the expression pedal calibrate screen, do you get any response from the GT at all?
 
I switched the sides of the insert cable before connecting my BOSS FV-500L pedals and they all work now. The GT calibrate screen sees them and the black bar moves across the GT screen during calibration, just like it did during the calibration of the Ernie Ball pedals. However, neither set of pedals is accessing the Axe Fx II, through the GT. I have calibrated both sets of pedals in the Axe Fx II. And, I have calibrated the Axe Fx expression section for each pedal. The MIDI light is not lighting up on the Axe Fx II when the pedals are being used. I would think the MIDI light should light up because the GT is sending that info across the MIDI cable.
 
Can you save the GT's settings to a USB flash drive, copy the file to a computer, and email it to me? I can see if there's anything amiss in the configuration.
 
Actually, I resolved the issue. I switched the Axe Fx II's Control parameter, EXT CNTRL 1 back to 16, from PEDAL. The Axe FX II then went into LEARN mode and the pedal has been working ever since. Same goes for EXT CNTRL 2, EXT CNTRL 3 and EXT CNTRL 4.
 
Aha! Thanks for the tip. I started with a factory inited Axe-Fx, which didn't require that step.
 
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