how useful are foot switches? gigging musicians only or does everyone use them? i am putting a budget together for an electric kit and wonder if it should be on there!
i'd say, depending on what you use them for.
for a gigging musician i think they would be invaluable, unless you would rather walk over to your amp, stop playing, fiddle with the knobbys, etc. :?
#4491....
i'd say, depending on what you use them for.
Agreed. For example, my Marshall MG30DFX has an overdrive channel, selectable by a small pushbutton on the front panel. The OD channel has two more control knobs than the "clean" channel does. It'd be kinda handy to have those knobs preset and just change channels with the footswitch. When I bought my MG, the footswitch wasn't included, but they were in-stock at various dealers. (Something not always possible with older gear.)
If you're always going to play "clean," or use a separate, self-contained OD pedal, then it may not matter so much to you. My tube amp only has one channel, but I've got a couple of Tube Screamers available. 8)
if you go with a solid state you will most likely get one.
even god loves rock-n-roll
If you like music that goes from clean to distortion, you absolutely need a footswitch. If you have pedals and are only going to use the clean channel on your amp, then you don't.
I still prefer to have one. Sometimes you like your amps distortion. It is so much easier to have a footswitch. They are only a little extra, well worth it.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
I use a Midi switcher which is more or less a foot pedal, thats used to control my effects processor's. it even has two continuous controllers that can be assigned for many different purpose's. Example one can be set for volume and the other for wah. They can even be set for real time control of ms of delay, different settings for the harmonizer, sweep speed or depth and the list goes on a whole lot more. I even use a Morley volume pedal that runs from a 1 volt out from the processsor to a different amp along with a Morley Wah which also runs to a seperate amp.
joe
thanks for the replies. Well I have gone and bought the 15W Vox valvetronix amp and a epiphone les paul standard plus. No foot switch this time though. I think that my next amp will be a larger tube amp a few years down the track and a foot switch may be more useful to me then. In the meantime i am flat out coming to grips with sound that does not eminate from the guitar! so many knobs and stuff to fiddle with.
thanks for the replies. Well I have gone and bought the 15W Vox valvetronix amp and a epiphone les paul standard plus. No foot switch this time though. I think that my next amp will be a larger tube amp a few years down the track and a foot switch may be more useful to me then. In the meantime i am flat out coming to grips with sound that does not eminate from the guitar! so many knobs and stuff to fiddle with.
Hee hee - the Vox amps can all emulate the AC30. If I had one I'd never take it off that setting.
A :-)
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk
thanks for the replies. Well I have gone and bought the 15W Vox valvetronix amp and a epiphone les paul standard plus. No foot switch this time though. I think that my next amp will be a larger tube amp a few years down the track and a foot switch may be more useful to me then. In the meantime i am flat out coming to grips with sound that does not eminate from the guitar! so many knobs and stuff to fiddle with.
Hee hee - the Vox amps can all emulate the AC30. If I had one I'd never take it off that setting.
A :-)
My AD30VT RARELY leaves the AC30 model :lol: It is an incredible sound.
But on topic, apparently you do not have to buy the Vox branded pedal for the AD series amps. Any two-button stereo cable switch will work. You would be able to pick one up 10 - 15 bucks cheaper if you look hard enough. Here's a link to a forum post about the footswitches: http://www.patchtronix.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=558
Also, a few websites for some ideas on what to set all the models/effects to get certain sounds:
http://www.patchtronix.com
http://www.valvetronix.net
A couple thoughts on foot switch usage. In years gone by foot switches were used to turn tremolo and reverb on and off, then came two channel amps that allowed you to change from channel 1 clean rhythm to channel 2 lead. And now Midi switchers like the one I use only leaves you limited to your imagination. With the in, out , and thur options I can even control my sub mixer and the Keyboard connected from there.
Have fun with your new amp.
joe
thanks for the links banre. I should have known there would be something like that around....
