Controlling effects order

[rubberlips]

G'day guys,

I've been reading a few articles on GEO about rack system switching and was looking at the programmable FX switcher project, however wondered if something a little simpler to build has come along?

The idea of changing the loop order of a range of effects pedals sounds good. The idea of a using rotary switched to change the effects order is simple to use. And because you wouldn't normally change the order, it's a set and forget type of scenario. Now is there something simply to build?

I found this topic
http://diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?t=22950&highlight=effects+order
The matrix system might be a go'er.

What I'm looking at doing would be making a sort of rack system where I can plug effects in and out of, but once they're in there, I could easily alter their position in the effects chain. So it wouldn't matter if plug a compressor in the first or last slot, you could put it at the back of the chain or in the front for example.

So the question is, has someone come up with an easy solution or is it a case of hitting the datasheets and raping and pilaging other designs to make a frankenstein?? (or is that frunkansteen )

Cheers

Pete

[Mark Hammer]

Some of us have been thinking about this since Craig Anderton first published articles about effects order in the late 70's in Guitar Player.  Hmmm, maybe I should scan them and post?

In any event, one way to approach it is to have "stations".  All one's effects are essentially directed to a bank of rotary switches.  Each switch represents/selects the content of a given "station".  So, for instance, say I had 4 pedals: compressor, fuzz, chorus, phaser.  A 2P4T rotary switch would allow me to "assign" the input and output terminals of my "station" to the input/output terminals of any one of these 4 devices.  

In the simplest version, I have one station switch and pick one of 4.  In more complex version, I may have several stations, with the input/output terminals of each effect wired to lugs on all of the rotary switches.  Of course, one of the problems this poses is that one might accidentally have an effect on more than one station.  Fortunately, humans come equipped with a really nice (but often under-utilized) applet called "Common Sense", which would permit you to recognize that no pedal can be in two places at once.

With 4 rotary station switches and 4 pedals, you could re-organize the sequence of the pedals in any configuration you want.  What would be nice to have as well, is a means of inserting an external device into the sequence, and of bypassing the station.  Fortunately, 2P6T switches exist.  So, now with your set of 4 pedals, a 5th position of each station switch could be to send the station to a send/receive loop, or to simply shunt the input and output for a bypass.

Alternatively, if your send/receive jacks are closed-circuit types that could be wired to automatically connect send to receive when nothing is plugged in, a 6-way switch gets you options for 5 pedals and a 6th position that could be *either* an external loop or a bypass for that station.

If you take a look at the old analog multi-fx rack units from Ibanez (UE-400 http://guitargeek.com/gearview/1019/ ) and MXR (the Omni), you'll see they had a similar kind of arrangement, although rather than have a station that selects between pedals, they had a switch that assigned each effect in the unit to a station.  Six of one, half dozen of the other.

[donald stringer]

Mark after reading about the use of rotary switches for a set and forget style pedal board arrangement that alone would be a fairly simple solution [devoid of dpdt [except for an emergency hardbypass], but then a light bulb turned on in my mind. I dont know how many times I have read R.G. effects switching projects but it is very clear now what he is talking about. Do your 3 or 4 rotary switch arrangements and simply add an selector on the front of the chain and the rear to select which row you desire to select.

[rubberlips]

Some of us have been thinking about this since Craig Anderton first published articles about effects order in the late 70's in Guitar Player. Hmmm, maybe I should scan them and post?

Well that was partly the problem. I've got the book (photo copy of anyway) with all these designs and we wacks them into a case. All well and good to put them in series and parallel. Generally I'd have them all in series. So here comes the problem of switching the order.

What I was thinking about which could make it a little easier was have banks of effects, like groups of 4 maybe. And you put a couple of effects in there that are the same if you like a couple of type of compressor or fuzz etc. That would probably make it easier for switching with rotary switches

Pete

[niftydog]

ok, I'm close, but soooooooo far... if you know what I mean.

As you've read, this idea was for my final project in my electronics diploma. I've spent since June last year on it, part time, when work and private life allowed time. It's been a hell of a slog, and I'm a fair way from completing the software coding... then there's the debugging and testing....

Sheesh, It's a god damned monster!

As promised, I will keep the board informed of my progress.

As far as I'm aware, there are no products that are as comprehensive as my concept. Some come close, like the gig rig and the combinator, but I am unfamiliar with their internal design. Hacking a current design seems to me to be fairly much impossible, as they don't exactly turn up in pawn stores for a few bucks!!!

Other similar concepts are commercially available, often as video switchers, but rarely in the compact form that would be required by a musician.

If it works out ok, I'm considering refining the design and offering a version for sale.

[rubberlips]

thanks nifty,

Yeah I read you post about the monster you were creating
Looks like I'll have to hit the data books and see what i can come up with, I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult with logic chips and analogue switching chips, but then again....

BTW, where about in canberra are you? I work up at Tuggers at the moment

Pete

[niftydog]

I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult with logic chips and analogue switching chips, but then again....

um... yeah... totally depends on how much of a monster you want to create. I wanted 16 ins and outs in a matrix configuration, which is 256 individual switches... which is a hell of a lot of FET swtiches, logic and address decoding etc.

where about in canberra are you? I work up at Tuggers at the moment

I'm working at Parliament House. Alright, that makes three Canberra locals! Woo!