I suppose it was eventual - no-switch effects

[Mark Hammer]

Today's message/list from effectsdatabase included the Cusack Never-Off Tremolo:  http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/cusack/twirl

Cusack's reasoning is that enough players are going to use a loop selector anyway, so why not commit the real estate inside a 1590A to circuit, rather than stompswitch.  Moreover, when boxes are that small and slender, pedals have to be spaced apart to make the stompswitch a reasonable target for one's foot, so make the box small and situate the switching along the front skirt of the pedalboard.

In principle, an emanently sensible idea.  The only caveat I would note is that it requires one to commit a switching station in the loop selector to a single pedal, rather than using the station for a loop and using individual pedal stompswitches (or e-switches) to select which of the units inside that loop are to be on or bypassed.  For some, that's not a hardship, but for others it might be.

[J0K3RX]

I think you may have overlooked Cusack's other point of reasoning...
https://cusackmusic.com/collections/all-products/products/cusack-music-pbt-9-multi-loop-pedal-switching-system-w-programmable-presets-tap-tempo

[Mark Hammer]

Interesting.  I wasn't aware of that unit.

It's funny, you know.  Over the years, there have been several failed attempts at "modular" systems.  These would be rack units, and occasionally floor units, that modules  could be slid into.  The modules themselves never had any switches.  It was the mother-frame that handled the switching.  The chief obstacle to them taking off was that they all pretty much relied on a proprietary form factor.  I have a Waveshaper module from the Korg PME system that I bought 35 years ago, and have never used, because I would need to rehouse it to do so; the Korg form factor was incompatible with everything else.

And so it continued; Korg, Vesta, MXR, SCI, and others launched modular systems that promised incomparable control.  And they all stumbled because you had to use their modules, and they never had a broad enough range of modules to please everyone, or to justify the outlay for the mother-frame.

What Cusack has done here is to re-imagine the modular system.  The Always-On tremolo is fundamentally a "module", to be controlled by a master switching system.  BUT, because pretty much everything also uses a 1/4" phone plug/jack, unlike previous modular systems, you don't have to use Cusack pedals.  You can if you want to, and the Always-on stuff will work just fine, but you don't NEED to.  And that makes the difference between a modular approach that can survive, and one that won't.

Ironically, at the complete other end of the specrum are those little boxes from Henretta that ONLY have a stompswitch externally available, with all adjustments being consigned to internal trimmers. Kind of like the old Dan Armstrong boxes, but without the nuisance of having them stick out of your guitar jack.  Henretta should avail themselves of Cusack's unit, ditch the switch, and move the internal trimmers to the outside.  They could use the same tiny enclosures, and subcontract the switching to a control unit.

Behold, the new modular system!

[EBK]

I have a pedal my board that is always on.  I've thought a few times about removing the stomp switch and putting an "Out of Order" label by the empty hole for fun.  I could use the stomp switch in another pedal instead of leaving it idle.

[amptramp]

I have one concern about having a long chassis with a set of switches laid out in a regular array.  You may step on, say, the 6th switch when you intended to step on the 5th switch unless you have colour coding (which may not be obvious on a darkened stage) or some sort of pattern or identifier.  Maybe an irregular array with different distances between switches or different fore-and-aft spacing would help.

Since long chassis are often sheet metal rather than the castings we are used to, there has to be some way to avoid the "clang" sound when you stomp on the switch.

You also have twice as many cables to plug in: switch to effect then effect to switch when the normal layout has one cable per stompbox.

[Mark Hammer]

That's why I suggested the remote switching approach outlined here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=96563.0

Only one cable, no cable capacitance issues because the cable doesn't carry audio, and small plugs/jacks.

What Cusack is pitching IS a new, and definitely more sustainable, approach to modular systems.  I didn't say it was the best approach. 

In some respects, the optimal system would be on-board e-switching (and someone like Roland/Boss would inevitably transform it into a proprietary custom chip, if they haven't done so already), and a small jack of some sort to run a control cable to the enclosure.  So the electronic switching is in the enclosure, but the actuation of it is moved off-board, just as the power is, leaving more room inside for circuitry.

Of course, it's only "optimal" if lots of companies do it, such that it becomes a kind of standard.  Otherwise, one is back to exactly the same circumstances that killed off previous attempts at modular systems.

I suppose one of the hurdles to overcome is that beginners, who get themselves a cheap Strat knockoff, a Squier 15 amp, and a fuzzbox, are not looking to purchase a control strip with a bank of 12 momentary stompswitches, just so they can assemble a squadron of no-switch effects modules.  In that regard, cheap all-you-need pedals, with stompswitch and battery, represent the easiest point of entry, and one that can gradually build up to the point where the player/user feels the need, and has the funds for, the sort of optimal effects+control system I depicted above.

The catch-22 is that the evident need for there to continue to be self-contained pedals for the beginner, is part of what stands in the way of the remote switching I described becoming an industry "standard".

[wavley]

It's funny, I was thinking about the stuff I build that has the intention of living on my pedalboard having relay switching and no stomp switch so I can just command everything from a common switch box and not have to worry about putting the pedal where it wasn't awkward to switch.  I actually had my EHX Wiggler and English Muffin this way for a while, they lived on top of my space echo with a 1/4" jack where the footswitch was and it gave me a lot of real estate on my board because they are huge.  Of course, Puretube designed them to do this.  Mammoth and Jack Orman both have little kits to do this so I've really thought a lot about retrofitting my pedals.

One of the things that has kept me from going the looper route is all that cabling carrying signal back to a central point isn't very convenient for me and the way I like things laid out.  I don't care about presets either.  So if I wired everything with 1/8" bypass jacks back to a switch box it's a lot more palatable for me, less/smaller cables that don't carry signal.

It's cool to see a modular approach that doesn't depend on stuff that will be hard to find if the company folds (as much as I like Devi and as much as I liked the Console idea, this is a perfect example.) 

[R.G.]

That's the line of reasoning that led me to that rant about pedals having a "switch me now" jack. It lets the pedal do the bypass that's right for it, and accept orders from some external controller.

The problems remain the 1/4" phone jack and legacy pedals. But a micro-sized internal relay board with a "switch me now" input fix some of the issues.  There are micro-controllers on the market that can implement self-identification and dealing with a minimum of wires so the bypass controller can focus on telling the pedals what to do, not supporting the wiring bundle that loopers need. The wiring gets to be no worse - or better - than existing pedalboards.

[amptramp]

If you use a power supply with individual outputs to each stompbox, you could use a carrier current signal to switch on or off.  RF present, switch on.  RF not present switch off.  Or vice-versa.  Carrier current is where the power supply input to the pedal has an RF (radio frequency) signal on it to control some function.  In this case, the signal (in the radio frequency range) is detected and used to operate the bypass circuitry.  That way, you don't need an extra "switch me now" jack.

[ashcat_lt]

Doesnt the "switch me now jack" just get wired in parallel with the actual momentary SPST switch that's already in any pedal with electronic switching?

[R.G.]

If you use a power supply with individual outputs to each stompbox, you could use a carrier current signal to switch on or off.  RF present, switch on.  RF not present switch off.  Or vice-versa.  [...] That way, you don't need an extra "switch me now" jack.

Good possibility. It gives me twitches to deliberately introduce RF into anything to do with pedals, but it's a possibility.

I also considered using the indicator LED as an input for an optical system. LEDs will actually produce a voltage when illuminated, so they can be switched off for a little bit and then "watched" for incoming light. Far out, but possible.

Doesnt the "switch me now jack" just get wired in parallel with the actual momentary SPST switch that's already in any pedal with electronic switching?

That would work on the pedals that already come with internal electronic switching, OK. And that's one of the motives for trying to flesh this out. I'm also trying to cover things like a vintage fuzz face as well. That makes it trickier.

[amptramp]

If you use a power supply with individual outputs to each stompbox, you could use a carrier current signal to switch on or off.  RF present, switch on.  RF not present switch off.  Or vice-versa.  [...] That way, you don't need an extra "switch me now" jack.

Good possibility. It gives me twitches to deliberately introduce RF into anything to do with pedals, but it's a possibility.

I also considered using the indicator LED as an input for an optical system. LEDs will actually produce a voltage when illuminated, so they can be switched off for a little bit and then "watched" for incoming light. Far out, but possible.

Doesnt the "switch me now jack" just get wired in parallel with the actual momentary SPST switch that's already in any pedal with electronic switching?

That would work on the pedals that already come with internal electronic switching, OK. And that's one of the motives for trying to flesh this out. I'm also trying to cover things like a vintage fuzz face as well. That makes it trickier.

Be careful of using LED's as photodiodes.  They work, but once you are even slightly above room temperature, the leakage current exceeds the signal current.  We experimented with a LED to LED touch panel and it only worked when cold.