Remote switching your Boss, Ibanez and similar effects - a photo essay

[R.G.]

A while back I sketched out the design for a remote-control distributed bypass system with each bypass node having a unique ID and self-identifying to the remote controller. The remote controller identifies the bypass nodes, and issues bypass/un-commands through either a wired, optical, or RF link. The remote controller in turn is told which nodes to flip by a user interface controller, either in a footswitch console or a combination of a footswitch console and (probably) cellphone linkup for setting up the mapping of control button/footswitch activation to combinations of pedals activated by each UI cnange.

Pretty flexible, as each UI action could be alternate or momentary, depending on the programming setup.

Wiring is still the same issue that the legacy of 1/4" phone jacks leaves us. Using RF or optical - shoot, ultrasonic - control links would let you get away from wiring the control lines from pedal to pedal. A serial format for control would let you daisy-chain even a wired control, instead of needing star-wiring. But you're still a slave to the need to actually plug 1/4" plugs into in and out per pedal. That means you either have to pre-wire the order of pedals, or star-wire the pedal in/out stuff back to a crossbar routing switch box to get any-order rerouting.

As long as you settle for fixed-order setups, you could build the bypass nodes into lumps that could be attached per pedal, each node with the necessary jacks to accept the in/out from the pedal order wiring and inserting local plugs into the pedal. That would let you glom this onto an older pedal without modifying the older pedal. It's also possible to embed the node into a small board inside the pedal, much like the spate of true-bypass relay boards on the market. The additional circuitry for the node communications and intelligence would not add much to the size of a relay board. This approach sidesteps the issues with needing to come up with an enclosure and some place to mount the 2-4 1/4" phone jacks, power jack, and attachment to the serial control link.

Depending on how you want the signal wiring done, the design diverges into an added lump per pedal versus a smart wired pedalboard. Or, I suppose, a combination of those two, which is a bit more clumsy.

Most of this can be done with off-the-shelf boards from ebay and some PIC programming.  I expect we'll see addon boards and/or lumps to do the control pretty quickly. The overall systems design and marketing will take some time, though. Not many systems thinkers out there in the pedals niche.

[Hans]

I have now tried the NUX PML-2 mini looper. It works as it should. I put my Ibanez tube screamer mini in the NUX loop and was able to remote switch the loop on and off from my Behringer FCB 1010 floor board.

Unfortunately, there are quite loud pops when switching the unit on and off, so in the end this is probably not the solution I am looking for...

So I was thinking that maybe I should get a Boss LS-2 line selector and put the tube screamer mini in one of it´s loops..

Does anyone know if it is possible to remote switch the LS-2 in the way that the original post in this thread describes?

Or is there any other, relatively cheap, solution out there?

Thanks!

[Mark Hammer]

There are.  Sounds to me like there is a relay in there, temporarily disconnecting the input of an e-switched pedal.
Put a 1M resistor across the input of the TS-mini.  If I'm right, that should clear up the popping.

[Hans]

Thanks Mark.

Just to make sure... the TS mini does not cause the pops. The TS mini is turned on all the time and placed in one of the NUX´s loops.It´s the NUX looper that pops when I switch from loop A to loop B and back again.

The nux pops when switching between the loops even when I have disconnected the TS mini and both loops are "empty".

So am I correct when I think that I should try your 1M resistor mod on the NUX and not on the TS mini?

[Mark Hammer]

Pedal ventriloquism.  A common phenomenon.  The loop selector is making the TS mini pop, whether that pedal is on or bypassed.

Many e-switched pedals have a "hanging" (unterminated) cap on the input buffer.  Since effect switching is carried out between the input and output buffers for such pedals, that hanging cap does not yield any pop when switching THAT pedal.  However, if one uses any sort of mechanical true bypass - stompswitch or relay - to pull the TS into or out of circuit, that switching will momentarily disconnect and reconnect the hanging input cap on the TS (or any other e-switched pedal).  And THAT is what causes the pop.

Strapping a 1-2.2M resistor between the input and ground on the TS (or any other e-switched pedal) will allow for the input cap to drain off so that it doesn't pop during switchover.  It should not provide any undue loading down of the signal.

I call it "Pedal ventriloquism" because the pedal you think is making the pop isn't doing so.  It's the other pedal "throwing its voice".

[Hans]

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out with this.  Is there a schematic somewhere where I can learn exactly where to connect the resistor (from what part of the input (jack?) and what would be the best ground connection)?


But I am still confused about the popping as it is present even when I have physically disconnected the TS mini from the loop switcher. I mean, it is not just that I have switched it off, I have actually pulled out the cables so it has no physical contact with the loop switcher at all. The loops are empty.  So unless I am missing something obvious here, the popping has to come from the loop switcher? That is why I wonder if maybe the resistor should be put on the loop switcher rather than the TS mini.

Sorry if I am waiting your time (and patience)  with my ignorance...