Switching Systems

[Shadoweclipse13]

So, I'm not positive I need one, but I kinda like the idea. I've got a couple Boss LS-2s, and I like them because they are a single bypass (technically 2 if you use the separate send and returns to bounce back and forth between 2 loops instead of 1 loop on and off), but I feel like they color my signal path a little.

I've been toying with the idea of a Quartermaster or two from The Gig Rig, but haven't ever tried them. I'd love to find a single loop bypass pedal with relay-based soft-click footswitches, but don't know of anyone else besides Boss who makes them.

Anyone use a switching system at home for their pedalboard?

(Note: I'd love to have a Gig Rig G2, but don't want to spend that much money, besides I prefer single row switch enclosures.)

[CorporateDisguise]

I use an EC Superswitcher 2. 2 of them actually on my massive recording board. I bought them when they were running a kickstarter and it was a fairly cheap buy in.

I don’t think I could go back to just pedals on a board any more. I mostly use it in stompbox mode when jamming, but have them programmed for a bunch of songs with midi pc changes and stuff. Incredibly useful, and my board is very quiet, despite having almost 20 pedals…..

I wouldn’t recommend the Superswitcher though, as EC has gone out of business, and no longer support the product. There are a bunch of issues and quirks with the design that never got worked out.

[marqueemoon]

Aren’t the Lehle switchers relay-based?

I think the Swiss Things is as well since it does momentary.

The One Control stuff looks cool. I’ve considered the Salamandra before.

My setup is so simple that I think I will stick with tap dancing.

[Shadoweclipse13]

I use an EC Superswitcher 2. 2 of them actually on my massive recording board. I bought them when they were running a kickstarter and it was a fairly cheap buy in.

I don’t think I could go back to just pedals on a board any more. I mostly use it in stompbox mode when jamming, but have them programmed for a bunch of songs with midi pc changes and stuff. Incredibly useful, and my board is very quiet, despite having almost 20 pedals…..

I wouldn’t recommend the Superswitcher though, as EC has gone out of business, and no longer support the product. There are a bunch of issues and quirks with the design that never got worked out.

That's too bad that they are out of business. It's a nice looking switcher. I would prefer something either single row or single bypass loop, but that thing looks like fun!!

Aren’t the Lehle switchers relay-based?

I think the Swiss Things is as well since it does momentary.

The One Control stuff looks cool. I’ve considered the Salamandra before.

My setup is so simple that I think I will stick with tap dancing.

I'm not sure if Lehle are relay-based or not, but the stuff of theirs I've had has been amazing, so that wouldn't turn me off one if I went that direction. I really want one that's either single row or a single bypass loop and I don't think Lehle makes one like that. The thing with having one that's single row is so that I can keep my pedalboard a bit on the small side depth wise. I'm a short dude, and having to reach across 24" would be hilarious, but I'd probably bust my shit

Same with the Swiss Things. I honestly want to mess with one pretty bad, as I've always been an EQD fanboy, but it does things I don't necessarily need either. If anyone could do a single bypass loop box (like the Boss LS-2), it would be either EQD or Lehle.

I've never looked deeper into One Control than their single loop pedal. I had 2 of them and they introduced so much noise and feedback/ground loop noise that wasn't there without it, that it turned me off to them. It was nicely made though, so maybe I'll check out some of their bigger stuff. Maybe the noise was because it was such a small circuit.

Disaster Area (?) is another company I found recently.

[cestlamort]

I've been intrigued with the Boss ones specifically because they allow you to change the order of the signal path / effects, which was one of my favorite features of the Ibanez UE racks ("insta-patch") when I was using that full-time.

[CorporateDisguise]

Check out the Voodoo Lab PX8 plus. Pretty affordable and has alot of useful features. Relay based, single row, a couple of presets and a limited amount of midi.

[timtam]

They're relatively easy to build if all you need is relay-controlled switching (not midi/programmability). I know I've seen plans and kits of components.

[Shadoweclipse13]

Love the suggestions guys!!

The Boss ones (Super Switcher, MS-3, ES-5/-8) all seem well made like everything else Boss makes, but they are deeper than I like (2 rows of switches, front and back), but I do like the programmability.

Same with the Voodoo Labs PX-8 Plus. I don't know that I need the programmability, but I think I'd have a lot of fun with it too. The only thing with the PX-8 Plus is that it seems to be 4 switches of the 8 (the other 4 being related to bank up or down, and something else), unless I'm misreading some of the reviews.

TimTam, I love the idea of making my own quite a bit. I've seen some professional switchers (the switcher from The Gig Rig before the Quartmaster and the G2) that have face-mounted DIP switches, so you could pick which loop is assigned to which switch (to have multiple pedals in one loop). I think that would be super cool, but I'm not sure if that is possible in a DIY format.

[Zork]

I've had a Palmer Octobus for some time. For gigs it was great, but for songwriting and developing parts in a bandpractice I found it very annoying because you either had to go back to tap dancing or continously programm the darn thing. So I went back to three bypass loops across the board and never looked back. Much more flexible, spontaneous and easy enough to manage. It was cool to try it out and I would absolutely recommend to give it a shot but for me it turned out to be not so ideal.

[Shadoweclipse13]

I've had a Palmer Octobus for some time. For gigs it was great, but for songwriting and developing parts in a bandpractice I found it very annoying because you either had to go back to tap dancing or continously programm the darn thing. So I went back to three bypass loops across the board and never looked back. Much more flexible, spontaneous and easy enough to manage. It was cool to try it out and I would absolutely recommend to give it a shot but for me it turned out to be not so ideal.

I know what you mean. That's kinda why I'm wondering if I even need a big system. Unfortunately, there aren't a ton of options for single-loop pedals out there that I like. A number of them are the mini pedals (like Mooer sized), which isn't my thing. I'd also love to find one with tails for my delays, but I'm not sure.

Storyboardist designed a relay-based loop for me years ago, maybe I'll finally get around to making one.

[marqueemoon]

The Lehle D-Loop has a selectable buffer, but I'm not sure what that means in terms of trails. Overall it looks really cool.

I'm already considering it as it looks like it can be set up for either/or switching (turning on loop A turns off loop B)

I'm wondering if it will talk to my Suhr Kokoboost since both are TRS MIDI.

[mackerelmint]

You could take a look at what saturnworks has on offer. They do various switching boxes and various utility pedals like tap tempo switches and the like, and the price is right.

But it does seem to me like a DIY solution would be the way to go unless you wanted to do something fancy, and even then something like an arduino would make that fairly simple to get going. I'm willing to bet that there's code already spun up for that.