Unusual Gear Need - Does Such A Thing Exist?

[WireLine]

For some time now, Ive been battling pretty severe arthritis in both knees. I get steroid injections every three months just to remain mobil and to stave off the (inevitable) knee replacements. Last several gigs though have presented some interesting developments though.

With my small array of pedals, I seem to lose balance when attempting to actuate an on/off switch, sometimes missing the pedal, sometimes needing 2-3 attempts before engaging the old traditional SPST click switches. So, I was wondering if a small soft touch controller under MIDI or other control could be mounted on my mic stand, as to allow me to gently push the appropriate on/off switch with my finger, activating a circuit well behind me to turn the appropriate loop on or off.

Don't need/want programmable presents, just soft touch buttons to turn loops on and off. Four or five loops is plenty.

Thanks for your input. Getting old is a beast, getting old in a young man's game requires some creative solutions.

 

[scottser]

'Alexa, overdrive off, chorus on.'
It'll be a thing, wait and see.

 

[Chiogtr4x]

For some time now, Ive been battling pretty severe arthritis in both knees. I get steroid injections every three months just to remain mobil and to stave off the (inevitable) knee replacements. Last several gigs though have presented some interesting developments though.

With my small array of pedals, I seem to lose balance when attempting to actuate an on/off switch, sometimes missing the pedal, sometimes needing 2-3 attempts before engaging the old traditional SPST click switches. So, I was wondering if a small soft touch controller under MIDI or other control could be mounted on my mic stand, as to allow me to gently push the appropriate on/off switch with my finger, activating a circuit well behind me to turn the appropriate loop on or off.

Don't need/want programmable presents, just soft touch buttons to turn loops on and off. Four or five loops is plenty.

Thanks for your input. Getting old is a beast, getting old in a young man's game requires some creative solutions.

I'm going through exactly almost to the letter, your first paragraph with my knees.

I've played sitting down for probably the last 20 years because of a bad back And now my knees, I can barely walk to a gig. ( my bandmates always carry my gear for me)

Actual playing the gig so far has not been a problem, though my knees are so tight/immobile. I just use a teeny pedalboard, and often now, 0 pedals..
Just one less thing to setup-

As kids we never thought of rock and roll, or rock and rollers getting old but man it is happening. Just trying to go as long as humanly possible

 

[Git Mohair]

It's absolutely got to be do-able. How, I don't know. A lot of the DJ/Beats stuff is hand-operated, so there's some mileage in talking to them and the midi-based switching has been around for yonks but we guitar players never seem to figure out all that sort of stuff - perhaps talk to a keyboards-type/home studio/DJ shop?

I'm bloody sure someone here will turn up shortly who's done exactly what you're talking about...

 

[brookdalebill]

Apologies in advance if this makes no sense.
I use a Roland Cube 80XL.
It’s a COSM modeling amp, and it’s about 15 years old.
It has built in effects, a silent tuner and looper.
You can foot switch the channels for driven, or acoustic sounds.
The delay/looper and effects can also be foot switched.
I don’t use the foot switches.
I simply turn the dial for the effects I use.
No pedals to come unplugged, trip over, or “tweeze” on the floor.
The disadvantage is you can only combine two effects (plus amp simulated drive) at a time.
Obviously not a dealbreaker, for me.
I’m perfectly happy with the chorus, delay, reverb, tremolo, phaser and low octaver in the amp.
It NEVER fails.
It’s 80 watts.
I use it for low volume bass gigs, too.
I also have a 100W Katana, and it’s almost as good, and somewhat lighter weight.
I still prefer the Cube.

 

[teletimetx]

May want to try low tech solution first?

You can buy “footswitch toppers” - oversized buttons that fit over the footswitch that give you a larger target to tap.

Might be worth trying before going for a complex solution.

Not shilling for Amazon, just a link to see what they are and what is available

https://www.amazon.com/Footswitch-Increase-accuracy-SOLUTEK-Multi-colors/dp/B07HFMCHJ1

 

[Papanate]

This might work for you: Control Your Pedals With The Wave Of A Hand

 

[Git Mohair]

Or just play sitting down, plenty of people do, and it actually looks quite cool

 

[Peegoo]

@WireLine

It would be doable with a MIDI controller <--CLICK
that works with effects that are MIDI capable.

Another approach would be to use a MIDI controller that
interfaces with a MIDI-capable looper <--CLICK
into which you plug in your pedals and leave them all on.

Those linked devices are some examples. There are many choices out there for these things.

 

[Deeve]

May want to try low tech solution first?

You can buy “footswitch toppers” - oversized buttons that fit over the footswitch that give you a larger target to tap.

Might be worth trying before going for a complex solution.

Not shilling for Amazon, just a link to see what they are and what is available

https://www.amazon.com/Footswitch-Increase-accuracy-SOLUTEK-Multi-colors/dp/B07HFMCHJ1

Like these?

 

[WireLine]

I may have found a temporary solution. I’ve got an Ibanez UE400 with the control foot switch worn down enough that switch actuators are fairly easy by hand. For the 2 things needed not included in the 400, I remember I have a VERY handy remote switching thing made by Champion Pedals

The Tap Dance Two channel remote true bypass looper by Champion Pedals allows remote control of your guitar rig

Anyhow, placing the on/off buttons on front of me to be operated by hand, allowing me to sit on a high stool, just might do the trick.

The add on buttons wouldn’t work on Boss or Ibanez pedals, and I believe there was confusion on the term ‘loop’

 

[KATT]

@WireLine

It would be doable with a MIDI controller <--CLICK
that works with effects that are MIDI capable.

Another approach would be to use a MIDI controller that
interfaces with a MIDI-capable looper <--CLICK
into which you plug in your pedals and leave them all on.

Those linked devices are some examples. There are many choices out there for these things.

That's the wrong type of looper for this task. Needs to be a loop switcher.

 

[KATT]

Depends on your budget. Also, do you have a tablet or smartphone?

The way I would do it is to buy a midi loop switcher like the MorningStar ML5. This has no footswitches, but has 5 loops. You could connect one pedal to each loop.

Then use an app on your tablet or smartphone to switch the loops via a mobile device midi cable. It will require a bit of setting up, but once done, should work well. I used a similar set up to switch the presets on a Boss RV500 reverb and DD500 delay. I had a set list app on my tablet and there was a midi button next to each song. Tapping the button on the screen changed the presets using midi signals.

I can go into more detail on how to achieve this if it's something that may work for you.

 

[WireLine]

Depends on your budget. Also, do you have a tablet or smartphone?

The way I would do it is to buy a midi loop switcher like the MorningStar ML5. This has no footswitches, but has 5 loops. You could connect one pedal to each loop.

Then use an app on your tablet or smartphone to switch the loops via a mobile device midi cable. It will require a bit of setting up, but once done, should work well. I used a similar set up to switch the presets on a Boss RV500 reverb and DD500 delay. I had a set list app on my tablet and there was a midi button next to each song. Tapping the button on the screen changed the presets using midi signals.

I can go into more detail on how to achieve this if it's something that may work for you.

Im looking long and hard at that, plus the MorningStar easy peasy controller. Thanks, and thanks to all