AXEFX2 FCB1010

Hi all,

So, I have owned an Axe FX for a few years, and upgraded to an Axe FX2 a year or so ago. I always wanted a foot controller for it, but the official MFC101 is not for me, due to price, size, complexity and lack of included expression pedals. Having looked around the web, I came across the excellent FCBInfinity project. This project uses an FCB1010 as the controller. But, the creator went the whole 9-yards and replaced the FCB1010 controller with an Arduino. Based on the knowledge I learnt from his pages, it looked like I would be able to create a foot controller for my purposes without gutting the insides of the FCB1010.

The features I was after:

- LCD display with
  - current patch name
  - current patch number
  - tuner
  - scene number
  - looping state
  - bpm
- Footswitch control of
  - patch
  - bank
  - scene
  - tuner on/off
  - tap tempo
  - looper start/stop/erase

It turns out that with very minor electrical modifications, this is possible with an arduino controlled LCD.

I've added this page here to let others know what is possible in case they want to go down the same route. Apart from soldering some wires onto the FCB1010, you need to disconnect the MIDI TX wire inside the FCB1010 and route it through the arduino. That's the only electrical modification you need to make to the FCB1010. To get the functionality I've listed above, it's also better to use the UNO firmware on the FCB1010 as it gives stompbox mode, which allows you to use one of the pedal switches as a mode switch, and the LED state will be accurate.

The power for the Arduino is taken directly from the FCB1010.

One trap that stumped me for a while when doing this project: the AxeFX does not automatically send patch names out the MIDI port. It does send the patch number automatically when you change patches on the front panel, but you have to send a MIDI message asking for the current patch name before it will be sent. See the AxeFX MIDI guide online for details of the messages.

Here's the finished product:

And here's a close-up of the LCD

The ':' character flashes with the BPM to give me the beat. The square in the bottom right is the looper mode (currently stopped).

Here's the LCD when the tuner is on

And here's the FCB1010 in shot with the AxeFX2

Here's a photo of the arduino connections to the FCB1010. Sorry, I didn't take a photo of the underside. The wires that go under the board connect to the bottom of the white connector. X7 I think it is.

And here's the arduino mounted to an existing screw hole in the FCB1010. Most of the wires you see are just to the new LCD.

And here's the vero-board layout for the circuit

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