I'm wondering if the HOTONE MIDI Foot Controller would be a reasonable option for patch switching on S gear. It's $88 at the moment on Amazon in the US.

I own one, and yes ... it works just fine with S-Gear for program changes and CC control. Be sure to read the section on MIDI Control in the S-Gear manual, and set up the HOTONE accordingly (you can use the smartphone app).

Thank you. I'll check out the manual to see how to implement.

Hey!
I strongly recommend the saturn controller. In addition to the full MIDI implementation both via standard dim5 connection and USB port, the display and encoder that makes everything easier to edit, the loops for connecting pedals, input for an expression pedal and two remote outputs to control amps remotely, there are still the functionalities like to assign a foot to "turn on/off" parameters via midi, access to a second and third preset by clicking again or holding the foot. I've been using it on my board for a long time and it's just joy.

reverb.com/marketplace?query=saturn%20controller

The Saturn looks amazing, but way above my budget. A Navy pension doesn't stretch that far. I bought S Gear 3.1 yesterday and have ordered the Hotone Controller. I just need to switch banks and presets at the moment. Ideally I would love to assign a button to an individual patch, but can't see the option in the midi settings on S Gear at the moment. I'm not sure if that will be possible in the future, but just being able to cycle through patches and banks will be a huge bonus. I'm really happy with S Gear and it means I don't have to hook up my whole, albeit basic, rig to practice.

Here is my rig as it stands and with S Gear and the Hotone Controller I'll be set for a long time to come

$88 is a steal! I paid $112 for mine. And it's crazy how expensive some simple MIDI controllers cost; the HOTONE stuff is affordable, and works just dandy!

Having problems getting S Gear to do what I've programmed. I can see the Hotone in the config and also when looking at midi settings. Green light flashes when I press each button on the foot controller and CC numbers in S Gear match what controller is showing (I used 'Learn' to confirm message is getting through). Each of the 4 channels are set to 'ON'. The bank and presets won't change. I just wanted a simple bank up, bank down, preset up and preset down system. I've obviously done something wring but not sure what LOL.


This is the first setting for preset up after selecting 'Learn' and pressing the button on the controller.

By the way, I love the 'Night Train' video.

I also have the basic need to assign the switches on my pedal board to specific patches. e.g. button 1 loads preset 1, button 2 - preset 2 and so on. I recall doing this before but don't see an obvious way in the MIDI menu to do this. thanks
Carl

I have found a little workaround until I can figure out why the midi messages aren't working as I'd expected. I set the CC, PC parameter in the Hotone app to PC and each button to the patch number I like in my Favorites bank. 0,1,2,3 etc and that allows me to select one of the patches I want (within my favorites bank).

It's not what I wanted, but at least I'm getting some use from the foot controller instead of using the mouse. If I want another bank or a preset that isn't 1-4 I have to use the mouse again. Soundog has a Hotone I believe and hopefully he'll chime in to let us know how to use the bank up/down and preset up/down midi settings correctly.

ahh never mind. I power cycled my FCB1010 and buttons 1-5 select presets 1-5 just without any assignment. problem solved itself

The android app for Hotone has 4 working modes which I'm, trying to figure out. Single, Toggle, Momentary and Hold. Not sure whether they relate exactly to S Gear (and other pedals' modes) Latching, Momentary and Continuous. The frustrating part is that I can see the midi light flash and the values change when in 'Learn' mode, but S-Gear doesn't change bank or preset even though everything looks good at both ends. Obviously it is an 'old fart' issue and I'm doing something completely wrong.

I'll try to check out what's going with my Hotone and S-Gear on this weekend if I get time. Re footswitch modes, use latching footswitch for anything that needs to "latch" on or off (such as turn overdrive on or off). Send 0 for off and 127 for on. A momentary footswitch just sends a quick signal when you tap the switch, but does not latch on/off.

Are you on Mac or Windows? On Mac, I use a free app called MIDI Monitor (by Snoize) which will show you exactly what your controller is sending. Very useful for troubleshooting and learning how MIDI works. There is a similar free sw for Windows (can't remember the name).

Thanks, Soundog.I'm sending CC 64, 65, 66 and 67 for Bank up/down and preset up/down. Using momentary for each of the switches. The manual says send above 63 for on with momentary as switch type.

I have preset up/down working setting data 1 and 2 on each button to same value 65 for preset up and 64 for preset down and using momentary mode. This seems to work, but bank up/down is unreliable and seems to switch to random banks. Using same method for bank up/down, but values are set to 67 (up) and 66 (down).

These are the values being passed in midiview

S-Gear expects to see a momentary midi CC message for the up/down functions. I'm not aware of any problems with bank up/down, but I will check again.

The data in your Midi View screenshot looks a little odd. The 0xB0 is control change, followed by the CC number, next should be data. A momentary message would be data on (0x7F) followed by data off (0x00).

Thanks, Mike. I'm loving S Gear and glad I chose it over others I tried out