FSM-432 MK III Issue

I am looking to use the FSM-432 MK III as both a stomp box and also for calling the midi presets.

The manual says you can switch between preset and stomp box modes by holding down the tap button and the B button and does work. However when I am switching back to stomp box from preset where the last preset patch I was on had no delay or effects, while the settings of all four channels etc are still there in stomp box mode, the delay and effects settings have been turned off.

It seems there is a glitch in the switching. If I switch back to stomp box mode and the last preset I was on did have delay or effects, the delay/effects in stompbox mode is still there.

Anyone got any advice?

Hey Stapletongas,
I've had my GM and FSM for 2 weeks now and have been putting them through lots of testing as I only have 30 days to return with Guitar Center if I'm not satisfied.  For me tonally 3 of the 4 channels are absolutely killer but I'm still struggling to get the same caliber tone from the crunch channel, work in progress on this.  That being said; I absolutely love this amp tonally, however in my humble opinion H&K really missed a few important items when it comes to MIDI controllability with the FSM and also the switching back and forth from Preset to Stomp mode which I'll describe here in a bit!

To your question;
I was trying to get the exact kind of result you describe when going between Preset/Stomp modes, initially I was under the impression the GM could be on a Preset with various effect settings, then switch to Stomp and have those same effects with now 4 channels to select from, unfortunately this doesn't seem to be the case. Not sure if this was by design which makes no sense to me, or was an mistake/oversight.

After testing here's how it appears to me that H&K set this up;
- in Preset mode the GM provides 128 preset storage locations to save any combination of a Single Amp Channel choice i.e. clean or crunch, or lead, etc. along with various effects configured the way we choose.
- in Stomp mode (I would have called this Manual mode which is actually what this is) the GM has only 1 storage location but provides 4 channels to choose from i.e. clean, crunch, lead, etc., each amp channel with its own unique tone settings, however any effects used i.e. chorus or delay applies to all 4 channels as only tone settings are uniquely stored per amp channel.

To sum up; Stomp mode has its own independent setting not related at all to presets which we only get 1 storage location, when switching back to Preset mode the GM returns to the last preset you were on.  When going from Preset mode to Stomp mode the GM defaults to the last configuration you saved for the Stomp mode. Presets have no relation to Stomp mode, they are completely independent far as I can tell. If I'm wrong someone please correct this as I'd love to know ASAP...

Lastly some of what I believe to be a few of the GM's short comings when it comes to MIDI controllability and the FSM pedal;
-First off, I wish H&K would have come up with a much better way to switch in and out of Stomp to Preset mode on the FSM, I personally find it very cumbersome having to step on 2 buttons with my toes while in the midst of playing a song, especially live, yikes.  Just not well thought through H&K!
-Second, the method by which the two 1/4" jacks Control 1 & 2 for expression pedals function was a big disappointment to me; used as expression pedals you Cannot assign min/max to the exp. pedals, that's a very serious oversight.  The only option is to go from 0 to full on no min/max; on all my previous gear there has always been min/max options for exp. pedals.  I can live with only 2 exp. pedals (would have preferred 3 though), my typical setup is 3 exp. pedals, one for Volume, one for Gain, and one for Effects level.  It's a real bummer not being able to set a min Gain level to 30 (rhythm) and a max to say 70 (lead) on a preset, but rather it's 0 to dimmed!  Same thing with Vol and Effects, major bummer!!!

I love the GM's tonal options so I'm pretty sure I'll be keeping the head but will more than likely be looking for another MIDI foot controller that allows for min/max options.  This function should actually have been part of the GM electronics and saved per preset rather than left to the foot controller to do the work, oh well!!!

Hope this helps,

I think you're right

I have found a work around to make sure you have the delay and effects as you want them in stompbox mode when coming out of preset mode.

Just make sure that the last patch you are on in preset mode before switching out has the delay and effects you want. It works. If you are on a preset with no effects, you get no effects when you go into stompbox mode. Quite simple and it works

I have set the presets with the effects I want but when you switch to the 4 different channels with the A-D switches the EQ settings change like they should but the same effect is active on all 4 channels not different ones. Example if I switch to stompbox mode from a preset bank only one effect let's say chorus is active. If I had phase on the next channel chorus is what I get on all 4 channels meaning clean crunch lead ultra. Are you able to have the mods change as well in stompbox mode?

Yes sir,
That's how H & K set this up, once you've created a preset with your effects and then switch to stompbox mode all effects in that preset transfer over to stomp, however the effects in stomp mode are not programmable per amp channel so you have the same effects for all 4 channels, only the EQ, Presence, and Resonance are programmable per channel.

Now here's a trick I happened to figure out kinda by accident;
When entering Stomp mode from a preset - Let's say you're on preset A with particular effects and want to enter stomp mode and keep those effects, you must press and hold the Tap switch first then B or you will switch to preset B and enter stomp mode with B's effects not A's. I you press and hold the Tap switch first and then the B switch you enter stomp mode with preset A's effects.

Now, when entering preset mode from stomp mode - when you want to get back out to preset mode and keep your delay turned on you must hold the B switch first and then press and hold Tap.  If you were to hold Tap first and then B you end up turning off the delay because in stomp mode the Tap switch turns delay on and off.  You have to go backwards with the foot-switches to get back to preset mode if you want to keep your delay on.  This is useful because we get to choose whether to keep the delay on or off when coming out of stomp mode just by which foot-switch we press and hold first... it's actually pretty useful the way this works!

I just wish H & K would have come up with an easier way to switch between Preset and Stomp mode; in my humble opinion it's a poorly thought out design having to hold 2 buttons for a few seconds with your toes while performing a song. I guess it's best to do the switching before starting to play a song, but then if you need to switch to a different preset in the same song we're back to pedal dancing while performing, yikes!!!

I'm on my 4th week with the GM 36, yesterday I set the GM up using 4 Cable Method with my Pod HD500X.  I find this to be the absolute best and most flexible way I've tried, the tone is really killer and there is no change to the GM's tone at all.  I was expecting to have some tonal loss but nope sounds incredible.

I also bought the FSM-432 and am using it to do preset change, Tap Tempo, and stomp mode for channel switching while the HD500X adds additional effects to the recipe.  Wow, this combination of the GM 36, FSM, and HD500X is the best sounding rig I've ever owned bar none... and it's not bad to carry around at all.

I also discovered this tid bit of info; you can only use one MIDI controller with the GM, I tried using both the FSM to do Tap and preset switching and HD500X to do MIDI effects switching on the GM but they just don't play well together at all for MIDI.

Unfortunately the method H & K used to design the Tap Tempo feature in the GM requires the FSM or the Behringer FCB-1010 foot-controller. I was told by one of the tech guys at Sweetwater that H & K did not use the standard MIDI time clock for Tap Tempo but rather something that requires your MIDI controller to calculate the MIDI CC# 4 value as you tab and the send it to the GM. So the workaround for me is to use the FSM for MIDI and the HD500X with 4 cable method pre and post effects. It works incredibly well but it's one more piece of gear to lug. Owe well, I'm biting the bullet though because it's so worth that little extra hassle for the flexibility and tones I'm getting...