FSM 432 as a midi switcher for POD?

I've just seen a video of a guitarist who has devised a rack mount for his GM36. He's running the amp with an axefx in 4cm with a ground control midi switcher. It's a really cool rig and it got me thinking, and inspired.

I've been toying with the idea of using either a fire hawk or an HD500x in 4cm with the GM and after seeing this video it occurred to me.. Why not use a rack mount unit like a POD pro? It would be so much easier than having to drag out all of those cables every time I play.

I know that I could get a midi controller, like the cheap Behringer unit for $150 and it would be able to switch the POD and the GM together to make all of the different toes work BUT I would have a massive board, power adapter, etc. It got me thinking.. Would the FSM432 that I already have work for this purpose? It would be so simple with 1 cable running off of the amp instead of 2-4..

SO, in summary. FSM432 to switch patches on the POD rack unit AND the GM36 at the same time.. Would it work?

I'm no expert at MIDI stuff, I know how the circuitry works but there are others here who know a lot more than I do about its standards and usage. However, it does occur to me that the GM36 has a MIDI input and MIDI output and that output is marked "Out/Thru", (errrm, whatever happened to "Through"? Do H&K pay by the letter?) Is this not your answer: FSM432 MIDI Out -> GM36 In and GM36 Out/Thru -> HD500 MIDI In. If you are going to try this have a look at the GM36 manual Section 8.1 where it explains about selecting the channel to make sure everything matches as it should.

Unlike the GM36, of which you can control almost every param and switch presets and banks, all the HD500x does as a receiver of midi is change banks and presets, and toggle footswitches.  You can not control parameters of the HD500x with midi.
FYI, I use the hd500x as a midi controller of the gm, and for input side effects (wah, volume pedal, tube screamer, etc).  It does work well in 4cm, but since the effects in the gm are good enough for most simple uses like my AllmanBros tribute band, I simplified my snake to not do 4cm.

Haha! There you go, I knew someone who knew a lot more would come along. Thanks Namklak, I'm wiser too now.

namklak wrote:Unlike the GM36, of which you can control almost every param and switch presets and banks, all the HD500x does as a receiver of midi is change banks and presets, and toggle footswitches.  You can not control parameters of the HD500x with midi.
FYI, I use the hd500x as a midi controller of the gm, and for input side effects (wah, volume pedal, tube screamer, etc).  It does work well in 4cm, but since the effects in the gm are good enough for most simple uses like my AllmanBros tribute band, I simplified my snake to not do 4cm.

Thank you for your reply.

If I understand you correctly the POD will change patches with the FSM432. That is what I was wanting.

Here's my thinking. If I run a POD HD500X pedal board out front as the midi controller, this would work of course BUT I would have to run 4 cables, power adapter, etc out to it every time I wanted to play. That's a lot of headache! I'm wanting to build a rack, put the GM in it and add a POD HD pro rack mount. With this set up everything stays connected and all I have to do is plug in a guitar cable and go. If the FSM432 works to control the whole rig I would just need to run it's midi cable out and that would be it.

I'm wanting to do this (as an example) bank 1 channel A Fender twin set to clean with some effects, bank 1 channel B Marshall plexi with boost, bank 1 channel C GM36 lead channel with tube screamer and some effects, and so on.

Setting it up this way I would only need "patches" because I could set them up as I want them. I wouldn't need to control parameters but just click into my pre made patches.. So, from what you're saying I believe it would work. That would keep me from having to add a new midi panel AND run more cables to it. I can use the H&K foot controller and wouldn't have to bother with new pedals.. If I am understanding you correctly, this should work fine.

Thank you again.

^^^ yup. Just like that.

namklak wrote:^^^ yup. Just like that.

Awesome, thank you.

The only thing I would add to the great info which seems to have come up with the perfect answer, is to make sure you choose a logical arrangement for your patches with regard to the banks.  The FSM432 is a great arrangement of 128 patches in 32 banks of 4, that's not a single stream of all 128 as some devices are, (I don't know about the HD500X but if it's in the rack controlled by the FSM432 it's irrelevant).

I don't know how you use your patches but, while there are some songs where I only need 1 patch or maybe 2, I often need 3 or 4 patches for a single song if it's a bit more diverse, (Eagles - Get Over It?)  Of course it makes sense to allocate a full bank to that song alone.   It then makes it a single stomp to change between that set of 4 while in the song.  Make sure to group your patches from the outset where they will need to work together, don't just put them into any old bank with a list of where they are.  It is better to duplicate some patches into banks where they will be needed to work with others rather than just saving them once then tap dancing to get from one to the other in different banks.  It is also sometimes better to leave an empty unused slot or two in a bank when your other patches work together in threes or fours.  Setting them up and grouping them logically really pays dividends on a gig night.

The HD500x arranges its patches in 4 by X banks, so it logically lines up nicely with the GM - no thinking or bank translation required.