Behringer FBC1010 Foot Controller

Ease of use you ask? Well it's pretty asy to use. I believe folks go making it harder than it should... the bottom line is: MAKE SURE THE THING THE FOOTBOARD IS CONNECTED TO KNOWS THE FOOTBOARD IS THERE.
I'm connecting it to a behringer Blue Devil. Well I hooked it up with the cable exoecting it to function flawlessly just by installing the midi cable..Well fat chance fella. Not being the midi guru that I possibly should before getting this. I was frustrated with it for about 2 hours.. Well I went and started pushing buttons on the amp, and low and behold it worked. No programming necesary. I probably will re-program some of the switches..

It's just a midi switch box.. Doesn't mess with your tone
My only beef with this thing is they call the pedals expression pedals, they shouldn't call them that they don't express anything. Calling them that makes me think they are some kind of volume pedal or wah pedal.

Heck yeah it's reliable... It's built really solid.

Emailed them their website says a response within the hour I didn't get one in that tilmframe I'm still waiting...

I think it's a pretty good deal for the bread.

Don't believe the other reviewers,because they will put you off this thing and they will make you think it's complicated to use,BUT IT'S NOT!!!
Yes the manual is very confusing but you hardly need it to make the unit work.
I use a rocktron intellifex and it's the perfect match.
JUST PLUG AND PLAY STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX,YOU ONLY NEED -ONE- MIDI CABLE,don't make a loop,just use the send from the behringer to the in of your rack and that's it.
Only one bad point: there are only 5 programm change 'midi-things' which means that you will need to reassign above number 50 because it will count from 1 again,but it's a piece of cake,just follow the manual (don't try to understand why though,just follow it!)
For those who would thing I'm an expert in midi you are wrong,I know nothing about it!

the 2 expression pedals are so easy to use and with the intellifex they are great,you can control a lot of parameters from them,just assign,for example,the decay of the reverb on the first pedal and the level of the delay on the other one,it's just so convenient!

It's so versatile,u can have 100 fx at your feet,all accessible straight away and you still have control on them via the 2 expression pedals.I'm still surprised how easy this thing is to use.

this thing is heavy and seems to be reliable,only the 2 expression pedals look cheap,the rest is build in a rigid metal chassis.Time will tell,should handle the stage environment very easily

#100 for it is a bargain,it's very well build.I'm ver happy with this thing,I nearly didn't buy it because of the other reviews here,it would have been a massive mistake.
Just ignore them and enjoy this floorboard,save #100 compared to other brands.

This is where the unit gets the most flack. Due to the nature of the unit, it is a bit difficult to use. If you have little experience with midi programing it will be hard to use. I use it for patch switches in my rack; i have been using midi controllers for about 3 years, and i had mine fully programmed in two hours.

If you want a super flexible midi controller- it is not going to be user-friendly, and do things for you.

-N/A-

just bought it.

used

Great pedal in terms of flexibility, i have been able to do EVERYTHING i want with this pedal. However, the expression pedals are really bad. This is the first midi expression pedal ive used, so i have no frame of reference, but if you want to do continious pitch change- forget it. for the money it is a 10- what could you expect for less than 100 bucks?! overall i am very satisfied though.

I own a Boss GX-700 and I searched the web for weeks trying to see how well the FCB1010 would fit it, but I found nothing, so now that I have used it I thought I'd save other people lots of frustration and give a basic overview of how this pedal and the GX-700 go together. (Hope it's helpful!)

Ease of use...hmmm...

First of all, my pedal came without a manual. Sucked. I downloaded one, read it, checked that were were both speaking about the same piece of equipment, read it again, put it down, and decided to figure it out myself. I guess I just don't speak 'Behringer'. Worstmanual I have ever read. However, once I had been through the sweat and bleed of configuring one patch, the rest were a breeze. All we need is a little patience...

Each patch has lots of options. I found I could configure each patch to send a patch change message to the GX-700, two analog switches for amp channel distortions (if you use the loop option in the GX) as well as a couple of other midi messages. This is useful since the GX 'listens' for a further 4 midi messages which can be used to control any adjustable parameter in the patch. For example, with one patch change on the midi pedal I can tell the GX-700 to go to patch 7, switch my amp's channel distortion off, turn the patch distortion on, use the one expression pedal to control the drive level and the other expression pedal to control volume. Very useful if you're willing to spend the time programming the patches. Email me if you want more info on how to do this.

It doesn't affect the sound of the setup at all. I have heard that the pedal emits a high-frequency sound which can be sorted out by using a seperate power supply, but I haven't experiences this. So, no comments.

Solid metal casing, good pedals, I can't see a problem with it. I only have one, so a backup is out of the question anyway, but I feel pretty confident. (famous last words... ;)

I phoned the Behringer distributors for the country to ask questions about it, and they told me that they just sell the things and that I probably know more about it than they did. I questioned them further, and it turns out that thery were right. They wre very friendly, but not much use. Er...hello?!?!?!?

Various styles, but that makes no difference in the purpose of this review. Basically this guy controls my Boss GX-700, and after using for (and comparing it to the FC-200) I see no reason whatsoever why I sould pay twice the price for the FC-200. I'm not putting the FC-200 down, it's an excellent pedal, but then so is the FCB1010. I'm very happy with it.

Let's face it, folks. . . right off the bat, this is called "flexible" right on the box. How do you make it flexible without making it infinitely complex? So it's not the easiest thing to program, and requires (in my case, up to 47 buttons pressed to program one button) a lot of time and patience.
The manual is pretty much useless, so my suggestion is to go online and browse people's manuals ... Yahoo! Groups has a good one, and it's for connecting to everything.

Last thought, i connect this to a V-amp2, and it worked (recalled banks, not a stomppad) with my amp straight out of the box)

This does not affect sound quality.
The only thing I have to say about this, is with the V-amp2 turn off the cabinet or have everything on the same cab. Otherwise, when you recall one of the banks, it WILL make a short noise.

Holy crap this thing is built like a tank. I'm sure this thing will outlive the processor it's being used for!!!

Behringer does not respond to emails as fast as people would like. Well, they are a large, international company who receives thousands of emails a day....
Nevertheless, if you want support, call them. The response is curteous and instant, and their tech support and upgrades are good and free, respectively.

Behringer comes out with quality performance products at a low price. Their cost-cutting measures in this one, as far as i can tell, is that it has no display to tell you what you're sending, and that it does not come with a carry case or bag (like the v-amps). This is a good product, and does everything it claims ... albeit it is a little tricky to program it to do that.

I use the top 5 pads to recall banks, the bottom 5 as a stomp pad w/ tap button (so i can change the speed of my trem, chorus, etc), and the 2 expression pedals mainly for wah and volume. I couldn't ask for much more from this thing! --- except for a better manual.

This category is two-fold for me. I bought it to switch between presets on my Alesis Midiverb4 (acoustic guitar rack setup). The night before I played...I opened the box...read through the manual and worked with it and the Alesis for my first real midi experience. The manual has GREAT examples...they do work.

However, I really wish that both Alesis and Behringer would have done a small midi primer. I was confused on the reasoning behind the examples even though they worked. I have a lot to learn to max the potential of this pedal. The more I use it...the easier it gets! :-)

I've only had this a week, but, I own other Behringer products...very classy equipment...ESPECIALLY for the money! (I also own the Magician and a EuroMixer)

Don't know....have never needed them.

As others have commented...and I did a lot of research...you cannot touch these features anywhere for this price...for a new product. I only wish a small midi primer was part of the manual.

If you're experienced in programming and configuring digital equipment it won't be hard to figure out how this thing works once you have read the manual. This buddy is not the self-explaining gizmo you could wish for and I'd bet that if you're a novice you may have troubles in configuring it as the procedures are a little complicated (no chance for guesswork, you definitely gotta know what you have to do) and the manual is a little too easy-going for my tastes. Anyway once you've learned the secrets of this pedalboard it's a real trick to configure it on the fly and just by using your feet (awesome feature).

I don't think this may apply here, anyway it sounds comfortably solid when I kick it :D

I have owned it for 4 months and gigged it just 3 or 4 times so I really have no clue, anyway it looks pretty solid and I'd bet it'll last a lifetime.

GREAT!!!!!!!!! I emailed (in my native language!) the italian customer support centre for an issue I've had with the expression pedals (the pedalboard did not send any CC variation) and they were back with the solution ONE HOUR LATER!!! It ended up being a miscalibration problem, I was able to fix it by myself just performing the procedure described in the email. Geez, this is customer support!!

For my needs it is perfect! I just wish it had an alphanumeric display to see the name of the preset you're actually running. Other than this it has more than what I need feature-wise. If it were somehow lost I'd buy another one in a heartbeat. It takes you a little to understand how it works (anyway it is not a digital multiFX unit, it's not that difficult) but once you're ready it gives you total control over your equipment, no matter what your rig is. I love the embedded power supply! No more AC adapters cables getting disconnected or broken and it is darn easy to build a custom AC cable to the length you wish!!

well, once you know how it works its easy. but the manual sucks! with the help of the yahoo group and some try&error attemps I finally got the clue.

I am using the FCB1010 to control my GX112 amp (also a Behringer product). the presets work. but do not fit playing at all (who needs a bank full of reverbs?!). so you need to edit the patches. overall, I wont't give a rating in this category because there is no sound quality.

built like a tank (at least it looks like). you won't stomp on the wrong pedal unless you are bigfoot.

I emailed them and got a reply within a day. it helped me to fix my problem. behringer support is great!

best midi pedal for that price! considering that a Boss controller is more than twice expensive this is a great flooboard! I would buy it again if it got lost. 10 points - 1 for the manual. so 9 pts at all.

Coming from an experienced MIDI guy as far as guitar players are concerned, i admit that that i was a bit befuddled with this thing. But in retrospect, it's really as easy as pie, just give the poorly written instructions a little undivided attention and you'll get the handg of it in no time.

This thing has NO tone! I don't know what i'm doing wrong!!! (just kidding...)

see my setup notes at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fcb1010/message/1979

C'mon. I'm not a pro with oodles of money. I can barely afford one of anything good, let alone a spare for the "just in case" doomsday scenario. First, buy good quality gear. Do it right the first time and you won't need a backup. Secondly, always be prepared and take care of your stuff. Third, know how to use the gear you own and milk it for all it's worth. More gear is never the answer!

I just called Behringer tech support today and spoke with Richard about sending me the latest EPROM free-of-charge. I don't even know what the latest is, maybe v2.3.12? He said, "no problem". He took my name and address and said he'd ship one right out. THANK YOU!!!! You can call him to (425) 672-0816. Ask for tech support.

Please see my application and use of the FCB1010 and G-Force as described in my message to the user group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fcb1010/message/1979

This is money well spent. I was trying to figure out if there was such thing as a MIDI controllable amp switch when i discovered this bad boy. My Rocktron MIDI Mate is on eBay as i wrtie this message!

I bought it because another guitarist using Roland gear suggested it for setting up my programs for each song. He made it sound like child's play, but then again - he's a computer programmer and I'm NOT!!! I gave up. The manul even stated you didn't need to be familiar with a whole other language, but they were dead wrong.

Why can't they write a simple step by step process for the average guitar player who doesn't really program anything? Write a page specifically for controlling a guitar synth? Give us common midi channels for Roland products, Korg products, etc..

Never got this far. I'm an idiot!

Hey - it sure looked solid. I was impressed considering the low price.

Again - I never got this far. Boxed it back up the first day of digging into the manual and all my other gear manuals.