DigiTech FS3X

I bought mine for use with my jamman. It does not work. When I plug it in the song numbers go crazy. Then when I press one of the buttons, the jamman just freezes up until I unplug the switch.

No opinion

it seems like it is heavy duty. makes a nice paper weight.

I have not yet tried customer support.

Maybe I just got a defected one. How do you spell a fart noise?? Pttttt!

It's really very easy to use.
When I put my Hendrix pedal on, you can go up and down with the two knobs - the patch you can change with the mode-knob.
Up-knob for three seconds and you've got soundsample 7 & down-knob for three seconds you've got soundsample 1.
Again, very easy of use.

It just organizes the seven soundsamples of my Hendrix pedal, and it does that very well!

Very sturdy build!

Never need to contact DigiTech, but they have a great site.

A great tool which makes my Hendrix pedal live.
I can straigten my back (no pain) and let my feet do the work, and it works great for me.
The FS3X-pedal should automaticly have been put in the Hendrix Artist Pedal package. Without the FS3X the Hendrix Pedal has a big handicap.

I'm using this footswitch for the Digitech's Artist Series Jimi Hendrix Experience pedal. It makes the pedal a lot easier to use not only because it makes it hands free, but you don't have to rely on the toe switch-heel switch that some people had problems getting use to. The first switch changes the mode, which replaces the toe switch-heel switch, the second and third act as turning up or down the model knob, choosing the modeling.

Has no effect on the sound quality, although it makes it possible to use hands free for live performance.

Simply three switches and a 1/4" cable in a metal box. Bullet-proof.

I have always had good support from Digitech and it's dealers.

This is a great match for the type of music I play: funk, rock and soul. I have been playing for four years. I own a Digitech Jimi Hendrix Exprience Expression pedal, a Digitech RP-100, a Line 6 passive Expression pedal (for the RP-100), a Roland Micro Cube amp, a Fender Frontman amp, a 1986 G&L ASAT telecaster, a Peavey Reactor telecaster, and a Fender Squire Stratocaster. I have used the FS3X to record music and it definitly helps in using the Hendrix pedal. The only thing that is that the price was pretty steep. It should be about twenty or thirty dollars instead of $49.95

This pedal is the optional footswitch designed for use with the DigiTech JamMan, and can also be used to control the DigiTech "Jimi Hendrix Experience" guitar tone pedal from DigiTech's "Artists Series".

So: Should you buy it?

Well - in terms of ease-of-use, things don't get much simpler than this - it's just a small metal box with three footswitches on it.

It's a shame that it doesn't have the nice "Pedal Keys" of the JamMan itself, and instead just has raw, cheap, footswitches - but then this would add to the cost - but more on this later...

"Sound Quality" obviously doesn't apply to this unit - it's just a box of three footswitches that electronically control the JamMan or Jimi Hendrix pedal - no signal goes through this box itself.

The unit seems about as reliable as such things could possibly get. You could probably drop it down a flight of stairs without damaging its functionality.

This optional extra is technically perfectly OK.

What bothers me though is the price of the thing. It costs #49 RRP (in the states, $49), but it is - after all - just a metal box with three buttons in. It couldn't possibly cost more than a few pounds to make, so why charge #49 for the thing?

This is a very relevant point - especially considering that the DigiTech FS300 pedal looks suspiciously like exactly the same unit but with different printing on the box, and costs only #15 less.

Guitarists aren't known for being especially rich, so charging so much for a little box with just three buttons (and no circuitry) in it seems like taking a bit of a liberty.

Nonetheless, using this box really helps when songwriting with the JamMan. Being able to flip between loops using your feet, is a lot more convenient than using the rotary dial.

I'm not sure that using the third switch to turn AutoRecord on/off was the best choice. I'd have preferred that button to act as an instant "Store" button on the current loop - but that's just personal preference I guess.

It comes with an overly long, stereo jack-to-jack lead. The lead is not hardwired to the box - it is a seperate cable that plugs into a socket on the side of the FS3X. I didn't use that cable - why would you want to position the FS3X anywhere other than immediately next to JamMan? Instead, I just use a cheap, short stereo patchcord to do the job.

If you don't mind being over-charged for the FS3X, it's a good unit. Just bear in mind that you could probably make your own for about #9.