Why review a midi pedal? Mainly because I've been using it for six years with no major problems.
The FCB1010 is a cheap and cheerful midi board, with 12 switch pedals, and two rocker pedals. A red LED above each switch shows when it is turns on. I use the rockers for volume and wah. At time of writing the FCB1010 retails for around £114 new, or £80 to £100 second hand. I've got two, both bought second hand. The thought was that, being so cheap, it might have reliability problems. This is not the case. It's a solidly made device. The switches are positive, and don't bounce; and the whole unit has proved reliable.
Upsides: cheap, rugged and reliable.
There are a few things to be aware of:
1. The basic firmware is rather limited. There are several aftermarket replacement EPROMs which make it more flexible. They allow more flexibility over pedal configuration and messaging. For example, which midi messages are sent if you repeat press a switch, and whether IAs (individual assignments) are reset when you change patch. You can also configure which switches send PC (program change) messages, and which send IAs. Both of my units have the UNO chip. There is also a Eureka chip which I believe does roughly the same thing. Replacing the EPROM is simply a question of undoing the screws, lifting the cover off, prising out and replacing the chip, then reassembling.
2. The unit can be configured manually by pressing combinations and sequences of pedals. This is tedious, and prone to error. Much simpler is to use the Ripwerx editor. For this you'll need to connect to a PC using a USB to midi convertor, such as the Midisport. Don't bother with cheap devices because they don't always work. Once programmed you shouldn't need to touch it again. The default setting has preset/patch changes along the lower row of pedals. The top row is IAs, which can be used to turn individual effects off and on. My personal preference is to reverse these rows. The argument is that it's easier to turn an effect off and on during a song using a switch on the bottom row.
3. The rocker pedal mechanism uses an LED and a light sensor, with a graduated plastic strip moving between them. As the pedal moves the strip changes the amount of light, and hence the signal voltage. Graduation is not particularly even, so the pedal does not provide a smooth change. It also varies from unit to unit. As a volume pedal it works fine, but there is a noticeable difference in wah range and sensitivity between my two units.
Mine looks the same, except that it's covered with beer stains and talcum powder.
Comments
"You don't know what you've got till the whole thing's gone. The days are dark and the road is long."
The rockers are ok for occasional use but if you are heavily into things like Wah then it might not be the best.
It's built to a price, and for what it is it's very good.
The other thing I would add for anyone considering it is to get straight MIDI cables. Because the MIDI ports are quite close to the floor, I had problems with right angled cables because there wasn't room for a right angled cable.