How to add footswitch to Roland Microcube

[@Jussi567]

Give your thoughts and comment, like and subscribe! 👇

[@bellysaurus8554]

i used to have a roland cube when i was a kid, and i always wished there was a way to add a footswitch! so cool, thanks for sharing. If i ever see a kid with a micro cube i can help him mod it. :D

[@davidmorris7530]

Hey, thanks for sharing your findings here Jussi#567 ! I have a MC with COSM selector not responding, & the details & chats here will be a great help when fixing it. Also planning to replace the "farty" little 5" speaker with something like a Jensen 6"

[@Jussi567]

Thanks. I'm also planning to replace the speaker but hadn't get to it yet. Mainly because I've been using line out to my monitors :)

[@adrianpierce3047]

did you do the speaker swap, its a 4 inch ?

[@petlover155]

If I'm understanding this correctly, I need to solder to the lower setting and then I can toggle between a higher mod to the lower one. So if I want to have the acoustic setting to switch to, I would solder to the 1st solder point and then be able to set knob to any of the other settings and use the footswitch to go back to the acoustic setting. Is this correct?

[@Jussi567]

You're correct, with soldering you choose lower or base setting where you come always back from what you have selected with the knob. And base setting has to be lower than what you choose with the knob.

[@petlover155]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge. And I love your tin can foot switch! Did you ever make a video of adding the input switch?

[@pd8559]

Kiitos. I got a dud Micro Cube, my COSM rotary switch does not work, every position delivers the same resistance value so it is stuck on a single amp model. I will use this knowledge as a basis of a much more expanded mod as I need to bypass the broken rotary as well as all the mods in this video.

[@Jussi567]

Thanks, don't forget to like :) What model you are stuck? You can switch to "lower" model what you have chosen with rotary switch. For example, if you are stuck with Classic, you can choose Brit combo/Black Panel/JC Clean/Acoustic but not Rectifier with this mod.

[@pd8559]

@@Jussi567 I think my rotary is open inside. Using your diagram I have continuity between the * pins but between * and the numbered pins it is always open no matter what position the rotary switch is in. If I labelled the three pins feeding resistance values to the main board starting at the bottom closest to pin 4 as A, then B in the middle then C at the top closest to pin 5. I get the following resistance measures. A+B = 11.2K Ohm, B+C = 10K Ohm, A+C = 1.2K Ohm (Edit: I had bigger troubles, the 3 pin ribbon cable had a broken wire so I removed the rotary switch pcb and soldered wires to all the pins for further troubleshooting and documentation and eventual replacement with a new rotary switch bypassing the broken one on the pcb). I was thinking about just removing the switch and putting in a different rotary switch if those are the correct circuit paths to switch. Or I could move everything to a foot switch with two rotary switches, one to control the selected the model that is normally used and the second to control what lower model is bypassed when the foot switch is active. If I had all the known Ohm values for each position of the rotary switch I could also just remove that board completely and replace with my own control circuit if the surface mount components ever go bad.

[@pd8559]

@@Jussi567 I added my notes so far together in a PDF document to make it a lot quicker to talk about the Roland Micro Cube rotary switch pc board. It will hopefully help others troubleshoot their amps too. drive.google.com/file/d/1-qFMTySLrL8ldYOFHpqm3K_QgBLaJi_e/view?usp=sharing

[@Jussi567]

Here is discussion about replacing the rotary switch: www.ssguitar.com/index.php?topic=4417.0 Not sure about ohm values for each position. I'm planning to add small dip switch to choose lower model but another rotary switch might be also a good choice. I'm also planning to add fx loop so I could use looper pedal with Microcube.. Stay tuned :)

[@pd8559]

@@Jussi567 Sounds like fun. I think I have more problems than originally thought. I left the dead Alpha 7 way selector on the pcb and I wonder if I am getting bad switch input. I tacked wires to the back of the 7 way switch pcb and tested all for isolated conductivity and they are all wired good. That let me measure resistance values between the 3 pin connectors pads which used to fill in the values on my current table. That link about replacing the rotary switch is good. I'll keep that as a backup because I have already ordered 3 8 position rotary switches to play with but 1K smd resistors he mentioned lines up with my table of measurements moving by 1K values . The 8 position switches are not pcb mount so my idea was to bypass/remove the dead original 7 position switch and have on the side of the amp two 8 ways. One rotary will let me select the standard model, the second rotary will let me select the bypass pedal model -- still formulating in my head. When I tacked the 3 pin on the switch pcb to the other pcb it normally connects with I noticed the two outer pins have continuity. I checked my solder tack welds under magnifying glass and they are clean and separate. But on testing * + Number direct connections with my wire leads I am still not getting models. Sometimes I have to touch a connection a few times to get a switch and others just switch right away to loud or soft amplification. Soft needs nearly full 10 volume while loud I need about 3 because it is very loud otherwise. Not getting models yet so I think the dead rotary is interfering, if I turn the dead rotary very slowly sometimes I will get the same soft to loud to soft switching halfway between a selection by twisting the rotary forward and backward very slowly between two settings.

[@joebentry]

Soooooooo, do you ever show it “working” - as in a Demo? Is the foot switch Momentary? Or Latched? Does the Line Out Mod just “open” the Speaker circuit? Is there a follow up video? Tell us more Tell us more please.

[@joebentry]

OK, found the “Test” Video, you used a “latched” push button on the Channel Switch 👍🏼 Thanks 👍🏼

[@Jussi567]

Good that you found it. As you saw, I'm not much of a player but hope you got the idea 😀

[@joebentry]

@@Jussi567 - I missed it, “what” does the “line out” mod do? Enable the Speaker to stay on 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Jussi567]

@@joebentry Yes. Normally speaker is shut off when using line out. Mod let you choose to keep speaker on

[@joebentry]

@@Jussi567 Very nice, will have to revisit your first Video👍🏼

[@bvanfossen01]

Genius!!!!

[@Jussi567]

Thanks! I really think so too 😀

[@bannanapancake]

😮

[@gilbertfaustino2474]

can i set Jc clean and rfier?

[@Jussi567]

Yes. Check time 1:24. If you want to use JC clean and Rfier, you would solder your footswitch to second solderpoint. That is your base setting and channel for footswitch you choose normally with the knob. So set knob to Rfier and you can change between JC clean and Rfier. If you use third solderpoint and select Rfier with the knob, you can choose between Blackpanel and Rfier

[@gilbertfaustino2474]

@@Jussi567 thank you so much for this fast reply! great help

[@lucacarovano3919]

@Jussi #567 Very interesting video, these are very comfortable and simple modifications to make on our microcube. I have a few questions to ask about this. 1) What are the specifications of the lineout switch and footswitch? 2) Is it possible to build a complete pedalboard to use all the amps?

[@Jussi567]

Thanks for your comment! 1) Both are basic on-off switches. For lineout switch I used rocker on-off switch and footswitch push button style on-off switch. 2) Unfortenatelly I don't think so. Footswitch changes channel between chosen solder point and chosen channel from the knob. I tried to explain this at 1:22. Only way I know how to do that, is move the knob from amp to pedalboard. Hopefully my answers helps you!