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It's just a better visualisation on the board for me. If you need to maximise the space and lower cost these make sense but for a hobby, I just want a pedal.
Also...without Midi, it is going to be really hard to get back to the previous setting with that mood knob.
So the opposite also applies - small turns of the knobs make big changes, hard to dial in without the manual/familiarity.
Elektron Analog Drive
& Subdecay Vector (no midi)
Don't you use the preset button for that?
I really wanted to like it, and went there with the intention of buying it - but it just didn't sound that good to me. I tried it up against a protein and the protein was instantly better.
So left without buying anything - I love the concept, but it needs to sound good.
https://www.instagram.com/insta.guitarstuff/
...or so I thought. I did a bit of last minute reading once I got back and it turns out there is no way to edit the midi presets on the fly without essentially recreating the entire preset. The nifty little light up sequence to tell you when the knob is in the correct place only works for the dedicated 'favourite preset' which is stored to the footswitch.
This seems like a really big oversight. You can edit it via midi cc commands but that's not really helpful as you'd need to dedicate a whole bank at least on a midi device to the knobs of the Kernom on the off chance you want a little more volume, bit less gain, more treble etc.
I'm really hoping there can be a software patch for this as I can definitely see one having a place on my board.
The Kernom guys also said to keep an eye on NAMM news, they have more pedals coming (and hopefully a patch fix for midi....!)
https://www.instagram.com/insta.guitarstuff/
...if you currently own one I think you have to send it back to France to get it flashed, or if you don't you need to buy direct from Kernom to ensure it comes with the latest patch. The good thing is with the current exchange range, buying direct is cheaper than from Andertons with free shipping too (not sure on customs fees though, cheers Brexshit)
Funny enough I got a good price on a Chase Bliss mk2 and it's a similar story. It sounds utterly brilliant and it has loads of different options to make it sound exactly however you need on any given day, but the preset switching isn't gig friendly without MIDI, and in any case you can't stack it with itself, so I'd still rather just have 2 or 3 different gain stages on a board and get all the combinations that allows as well.
Fantastic pedals done really well, just not for me
The sounds I'm using are good. I've no idea if I'm covering off any other pedals, I just like what I'm getting out of it, like the fact it's just one pedal and like the fact I can have analogue overdrive but MIDI loaded presets. But.... that comes with a price.
I've found a couple of workflow issues.
First, the knobs on the unit don't represent the settings in your preset. There's a method for finding what they are, but you can't tell what the loaded preset is just by looking at it - there are no display screens. The only exception to this is the "pedal" preset. When that is loaded, the preset LED is white. When one of the other 126 MIDI presets are loaded, the LED is blue (but you have no idea which one).
Second, there is a deficiency with the way you edit MIDI-loaded presets. First, you have to save it as the Pedal preset. Then you go through the process of finding out where the knobs have been placed. Then you leave Preset mode and move the knobs where you want them now. Finally, you go into MIDI Save mode and send it the PC command you want to use to recall that preset in future. It's a bit of a faff, TBH. Doing this at band practice with your bandmates watching is not a pleasant experience! I'd improve it in two ways...
1) Make it possible to find the knob settings without needing to save it as the Pedal Preset first. I think the updated firmware will do that.
2) Once you have the parameters you want, to be able to save it using the same PC command you loaded it with without needing to use a MIDI controller to send the PC command again. So you can either update in place OR make a new preset. I don't believe the firmware update will do either of those.
Basically, if you like the preset loaded by PC005 but it's a bit quiet in the band mix, you really don't want to go through the whole process just to fix that. You want to quickly adjust something and save it.
I have no idea why Kernom cannot let their users apply a firmware update via MIDI in their own homes just like Strymon does. I'm not asking for an editor, just a firmware update program.
Still a good pedal, though. All six knobs can be "set" using CC commands (0=off, 127=fully on and also everything else in between). I've read a couple of people avoid the preset problem by sending 6 CC commands every time they load a sound to use software to twiddle the knobs for them, if you follow...
I believe the update solves both of your improvement suggestions. The midi presets are now edited in exactly the same manner as you would edit the favourite preset and saving it is done by holding down the on/off footswitch.
This video shows the new process -
Whether or not that is worth the cost of sending it back to France is the big question. I'm guessing that it might need a new chip or something rather than just a firmware flash. If not, I agree it should be something that final users can do at home.
@TheBigDipper - did yours get sorted a la France ?
I set up a sound on the Ridge that is almost transparent and programmed all 128 PC commands to recall it. That meant I could just pick a PC command for a song that used the Ridge and I program my ES-5 switcher to send that PC number when I selected that sound on the ES-5. Once the song is programmed in the ES-5 I don't even need to remember what PC command I used (which is good, as there's no screen on the Ridge to tell you which preset is loaded, just a blue light to tell you that there is one).
So, playing the song but don't like the sound I'm using? Not cutting through or too quiet? It's become easy. Twiddle the knobs on the Ridge until I like it better (get the band to play along so I can hear it with their racket as well). Press and hold the on/off button for 2 secs until the preset indicator light changes. That tells me the preset has been stored. No extra programming, just twiddle knobs and store it back using the same PC number to recall it next time.
My setup is based on the idea that I'll have to go direct for some gigs, and share backline at others, so I'm working on the basis of using a clean pedal platform and pedals for everything. My "go direct" amp is a Simplifier MK II. I've never been a big user of stacking overdrives, and I don't like using fuzz, so the Ridge is hopefully what I need to get that job done. Until the next thing... :-)