Musicom Lab EFX ME vs EFX MK III

[SFW]

Ok, so I picked up a Musicom EFX ME last week. Just arrived today. I was originally looking for a used EFX MK III. Shortly after I purchased the EFX ME I found a used EFX MK III for a stupid low price. So I bought that one too...lol! The EFX MK III has more loops than I need, but would allow me to switch the channels and functions on my Splawn without the need for a RJM Mini Amp Gizmo. (Though I find the RJM unit very easy and quick to use.)

The ability to program the EFX ME from my laptop via MIDI seems like a much faster way to get my tones dialed in. However, the fact that the EFX MK III was a Pro grade model makes me wonder if it may be a better sounding unit. I know that it has a mute/tuner switch out front. How difficult is the MK III to program quickly? How difficult is it to send multiple MIDI CC messages?

I am getting ready to have custom pedalboard built, and I want to make sure that I have the best option on the board. I would love to here any thoughts and experiences. Thank you!

 

[nevusofota]

First I'd like to say my EFX MKII has served me for almost 10 years now without any failures. Definitely a well built workhorse. However, programming the midi for each preset has always been a PITA. Admittedly, I'm one that rarely needs to reprogram as once I set things up I usually only need to make minor midi changes/additions. Adding/deleting loops to the preset however is extremely easy; its the midi programming that sucks. I hate when I have to make midi changes because it's like learning everything all over. I finally made a 2 page step-by-step personal instruction sheet so I don't have to start the learning process all over again. I'm not new to midi either as I used to run a fully midi rack back in the day. I didn't know the new Musicomlab units are equipped with an editor through your PC. Your info made me look into newer models. The only one that would fit on my board would be the EFX ME but I need more than 5 loops. I was going to switch just for the editor.

I'd say if you only need the 5 loops go with the ME because of the editor. I haven't heard anything about quality declining with these later model switchers. One thing that I wish mine had was quieter switches as the clicking sound is louder than other pedals. I believe they fixed this in the later models, maybe even with the MK III and later.

 

[SFW]

Thanks for the response. One of the reasons I was considering MK III was to place the Strymon pedals in the loops and feed the amp’s effects loop via the last four loops of the MK III. Instead of doing midi cc commands, I could just turn the loop off when I didn’t want the effect for that preset.

Just not sure which way to go. For years I ran a rack setup and the only three pedals on my board were a wah, overdrive and the midi controller. Lol.

 

[nevusofota]

Thanks for the response. One of the reasons I was considering MK III was to place the Strymon pedals in the loops and feed the amp’s effects loop via the last four loops of the MK III. Instead of doing midi cc commands, I could just turn the loop off when I didn’t want the effect for that preset.

Just not sure which way to go. For years I ran a rack setup and the only three pedals on my board were a wah, overdrive and the midi controller. Lol.

So what I do is always have the loop open even when the effect isn’t on which allows me to either bypass the effect by stepping on the actual pedal. For example: I basically have 4 presets, a clean, crunch, and 2 leads. The first lead patch is dry (no reverb or delay). The second lead patch has reverb, delay, and a slight gain boost. For both lead patches I have the delay and reverb loops open and a midi command sets the delay and reverb effects into bypass mode for the first lead patch and a midi command turns the effects on for the second lead patch. The reason I keep the loops open is so I can bypass or activate the effect on the fly. Sometimes I may want to turn just the reverb off on my second lead patch without changing any other effect.

 

[ilovefridays]

@SFW Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I'm desperate as I cant seem to find any information anywhere on the EFX-ME, I'm hoping you could help me.

I just received the EFX-ME, I'm new to pedal switchers, downloaded the owner's manual, but I cannot work out how to simply assign loops to a preset! For example for bank 1 footswitch 1, I want to have this footswitch as a solo boost to turn on Loop 1 (boost pedal) and Loop 4 (delay pedal)- Bank1/Preset1.

I've spent hours scrolling through the preset mode setup, it only seems to have PC and CC programming as an option.

Any help is greatly appreciated.