My question, thus is: what are some good expression pedals that work well for such purposes? I'm wholly a noob on this.
I can read the AXE I/O manual and see that: "You can use any available 'momentary' or 'sustain pedal' type foot switch that includes a 1/4 inch connector. Both normally open and normally closed switches are supported. AXE IO also support continuous expression pedals for controlling realtime parameters like Wah, Volume, FX depth etc. Any 1/4” TRS connector expression pedal will work with AXE IO. MIDI messages associated with these controllers are freely assignable from the 'Control app'".
I'm kind of getting the sense that there are pedals that basically "on/off" (momentary?) and pedals that sweep across some range of values (continuous?). Obviously, a continuous pedal is needed for wah. But I see some pedals on the market that seem to be continuous but with some sort of added switching feature -- perhaps allowing them to turn on (momentary?) when you touch them and then, once on, control a sweep (continuous?). I guess these use one cable for the momentary switch and another for the continuous switch (similar question), or whether different pedals might take one or the other of these approaches. (Marketing literature for expression pedals seems to assume one knows how they work, which is really not the case for me!
)I am guessing virtually any continuous expression pedal would work well enough for controlling wah-type stomps in AmpliTube via the AXE I/O: e.g., the Roland/Boss EV-5, the M-Audio EXP, the Moog EP-3, or the Nektar NX-P. I notice some makers have both single- and dual-channel pedals: like Mission Engineering has the EP-1, which is just a single channel expression pedal (like, I guess, the Roland/Boss EV-5, etc.) but also the SP-1 which is dual channel, with two outputs, and seems to let you not only sweep something like a wah (continuous) but switch the wah on and off (momentary?). In contrast (maybe?), the Electro-Harmonix seems to claim that it controls two features from the same pedal; I'm not quite sure what this means ... but maybe (?) that you are (for example) sweeping the wah and simultaneously changing the tremolo speed with the same foot movement? I am not sure whether it is intended to let you use one channel to switch the effect controlled with the other channel on and off. (There's also an EH single-channel expression pedal that I assume is, again, like the Roland/Boss EV-5, the M-Audio EXP, or the Mission EP-1. There's also the somewhat curious EH Next Step expression pedal with no moving parts which seems interesting, though I am not sure it is still being manufactured, so maybe it didn't turn out as well as hoped?)
Anyway ... being able to control/sweep -- and, ideally, turn on/off -- a wah-type stomp model (etc.) within my DAW would be super cool, and the AXE I/O otherwise seems a very nice interface for guitarists anyway.
I am wondering what other people's experiences with attaching expression pedals to the AXE I/O has been, and whether they recommend any particular one over others. I guess most of them are pretty similar in their control functions, but the prices of individual pedals can vary widely, so I am guessing the major distinctions are perhaps in build-quality, smoothness and control of sweep action, etc.
Though I kind of feel like there should be more surety than that ....
