Liquid Foot Jr+

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I'm well on the way to dropping some cash on an FAMC Liquid Foot LF+ Jr+ and would like some opinions...

I heard their support used to be a bit ropey but they've admitted to this and it's improved a lot from what I've heard + they've been really quite helpful so far with my questions, so it *seems* that's not really a big concern (although tell me otherwise!)

Why I think it's the best bet:
  • I wanna control a pair of Voodoo Labs pedal switchers: it can send MIDI Sysex to configure them when I start up. Then I can send CC toggles to turn them on/off with each preset. (This is a biggie. No pedal switchers = no programmable fun sounds!)
  • General MIDI commands to control my Diezel Herbert and a Strymon Timeline/BigSky (this is a no brainer - the one thing every MIDI controller does!)
  • It has an LCD per button so I can work out what patches I'm going no matter what bank/mode I'm in for with no "wrong bank surprises". Also the LCDs are programmable coloured screens per button to help with the 'no surprises/quick glance' knowledge of where I am in the grand scheme of presets.
  • It does song/setlist modes so I always have the buttons I need for each song without having to worry about bank changes at gigs.
  • It's small. Any deeper and it's too big for my pedalboard. But I can still get a second one later to run in slave mode if necessary to give me more buttons width-wise, without increasing the depth.
  • I can configure lots of custom layouts/setups. Which can include any MIDI commands to trigger not only my guitar rig patches but start/stop sequencers or trigger samplers, or use looper settings on the Timeline. These buttons can also change dependant on the 'page' I'm on so I can still have all presets most of the time and not waste buttons when I don't need them.
  • It has a Mac + PC editor that connects via USB to save lots of time when I'm configuring all the above

So, any thoughts/experiences? Anything else I should look into instead before purchase?
 
I only have experience with the original LF Pro and LF jr. Yeah, the service was a bit wonky and the software to program the pedals was even wonkier. Still they have held up well and do what they are supposed to do.

Hopefully the software has gotten better.

The only reason I'd be hesitant is that Marius from Access Electronics is now at Mesa Boogie so you never know what kind of awesome stuff will come out of that partnership.
 
Thanks Ned. Any expansion on the "software to program the pedals was even wonkier"? You mean the windows/mac editor? How long ago was that with the original LF series? Hopefully any bugs have all been ironed out by now and fixes carried through to the later LF+ series. I loaded the editing software to have a play and get a better idea of the thing, and that seemed pretty solid, but obviously that doesn't take into account a lot of things.

This thing really seems to be the one best for me in terms of size, usability and possibilities from all the research I've done so far, but the better I know "bad" things from the past with their respective timeframe from any smaller company the better! :)

I've heard of Access multiple times but not familiar with their products. Would they be likely to have the same flexibility, or more 'basic' MIDI options? I assume this is speculation that could currently be a long time coming?

Thanks again. :)
 
I'll chime in, I have a LF+12+......and I've encountered one glitch issue the year-ish I've had it. And that was just a clash between a firmware update and software update that were rolled out. As long as you are smart, and backup your configurations, and when there is a new download of firmware I recommend downloading it so you can always roll back the firmware to a version that worked.....IF.......there is a problem again.

I've had some great responses on the forums for LF, the only issues I've had with the support have been when I've had issues when I normally do my tweaking or adjusting of presets.....which is usually later at night....It's tough to get responses in the time frame where I dont feel like I'm playing email/forum tag.....but if there is enough of a problem, there are plenty of cases where they have documented their support calling you directly (sometimes the owner himself) to help out. THeir support ticket system has improved a ton, though I havent had to use it yet. The issue with the support system they had was that tickets weren't coming in to their mailboxes for some reason....but they redesigned the whole ticket system to eliminate the timing issues and lost tickets they were having.

A lot of the newer firmwares/software updates they roll out are for some specific more advanced features....and while they seem cool when I read the release notes...I often do not update the firmware/software because its not something that applies to the programming I use. What I have now works great...why add features I wont use and take a chance on any issues popping up and having to redo all my programming (which I don't now that I learned to back stuff up)

Hope that helps....any other questions let me know....Cheers.
 
All I can add is that I've been using a LF Pro now for about 6 years and it has worked flawlessly. It's built like a tank.

 
They are definitely built like tanks. My LF Jr has had beer spilled on it, girls step all over it and it's still functioning perfectly.

The original software was Java based I believe and only worked through midi (no USB). It was very unstable and frankly a PITA to deal with.

The Access Electronics FX-1 was the freaking bomb. Killer software. More expensive than the Liquid Foot products.
 
I've got nothing but good things to say about the LF Pro. Never tried the JR, but I'm sure you cant go wrong.
 
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