Haze 40 4-Button Footswitch Option

[pacAir]

It seems that no U.S. online retailers have had the PEDL-10049 Marhall Haze 40 4-button footswitch in stock in recent memory and they all claim it will be available sometime after Christmas! I have no idea who screwed the pooch at Marshal or Korg, but having a nice little amp like this and no supply of footswitches to feed the demand (for many months!) while it is a hot topic is an extremely DUMB move on someone's part!

I have never seen this footswitch in the flesh and know of no one who actually has one! I also regularly check eBay and while a number of different people sell the amps no one sells the footswitch! While repairing a Marshall JVM I noticed that the 4-button JVM footswitch used on the 2-channel JVMs looks remarkably like the sole picture Marshall has released of the Haze foot switch (the one every online retailer uses). Also, the footswitch interface is the same... through a standard guitar cable and not some DIN plug derivative.

I thought this might indicate that the Haze 4-button FS will most likely have to "talk" to the Haze 40's switching processor in a fashion similar to that used in the JVM (overlooking the "programmability" aspect of the JVM footswitch for now). Since Marshall patented this technology it would make sense that they would use it in new designs!

I was able to pick up a 4-button JVM footswitch on eBay cheaper than buying the Haze FS (which is currently unobtainable). I intended on experimenting a bit to see if I can get the pair to talk or work without modification (or with simple "programming" using a friend's JVM combo). It would make sense for Marshall to use the same or similar footswitch circuit & technology so it may be possible to adapt the JVM footswitch to the Haze 40.

What I would give for a Haze schematic to evaluate some of this stuff! I have all the JVM schematics and the story they tell is fascinating (and absolutely required for repair). Why aren't the Haze schematics available?

If the 4-button JVM footswitch can be made to work, what might be done with the JVM 6-button? Perhaps anything that can be switched with the front panel controls could be assigned to the footswitches like the JVM (either hardwired internally or programmed). Only the footswitch firmware knows for sure!


Steve

 

[pacAir]

First Update:

I received my JVM footswitch from an eBay auction and immediately sat down to see what might occur if I plugged into my Haze 40 combo.

Success! Well, sort of. All the major functions of the Haze 4-button footswitch are definitely duplicated on the JVM 2xx series 4-button footswitch. The same switches control the same functions!

However, based on the switch I have in the condition it came out of the box, the LED indicators don't exactly track the functionality. Here is a chart of what I found:

Note: A larger PDF file of this chart is available here:

JVM-to-Haze Footswitch Chart

My intentions are to explore this marriage a bit more to determine if there is any footswitch programability possible when using this switch with the Haze and see where those experiments lead me. Since I have no Haze schematics or technical documentation related to the footswitch I will have to go by what I can learn from the JVM service information and owner's manual!


Steve

 

[tarznamps]

I have one for my Haze 15. Works as expectted except the head does not have the BOOST function.

 

[pacAir]

Good to know that the Haze footswitches DO actually exist! The photo of yours is the FIRST photo I have seen that wasn't the original factory photo all the retailers use!

I have played around a bit more with the JVM footswitch and found only a few other combinations that make LED indications (but they don't make sense) and nothing I have tried has changed the button assignments since the Haze doesn't have a Footswitch/MIDI programming button.

If I can gain access to a JVM to experiment I could try reprogramming the footswitch and see if I can get things to work differently but I'll probably just live with it the way it is until I can get the real footswitch!

Any 4-button footswitch is better than NO 4-button footswitch (or the 2-button)!


Steve

 

[pacAir]

Yet another Marshall Haze 40 footswitch update:

The whole reason I explored the JVM footswitch option for use with the Marshall Haze 40 combo was unobtainability. All of the U.S. on-line retailers either don't offer them (although they sell the amp) or continually showed them on back-order with an expected date months into the future!

After out-waiting the December 26, 2009 arrival date quoted by nearly everyone, I checked them all again and find that the NEW arrival date is in late February or early March. In stark contrast, every one of the UK & Euro online retailers I checked with have shown these footswitches to be continually in stock!

After digging a little deeper while trying to find a place to send yet another inquiry to Korg (Marshall USA) regarding this issue, I saw they were offering the footswitch on their own online store (without even the stock factory photo! To me, this is just one more sign of the lack of commitment to the franchise) and indicated that they were available. I forced the issue and ordered one. If I get an "out-of-stock" e-mail I'm going to escalate my efforts in another direction and cancel my Korg store order.

In the absence of a US Marshall support link, I sent an inquiry to Marshall UK to find out what's going on. This isn't the first time I have sent an inquiry to Marshall but I am still waiting for their first reply to any of my questions.

...it must be my breath or the color of my money. Silly me, I bought a second Haze 40 and I want a damn footswitch for it!


Steve

 

[MKB]

Steve, thanks for the tip on Korg having the footswitches. I too have been waiting for one to pop up. I ordered one tonight from the Korg web site, which mentioned they were "available". I'll let you know if I hear anything.

 

[pacAir]

Haze 40 4-Button Footswitch Option - DENIED!

While everyone else in the U.S. shows the Haze 40 footswitch out of stock with none expected for months, the Korg onlline Marshall store showed them as available. Since I couldn't seem to get an answer regarding my inquiry about availability I went ahead and ordered a PEDL10049 footswitch.

5 days later, I get an apology message from Korg stating that they are out of stock and expect to be able to fill the order in 5 to 8 weeks (eerily similar to the expected availability back in October).

The only reason I would buy it from Korg was if they actually had one. Since they don't, I would rather do business with a source that correctly communicates their stock & availability information.

Order Cancelled!

Still talking to myself...

BTW: The second Haze 40 I purchased was another "problem child" which showed up in perfect physical condition but internallly had a badly twisted and cracked volume control on the gain channel (and minor scrapes on the PC board at the location of the damaged pot). From the looks of the board, it appears that this board was DROPPED at the factory then installed in the amp! The damage was all internal and could not have been caused by any external influence. I ordered a "real" pot to replace it (from Weber... 1Meg Ohm dual audio taper) and I will wire it indirectly to the circuit board contacts. I wouldn't think of relying on Marshall or Korg for the correct part after the run-around I've had on schematics and the footswitch!


Steve

 

[MKB]

Wow Steve, I'm a bit embarrassed... last week after I read your post that you found Korg had stock, I ordered one also. It arrived at my house today via UPS. I sincerely hope I didn't get yours!!!

It was shipped from a place called Dave Phillips Music. For laughs I went on the Dave Phillips web site, they had not a single Haze product listed there. Go figure..

 

[pacAir]

Yes that's my footswitch, give it back!

I guess you got lucky and got the ONLY Haze footswitch left on a shelf in the U.S.! I'll just wait like everyone else in the country, totally clueless why companies who have been doing a successful business for decades can have such a long-standing problem with such a simple accessory item.


Steve

 

[Cardiac Tom]

I'll just wait like everyone else in the country, totally clueless why companies who have been doing a successful business for decades can have such a long-standing problem with such a simple accessory item.

Simple...they outsource that kind of stuff and have someone else make them...then the company slaps their logo on it and then have to answer to availability and quality issues...

 

[pacAir]

Simple...they outsource that kind of stuff and have someone else make them...then the company slaps their logo on it and then have to answer to availability and quality issues...

Oh yeah, I hear you there. However, if a major delay is expected you shouldn't incrementally keep changing a delivery date every month or so. You create expectations that keep getting delayed and that tends to piss people off. If you just told your dealers it won't be available for 6 months then that is what it is and you tell the same story to Customer Service and your customers.

I think I may have discovered the reason why these footswitches have been delayed. I found out that the company I work for recently rejected the Atmel processor family also used in the JVM & Haze footswitches for consideration in a new product design because of a 6 month lead-time on getting chips.

If I was Marshall and this happened to me, I would hoard what I could get and make JVM footswitches out of them (higher return) and make the Haze owners wait (which is what is happening, I am guessing). However, I would also be more communicative with my own support people about the expected outcome and how best to deal with the customer inquiries, though. Being clueless does NOT engender trust and confidence in the company OR the product.

BTW... Back in November I sent an e-mail to Marshall USA to inquire about Haze schematics and the lack of information and online support on their website (as compared to other manufacturers). They finally sent me a reply today (after thinking about it for 3 months) with attached Haze 40 schematics and a note about taking my suggestions "under advisement". I appreciate the schematics (which I already found somewhere else... thanks Enzo!) but I won't hold my breath for corporate change!


Steve