Footswitch for Fender Power Chorus

Mosher-Bryan · 11-17-2006, 12:50 PM

I need a footswitch for my Fender Power Chorus. Unfortuneately Fender doesn't make one for that amp anymore and I've been unable to find one on ebay. So, does anyone here have any idea where I'd be able to get one? Does anyone have one? Any help would be great!

**thesteve** · 11-17-2006, 12:54 PM

Is this amp similar to the Fender Princeton Chorus or Ultimate Chorus amps? If so, it would just use a two button footswitch that controls the overdrive channel and the distortion channel. I don't know alot about that amp though, but I will put in a little research on it when i can.

EDIT: I found a Power Chorus on eBay with an included footswitch. It's a Fender four button.

Mosher-Bryan · 11-17-2006, 01:31 PM

I've tried footswitches for those amps and they don't work. The one fender use to make for it was a three button with channel, boost, and chorus. I had a two button switch that I got with it when I bought it used. It had channel and reverb, but the reverb button did nothing and the chorus was always on when it was plugged in.

**thesteve** · 11-17-2006, 01:39 PM

the one being sold with the amp on ebay is a four button with channel/reverb/chorus/boost.

I think (speculation) that most four button footswitches will work to control those four functions. My suggestion would be to find a Fender dealer that has a Fender four-button in stock and bring your amp to the store and see if it will work on your amp. If it will work, then I'd go ahead and order (or purchase if the store stocks them) and relabel the buttons yourself.

Mosher-Bryan · 11-17-2006, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

the one being sold with the amp on ebay is a four button with channel/reverb/chorus/boost.

I think (speculation) that most four button footswitches will work to control those four functions. My suggestion would be to find a Fender dealer that has a Fender four-button in stock and bring your amp to the store and see if it will work on your amp. If it will work, then I'd go ahead and order (or purchase if the store stocks them) and relabel the buttons yourself.

Actually, I work at a Fender dealer! I've tried a footswitch from an Ultimate Chorus and it did not work at all. I think the reverb button switched the channel and the other buttons did nothing! I just found a 2-button on ebay that supposedly works for it.http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...2404&rd=1&rd=1 No boost button, but I would probably survive without it.

**thesteve** · 11-17-2006, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mosher-Bryan

Actually, I work at a Fender dealer! I've tried a footswitch from an Ultimate Chorus and it did not work at all. I think the reverb button switched the channel and the other buttons did nothing! I just found a 2-button on ebay that supposedly works for it.http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...2404&rd=1&rd=1 No boost button, but I would probably survive without it.

that's the same footswitch as the Fender UC and Princeton C. I'm not entirely certain that the seller knows what they're talking about.

There are two Power Choruses on eBay right now, and both include the 4-button switch
http://cgi.ebay.com/FENDER-POWER-CHO...QQcmdZViewItem
and
http://cgi.ebay.com/FENDER-POWER-CHO...QQcmdZViewItem

Mosher-Bryan · 11-17-2006, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

that's the same footswitch as the Fender UC and Princeton C. I'm not entirely certain that the seller knows what they're talking about.

There are two Power Choruses on eBay right now, and both include the 4-button switch
http://cgi.ebay.com/FENDER-POWER-CHO...QQcmdZViewItem
and
http://cgi.ebay.com/FENDER-POWER-CHO...QQcmdZViewItem

Really? The Ultimate Chorus I tried had a four button. It was the one I tried with my power chorus and had Channel, Drive/More Drive, Reverb, and Chorus. I'm thinking I should contact someone at Fender to figure this out for sure.

**thesteve** · 11-17-2006, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mosher-Bryan

Really? The Ultimate Chorus I tried had a four button. It was the one I tried with my power chorus and had Channel, Drive/More Drive, Reverb, and Chorus. I'm thinking I should contact someone at Fender to figure this out for sure.

mmm...that's interesting. I didn't even think the UC had a "More Drive" switch. Maybe there's more than one UC model out there. I thought they were just the same as the Princeton Chorus, but bigger. The Princeton C only had a mid boost button on the drive channel, but not an actual "more drive" switch.

Mosher-Bryan · 11-17-2006, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

mmm...that's interesting. I didn't even think the UC had a "More Drive" switch. Maybe there's more than one UC model out there. I thought they were just the same as the Princeton Chorus, but bigger. The Princeton C only had a mid boost button on the drive channel, but not an actual "more drive" switch.

I was just checking the archived manuals on fender.com and it turns out that the UC and the UC DSP both used a 3-button footswitch, so I think we're both a little confused! Of course there's no manual on there for the Power Chorus, cause that would just make things to easy for me

Ok, I figured it out! The 4-button came with the Stage 160 DSP, which we had in the store at the same time as the Ultimate Chorus. They were both the same size, which explains my confusion! I know I tried the footswitch for both of those amps though, and neither worked.

**thesteve** · 11-17-2006, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mosher-Bryan

I was just checking the archived manuals on fender.com and it turns out that the UC and the UC DSP both used a 3-button footswitch, so I think we're both a little confused! Of course there's no manual on there for the Power Chorus, cause that would just make things to easy for me

Where does it mention it for the pre-DSP model? All I could find was a line about the footswitch having two buttons to select the channel and to turn chorus on and off. This is also noted on page 8 of 11 of the same manual.
The UC DSP indeed is a three button footswitch.

According to the Fender site, they do have the manual for the Power Chorus in their archives. Emailing them about it is sounding better and better.

EDIT: http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:...&ct=clnk&cd=11

Harmony-Central reviews. Sorry I could only provide a cached link. For some reason HC reviews aren't working for me

Mosher-Bryan · 11-17-2006, 05:25 PM

http://www.fenderusa.com/store/enter...uct=0994057000

Google comes through for me!!

**thesteve** · 11-17-2006, 05:33 PM

there ya go. too bad you couldn't find one of the original 4-button switches though. man. I always love being able to footswitch all of the button options on an amp.

Mosher-Bryan · 11-17-2006, 05:40 PM

I'll take what I can get and keep watching ebay. I'm sure a 4-button will turn up eventually!

**thesteve** · 11-17-2006, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mosher-Bryan

I'll take what I can get and keep watching ebay. I'm sure a 4-button will turn up eventually!

Indeed. I gave up finding a two-button footswitch for my Acoustic 150. I set out to get a Fender two-button (the type used for the Twin Reverbs) but ended up getting a great deal on a Randall two-button footswitch. I ended up flipping the faceplate over and handwriting the labels. I found this to be a better solution than rewiring the switches to get them to match the printed labels.

Mosher-Bryan · 12-14-2006, 12:00 PM

grrrr. I got the two button footswitch I bought on ebay today that was supposed to work with my amp, but it didn't. The channel button worked, but the chorus would not switch off, just like all the other ones I've tried. I wonder if maybe there's something wrong with the amp? Or maybe it needs a stereo cable instead of a mono? I know that all the new fender amps use mono, but the older ones could be different.