Mission Engineering

What sets the brand apart is how specific its products are. Instead of one generic expression pedal, Mission Engineering builds versions matched to particular platforms, from Line 6 modelers to Kemper Profilers to Strymon and EarthQuaker Devices effects, along with the Expressionator, a multiplexer that lets one pedal drive several devices²³⁴.

Expression pedals from Petaluma, California

Mission Engineering's catalog is built around the expression pedal. Its products include the EP-1, the EP-25K and EP-25K in white, the EP-1-BK SPL, and the SP1-L6H, alongside volume pedals such as the VM-PRO and VM-1²⁵⁶.

The EP-1-BK SPL is a straightforward expression pedal that, as its maker describes it, "can be used anywhere you would use a Roland EV-5, M-Audio EXP, Boss FV500, or similar pedal"⁷. That comparison points at the standard single-pedal TRS expression market, where the Boss FV-500L also sits with its expression output "for use with expression-compatible amps, effects, and even synthesizers"⁸.

The SP1-L6H is a more targeted design: "The SP1-L6H can be connected to inputs on Line 6 devices that support an expression pedal and toe switch"⁹. That toe switch is the practical difference for Line 6 users, since it lets one pedal both sweep a parameter and switch functions, in the same way Line 6's own EX-1 covers "all Helix, HX, POD Go, and FBV family products"¹⁰.

Known for the Expressionator and amp-specific expression pedals

Two things the brand is known for: the Expressionator, and pedals built for one platform¹¹².

The platform-specific approach shows up across the range:

• The EP1-KP Kemper, built for the Kemper Profiler, a space Dunlop also serves with its XP Series expression pedal for Kemper, made to "maximize the potential of the Kemper Profiler"¹², and for the TMP¹³
• The SP1-L6 Helix and SP1-L6H for Line 6 devices⁹
• The SP-H9 for Eventide
• The EQD-1, made for EarthQuaker Devices effects⁴
• The EP-25K, recommended by Strymon⁶

Mission Engineering is the maker of the Expressionator, a multi-expression controller announced by the company: "Mission Engineering has announced the availability of the Expressionator"¹¹. The product gives the company its standing in the expression pedal field, sitting alongside its volume and expression pedals and its collaborations with effects makers such as the EQD-1 expression pedal for EarthQuaker Devices⁴.

What is the Mission Engineering Expressionator?

The Expressionator is an expression pedal multiplexer: a box that takes one expression pedal and splits its control across multiple devices. Oscillator Devices describes its own Garbage Collector's applications as including "Expression pedal multiplexing like with the Mission Engineering Expressionator (in combination with e.g. Morningstar)" MIDI controllers such as the MC6 and MC8¹⁴, which shows the Expressionator's role as the reference product for this kind of setup.

Multiplexing matters because modern rigs mix MIDI and expression control. The RJM Mastermind PBC/6X, for instance, has an "Expression pedal input that can be programmed to generate MIDI messages based on the position of the pedal"¹⁵, and Morningstar's MC3 offers "Expression pedal connectivity for smooth continuous control over effect parameters"¹⁶. A multiplexer like the Expressionator sits between your pedal and that ecosystem, letting one foot movement reach several destinations.

Compatibility with amps, modelers and effects

Mission Engineering pedals appear in the compatibility documentation of several major makers, which is a practical measure of how widely they are supported¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹:

The range (28)

Questions