Beat Bars FS3

The Beat Bars FS3 is a dual MIDI foot switch: a two-button controller that sits on the floor and sends MIDI commands to other gear rather than processing your guitar signal itself. It was introduced by Beat Bars in March 2020, alongside the company's EX3 MIDI expression pedal, and was available to order from the Beat Bars website at the time of the announcement¹.

What it does

The FS3 sends three kinds of MIDI events: control change (CC), program change and note events. When sending control change data, the two buttons support on/off (2 values) or impulse (1 value) modes, so a switch can either toggle a parameter between two states or fire a single value, the way a momentary button does¹.

It can also transmit a MIDI clock signal, with one of the foot switches acting as a tap tempo button. For a player with a MIDI-equipped delay, drum machine or looper, that means tapping tempo at the floor and having the connected device follow, without a separate clock source¹.

Connections and power

Like the EX3, the FS3 offers both MIDI and USB connections and is powered over USB, so it needs no battery or separate power supply when connected to a USB host¹.

What reviewers said

Writing at launch, Lasse Eilers of gearnews.com called the FS3 a useful pedal capable of solving a variety of problems, and noted that the clock option would have covered a past need of his own: "back at the time, a simple solution like the FS3 would've been just what I needed," referring to syncing a Microkorg delay via tap tempo¹.

Questions