Microdesignum MIDI Piccolo 4F

The Microdesignum MIDI Piccolo 4F is a simple foot MIDI controller with four footswitches, numbered 1 to 4, for controlling four presets of a guitar effects unit or four channels of a guitar amp¹. It is part of Microdesignum's Piccolo line of small MIDI pedals, alongside the display-equipped MIDI Piccolo 4S1D and the two-footswitch MIDI Piccolo 2F1D.

Four footswitches, four presets

The controller has four footswitches numbered 1 to 4, and an LED near each one indicating that the footswitch, meaning the preset, is on¹. When a footswitch is pressed, a Program Change message on channel 1 is sent to the MIDI output with a value according to the footswitch: the first footswitch sends Program Change 1, the second sends Program Change 2, and so on¹.

For players who need to step through more than four programs, the Piccolo 4S1D takes a different approach: its two footswitches, labeled ◂Program and Program▸, decrease and increase the program number shown on a display and send it as a Program Change to the MIDI output³. The smaller Piccolo 2F1D works the same way, and Microdesignum positions it as a smaller and cheaper replacement for the TECH21 MIDI Mouse controller².

Power and connections: one MIDI cable

The MIDI Piccolo 4F connects to the controlled device with a single MIDI cable that conducts both the MIDI signal and the power supply¹. There is no separate power connection at the controller end, which keeps the pedalboard wiring to one cable.

The wider Piccolo family handles power in two ways. The 4S1D and 2F1D manuals describe connecting an included power supply adapter to a supply socket in the controller³⁴, while the 2F1D product page also specifies phantom supply via the MIDI cable: either AC or DC voltage of 8 to 15 V on pins 6 and 7 of a DIN7 connector, with the MIDI OUT as a legacy DIN7 connector carrying that phantom supply². The 2F1D also has a MIDI IN input for merging a MIDI signal from another device².

Kemper Profiler variant and other versions

Microdesignum offers a complete MIDI Piccolo 4F configured for the Kemper Profiler, sending Control Change messages 50 to 53 for switching slots on the Kemper¹. This is the variant to look for if the goal is slot switching rather than preset recall.

The product page also lists a standalone module version of the Piccolo 4F without footswitches, marked as available later¹. Microdesignum has a history of this format: the Piccolo 2F1D is sold both as a module without footswitches at 120.00 USD and as a complete controller in a box at 213.00 USD², and a specially adjusted 2F1D variant serves as a MIDI footswitch controller for the EHX V256 vocoder⁵.

Price

Microdesignum's product page lists the complete MIDI Piccolo 4F controller sending Program Change 1 to 4 at 170.00 USD¹. The same page also carries a 150.00 USD figure, and the two listings disagree, so the price a buyer pays depends on which listing and configuration applies at the time of order².

Questions