The stepabout seems like a nice clean unit with some nice stick specific features
one wrinkle....it seems like it'd be nice to have patch-points between the preamps and the switching matrix.

My thought is the switching matrix is great for routing to special effects (greg demonstrates that with a leslie style patch...on either or both sides)
BUT
it seems like one might have occasion for addition signal conditioning (maybe some extra EQ or compression, etc) that would be best done "early" on a dedicated per-side basis

sort of the ole "get the tone as early as possible then add to that" philosophy


Never seen a stepabout in the flesh, and certainly not the guts (Is the switching matrix active? are the subsystems of different boards?)...in short would it be practical to modify for that?
am I overthinking things?
am I fundamentally bad person?
Is this pot making me paranoid?

it's more just academic at the moment I suppose.
just dipping my toe back in

It sounds like you are looking for something that would finction like an insert jack on a channel strip. I don't know if it is possible, you'd have to ask Andreas Richter.

You'd have to add jacks to the unit. Perhaps an easier way to get what you are after would be to use a secondary switching matrix, after your "insert" effects. This would give you maximum flexibility as well.

Interesting question!

thanks!
(I hope "Greg" isn't too familiar)

I'll give him a shout if for no other reason than to forward the design idea


any thoughts on a secondary matrix if it should come to that?

Are you saying that you want to add external effects before the StepAbout's EQ?

before the switching matrix.

I suspect the preamp and EQ sections are fairly tightly integrated (might even be one-and-the same).

so I'm thinking

BASXXpreamp -> BASSXX EQ---> external loop --->routing matrix

The summing am for the tuner and headphones might be a bit of a toss up, My initial thought is prob go pre loop just in case something is inserted that radically wonks the sound and weirds out a tuner or other device.

My brain seems to be quite flatulent: what would be the benefit of inserting effects prior to the routing matrix?

I could certainly be more clear about it

it would allow the routing matrix to be used to route signals for special effects while allowing dedicated-per side processing to remain dedicated to that side

So let's say I have oh a multiband compressor or an extra eq or a sansamp or whatever that I just use as part of "the core sound" of that side. it's tuned to the melody side and I'm never going to use it on the bass side. Maybe it's an always on type deal.

Now running that guy post routing matrix basically eats up the routing function - I'm never going to switch bass over to it and I'm leaving it always (or mostly) on for the melody side so the melody side is left always routed to that

Think about it like an outboard extension of the dedicated-per-channel EQ already built into the stepabout

here,
I spent seconds on a quick diagram to illustrate (literally!!) the idea

[I chose the in-loop effects arbitrarily as examples...don't read too much into those specifically]

It seems like you would not need the StepAbout's routing at all, as you could route those signals at any other point in the signal chain thereafter. Though the StepAbout would still be useful as a preamp, particularly for those not using an ACTV-2 Block, I would suggest applying your routing controls later in the chain.

Whereas the patch point you describe would make the StepAbout a more versatile product, it bears mentioning that the StepAbout was designed for a fairly specific signal chain architecture; in that sense, I tend to think of it as “signature” gear.

One could route it with more gear, but that's...well...more stuff - higher overhead, in cost, component count, physical footprint, power routing -- all the standard engineering goodness
It, essentially just, wastes the stepabout's routing matrix only to duplicate it downstream


So what I'm looking at is basically, take the same routing architecture that the stepabout IS designed for, just as you would now.
BUT THEN allow for expanded possibilities in the basic tone sculpting module.

if it helps - A thought exercise might be to mentally construct a totally signature stepabout-based signal chain..then go "if only the stepbout EQ had [insert feature..Q control, second mid, etc]" might be helpful.

It's not dissimilar to adding an FX loop to an amp that lacks it.

Depending on the internals. It may (that remains to be seen) be a fairly tractable modification (if there are sub-boards or if the traces are big enough to cut...it might even be a feature to think about adding a jumper pad for in the next rev of the PCB)