BJ TB-12 User manual

TB-12/TB-5 TRAVEL BOX series MIDI FOOT CONTROLLER Firmware version 1.46
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TB-12 /
TB-5
MIDI FOOT CONTROLLER
OWNER'S MANUAL
Contents
Feature Highlights .........................................................3
Specifications.................................................................3
Connections...................................................................4
Powering Up..................................................................5
Modes............................................................................5
MIDI Setup....................................................................6
Managing Presets...........................................................7
Managing Effects...........................................................8
SHIFT mode..................................................................8
TAP Tempo ...................................................................9
Loading Banks...............................................................9
Saving Banks.................................................................9
Renaming Banks..........................................................10
Connecting External Devices ......................................10
Expression Pedal 1 and Expression Pedal 2 ................10
External Bank Switcher...............................................10
Relay Switch................................................................11
Tuner and Preset Name Display..................................11
Using Controller with Guitar Rig, Amplitube and Other
Similar Software..........................................................12
Firmware Update.........................................................12

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Feature Highlights
Large alphanumerical backlit LCD screen (2
lines, up to 16 characters each)
Heavy-duty footswitch buttons
Support for phantom power over MIDI
30 banks with up to 12 (5) presets per each
bank (depending on the footswitch
configuration)
12 (5) footswitches assignable to preset,
effect (instant access switch) or bank selection
16 MIDI channels; any 2 channels may be
selected to send and receive midi messages
simultaneously
Jacks for 2 expression pedals
Support for external expansion devices (for
example, external bank selection
footswitches)
Preset names are displayed dynamically as
they load and IA status LEDs show the active
effect(s) of the currently loaded preset
TAP TEMPO support
Four relay jacks for remote control of external
devices, for example for guitar amp channel
switching
Onboard memory stores up to 360 (150)
presets in 30 banks
Each of the 30 banks can be individually
named (bank name up to 12 characters)
Tuner and preset name support
Current bank number and MIDI channel is
saved upon power off
USB for firmware upgrade and external
application control (AmpliTube, Guitar Rig,
etc.)
Rugged and road-ready steel chassis
Specifications
MIDI
Type 5-pin jacks - MIDI IN and MIDI OUT
Screen
Type backlit LCD, alphanumerical (2 lines 16
characters each)
Other switching jacks
Type 2 x 1/4" stereo jack –relay
switches2 x 1/4" stereo jack –
expression pedal switches
Type USB type B –USB OUT
Power consumption
Type DC
Voltage 7-12 V, 350 mA
Dimensions and weight
TB-12: 420(mm) x 180(mm)x55(mm) / 2(kg)
TB-5: 210(mm) x 180(mm)x55(mm) / 1(kg)
Package Contains
1. TB-12(TB-5) –1pcs.
2. Power adapter - 1pcs.
3. User Guide - 1 pcs.
Custom length MIDI cable (DIN 5pin-DIN 5pin)
is available upon order.

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1. Connections
The controller connections are as follows (see Fig.
1). Fig.1 shows the back panel of TB-12; the back
panel of TB-5 is identical in terms of connections,
so you can use the same cables. MIDI OUT: use
this port to connect the controller to MIDI IN port
of your MIDI device. Use a MIDI DIN5pin-DIN5pin
cable. MIDI IN: use this port to transmit midi data
to the controller from the MIDI OUT port of your
MIDI device (for example to transfer tuner data or
footswitch status). Use a MIDI DIN5pin-DIN5pin
cable. To use relay jacks SW1/2 and SW3/4 you
will need a 1/4" stereo jack –1/4" stereo jack
cable. One end of the cable is connected to SW
jack of the controller and the other - to the
footswitch jack of a guitar amp or any other
similar device To connect an expression pedal to
Exp.1 or Exp.2 jack you will need either an
identical cable or a Y-cable (stereo 1/4" jack –two
mono 1/4" jacks). See Fig.2 for the wiring diagram.
It depends on the expression pedal, which of the
two cable types you should use.
It is highly recommended to make all connection
before you power up the controller, otherwise the
controller may stop responding and you will need
to restart it or it may reboot itself.
MIDI
IN
SW1/2 SW3/4 Exp.P1 Exp.P2 USB
OUT MIDI
OUT DC-+
Fig. 1
Fig. 2

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2. Controls
Fig. 3
The and buttons (see Fig. 3) can be
used in two ways. Further in this manual,
depending on the feature, only one of the button
names (either SETUP or NO and either LOAD or
OK) will be mentioned.
SETUP –activates the setup mode (see par. 4 –
Modes)
NO –exits the current mode without saving.
LOAD –activates Bank Load mode (see par. 8 –
Loading Banks)
OK –confirms the current selection or saves the
settings.
, , , - buttons used to
navigate the menus and change parameter values.
Footswitches 1-12 (1-5 for TB5) may be used to
select Presets (see par. 6 –Managing Presets) or
as Instant Access switches to turn on/off individual
effects within a preset (see par. 7 –Managing
Effects) or to change the controllers banks.
Any of the footswitches can be assigned one of
the three functions via the menu.
3. Powering Up
There are two ways of supplying power to your
controller: - You can connect an DC adaptor (7-
12V, 350mA, center negative) to the jack on the
back panel of the controller. - Alternatively, you
can supply phantom power via the MIDI cable.
Phantom power is received at MIDI OUT port of
the controller. Please note that we use 5 pin (NOT
7 pin) MIDI OUT port that receives phantom
power on pins 2 and 4 (outer pins, see Fig. 4
below).
-
+
outside viewof the connector
Fig. 4
Phantom power the controller receives is also
available on pins 2 and 4 of the MIDI IN port so
that you can daisy-chain several phantom
powered MIDI devices.
Three seconds after the power is supplied to the
controller, the firmware version is displayed on
the screen, the LEDs blink several times and the
controller is ready for operation.
4. Modes
The controller has two operation modes:
performance mode and setup mode.

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In performance mode, the performance menu is
displayed on the controller screen. The
performance mode menu consists of the following
elements (see Fig.5):
1 –preset bank number stored in the controller
memory;
2 –preset bank name set by the user;
3 –number of the active preset of the controlled
device (1 –127)
4 –number of the active bank of the controlled
device (you may choose not to display this
element during setup)
12
34
Fig.5
When you press a footswitch, the controller
transmits a MIDI message. The controller also
receives MIDI data that lets it display the preset
names on its screen and effect (IA) statuses via its
LEDs. You can change the active preset number of
the controlled MIDI device on the fly by pressing
,buttons (see par.6 –Managing
Presets).
Setup mode is used to configure the controller
parameters. While in this mode, you can still press
footswitches and the controller can send and
receive all MIDI data. Setup menu consists of the
following categories (see Fig.6).
Save to bank System setup
MIDI channel
Выбор банка РедактированиеButton 1 type Relay SW1
Relay SW4
Exp.P1
Exp.P2
TAP
Button 12 type
Bankswmode
Type: PC Ch 1: open
Ch 12: open
CC: 64
CC: 65
CC: 66
Type: CС 127
ON BOARD
.... ....
<1> 2 < < <
<
<
PRG CH mode
PC+Select Bank
Trough mode
On
Buttons setup Exp&Tap&Tun Relay setup Rename bank
LINEAL
Exp.P1 Type
Exp.P2 Type
LINEAL
Send Tuner CC
CC: 2
Show pr. name
Show BNK
Fig.6
You can navigate the menu by pressing ,
, , buttons. To enter Setup
mode, press SETUP button. Pressing SETUP button
again will return you to the previous menu level or
to the performance mode of the controller.
For quick load of the required bank press LOAD
button and the controller will be ready to load the
desired bank instantly (for more details see par.6
Loading a Bank).
To save any changed value of a parameter
selected from the menu or bank name press
, to leave the menu (category) press .
5. MIDI Setup
In Performance mode, press SETUP and navigate
to System Setup by pressing or .
Press to edit.

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You can select any two MIDI channels that the
controller will work with by pressing or
. If you don’t need two MIDI channels you can
deactivate one of them by selecting .
Set the MIDI channel number that your external
MIDI device is using by pressing or .
Press . The controller will save the entered
value. Press SETUP and the controller will return
to Performance mode. If the settings are correct,
the your MIDI device will activate the desired
preset if it exists it its memory.
In the same menu, you can choose to send Bank
Change message together with Program Change
message (preset change). This comes handy when
you control, for example, AXE-FX where the
presets are organized in banks.
To do so, navigate to PRG CH MODE submenu and
select PC+Select Bank parameter.
You can also choose to pass all messages received
by the controller’s MIDI IN port to its MIDI OUT
port. There are two values in Through Mode
submenu:
On –MIDI IN messages are passed to MIDI OUT;
Off –MIDI IN messages are not passed to MIDI
OUT;
6. Managing Presets
TB-12(TB-5) allows you to access up to 12(5)
presets of a controlled MIDI device. You can
program each footswitch (or only some of them)
to activate a preset of a MIDI controlled device.
This preset is displayed in the lower line of the
screen (in Performance mode) and the LED of the
corresponding footswitch lights red. Enter Setup
mode and navigate to Buttons Setup submenu to
choose, which footswitches will switch presets. To
set the footswitches as preset change switches
(Program Change messages will be sent) set the
Type to PC in Button 1 type –Button 12 type
submenus.
The preset number is specified in Performance
mode with and buttons; all buttons
of the controller will stay active. When you set
preset number in Performance mode, keep in
mind that you do so for the currently active
footswitch. To set preset number for a different
footswitch, press that footswitch first. Pressing a
preset change footswitch will initiate a Program
Change message with the desired preset number.
Don’t forget to save the changes - all the changes
you make will be lost when you switch the bank or
turn the controller off unless you save the changes
in the internal memory of the controller. To do so,
save the bank (see par.9 –Saving Banks).

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7. Managing Effects
You can choose to assign any of the 12(5)
footswitches IA functions, i.e. to control individual
effects within a preset. Footswitch LEDs indicate if
the effect is on or off. When an effect is on, the
corresponding LED lights green.
A MIDI device effects are associated with unique
numbers. For many MIDI devices you can set these
command numbers from the menu or via the learn
function, but for some devices these numbers are
‘hardwired’. With TB-12 (TB-5), you can set the CC
number of each button that performs IA function.
To set the required CC numbers you should find
out the CC numbers that are assigned to the
respective effects of the controlled MIDI device.
You can usually find this information in the user
guide of the controlled device. To set up a
footswitch as an IA switch, enter the menu,
navigate to Buttons setup submenu and select the
required footswitch (Button 1 –12(5) type). To set
the footswitches as an IA switch (Control Change
messages will be sent) set the Type to CC_tg in
Button 1 type –Button 12 type submenus.
First, navigate to the lower line with
button, then to effect number (CC number) –
with . After that, you can select CC number
with and . To save, press . To
exit without saving, press .
LEDs status (on/off) change when you press a
footswitch as well as when the controller receives
a message from the controlled device that the
corresponding effect is on or off (for example, if it
was activated on the device without using the
controller footswitches).
Also you can choose to assign any of the 12(5)
footswitches to send Control Change messages
with constant value inside message. It can be used
if you want to switch “scenes” in AxeFx II
processor. Choose CC_tg button type in Buttons
setup submenu for any button you want. In this
mode you can select CC number and CC value, as
described above. In case button uses to switch
“scenes” CC value matched “scene” number.
SHIFT mode
In case you need more than 12(5) buttons to
control presets and individual effects you can use
the Shift mode, which gives you essentially a dual
layout of the footswitches. In this mode, layout 1
will become the one you usually have and use in
Performance mode, while layout 2 will turn all
footswitches into IA switches (sending CC
messages), and the LEDs will act accordingly. In
Shift mode, one of the footswitches allows you to
switch between the layouts. When layout 1 is

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active Shift mode footswitch LED blinks with long
pauses, and when layout 2 is active the same LED
blinks with short pauses. You can activate Shift
mode for any of the footswitches in Button type
menu.
TAP Tempo
You can tap tempo by repeatedly hitting the
footswitch of the selected preset, which will send
tap tempo CC message.
Enter Setup menu and navigate to
Exp&Tap&Tuner submenu, then select TAP.
Choose CC number corresponding to the one of
the controlled device. With each repeated tap this
CC will be sent to the controlled device.
Tap tempo is not accompanied by LED flashing; no
additional information is shown on the display as
well.
Thus, TAP TEMPO feature is always available.
8. Loading Banks
By default, LOAD button is used to load the
controller banks.
To load a bank when in Performance mode, press
LOAD. Load bank menu will be displayed.
Select the required bank with and ,
bank name will be displayed in the lower line To
confirm bank load press .
You can also change banks up and down on-the-
fly. To do so, you will need to program any two
footswitches out of 12 (5) available. Enter Buttons
Setup menu and assign BNKup and BNKdown to
the desired footswitches.
When you do so, LEDs of these footswitches will
become inactive.
9. Saving Banks
To save bank setting enter setup mode by pressing
Setup button. When in setup mode, navigate to
Save to Bank submenu and press . You will
see Select bank: [current bank number] and bank
name in the upper line.

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Choose the bank number which setting you want
to save with , .
ATTENTION: unlike bank names, preset numbers
are set and changed in Performance mode, see
par.6 Managing Presets. Press again to
save the settings and load Performance mode.
10. Renaming Banks
For your convenience, each bank can have its own
name. Maximum bank name length is 12 symbols.
Enter Setup menu and navigate to Rename bank.
You will see a cursor. To choose the symbol at
cursor position use and ; to change
cursor position use and .
To finish editing bank name and save the results
press . The new bank name will be loaded
into the controller memory and will be displayed
upon the next load. To finish editing bank name
without saving press .
11. Connecting External Devices
TB-12(TB-5) midi-controller can be used together
with non-midi devices as well. There are four
dedicated jacks on its back panel.
Expression Pedal 1 and Expression
Pedal 2
There are two expression pedal 1/4" stereo jacks
labeled Exp.P1 and Exp.P2. They allow connecting
external expression pedals or volume pedals.
These pedals will allow you to control continuous
effects, such as volume, wah, whammy, etc. Use a
stereo or Y-cable to connect external expression
pedals. Expression pedal settings are in
Exp&Tap&Tuner menu. Enter Setup menu and
navigate to EXP P1 setup or EXP P2 setup
(depending on which pedal you are configuring)
and set effect CC number and the type of the
pedal(s) used - linear or logarithmic.
Expression Pedal Calibration
Check expression pedal is connected to TB-12(5).
Enter setup menu and navigate to EXP P1 setup or
EXP P2 setup, when press . You will see
message on screen “Set to low->OK”, move your
expression pedal to low position and then press
. “Set to high->OK” message occurs on
display, move pedal to high position and press
again. Calibration finished. Check
expression pedal have full range and repeat
calibration routine if no.

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External Bank Switcher
By default, LOAD button is used to load the
controller banks.
You can always load a bank from the controller
menu. This does not depend on the Bank sw
mode submenu in Buttons setup. However, you
can choose two additional modes of bank
switching in Bank sw mode submenu. These
modes are: controller buttons (if BNKup and
BNKdown commands are assigned to them) and
external pedals.
An external bank switcher pedal is connected to
Exp.P1 jack (instead of the first expression pedal).
To activate the feature, attach the pedal to Ext.1
jack and set Bank sw mode submenu to EXT ON
P1.
To check, press or on the external
footswitch. The bank you are switching to will be
shown on the display and channel LEDs will start
blinking. Select the desired bank with and
, and press a preset footswitch. This will
activate the preset in the bank you have selected.
If you don’t press any of the footswitches after
you press channel switch, the previously used
bank number will be retained.
Caution: Use only manufacturer supplied external
pedal (optionally supplied) or consult the
manufacturer on the type of pedal you can use.
If you have selected an external bank switcher but
it is not connected to the controller, the controller
will display EXT ON P1 N.C. message. In this case,
you won’t be able to use EXT ON P1 option until
you actually connect a switcher. Also, if you have
selected EXT ON P1 and connect an expression
pedal to Exp.1 jack, pedal data will not be
processed correctly.
Relay Switch
There are SW1/2 and SW3/4 1/4" stereo jacks on
TB-12(TB-5) rear panel that can be used to
connect to footswitch inputs of a guitar amp,
preamp or other similar gear. Each stereo jack has
2 relays. You can program each relay status in
Relay setup menu and save it. If no preset change
(Program Change) buttons are assigned, relay
submenu will display No PC buttons and you
won’t be able to program relay switches.
12. Tuner and Preset Name Display
The controller can display the controlled device
tuner. You can easily tune your guitar on stage
during your performance. To activate the tuner,

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press and hold the footswitch of the currently
active preset. To exit tuner mode press and hold
the same footswitch again. Currently, tuners of
the TC Electronic units (G-Major, G-Force) and
Fractal Audio Systems (Axe-Fx Standard/Ultra,
Axe-Fx II) are supported. When you activate the
tuner the controller screen will look like this.
This is the default setting, when no signal at the
processor input. When there is signal at the
processor input the letter will change depending
on the input signal (just like the built-in processor
tuner itself).
For some devices, like AxeFx, to activate tuner, a
Control Change message must be sent. To set the
CC number enter Setup mode and navigate to
Exp&Tap&Tuner, then to Send Tuner CC.
In the lower line specify CC number to
activate/deactivate tuner mode, or set NO. In this
case no CC message will be sent. When tuner
mode is activated the controller sends 0x5F, to
deactivate - 0x00.
TB-12(TB-5) can show preset names on its screen
if the controller device is capable of sending them
via MIDI OUT. Enter System Setup and navigate
to Show pr. name to specify if preset name must
be shown in Performance mode.
Show BNK –the controller shows bank name only
Show PR –the controller shows preset name only
if this information is available
Show BNK and PR –the controller shows both
preset and bank name in turns (each name is
displayed for approximately 3 seconds).
13. Using Controller with Guitar Rig,
Amplitube and Other Similar
Software
You can control Guitar Rig, Amplitube and other
similar software whenever there such software
can communicate with the controller via midi. To
do so, connect the controller to the computer with
a USB cable or, if you have a MIDI interface
connect the controller via the interface’s MIDI out.
When you use MIDI over USB, you will have to
install two drivers. You can download them from
the manufacturer’s site.
14. Firmware Update
You can download and update firmware of TB-
12(TB-5). Moreover, you can update separately
the firmware and the settings. For more

TB-12/TB-5 TRAVEL BOX series MIDI FOOT CONTROLLER Firmware version 1.46
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information about firmware update, see the
official site http://www.bjdevices.ru
BJ Devices. Russia, Penza.
http://www.bjdevices.ru
e-mail: [e-mail]
Version 1.46 date 27.09.2013