AxeBlock EDIT for Android.

// Which units, and what it does with them

The Axe-Fx III is the only unit the Android app edits. Everything else is identify, plus the preset and scene actions in the table. That is narrower than the iPhone and iPad app.

// Getting connected

• Axe-Fx III and FM9: USB with a data cable (a charge-only cable can’t carry MIDI), or a WIDI or 5-pin MIDI interface. Keep the app running while USB MIDI is in use.
• FM3: the FM3’s own USB doesn’t carry MIDI. Use a USB MIDI interface on its 5-pin MIDI IN and OUT (a Roland UM-ONE mk2 is one that works for me), or a WIDI adapter. The app treats the FM3 as a slow link, so big reads take longer than on units with real USB.
• Axe-Fx II, AX8, FX8, Standard, Ultra: 5-pin MIDI through an interface, or a WIDI adapter. I haven’t verified Android USB for these.
• VP4, AM4: identified over USB where Android exposes the port. Editing and preset recall aren’t available on Android for these.
• Tap the connection pill for status, Rescan, the wire log, and the DIN / BLE low-bandwidth switch. Turn that on if a WIDI or DIN bridge cuts long replies short.
• Demo mode lets you look around with no hardware. It never sends MIDI.

More setups: through a Mac with a MIDI router, alongside the official editor, or over Bluetooth with a WIDI Master. They work the same way as on iPhone and iPad — see Connect your rig.

// The views

The header switches between EDIT, GRID and PERFORM. TUNER, TAP (the tempo sits inside it), SETLISTS and METERS are in the header too.

EDIT

• Only blocks in your preset are shown. Amp, Cab, Drive, Compressor, Input, Phaser and NAM have full tabbed editors; other blocks show the parameters I have sourced. Level, Balance, Input Select, Bypass Mode, Scene Ignore and the A–D channel buttons sit in a bottom rail.
• Tap a knob to type an exact value. A knob moved away from what it read when you opened the preset shows how far in gold; press and hold to revert. Changing preset starts fresh.
• A control I can’t read or haven’t verified stays locked and shows a dash. It never shows a made-up value.
• If you change scene on the unit, the scene name and the open block catch up within about ten seconds (thirty on a slow link).
• NAM needs Axe-Fx III firmware 33.00 or later. The model slot isn’t read or changed from Android.

GRID

• Shows placed blocks, shunts, empty cells and cables. Tap a block to open its editor.
• On the Axe-Fx III, EDIT GRID lets you add, move, delete and wire blocks. Each change is read back from the unit and only shown as done when the unit’s own grid agrees; if it didn’t take, it tells you and shows the real grid. There is no undo, and shunts can’t be placed yet. Other units are view-only.

PERFORM

• A big preset and scene readout with PREV / NEXT and scene buttons. Preferences controls what it shows: scene name is on by default, preset number and tempo are off.

TUNER

• Readings come from the unit’s own pitch engine, not your device’s microphone.
• Pick your instrument and tuning (49 tunings across 6-, 7-, 8- and 12-string guitar and 4-, 5- and 6-string bass, plus your own) and choose sharps or flats. The lit string follows the note you play against the tuning you chose; a note the tuning doesn’t contain reads “NOT IN” that tuning.
• If the unit never answers the tuner read, the screen says so and shows how many reads went unanswered, instead of waiting forever.
• Axe-Fx III over 5-pin MIDI: turn on Send Realtime Sysex in the unit’s Setup → MIDI/Remote → General.

TAP and tempo

• Tap TAP to set the tempo by feel; press and hold it to type a BPM. Supported units only; unknown readings stay read-only.

// Saving

Android has no Store or Save. Edits change the unit’s edit buffer only, and changing preset on the unit throws unsaved edits away. Save from the unit or another editor when you want to keep something.

// Safety

Reads use the passive read only. Writes happen only when you act, only on units and blocks I’ve verified the parameters for, and only to the edit buffer. Run one MIDI editor at a time so two apps don’t fight over the same controls.

// When something’s off

• Unit not found: check the connection pill, use Rescan, and use a data cable for USB.
• Values snap back or jump: close Axe-Edit or any other MIDI editor, then read the value again.
• Bluetooth drops or lags: move the WIDI closer, or use a wired connection.
• Dashes or locked controls: the reading is unknown, or I haven’t verified that control for your unit.

// Reach me

Email john@bloodyfingersoftware.com. Tell me your unit model, how it’s connected, the app version, what you expected and what happened.