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Topic: Volume Pedals:String vs Gear |
Dean Parks
From:
Sherman Oaks, California, USA
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Posted 9 Mar 2008 4:02 pm |
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Is the "taper" of a geared volume pedal inherently different from a string pedal, even if the pot is the same?
I notice on my geared pedal, the last part of the "throw" moves the pot less, because the tongue moves the gear less as the pedal approaches full-down. I assume the string pedal is more linear? |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 9 Mar 2008 8:02 pm
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| The string pedals are absolutely linear, and so are most gear-driven pedals. The problem with geared pedals always was the "bumpy" feel, caused by their using cheap rack-and-pinion gears. If your pedal moves in an unlinear way, it's been designed to do so, since the simplest mechanical design would be a totally linear movement. |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2008 6:10 am
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Dean,
I've got one of those older ZB geared volume pedals. I know what you mean. Based on the geometry, at the end of the full volume travel, the gear kind of slows down, and that does affect the taper in a way that would make the audio taper a bit "less audio" or less logarithmic near the top. I like the taper of this particular pedal in general.
What I don't like about the gear thing is that when you reverse directions, there will always be a tiny bit of mechanical play, and that gets worse over time as the pin holding the straight gear and the hole it goes thru wear out. (I guess that's the "rack" and the gear on the pot is the "pinion"). The string thing is probably the original solution for this issue of changing directions with zero play or jerkiness. I guess that since the string is always under constant tension, the play is totally removed when changing directions. Still a pretty good design if you have to turn a pot back and forth lots of times.
Brad |
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