My volume pedal odyssey (Telonics, Hilton, Goodrich, more..)

Steve Lipsey · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Intro:
OK, since I got converted to Telonics pickups (for all 3 steels) as an offshoot of looking for a lighter steel (http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=224326&highlight=telonics), I figured I should try out their volume pedal. I mean, what is the story with a pedal that costs more than double the next most expensive one?

And while I’m at it, what really differentiates one pedal brand/type from another? So I got caught up in doing a real evaluation…..I’ve been playing stringed stuff for 50 years, and I do have lots of education and experience in electronics and signal processing, for whatever that is worth…and I guess I enjoy putting these things through their paces…these are my results, of course, YMMV…

Here is what I found, below… and of course, all of them are fine pedals, and if you have found your ultimate, that is fine. But you might be surprised – as I was – at what you find when you can really put them next to each other…they really are quite different from each other…

Method:
There are three categories I could come up with to look at that showed significant differences – tone, volume taper as a function of pedal position, and mechanics (operational feel/usage and maintenance). I tested all by myself, at full band practice, and at gigs. I used a looper switch box to switch between pedals quickly, and the Telonics built-in switches for those tapers.

The most surprising result (for me, anyway) is in the taper category….but the others all are very important also, just less surprising to those of us who have used these things forever…we each have to assign our own ranking of value for the various features…

The candidates:
I’ve been using a new style Hilton (detachable power supply) for gigs, and a couple of Ernie Balls at the practice spaces (with tuners in between the Ernie Ball and the steel to eliminate the loss of highs from pickup loading), and have a mini-Morley optical in the pac-seat as a spare (chosen for small size). I thought I had it all covered….then I got the chance to try out a Telonics, against the others.

The Telonics has 6 pre-programmed volume tapers, corresponding to Hilton (new and old style), Goodrich (Clarostat pot and LED types), Emmons/Allen-Bradley pot, and a special Telonics “super sustain” taper, with each taper easily selected by a switch on the side. So with the four physical pedals (Hilton, Ernie Ball, Morley, and Telonics), I could evaluate pot vs. optical vs. position sensor for tapers, and the three types of mechanical layouts and tone impacts. I verified that the Telonics “new style Hilton taper” was, pretty clearly, the same as the actual taper on my Hilton pedal itself, so I figure that the other tapers also match the actual pedals, and can represent them for taper test purposes.

The test:

TONE:
Figured I might as well get this one out of the way first…it can sure be a somewhat religious argument, with people on all sides of the question….I don’t mean it to be that.

Pot Pedals:
From a purely physical perspective (whether you like it this way or not, that is up to you), if you put a passive (pot) pedal immediately after the guitar in the signal chain, it will impact the tone, cutting highs more as volume is decreased (and less when at full volume). If you want to, you can pretty much isolate the volume pedal tonal impact from the pickup by putting something else in between (even a tuner will do). I actually like the Ernie Ball used in this fashion – isolated from the pickup – I like the nicely linear-feeling taper – but I don’t like the risk of the pot and string, or the loss of sparkle if there are no other pedals in the chain before the volume pedal.

Some like the mellowing out of the tone from the pot. Others say they like the increased highs at higher volume to cut through when soloing (except that, if you still use the pedal for sustain in addition for a volume boost, you are only passing the highs through at the very end of the sustained note, as it is dying out, and not really fully even then). Some like not needing a power supply (I have other pedals under the steel, so this doesn’t matter to me). Some say, the great players of the past did it this way, and if it was good enough for them…etc. Whatever your reason, if you are happy with it, then that is great….

For me, I say, why not keep everything the steel and pickup put out, and use your amp’s EQ to form your personal tonal signature? Why settle for exactly whatever the pot in the pedal does to your tone (with a different EQ at each volume level), before you even get a chance to hit it with your desired EQ? Everyone’s combination of steel, pickup, amp and fingers are at least somewhat different, and preserving tone for the amp EQ to modify seems useful…

Active pedals:
The Hilton and Telonics and Morley are all active – powered signal processing. All try to preserve the tone of the signal passing through, and all do a very good job. I didn’t have a scope to see if any one is much better than the others (I assume there are differences). Some (pot pedal folks) call this a “colder tone”, in fact, it just is less loaded down than with a pot pedal. The Telonics folks tell me that their pedal is “perfectly flat response”, i.e., no change at all to the tone coming in vs. the tone going out, due to the use of modern signal processing algorithms and studio quality components, designed by a team of engineers who also are steel players.

You can also modify both the Hilton and Telonics input impedance (a screwdriver adjustment) if desired, to kill some highs at the pedal (like a pot pedal always does) e.g., if you amp doesn’t have enough range of tonal adjustment. According to Telonics, whatever impedance (tonal) adjustment you make on their pedal is applied evenly across all volume levels (unlike in a pot pedal), which seems like the best way to do this.

TAPER:
For me, this turned out to be the big one. I was actually quite surprised at how different the tapers feel, and the impact they have on my playing. The graphs (visible in the Telonics software tool box) validate the feel that you get when you can keep everything in the signal chain the same but quickly switch back and forth between the different tapers. They vary widely in how fast they come on, how steep the middle of the curve is, and what happens at the very end of pedal travel. Small differences on the graph translate into large differences in feel.

The Goodrich pot pedal taper has one of the smoothest feels, where “smoothest” means that the volume increases feel directly, and linearly, proportional to how much you move your foot – which is probably why so many people remain dedicated to them, vs. the active pedals. The Emmons pot taper goes up sharply and flattens out at the end of the taper, just when you need that little extra “oomph” to sustain a dying note.

The new Hilton pedal (detachable power supply) does very little for the beginning of travel, then increases very sharply, then smooths out at the end….which explains why I now realize that I am “fighting” the Hilton pedal in the middle of the travel, overcorrecting, having a hard time exactly tracking the level I want. I didn’t realize this until I was able to try it against the Goodrich pot taper. And strangely enough, the old (nondetachable power) Hilton pedal felt to me to be the smoothest (validated by the taper graph), and it turned out to be my favorite in the whole bunch! For many I’m sure that the new Hilton taper is fine, but not for me…

So, you can train yourself to adapt to any pedal taper…but the old Hilton taper feels WAY more comfortable to me – the increase in control and decrease of mental effort is quite noticeable. It just goes to the right level, at the right rate, almost by itself. I’d bet that each person would find one of the tapers perfectly suited to their style, and it really does have an effect on your playing…(the Telonics tapers are actually individually modifiable using the software toolkit, should one of the presets not be perfect for the user).

There is a lot going on here…from simple volume change to how it affects you psychoacoustically, which is very nonlinear. That all is sort of automatically taken into account, though, when you just connect the feel of your foot to the sound, as you use it.

The other thing to note about the Telonics pedal is that other pedals give about 11 degrees of pedal travel, while Telonics opted for 14 degrees…dividing up the full range over the wider travel gives more control. The extra travel is not uncomfortable to the ankle.

MECHANICS:
Well, actually, the Ernie Ball feels, in some ways, the most solid….but then, all it is, is two heavy hunks of metal and a string, it isn’t trying to do very much…

The Telonics feels somehow much more “capable”, a machine where every single part fits together perfectly in support of its intended use. The big things…e.g., the housings machined from solid metal blocks, heat treated precision ground axle for extreme longevity, etc. and also, lots of little things, are just really well thought through….e.g., the twist lock power plug, easy to use, but won’t come out in use, even if the cord gets pulled, and the military grade anodized finish that will not scrape off. And even a really sexy blue light to tell you when it is on, and flash an error diagnostic code if something should go amiss, unlikely though that is….

The Hilton is fine, well built, but is definitely a distant second in feel to the Telonics. Forget the Morley…it works fine, but is really too small, and has a somewhat cheesy feel.

The active pedals eliminate the mechanical reliability issues of the pot pedals, of course, we’ve all had scratchy pots and broken strings at the worst possible moments… I talked to the Telonics folks and they say that they hardly ever have a user report a broken pedal…and when they do, it is user error, e.g., a broken cable or someone stepped on the power plug… Telonics uses a position angle sensor, the Hilton and Morley use LED optical control.

The Hilton has easily settable “minimum on” and an internal return spring tension screw.

The Telonics is highly configurable, with a patented design adjustable “brake” to set the drag that would keep the pedal in a specific position when you remove your foot (useful for C6 and guitar), settable minimum “on” point, even a movable pivot to change from low profile to high profile, plus more…and you can even use the software toolbox with the USB interface to modify it at a previously unimaginable level, should you choose to (this isn’t necessary at all, but it is nice to know that it is available should any user decide they want it “just a bit different”)

On the Morley you open it up and bend the LEDs to change the taper, or carve out some of the cardboard piece with a slot that is the control….

Bottom line:
Once again, as with the Telonics pickups, I started out not believing it could be different enough to be worth the extra money, but changed my mind….I feel like I’m becoming a bit of a zealot…the deeper you dig into their stuff, the more it makes complete sense…

The professional reviewers also seem to like the Telonics – a review in the U.K. “Guitar and Bass Magazine” says the Telonics is “gorgeous feeling and super sounding, will probably last a lifetime, costs what a boutique overdrive costs, the best volume pedal on the planet”.

All of that aside, we each have to decide where to put our finite equipment dollars, but I wouldn’t dismiss the Telonics pedal out of hand just due to cost…. For me, the rock-solid construction, combined with the intangible effect of the lovely feel, and being able to perfectly tune the volume taper to what my individual style wants it to be, makes it worth the money…plus there is much more I can do to tailor it even better to my needs if I decide to try some of the other adjustmen
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Tony Glassman · From: The Great Northwest

HILTON: Have used a Hilton for 5 years or so. Sounds excellent. Start and Stop points are adjustable. [grade A-]

TELONICS: Using now. More adjustable, more taper choice but twice as expensive. (no real need to change tapers for me) Sounds great but, no huge tone difference compared to the Hilton [grade A]

MORLEY: No experience

ERNIE BALL: pure crap. It is a tone bandit. Sucks out the upper order highs. Bought one for guitar and took it back to "Guitarget" after 30 min. [grade F]

BOTTOM LINE: IMHO - Unless you're a true "analog" guy, the Hilton and Telonics are leagues above anything else, especially pot pedals + both provide impedence matching.

Best bang for the buck = Hilton
Most options and "tweak-ability" = Telonics

It's a toss-up for me

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

I'll agree with both of your rather thorough reviews, guys. I spent years as a dedicated Hiltonite, but the Telonics is just a whole new level of tech, and all for good reason.
I will disagree on the tone comment, I did a LOT of A-Bing between Hilton (non-detachable supply) and the Telonics, and at least with mine, the Telonics was more transparent and closer to "straight wire" tone.

The one drawback to the Telonics operating system is a tiny quibble- if you turn it on it's side to cycle through the tapers, it stops working. Granted, that's not how one uses it in practice, but it's hard to see the taper number from a seated position otherwise.

Just the experience of Telonics pickups and Volume pedals is enough to convince me that I WILL be purchasing one of their preamps eventually.
Outstanding gear.
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Joseph Meditz · From: Sierra Vista, AZ

Thanks for that very informative review Steve! While I have an electronic pedal, I use a Goodrich pot pedal for two reasons :

1) No power supply. Hence less clutter Smile

2) The pot pedal is the definitive tone reference. When you use a pot pedal you are using what the great steel masters used.

Billy Murdoch · From: Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.

An excellent review Steve,thanks for Your effort.
I have used Emmons,Goodrich and Hilton in the past and Have Had a Telonics for a couple of Years and would not change it for anything.
It has to be mentioned that Dave Beaty and His Son Stacy and all the Telonics people are so very helpful and the after sales service is the best You will ever encounter.
Best regards
Billy

Steve Lipsey · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Thanks for your additions, folks....more data is always appreciated...

I guess that your experiences show that:

1. The Telonics is actually more accurate tonally than anything else....not surprising, seeing that it was designed by a company with a whole staff of knowledgable engineers and all the latest design and test equipment...which isn't to malign the Hilton at all, it also is a very good pedal, and costs a lot less.

2. Some people really do just want their tone to sound the way it used to sound before all this new stuff was invented...and some want to find their own tone. Both are completely valid...

3. Don't try to play while laying on your side with the Telonics pedal, it only works when it is right side up! Smile

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Larry Behm · From: Mt Angel, Or 97362

Steve please come to the Portland steel jam May 20th and share with us.

Larry Behm
971-219-8533
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'70 D10 Black fatback Emmons PP, Hilton VP, BJS bars, Boss GE-7 for Dobro effect, Zoom MS50G, Stereo Steel amp, Telonics 15” speaker.

Phone: 971-219-8533

Steve Lipsey · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Larry & Everyone in the PDX area-
Thanks for invite, can't make it to the jam this time, but everybody is welcome to drop by my place in inner SE PDX anytime and try out Telonics pickups and pedal...

I've recently done a few "amp & speaker shootouts" in my basement, would be happy to host a "pedal & pickup" gathering...or any other kind...

I learn a lot putting a bunch of stuff right next to each other and trying it all out in the same place and at the same time...

-Steve
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Ken Metcalf · From: San Antonio Texas USA

+1 for Telonics VP
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Bud Angelotti · From: Larryville, NJ, USA

Hey Steve - Thanks for taking the time for doing your testing and for sharing your results.

Steve Lipsey · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

I'm enjoying this - some of the folks whose posts I'm always reading and respecting what they have to say, coming out for Telonics! I guess I'm not crazy!
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Quentin Hickey · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

I experimented with Hilton for a while. I came to this conclusion; to my ears it sounded too "gainy" almost overdriven.

I plugged my guitar in direct and also with the Hilton in line. At full pedal it always gave me almost an "over driven" where as my pot pedal never done that. I kept trying to use the Hilton but found myself always going back to my old Goodrich. Eventually just put the Hilton away and in recent months sold it not looking back.

I eventually went back to my good old trusty Goodrich, not taking anything away from Hilton. What ever it "took away" or "added" didn't sound good to my ears. I love my pot pedals for that classic E9 nashville sound!

I guess I'm old school like that Smile

Bill L. Wilson · From: Oklahoma, USA

I played a Hilton VP at the Phoenix Show, into a Justice Steel and it sounded fantastic. I have an Edwards Light Beam VP for a backup, but recently bought another Emmons fixed pin VP, because I don't care to much for the Edwards. I'll stick w/pot pedals, they're easy to work on, I don't have to send'em off for repair, I don't have to plug'em in, and I like that.

Paddy Long · From: Christchurch, New Zealand

Steve thanks so much for the effort you have put in to your testing, and your unbiased results reflect exactly what I have found.
While I have never used a Hilton, I have 34 years experience with various Goodrich pot and LDR pedals and don't believe any of them are in the same league as the Telonics pedal. I have used these since about 2008 I think, and just love the features and flexibility they provide - as well as their outstanding and robust design. There is nothing a steel player could desire, that is not built into the Telonics volume pedal.
The pickups, preamps, poweramps, speakers, cabinets etc that they also build feature the same dedication to excellence and useability as well.
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Steve Lipsey · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Paddy-
Thanks for your comments. And to be clear - there is nothing wrong with any of those other pedals, and in fact Telonics uses their volume tapers as the basis for its taper choices. I personally like the ability to choose and configure, the obvious build quality (the others are fine, but the Telonics is way better than fine), and most of all, that crazy blue light!
-S
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Bob Carlucci · From: Candor, New York, USA

meh,, most of the greatest sounding pedal steel sounds throughout the history of the instrument were recorded using plain old pot pedals... bob
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Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Tom Bradshaw is a good guy. He sent me a Telonics on trial. I compared it with the Hilton I was using and returned the Telonics to him. I couldn't hear ten cents difference and certainly not worth the difference in price. I think the Telonics is way over engineered, we're not trying to get to the moon just tryin to control the noise this machine puts out.

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

Long live the "tone sucking" pot pedal. Still the undisputed king of classic tone and mainstream recorded music. And the pedal that was designed electrically to sound great and work with most of the classic style pickups we use today. It's a system and set of gear that works well and is well matched to each other. I know there's newer stuff and I've enjoyed trying them out but I've ended back with the pot pedal. Newer is sometimes better and sometimes not. Gear that is electrically more correct or has better specs is sometimes better, often not.

Michael Hummel · From: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

I love the discourse. So much experience in here!

I was thinking about pedals....paid a visit to the great Steel Guitars of Canada shop featuring Al Brisco. He played a few minutes using his trusty Goodrich pot pedal (same one I try to use).

He reminded me most new players (i.e. me) don't pay enough attention to working the volume pedal properly.

The tone he got out of that guitar with just a Goodrich 120 pedal and a Nashville 112 sent me away with a new dedication that 90% of the tone is in the hands and feet and before I go to change any gear I need to get a whole heck of a lot better at the basics first.

Just my "Hummel" opinion Very Happy

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Nathan Eikelberg · From: Boise, Idaho, USA

Thanks Steve for posting such a thorough review so many years ago and for those who added their comments as well. The one thing I’ve yet to hear is an actual comparison of active vs passive pedals (with all other variables kept consistent). If anyone knows of such a comparison, I’d love to hear it! I’m a beginner and am looking to buy my first volume pedal – unfortunately I lack the experience to know whether I’m seeking the “pot” tone or the more “modern” tone, not to mention what impact all of the other variables such as amps, other effects down stream, etc bring to it.
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Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

I have a Telonics, a Hilton and a Goodrich.
The Telonics is the best, though for me not the best value as I don't use all its facilities, so that award goes to the Hilton.

The Goodrich is fine too if I want to carry minimum gear. Once I'm playing I'm honestly unaware of what's under my foot.

BTW I agree that the Hilton does have a higher output than the others and I have to reduce the input gain on whatever amp I'm using.
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Keith Hilton · From: 248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721

Excellent review Steve. One thing is missing in your review. When people are at home they normally have one volume they always set their amp on. When people go out and play outside the home they normally have one volume they always set their amp on. Both these volume setting on the amp might vary slightly, but not by much. How any volume pedal--powered, or non powered, comes on/taper--depends on the volume level set on your amp. I can prove this with simple math. Suppose your amp is set on volume of 3. The halfway point in the movement of your volume pedal will produce 1.5 volume level. Now suppose your amp is set on a volume of 6. The halfway point in the movement of your volume pedal will produce a volume level of 3. Both times you have moved your foot the the same distance, but in one movement you have twice the volume. If taper is the rate that volume comes on, then one must consider what the volume level of the amp is set on. The simple math tells a person that he could change the taper of a volume pedal by simply changing the volume level set on his amp. That is not the way people think. People first remember the volume level they have always used on their amp, and set that volume. People are victim of habit. No consideration is given to how the volume level set on the amp affects the taper of a volume pedal. Taper can not be evaluated without including the volume level set on the amp, simple math shows this relationship.
If we take this review back to 1998 when I was the first to come out with a different kind of volume pedal: All pedals had been either pot pedals, or pedals operated with light dependent resistors. Goodrich first put a two transistor pre-amp in pot pedals. To my knowledge the light dependent pedals did not have a pre-amp, and suffered tone loss, example was the Edwards pedal. For around 10 years I was the guy doing it different. By different my pedal operated from a infrared control system, and had a pre-amp. Around 10 years after I developed my pedal, Dave Beaty and Del Mullen got together with the intent of having a new amplifier and pedal. According to Del Mullen, two of my pedals were bought, torn apart and examined. I don't know if they copied my pre-amp design. Instead of a infrared operating system they chose a electronic programable tilt sensor. After a time Del Mullen and Dave Beaty had a disagreement and Dave took total control. Then a few years later a company in Germany, Lehle, came out with a volume pedal that operated from a Hall Effect sensor, which is a device that senses a magnetic field. The problem I have with the Lehle company is their design came from an example I sent to the company who makes their integrated circuits. It became obvious that a design I had developed, had got in the hands of the Lehle company though the integrated circuit guys. Lessons learned---I should have never revealed my design to the integrated circuit people.
What do I think of my competition: Goodrich, Telonics, Lehle? I think it is wonderful people have choices. It would be terrible if the only car you could buy would be a Chevy. As for me I doing quite well in sales, and I hope my competition does well. I am in the standard guitar market as well as the steel guitar market with my Hilton Pro Guitar pedal. There is one thing very important to me. Goodrich, Telonics, and Hilton pedals are made in the United States. If this country is going to survive more products must be made in the United States. If we keep going like it has been going--- everything is going to be made in China. Most of the stuff in Wal-Mart and on Amazon comes from China. At least Goodrich, Telonics, and Hilton are made in the United States. Plus these people repair what they build. Have you ever tried to send a pedal to China or Germany for repair?

Steve Lipsey · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Keith-
Thanks for that bit of wisdom...you surely are the master. And yes, I used a Hilton for quite a while, and even set my Telonics to a old-style Hilton taper...so you surely have something to contribute...I'm actually using a Moyo now...mostly because it is the smallest pedal I found and I wanted a whole rig I could carry in with one hand! So we all go through lots of changes about what our needs/desires are...
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Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Being an old timer and now a "retired from bands" bedroom picker I've had many Volume Pedals over the years. Fender/Emmons/Goodrich pot pedals, Hilton and for a short period a Telonics. I sold off the electronic pedals downsizing but should have kept them, I'm using a Goodrich and for the first time experiencing tone "suck". Before using an electronic pedal I never noticed (or had) tone problems. I now hear the difference and even though I'm just a bedroom picker I'm considering buying another electronic pedal as its not the sound I'm now used to.

Downsizing I also sold my Quilter TT12 amp and was going to use an MB200 amp and a 12" SICA speaker. Bad idea selling the TT12 so I bought a used TB202 amp and a used TT12 speaker and a Quilter speaker cabinet and have the TT12 amp again.

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