| Author |
Topic: volume pedals |
Bob Hardy
From:
Tenino, WA
|
Posted 21 Oct 2015 3:58 pm |
|
| what's the diff from guitar volume pedals and psg's ? I am getting ready to dismantle my guitar pedal board and it has a eb jr on it...... |
|
|
 |
Dan Robinson
From:
Colorado, USA
|
Posted 21 Oct 2015 6:18 pm
|
|
| I'm using Erie Ball JR. I replaced my light beam pedal with the JR. It's a decent volume pedal, and has a switch inside that selects one of two tapers. |
|
|
|
Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
|
Posted 21 Oct 2015 8:30 pm
|
|
Most guitar VPs have the jacks in front, an annoyance unless you have cables with right-angle plugs.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
|
|
|
Patrick Laffrat
From:
Gemenos, France
|
|
|
|
Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
|
Posted 22 Oct 2015 3:15 am
|
|
| Most of the pedals made for straight guitar players are smaller, higher, and cheaper. They're designed to be used from a standing position, and as far as I know, they're all powered models. Steelers use the pedal far more than straight guitar players, so a steeler's pedal has an emphasis on longevity, reliability, and comfort. |
|
|
|
Daniel Policarpo
|
Posted 23 Oct 2015 3:17 am Re: volume pedals
|
|
| Bob Hardy wrote: |
| what's the diff from guitar volume pedals and psg's ? I am getting ready to dismantle my guitar pedal board and it has a eb jr on it...... |
I've heard psg players using the EB Jr and it sounds pretty good to me. I started off with a Morley Little Alligator which I had from my six string Telecaster days, uses a little light beam with a shutter. I adjusted the light beam to get a more sweeping taper and it sounded fine for PSG. But out of curiosity in that early stage of experimentation I tried a regular old Fender volume pedal, one of the old ones - all that chrome! - and not only does it look slick, it really made a difference in expression and sound. I'm so glad I tried it. It sits a little higher than a lot of volume pedals made specifically for pedal steel, but it does a great job and I've only had to change the pot once. I bought it used for $39 and the pot that was on there was a little scratchy. Put a new 250k audio taper pot on there and its worked like a champ ever since. |
|
|
|
Michael Maddex
From:
Northern New Mexico, USA
|
Posted 23 Oct 2015 7:45 am
|
|
| Donny Hinson wrote: |
| ... and as far as I know, they're all powered models. ... |
Donny, I have a Dunlop High-Gain Volume Pedal (Model GBC-80) and although it has a circuit board, it is passive, no battery. I really like it; it's built rock solid. I don't know what the 'High Gain' is supposed to mean, unless that the pedal is suitable for instruments with active electronics. BTW, Dunlop claims the pot is good for One Million Cycles!
Bob Hardy, to address the original question: Volume pedals are like strings--you'll get as many opinions as there are players. Within certain limits, I think it is one of those things where whatever works for you is good. I wouldn't dwell on it too much. HTH.
_________________
"For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert." -- Arthur C. Clarke |
|
|
|
Jim Pitman
From:
Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA
|
Posted 23 Oct 2015 12:09 pm
|
|
In general, Dito what Donnie said.
I might add you must decide between active and passive.
Some active pedals have selectable tapers whereby the volume is not necessarily propotional to the angle of the actuation. You can use this to your advantage to have better control over a volume swell. Presumabley there is less maintainece with an active pedal as the element is usually replaced with something non-mechanical. Active pedals require power though, ie another cable and potential power failure etc.
I myself like a simple passive pedal with just a pot. I have an old Shobud pedal that uses a massive casting. I've modified it by adding a support with bearing surface to the far end of the potentiometer shaft. I find this greatly extends the pot life. Most passive pedals will have a fixed taper pot, an audio logar taper, to be specific, which adjusts for the way we percieve volume change. |
|
|
|
Jim Palenscar
From:
Oceanside, Calif, USA
|
Posted 23 Oct 2015 8:59 pm
|
|
| As well as what others have said, pedal steel guitars have pickups that have outputs that roughly double and more that of a standard guitar pickup and pedal steel volume pedals typically use potentiometers in the range of 500k that can handle that high of an output. Ernie Ball pedals and most other standard guitar volume pedals use 100 and 250k pots which work well for guitars but can attenuate some of the highs produced from pedal steels. |
|
|
|
Jim Robbins
From:
Ontario, Canada
|
Posted 24 Oct 2015 8:32 am
|
|
| Jim Palenscar wrote: |
| As well as what others have said, pedal steel guitars have pickups that have outputs that roughly double and more that of a standard guitar pickup and pedal steel volume pedals typically use potentiometers in the range of 500k that can handle that high of an output. Ernie Ball pedals and most other standard guitar volume pedals use 100 and 250k pots which work well for guitars but can attenuate some of the highs produced from pedal steels. |
Tom Bradshaw sells 470K replacement pots that you can put in EB and EB jr volume pedals. It is a bit finicky to get them in but addresses the problem Jim Palenscar wrote about.
http://www.songwriter.com/bradshaw/potentiometers.php |
|
|
|
Rich Upright
From:
Florida, USA
|
Posted 24 Oct 2015 6:41 pm
|
|
Donnies answer is the most accurate.
_________________
A couple D-10s,some vintage guitars & amps, & lotsa junk in the gig bag. |
|
|
|
Jim Palenscar
From:
Oceanside, Calif, USA
|
Posted 24 Oct 2015 7:08 pm
|
|
| IMHO the most common volume pedal that I've seen used by guitar players is an Ernie Ball and, while they may have a powered model, I've not seen one. |
|
|
|
Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
|
Posted 24 Oct 2015 9:17 pm
|
|
| Used to use Edwards Light Beam VP's.I use Ernie Ball now.Still like the Edwards but the EB has a longer throw.Makes sustain swells a little smoother and more intuitive. |
|
|
|
Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
|
Posted 24 Oct 2015 10:17 pm
|
|
I have 2 Ernie ball vpjr pedals that I use constantly 3 to 5 gigs a week. Last Wednesday the kevlar string broke in the pedal and thank God it went to full volume not off! I finished the song with a light touch and quickly swapped out pedals before the next song. I always carry two of everything and sooner or later it pays off... the next day I replaced the Kevlar cord and we are all ready for action.
_________________
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYG9cvwCPKuXpGofziPNieA/feed?activity_view=3 |
|
|
|
David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
|
Posted 25 Oct 2015 1:55 am
|
|
| The angles are quite different from standing and sitting. I go way back to the rounded DeArmond 602's for regular guitar, an early 70's rack & pinion model. My volume pedal quest has at times taken on kind of a Grateful Dead/keyboard - Spinal Tap/drummer absurdity, the Ernie Balls always seem to have strings-slipping and range problems for me - I can't get them to go all the way off and all the way on (Either one of which WILL munch the pot if too successful). Boss pot-metal pedals crumble like... potmetal. I'm fiddling with some looper & modeler signals, series AND parallel, and mostly use the expression pedals into the models, but for a "real" volume pedal the Hilton remains triumphant & first in line. Keith made me one with the volume & tone adjusts and that's very helpful for a quickie global adjust when playing different instruments through the same signal path. |
|
|
|
