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Slartibartfast View Drop Down

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Topic: Volume Pedal
Posted: September 06 2010 at 11:21

I had to replace a flood damaged guitar effects box. I got a Line 6 Floor Pod Plus that has one, which my last effects box didn't. I must confess I'm too busy to mess with the volume pedal. It's got 120 pretty decent presets I'm still exploring. LOL

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holy ghost View Drop Down

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Posted: September 06 2010 at 11:03

DatM wrote:

The Ernie Ball seems to be the industry standard. Back when i was thinking of getting one, that's the one everybody told me I should get...not just because of build quality, but also because of pedal response.

It's built like a tank and works with no issues, I'm quite taken with mine, you know......

MrEdifus

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Posted: March 13 2009 at 21:55

I've got a Dunlop HighGain, and I'm happy with it.

jammun

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Posted: February 28 2009 at 23:01

p0mt3 wrote:

Goodrich makes really good volume pedals. Even the lower priced models are top-notch compared to most others. If you have the bucks (or quid; didn't notice where you were from) extra to spare, I would suggest Goodrich to anyone.

Got no complaints with my Goodrich. Now if I could just learn to play that pedal steel...

himtroy

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Posted: February 28 2009 at 22:08

Atavachron wrote:

JulioSouth wrote:

Atavachron wrote:

I always wanted a cut-off switch.. I liked how Rhoads used his, Dave Meniketti too

Gibson Les Paul guitars have independent volume and tone knobs for its pickups, so you simply turn down to zero the volume knob for the neck pickup (while having the bridge pickup one fully maxed), toggle the pickup selector and there you have it, instant cut-off switch!

I know but Randy Rhoads had button he'd depress (I think on his V) and it seemed to allow more freedom of expression with it.. Meniketti uses the volume switch on Gibsons and Carvins as you're saying though

Yeah, getting a kill switch installed is very easy to do. Even if you give your guitar to a store and tell them to do it it will cost you under thirty dollars, possible under twenty. I have switches on all mine, but a button would be just as easy to do. It's nice, not only for the effect, but when you're jamming with people and you're trying to stop and say something or set your guitar down, just flick it up and your signals dead and good you're good to go.

pianoman

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Posted: February 06 2009 at 05:50

Im supporting the Pod XT live. I have one, and it is the best multi-effects board I have ever bought. I think it was worth the $400 that I paid for it.

JLocke

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Posted: February 03 2009 at 16:38

^Yep, like I said, not everyone can afford to invest in one, but they are reliable and sound great and natrual.

Ernie Ball volume pedals have been known to break sooner that other brands, which I why I haven't gotten one yet. Otherwise, they are very good, and if you take good care of them, they can probably last longer than others.

Edited by p0mt3 - February 03 2009 at 16:38

Fio

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Posted: December 28 2008 at 00:36

The other guitarist in my band just got an Ernie Ball VP Jr. I tried it and it sounds and works great. Goodrich also makes fantastic volume pedals but they are a bit pricey.

JLocke

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Posted: December 21 2008 at 09:19

Goodrich makes really good volume pedals. Even the lower priced models are top-notch compared to most others. If you have the bucks (or quid; didn't notice where you were from) extra to spare, I would suggest Goodrich to anyone.

Atavachron View Drop Down

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Posted: December 07 2008 at 21:04

JulioSouth wrote:

Atavachron wrote:

I always wanted a cut-off switch.. I liked how Rhoads used his, Dave Meniketti too

tremulant

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Posted: December 07 2008 at 18:24

Mr ProgFreak wrote:

^ and you think that swearing will help your case?

I didn't think it would have any effect on my case. It's just a word used for emphasis in my stubborn lash-back. Why bother even pointing that out?

My solo music: ANTHROPIATE

DatM

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Posted: December 07 2008 at 18:01

The Ernie Ball seems to be the industry standard. Back when i was thinking of getting one, that's the one everybody told me I should get...not just because of build quality, but also because of pedal response.

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JulioSouth View Drop Down

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Posted: December 07 2008 at 12:40

Atavachron wrote:

I always wanted a cut-off switch.. I liked how Rhoads used his, Dave Meniketti too

Back to the volume pedal:

The whole idea behind it is to free your hands to play while you manipulate volume (try fading in arpeggios or fast riffing using just your pinky and volume knob!). Also, as I said, you can place the volume pedal anywhere in the signal chain, before or after the distortion, before or after the delay, even before or after your preamp if your amp has an FX loop, so lots of creative choices. The volume knob however can only be at the start of the signal chain and that's it.

The volume pedal, placed after the distortion device (pedal or preamp) is a must to get that full gain swell sound (like Hackett and Petrucci use). Otherwise, instead of fading the the full guitar tone, it will fade the gain along (a less sharp, much gentle sound).

There are even more uses, like splitting the signal chain and using volume pedals to blend the sounds (i.e. fading the signal to different delay units, FX and/or amps).

While the volume pedal function in itself is pretty simple, some of them are made in plastic, some in metal, some are mono, some are stereo, some are rugged, some are less so, some are mechanical, some are optical, etc.

For a simple fading effect, a mono pedal will do just fine. The other aspects (brand, material) are down to budget. And that's it

"I'll be right there, I'll never leave; All I ask from you is Believe"

clarke2001 View Drop Down

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Posted: December 07 2008 at 07:57

Is it really relevant? I mean, it's a bleeding volume pedal, not an analog multi-effect; who wants to pay one a $500? The cheapest one will do exactly the same job.

Or am I wrong?

Percussion, sir!

Atavachron View Drop Down

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Posted: December 07 2008 at 05:06

I always wanted a cut-off switch.. I liked how Rhoads used his, Dave Meniketti too

Slartibartfast View Drop Down

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Posted: December 07 2008 at 04:57

Just be sure you get one that goes up to 11. LOL

Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

Mr ProgFreak View Drop Down

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Posted: December 07 2008 at 02:01

^ and you think that swearing will help your case?

tremulant

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Posted: December 07 2008 at 00:40

HughesJB4 wrote:

^You are aware the reason why people get volume pedals is so they can do things while playing normally with both hands and not have to restrict what they are doing to be able to play with the volume knob?
And also, most guitar volume pots are logarithmic taper pots.
Sure, you can buy volume pedals that are logarithmic taper as well, but what if you not only want the logarithmic taper use of your guitar's volume knob, but also a way to control volume via linear taper? You would then need to buy a volume pedal with linear taper.

If there was no use for volume pedals, they wouldn't be made.. seems plain and simple too me.
Simply suggesting that someone "use their volume pot on their guitar" as a substitute just goes to show a lack of knowledge and understanding of guitar effects and that other players might have needs other than yourself.

No offense to you intended, but giving off uninformed advice like that is never a good thing and can lead to that person one gives bad advice too, passing on that bad advice.

When it comes to things like suggesting guitar related things, or indeed, any musical devices, make sure you know you stuff before giving advice. People don't deserve to be mislead due to poor and uninformed advice.

And again, no offense intended, but please bear this in mind next time.

Hmmm, well you're slightly pretentious aren't you? My bad advice that suggests experimenting with something built into the guitar rather than spending (quite possibly unnecessary) money is bad advice? I'm, not offended, just a little taken aback by your arrogance.

I have no idea the difference between a logarithmic taper and a linear taper, but we're talking volume here, I really doubt that it could make much difference to the sound. All that each do is lower and higer the sound level. Why should anything else matter?

Of course volume pedals were invented for a reason, they can be used for boosting as well, but buying one could be wasting up to $150 on an effect that could easily be produced by other means.

Remember, I was making a suggestion. A suggestion which could be useful to the OP. I don't know how that somehow shows that I know nothing when clearly I have some idea about a useful technique.

So no need to be an arrogant, condascending, pretentious, patronising a****le just because you feel that advice that suggests experimentation before opening up a wallet is bad and uninformed advice. No offense intended, but please bear this in mind next time.

My solo music: ANTHROPIATE

JulioSouth View Drop Down

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Posted: November 24 2008 at 15:37

Mr ProgFreak wrote:

I would suggest to get a POD X3 Live ... you'll get an expression pedal which you can use as a volume pedal, wah pedal ... anything you want (except for "whammy" effects, which - I guess - are patented by Boss). The point is: why pay a hundred dollars or more for a pedal which has one single effect if you can get a complete solution like the X3 (or the Vox ToneLab SE or Boss GT-10 if you don't like Line6) for a couple of hundred dollars? Big smile

BTW: Of course you can still use the volume knob for many effects ... guitarists like Vai use it too, even if they could probably afford a volume pedal. Wink

My bandmate used to have a Morley volume pedal and it performed really well, so I would recommend it.

The pros (Steve Morse, etc) however seem to favor the Ernie Ball brand, but it's probably more expensive.

Volume Knob option:

It doesn't really work like a volume pedal if you use distortion (as we all almost do) because the guitar will *always* be before the distortion device (be it pedal or amp) so that fading with the volume knob will also fade the *gain* along too (from clean and soft to distorted and loud).

The volume pedal (put *after* the distortion device) however really fades the volume but with the full intensity of the distortion already present.

So for Steve Hackett-style soloing the volume pedal, I think, is a must.

POD XT Live:

The expression pedal can be used as volume pedal (the default) and logically be positioned before or after (the default) the distortion in the virtual effects chain. So, it works right out of the box.

The Whammy effect can be obtained by upgrading the software (via USB connection and Line 6 Monkey software) for free. This adds the "Bender" effect (in the "Stomp" category). By assigning the expression pedal to the 'position' parameter then you can "bend" the pitch in real time, just like in the Whammy (you lose the volume pedal feature for that preset, though).

Hope that helps.

Good luck

"I'll be right there, I'll never leave; All I ask from you is Believe"

Mr ProgFreak View Drop Down

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Posted: November 22 2008 at 06:14

I would suggest to get a POD X3 Live ... you'll get an expression pedal which you can use as a volume pedal, wah pedal ... anything you want (except for "whammy" effects, which - I guess - are patented by Boss). The point is: why pay a hundred dollars or more for a pedal which has one single effect if you can get a complete solution like the X3 (or the Vox ToneLab SE or Boss GT-10 if you don't like Line6) for a couple of hundred dollars? Big smile

BTW: Of course you can still use the volume knob for many effects ... guitarists like Vai use it too, even if they could probably afford a volume pedal. Wink