Volume Pedal for steel-like swells

[DMace]

I had an Ernie Ball VP Jr., and the taper was too fast. Anyone out there use a volume pedal for this type of effect, and if so, what brand pedal are you using? I use it with both a Tele and a Supro lap steel.

[graphs]

I thought the Ernie was about the standard for volume pedals.

[DMace]

Originally Posted by graphs

I thought the Ernie was about the standard for volume pedals.

So did I. That's way I bought it off ebay. But the taper was basically on/off. Maybe I had a dud.

[getbent]

the hot volume pedal that lots of steel players like are the Hiltons

Goodrich is an old standard (and my choice) you can pick them up used for reasonable prices over at the steel guitar forum. (replacement parts too)

[woodman]

Originally Posted by DMace

So did I. That's way I bought it off ebay. But the taper was basically on/off. Maybe I had a dud.

seems like there's a way to adjust that, but i can't remember how. my VP Jr has a pretty good taper.

[DavidP]

I should be getting my low-profile Goodrich pedal delivered tomorrow,so can a/b it against my EB Junior. I need to do some swells in slide playing on my Burstbucker-equipped SG, and found the 250K pot a little stifling.The Goodrich has 500K.

[patrickhowell]

Did you make sure to get the 250k pedal for passive guitars instead of the 25k pedal for active guitars ?

The 250k volume pedal for passive guitars has a taper switch inside - under the foot pedal behind the jacks.

[DMace]

Originally Posted by patrickhowell

Did you make sure to get the 250k pedal for passive guitars instead of the 25k pedal for active guitars ?

The 250k volume pedal for passive guitars has a taper switch inside - under the foot pedal behind the jacks.

I did get a 250K, but I had no idea that there was a taper switch inside lol. Oh, well, I got it fairly cheap and sold it for the same, so I could always pick up another.

[Tim Bowen]

All I can say is good luck. Some guys say they're not "wah guys"... evidently, I'm not a volume pedal guy. I had (have) an el cheapo Dunlop passive volume ped, and upgraded to a Goodrich 120. I didn't go for the low profile model because I was looking to use it for a variety of instruments, with lap steel among them. After a dozen gigs or so - the signal integrity of the Goodrich is decidedly superior, but honestly, I sound less herky jerky for swells and such on the silly Dunlop. I'm sure the problem is with me. Nonetheless, I can't seem to find a volume ped that allows me the comfort zone that I'm accustomed to with a pinky wrapped around a smoothly tapered electric guitar pot. I'll keep the Goodrich for sessions where I need swells, especially for lap steel, but I think I'm done gigging with volume peds. I just don't get on with them.

[SMurphy28]

I only use a volume pedal for swells. That being said, I really like the Boss FV-500H. You can even set how much resistance you want and it has a tuner out jack. If needed, you can set the minimum volume allowed in the heel position and use it for boosting solos.

I wasn't a big fan of the EB VP either but found this to be a cheaper option than the Goodrich. If I didn't get on with the Boss pedal I would definitely have splurged and got a Goodrich though.

Good luck!

[RomanS]

My George Dennis vol. pedal works well for swells, very smooth, even action.

The worst vol. pedal I ever tried was a Morley Pro Series - it acted more like an on-off-switch...

[porgy]

I was thinking about volume sustain and a vibrato thing. I saw a Danny Gaton, not sure how his name is spelt, video instruction tape, in fact I own it, but he was showing how to rotate the volume control or pod, with one of your playing hands to get a volume pedal effect. I kind of like that idea, does anyone here know if they make something you can hook to your volume knob on the tele, to get that effect without giving up the playing action of your hand and having to use a volume pedal. On another note, how does or did Roy Buchanan get that haunting vibrato sound on his playing style. Signing off.

[CLAZ]

+1 on the taper switch on the passive EB jr. thats what i have been using onstage and works perferct! i use the tuner out too which makes life easier...one word of advice though. use a couple of good buffer pedals before it and maybe one after as well...that seems to almost eliminate any high end loss of the volume pot.. etc ( i use the boss tr-2 trem Boss Dm-2 delay and a 808 RI which have good buffers )

[91xlntS-3]

Don't know what I'd do without my old EB Volume pedal. I've had this bad boy for about 15-16 years, never had a problem. This is the older, full size pedal with just an in and out.

[tele salivas]

I like my Morley little alligator, works great withmy lap steel and my tele, just feels right to me, but a volume pedal seems to be a very personalized piece...any one remember the dunlop wah/volume, mine got stolen but that had a great sound and feel, didn't really catch on though...

[Dan German]

Originally Posted by Tim Bowen

Some guys say they're not "wah guys"... evidently, I'm not a volume pedal guy.

Originally Posted by RomanS

The worst vol. pedal I ever tried was a Morley Pro Series - it acted more like an on-off-switch...

I wasn't a "wah guy" until I got my Morley WVO. Now I have to remind myself not to use it too much. But I never used the Volume function until recently. Now I find myself trying to do swells (no way could I ever do the volume knob thing; my hands have enough trouble just playing).

RomanS, is the Morley Pro Series an optical or pot-controlled pedal? Because my old optical Morley may or may not be good, who can tell when it's me trying to play, but I don't find it abrupt. It has a reasonably good sweep to the volume.

[RomanS]

Originally Posted by Dan German

RomanS, is the Morley Pro Series an optical or pot-controlled pedal? Because my old optical Morley may or may not be good, who can tell when it's me trying to play, but I don't find it abrupt. It has a reasonably good sweep to the volume.

Quite frankly, I don't know... I have sold it in the meantim, so I can't look. It was an all black one that said "Morley" on the pedal part, and "Pro Series" on the body/base.
But since it needed a power supply, and hat an extra pot for minimum volume, I'd guess it was optically controlled.
The taper was that it would do almost for most of the way, and then do the volume swellling on the last quarter or third of the pedal travel...

[2ndstringer]

Originally Posted by porgy

I was thinking about volume sustain and a vibrato thing. I saw a Danny Gaton, not sure how his name is spelt, video instruction tape, in fact I own it, but he was showing how to rotate the volume control or pod, with one of your playing hands to get a volume pedal effect. I kind of like that idea, does anyone here know if they make something you can hook to your volume knob on the tele, to get that effect without giving up the playing action of your hand and having to use a volume pedal. On another note, how does or did Roy Buchanan get that haunting vibrato sound on his playing style. Signing off.

To do volume swells with your pinky on a Tele you pretty much have to turn the control plate around, swap the volume and tone pots, and then turn the switch around the other way so that it points in the direction of the neck pickup when switched to neck, etc. This puts the volume pot where the switch used to be, and you can get your pinky around it. It takes some practice, but you can do that Roy Buchanan thing without a volume pedal.

John

[frankus]

Recently bought the remnants of a Sho-bud pedal (real cheap) to fix up and replace my EB VP JR - as I didn't get on with the sweep it's too long on the EB.

Now wahs I love big sweeps on 'em

[Scottone]

Originally Posted by frankus

Now wahs I love big sweeps on 'em

You must be a Colorsound fan

Back to the original topic...I use a full size EB volume pedal for swells on steel licks and it works great.