Trending… Volume Pedals

[Tele-beeb]

Have been in the mix of real-time discussion of the use of a volume pedal vs. volume control on the guitar.
It got me to thinking how it has been quite a while since I considered one. At the time (~2012?) I was considering a Morley Little Alligator.
So, what volume pedal is trending and hot for live players? Thanks ahead.

 

[SixStringSlinger]

I like the Dunlop Volume X.

A bit large perhaps in tis age of ever-smaller pedals. It's like a beefy wah. I like that it can function as both a volume and an expression pedal.

I prefer to use the guitar's volume control for cleaning up dirt and the like, and a pedal for effects like swells.

 

[SlimGrady]

I also am thinking the best use for me would be to control gain and feel with the guitar volume knob and the put a volume pedal after dirt to do volume effects. I have been considering the Ernie Ball vs. a Dunlop Volume X. Would be interesting for someone to chime that has used both..

 

[Festofish]

I really liked my EB visual volume/tuner. The screen crapped out in less than a month under kid gloves use. I’ve got an old huge volume from them I got in a trade. It’s quick to change guitars without all the snap, crackle…POP. Boss tuners have that option as well. I prefer to run it that way. I prefer Morley’s treadle as it’s closer to the heel.

 

[saleake]

The Ernie Ball VP JR Tuner pedal is great. The only drawback is that it uses 150 ma.

 

[ReverendRevolver]

I use an Edwards Light Beam or Goodrich. For steel. You need them for that. I have these couple top o' the line volume pedals that steel players swear by, so I no longer have the cheaper one.
But I use the knob regardless on 6 string.

I'm more convinced a tremelo is needed on a guitar than a volume pedal at your feet. I can only do limited vibrato stuff with chords and open strings by squeezing behind the nut, but I could rearrange the control plate if I needed to do volume swell stuff like a pedal allows.
Every time I've given the volume pedals a whirl since I inherited the good ones, the swell and pull back stuff I do that sounds good is all tied to some sound I'm trying to copy from Hawaiian or C&W steel vibes anyway, cementing my outlook in using the knob, and setting up to do so, if that's what you're after.

The EB pedal was appealing back when I ran the Toronado and hadn't gotten a grip on pushing the volume how I wanted (the 2 knobs interaction confused me). But even then, it was "on/off/little louder" and that was it.

 

[artdecade]

Ernie Ball still works for me.

 

[Tele295]

I think Ernie Ball is the most widely used, as has been since the 1980s. I use an Ernie Ball VP Jr. An extremely well built pedal, especially when compared to the old Fender and Sho-Bud pedals I used before.

 

[popthree]

i had a morley and i hated it. it just didn't serve the purpose i was after.. volume swells. ernie ball is what i settled on. works great.

 

[loopfinding]

Avoid the chinese mini ones (the dogbone-ish-shaped enclosure every random amazon manufacturer uses) unless for expression (maybe the active ones are okay too? Not sure). The taper on the pots is messed up (even though it’s marked A-type) and the travel is not the whole way. Replacing the pot is a bit annoying too (on one I had they epoxied it to the bracket that holds it in position).

 

[NorthenLights]

Those Ernie Ball volume/tuners shure look cool. But I don't know if any volume pedal is worth 300 bucks. You could buy to vp and two tuners for that, and not worry about any of them breaking down.

 

[schmee]

I find volume pedals make crappy tone. I haven't figured out why that is though. I've had a t least a half dozen in the last 20 years. Have one out there now I dont use.
Is it because there are two volume pots in series? (Guitar and pedal) or what?
I imagine if you dimed the guitar Volume all the time and never touched it, it would work better. I usually try to just use the guitar with the pedal dimed, but then use the pedal occasionally. Maybe a zero load volume pot detent would be the way to go...., but would the tone work?

 

[City Sirens]

The Telonics volume pedal has completely cured me of any needs for any other volume pedals, for the rest of my life.

 

[JL_LI]

A digital volume pedal that can nit only turn down loudness but be used as a clean boost would be useful. Does such a thing exist? I have a dB slider on my EQ-200 but it’s not responsive in real time like a pedal control.

 

[GoodwillHunter]

I have the Ernie Ball VP Junior. One really cool use I found for it is in the send-return of a delay effect. Let's me control the amount of feedback with my foot. When I turn it up it creates an infinite delay freeze ish effect

 

[popthree]

I have the Ernie Ball VP Junior. One really cool use I found for it is in the send-return of a delay effect. Let's me control the amount of feedback with my foot. When I turn it up it creates an infinite delay freeze ish effect

i'm not following. what are you doing with the delay exactly?

 

[SlimGrady]

A digital volume pedal that can nit only turn down loudness but be used as a clean boost would be useful. Does such a thing exist? I have a dB slider on my EQ-200 but it’s not responsive in real time like a pedal control.

Check the Ernie Ball MVP volume pedal. It does exactly what you are asking.

 

[SlimGrady]

Does anybody find that using a passive volume pedal after a buffer retains the high end much better than the usual running it first in the chain and "tone suck" issues you hear a lot of the time?

 

[GoodwillHunter]

i'm not following. what are you doing with the delay exactly?

The amount of feedback, basically I'm turning the volume down on the echo which translates to less or more repeats

 

[popthree]

The amount of feedback, basically I'm turning the volume down on the echo which translates to less or more repeats

Ah so vol after delay in signal chain. I have my vol pedal first in the chain, before delay, well, before everything.