I need a volume pedal

HolyDirt

New member
Hey guys, i need a good volume pedal, one that keep the tone of the guitar, but just changes the volume... i dont want the low volume sounds to sound clean if everything else is distorted... is this possible?
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

HolyDirt said:
Hey guys, i need a good volume pedal, one that keep the tone of the guitar, but just changes the volume... i dont want the low volume sounds to sound clean if everything else is distorted... is this possible?

If you run it AFTER your distortion it will do just that, go for a lower imedance pedal to, like the BOSS FV-50L or FV-300L (It's the big one, although that number might not be correct, I use the smaller ones), there are of course other brands. Run it thru your effects loop ot between your preamp output and power amp input.
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

Yeah Kent hit the nail on the head.

For it to do what you want it to you'll have to run it in the effects loop
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

i use the ernie ball .. i had sticker shock (over $100US !!), but it's bullet proof and works flawlessly ... i use it to control the volume after my preamp and before the power amp ... no tonal change at all

good luck
t4d
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

The Ernie Ball 25kohm volume is another suggestion for use in the loop.


The Ernie Ball Jr is about 2/3 the cost of the full size, but it's still made like a tank (and takes up less realestate on your pedal board).
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

Visual Volume. Metal case, LED indicators of level.

The only negative (?) is that it is AC only--no battery power capabilities.
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

Im not after a volume pedal, but the one that strikes me as a good one is the Morley Little Alligator. The EB one seems good aswell.
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

One pedal that's really cool is the Dunlop Mr. Crybaby Super. It's a wah pedal that doubles as a volume pedal, in the off position. Two in one is always good.
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

Ernie Ball. Right infront of my amp, however. Don't know why you'd need in through the Loop...
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

so putting a passive volume pedal after a distortion pedal or in the effects loop will get what i want? seems like it's be harder than that... oh well!
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

HolyDirt said:
so putting a passive volume pedal after a distortion pedal or in the effects loop will get what i want? seems like it's be harder than that... oh well!

In front of the amp the only thing you are doing is the same as turning down you guitar's volme knob, but with a pedal.
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

Kent S. said:
In front of the amp the only thing you are doing is the same as turning down you guitar's volme knob, but with a pedal.
Thanks kent, the first time i used a volume pedal, i built it, just a passive volume rocker pedal, i thought it would act as just a volume knob like on the guitar (like you said) and when i tried it, it did just that. But i just built another one out of a wah pedal shell, put it in the effects loop.. it worked beautifully! thanks guys
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

HolyDirt said:
Thanks kent, the first time i used a volume pedal, i built it, just a passive volume rocker pedal, i thought it would act as just a volume knob like on the guitar (like you said) and when i tried it, it did just that. But i just built another one out of a wah pedal shell, put it in the effects loop.. it worked beautifully! thanks guys

One more theing that no one talks about, say your guitar has a 500k volume pot, you you run thru a volume pedal that has a 500k volume pot (for example) ... you just hooked two 500k pots in parallel ... that's a 250k load.
If you just wanted to regulated you *guitar's volume* with a volume pedal, the smart thing would be to use a sizeable gauge of wire, and bypass the guitar's volume control via a switching jack.
Putting a volume pedal thru the amp's loop, the pedal should be a lower impedance than what you would normally use for straight into the guitar.
The BOSS FV-50L works well, and the 300 series is supposed to be *sworn by* as to not interfere at all with your tone in the slightest. See if you can find a schematic of the FV-300L.

Another note also, most volume pedals because of the way they are wired can be used as passive expression pedals, on any two wire circuit. Simply connect the expression pedal line to the *output jack*, althouh the value of the pot may be different than the one that the circuit wants to see, so it's most often will still work, even though you might sacrifice a bit of range though.
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

Kent S. said:
One more theing that no one talks about, say your guitar has a 500k volume pot, you you run thru a volume pedal that has a 500k volume pot (for example) ... you just hooked two 500k pots in parallel ... that's a 250k load.
If you just wanted to regulated you *guitar's volume* with a volume pedal, the smart thing would be to use a sizeable gauge of wire, and bypass the guitar's volume control via a switching jack.
Putting a volume pedal thru the amp's loop, the pedal should be a lower impedance than what you would normally use for straight into the guitar.
The BOSS FV-50L works well, and the 300 series is supposed to be *sworn by* as to not interfere at all with your tone in the slightest. See if you can find a schematic of the FV-300L.

Another note also, most volume pedals because of the way they are wired can be used as passive expression pedals, on any two wire circuit. Simply connect the expression pedal line to the *output jack*, althouh the value of the pot may be different than the one that the circuit wants to see, so it's most often will still work, even though you might sacrifice a bit of range though.
ah i see, that explains the boost of warmth and darkness in my tone after i began using it (i changed from using in the loop, to using it before a distortion pedal but before the amp, btw), but i'm leaving it, it sounds really full! But i still dont get why the 2 500k pots together are parallel... i would think it would be series... well.. anyway.. thanks kent!
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

HolyDirt said:
But i still dont get why the 2 500k pots together are parallel... i would think it would be series...

I was wondering that myself.....
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

HolyDirt said:
ah i see, that explains the boost of warmth and darkness in my tone after i began using it (i changed from using in the loop, to using it before a distortion pedal but before the amp, btw), but i'm leaving it, it sounds really full! But i still dont get why the 2 500k pots together are parallel... i would think it would be series... well.. anyway.. thanks kent!

You're kinda confusing me here, if you put it after the distorion pedal, then you may want to go with a lower impedance volume pedal (you really just have to try to different types to see what works best here though in regard to before the amp but after a distortion pedal ... especially if still going into other pedals ...Dist.>Volume>other pedals>amp.
The volume pedal shares a common ground with the guitar, the two are in parallel, running after a pedal with it's lower output Z buffers this somewhat, and make the effect less noitceable. Draw out on paper the schematic of the volume pedal and the guitar and you'll see that the 500k pot (for example) of the guitar is in parallel with the 500k pot (for example) of the volume pedal.
500k to ground in parallel with 500k to ground is 250k.
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

Kent S. said:
You're kinda confusing me here, if you put it after the distorion pedal, then you may want to go with a lower impedance volume pedal (you really just have to try to different types to see what works best here though in regard to before the amp but after a distortion pedal ... especially if still going into other pedals ...Dist.>Volume>other pedals>amp.
The volume pedal shares a common ground with the guitar, the two are in parallel, running after a pedal with it's lower output Z buffers this somewhat, and make the effect less noitceable. Draw out on paper the schematic of the volume pedal and the guitar and you'll see that the 500k pot (for example) of the guitar is in parallel with the 500k pot (for example) of the volume pedal.
500k to ground in parallel with 500k to ground is 250k.
oh! i get it! you know your stuff man!
 
Re: I need a volume pedal

I have a question.

I've ordered a 25k volume pedal for use on my board (EMG pickups on a LP, so the volume knobs are a bitch to ride while playing.....),

so, if I read this right, the volume pedal will actually be working as a 12.5k volume pot?

What are the implications of this?

And possible solutions? (I have no intention of bypassing the volume pots on my guitar as I use them to blend in the middle position and ballance the pickups for clean neck/overdriven bridge switching and what-not.)
 
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