Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

Erlend_G

Erlend_G

New member
Decided that my next gear purchase will be a passive volume pedal;

between guitar and amp.

I spend way too much time fiddling with the amp's volume, guitar volume-
and I'd rather turn the amp up quite loud, and control everything with my foot :)

But there is a myriad of brands and price ranges.

What to get,

and what to avoid?

Thanks,
-Erlend
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

Make sure you get a high impedance one - 250k, not a low impedance - 25k. I've heard good things about the Ernie Balls but I've never used one. I had an old Boss FV500 that I really liked, I currently have a Vox one, looks like a blue Vox wah, it works fine.
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

I love my Ernie Ball pedals. Incredibly sturdy, and feels great under the foot, with a really wide sweep.
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

I just got two in the mail last week
The sonicake Vexpress is passive
And if you get it from China, it's cheap $27
Also the Behringer fcv100 which isn't passive as it takes 9 volt power . I'll look when I get back home to see if it has the option
But it's also $27
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

Thanks for the tips, guys-

I'll have to see what is aviable, as I'm in Norway, and not everything gets stocked here :).

I start thinking about everything i "want", but then I just become depressed;
so I have to focus the other way around, and be happy with what I got! :D

I hope I'll be able to record some of my music soon, and share with you.

Thanks
-Erlend
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

I have two Boss FV500's; they're good when they work, but use cheap pot, that will get crackly easily (doesn't like cold). It's special item you only get from Roland service and costs 45 €...

EB feels better to use, but is insanely annoying and difficult to get working properly if you have to fix it. I spent a week tinkering with mine after changing the string... Then sold it for someone else to deal with.

When my current FV-500 wears out, I won't be looking either of those options... Though I do like the desing overall; solid aluminum and jacks at the top.
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

^^ thanks.

I'll look now, for what alternatives I got :).
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

Erlend_G said:
Thanks for the tips, guys-

I'll have to see what is aviable, as I'm in Norway, and not everything gets stocked here :).

I start thinking about everything i "want", but then I just become depressed;
so I have to focus the other way around, and be happy with what I got! :D

I hope I'll be able to record some of my music soon, and share with you.

Thanks
-Erlend
Click to expand...

Honestly, a lesson for all of us to learn.
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

I've got a Boss FV500H. Works great and seems built well as we expect from Boss stuff. It is big though so if space is at a premium that could be a deal breaker.
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

SlyFoxx said:
I've got a Boss FV500H. Works great and seems built well as we expect from Boss stuff. It is big though so if space is at a premium that could be a deal breaker.
Click to expand...

Yea, it's built like a tank outside, but when open it, the pot inside is open miniature Alpha lookalike you find everywhere dirt cheap. Except it has unique taper you get only from Roland. It's not sturdy and sealed as you'd expect for a foot pedal.
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

I'm not sure I've ever seen a "sealed" passive volume pedal.
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

devastone said:
I'm not sure I've ever seen a "sealed" passive volume pedal.
Click to expand...

I meant the pot inside pedal

Like this (in EB Junior)
10817586_800.jpg

Compared to one in FV-500:
20180724_203100.jpg

(Funny, almost all pictures of it I found by google search were from my thread here about modding it...)
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

I haven't really found any volume pedals that I've liked, but the Ernie Ball was the best of the group for me.

Mincer said:
Honestly, a lesson for all of us to learn.
Click to expand...

I've gone through so much gear over the years that I've finally hit the point where I'm not really tempted by stuff when I walk into a music store anymore. I love all the cool stuff, but my kemper does everything I need and then some. Same with guitars, I almost never find one that plays or sounds better for me than the ones I have. After the first few trips to the store and feeling that, it was a little depressing. I got caught up in the rush of buying for the sake of buying or trying to purchase talent. Now, I play what I have and if it doesn't sound the way I want, I know that the change has to come from me and not the gear.
 
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Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

chadd said:
I haven't really found any volume pedals that I've liked, but the Ernie Ball was the best of the group for me.



I've gone through so much gear over the years that I've finally hit the point where I'm not really tempted by stuff when I walk into a music store anymore. I love all the cool stuff, but my kemper does everything I need and then some. Same with guitars, I almost never find one that plays or sounds better for me than the ones I have. After the first few trips to the store and feeling that, it was a little depressing. I got caught up in the rush of buying for the sake of buying or trying to purchase talent. Now, I play what I have and if it doesn't sound the way I want, I know that the change has to come from me and not the gear.
Click to expand...

Same here. I also don't like researching gear more than actually playing.
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

The Boss FV500 works well.
Just be carefull when plugging in: it has two inputs and two outputs I think.
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

Ok...

Looking at the pictures of the internal pots;

I'm more intrigued about the Ernie Ball :)
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

I like the build quality and slow feel of the EBs, my Morelys always seemed to get real dirty and and build static in the pots if you gigged a lot.

Be careful about a Passive Volume pedal -the can be a real tone suck if not paired with the guitar pickups and electronics well
 
Re: Volume Pedal - (passive) - what to get, and avoid? :o

NegativeEase said:
I like the build quality and slow feel of the EBs, my Morelys always seemed to get real dirty and and build static in the pots if you gigged a lot.

Be careful about a Passive Volume pedal -the can be a real tone suck if not paired with the guitar pickups and electronics well
Click to expand...
Very true. Especially when you have a tuner plugged into the parallel out. I never understood why they are 250K and not 1M.
 
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