May
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Written by:
GP Blogger
5/2/2011 7:54 AM
For many years I used a volume pedal. In the '70s and '80s it was a popular effect, and I relied on it for live playing and in the studio. Around 1985 I began to use a Fender Stratocaster whenever I played live, and the proximity of the volume knob made it a lot easier to control. Eventually I weaned myself off the volume pedal for all my live work, and only used it in the studio.
Recently I had a pedalboard (yet another!) made for me that is specifically for the studio. And even more specifically for a certain type of studio work: film and TV scoring, which I do occasionally. The volume pedal is a key component in this type of work because dynamics are very important in orchestral music. Those string players actually observe the dynamic markings like "ppp" and "ff."
I did some research to find the best volume pedal on the market and ended up with the top-of-the-line Boss pedal, the FV-500H. It sounds great and the taper feels perfect. I like it better than a voltage controller, too. It also has a tuner out, which is a nice feature, and I like the weight of the thing and don’t hear much signal loss when I’m running through it.
But it got me thinking: With all the true bypass pedals on the market, why doesn’t somebody make a volume pedal that is true bypass when it’s wide open? Or a volume pedal with a true bypass switch on the side? True bypass is the state of the art in pedals, so let’s take the potentiometer completely out of the volume pedal circuit when it’s not in use. —Carl Verheyen
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7 comment(s) so far...
Carl Verheyen: Upgrade the Volume Pedal
I couldn't agree more! But it's so hard for me to get used to the foot control, I have had a decent ernie ball and the boss pedal but the swell just seems so much different and sitting down its brutal. How about making a volume pot that actually WORKS! ;-)
By Scott Hacker on
5/2/2011 10:13 AM
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Carl Verheyen: Upgrade the Volume Pedal
That article made me think about where a volume pedal needs to be used more than in other spots
such as live or jamming.
But,are there more dynamics needed in studio work and is that why Carl uses the VP strictly in that
environment?
Mark
By mark grove on
5/2/2011 2:09 PM
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Carl Verheyen: Upgrade the Volume Pedal
Use Bourne pots, they have an excellent audio taper.
By Paul Marr on
5/2/2011 12:11 PM
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Carl Verheyen: Upgrade the Volume Pedal
Very interesting issue! I didn't know that a volume pedal can be upgraded!
By custom paper writing service on
5/4/2011 12:50 AM
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Carl Verheyen: Upgrade the Volume Pedal
Carl, it's better not to use the tuner output of volume-pedal, it sucks your great tone!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vB2hWf6fBA
There's something about that in that video... More hiss when tuner output is used, because volume-pedals split the signal passively.
I've been thinking too why there isn't true-bypass in volume-pedals.
By Benjamin Oksanen on
5/2/2011 6:11 PM
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Carl Verheyen: Upgrade the Volume Pedal
I have made myself a volume footpedal with a 10k pot and a true bypass switch that I use in my loop (post pre amp/but before the power amps) to set a desired "Duck" level and when I want my amp fully opened for a lead I turn it off. I turn it on for rhythm work so I can use my high gain sound but at a reasonable volume that wont destroy the stage mix. It is a compact pedal, smaller than an mxr, but I threw a BIG knob on it. I call it the Ducker and made appropriate art work for it. It is my must have pedal since it effectively turns my 2 ch amp into a 4 ch amp while not coloring my sound at all. I had trouble making accurate rhythm switches in volume and decided I would take the footpedal aspect out of the equation. It was a simple build and lots of fun and gets the most stomps per night on my board. Hmm, maybe I should make a back up....
By David Dowling on
5/13/2011 3:40 AM
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Carl Verheyen: Upgrade the Volume Pedal
It seems to me that I heard about a mod to the pots in guitars that basically took them out of the circuit. What I recall is the pot would be opened and the last little bit of the surface of the "wiper"(I think that is what it's called) would be scraped clean, so that when it was turned all the way up, there was nothing to impede the connection, in essence making a direct connection. Would that work for the pedal you're using?
By Mike Vande on
5/21/2011 5:48 AM
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