# Ernie Ball VP Jr. - Capacitor Mod



## regala (Dec 29, 2009)

Just picked up an Ernie Ball VP Jr. as my volume pedal. I love the pedal but unfortunately can hear a bit of tone suck, especially when I plug my Korg Pitch Black tuner into its Tuner port. I've read somewhere that the the VP Jr. can be modded by adding a capacitor, to get around the tone suck. Does anyone have a link to the instructions?

Otherwise, I will probably just have to stick a buffer in front of my signal chain (which I should do anyways because I have quite a few pedals) and probably one at the end.

Also, I may just get a Bigfoot System from Road Rage Pro Gear and take my pedals completely out of the chain until I need them.

Anyways, thoughts or recommendations are greatly appreciated.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2010)

Why run the Korg in the tuner output? It's true bypass, mutes your signal when you engage it. The Tuner out on the VP Jr. is showing it's age -- few people are running always-on tuners like TU-12s on their boards any more making it redundant.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

here's some helpful discussion. Volume pedal pots are often the same thing as a guitar volume pot, so all suggestions apply.
What value capacitor for treble bypass? [Archive] - Harmony Central Forums


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

regala said:


> Just picked up an Ernie Ball VP Jr. as my volume pedal. I love the pedal but unfortunately can hear a bit of tone suck, especially when I plug my Korg Pitch Black tuner into its Tuner port. I've read somewhere that the the VP Jr. can be modded by adding a capacitor, to get around the tone suck. Does anyone have a link to the instructions?
> 
> Otherwise, I will probably just have to stick a buffer in front of my signal chain (which I should do anyways because I have quite a few pedals) and probably one at the end.
> 
> ...


Hey if you end up modding it, let me know how it works. I get major tone suckage from my EB Jr.


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

iaresee said:


> Why run the Korg in the tuner output? It's true bypass, mutes your signal when you engage it. The Tuner out on the VP Jr. is showing it's age -- few people are running always-on tuners like TU-12s on their boards any more making it redundant.


My Mesa Roadster as a tuner out on the back of the amp? I assume its useful for Rack tuners?


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2010)

ne1roc said:


> My Mesa Roadster as a tuner out on the back of the amp? I assume its useful for Rack tuners?


Yup. It was meant to be a tuner feed that doesn't load down your guitar.


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## Addictedtokaos (Jul 14, 2010)

I dont think adding a cap would help as Caps are usually used for treble bleeds or a High Pass filter. This works if you're loosing your lower frequencies.

check out this video
YouTube - Guitar Tone Capacitors, part 2: How Tone Works, Selecting a Value

Its sounds like your just loosing tone period (Voltage) due to the tuner. I dont know how you would remedy that other than removing the tuner from the equation.


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## regala (Dec 29, 2009)

Thanks to all that replied... for now, I just stuck it in the middle of my chain between the overdrives and the "coloring" pedals (delay, phaser, flanger, etc...) Eventually, I will invest in the Bigfoot System.


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