# volume pedals



## Welladjusted (Feb 19, 2006)

are there volume pedals aside from the ernie ball worth looking into, or is it the most commonly used one for a reason?

having a tuner out is really the only feature aside from... volume i'm looking for.


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## Accept2 (Jan 1, 2006)

I currently run a large Boss one. I had an Ernie Ball one before. I dont really see any difference between the two at all.........


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## Xanadu (Feb 3, 2006)

IMO a volume pedal's a volume pedal.


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

Yep a volume pedal is a volume pedal, that would be a wah without the circuit board. Most of the volume pedals are just a pot with rack and pinion. I guess the biggest deciding factor would be there build. I have seen some that use photo diodes that would probably last longer than a pot. A tuner out would be a good option. I had an EB for a while, robust pedal except instead of a rack and pinion they used a cord wrapped around the pot. This worked until the cord broke then it was a problem setting back up. For that reason I steer clear of the EB volume pedals.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I have always preferred Morley volume pedals due to their whisper quiet nature and amazing smoothness.

They use a photocell instead of gears or strings.

The absolute best for swells.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I have a George Dennis Wah/Volume, which is the optics as well. Can't remember where I got it and I dont use it a lot. But when I have it works very well.


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## sysexguy (Mar 5, 2006)

Most optical pedals especially the Morley's can be major tone suckers imho...... of course the pedal steel guys rely on their volume pedals constantly so maybe there's someone out there with an informed opinion (from a pedal steeler's perspective).

The major plus of the ernie ball is that they use a higher end and , most importantly, sealed clarostat pot. In contrast, the boss uses a cheapo light duty mini pot. There are a couple of reasons why a regular Vox/Cry Baby casing isn't the best volume pedal. The rack and pinion gear doesn't allow for a complete rotation of the pot (which is fine for a wah circuit) but awful in a volume pedal. As well, most of the pots are not closed so it's isn't long before dust and dirt makes the pot scratchy. 

Optical pedals do not have these problems however some of them have a slight delay and ...the buffer will affect the tone and/or get clipped by any boosters in front of it.

Andy


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## rippinglickfest (Jan 1, 2006)

*Ernie Ball*

I have an mono Ernie Ball pedal that I bought in the late eighties...............only now is the pot starting to get scratchy.........and the Kevlar string never broke on mine............and I used it alot (EB offers a refurbish for all of their Vm Pedals no matter how old).........Had a Morley Little Alligator too while I waiting for my EB..........didnt like it...........it did something to my sound.........it was very subtle but it changed.

Ray


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## flashPUNK (Feb 16, 2006)

I use a morley Wah/Volume in my pedal board.

I considered the Ernie ball, but didn't want to deal with the string breaking.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I used a Morley BSV Stereo Volume pedal for years until I started using pedals that have full bypass which exposed the pedal as a major tone sucker. So I decided to get an EB. It's fairly new so I've not had the issue with the broken string. Outside of not doing any audible change to the sound, I find the EB's provide a smoother transition. Mind you, if I have problems with the EB, I'll probably go back to the Morley. That pedal seems indestructible, never had any issue with it at all over the years.


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## sh333 (Apr 6, 2006)

Welladjusted said:


> are there volume pedals aside from the ernie ball worth looking into, or is it the most commonly used one for a reason?
> 
> having a tuner out is really the only feature aside from... volume i'm looking for.



Some of the older boss ones are active in that they can actually boost your signal past Unity. they are great. visual sound just came out with a similar Volume pedal based on their original design but with active boost (optional). It is pricy but really smooth IMHO.


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## sysexguy (Mar 5, 2006)

You guys will probably think I need to be locked up, but...... I sprang for a Hilton and while it's amazing, I will make it possible to bypass it too when I finish my board. (there's a microscopic change in tone) 

Andy


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## Solid_Gold_Soundlabs (Sep 20, 2006)

i've modded my dunlop high gain volume for true bypass and a switchable output buffer, and tuner out....works great


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## Newton (Sep 11, 2006)

Solid_Gold_Soundlabs said:


> i've modded my dunlop high gain volume for true bypass and a switchable output buffer, and tuner out....works great


Good thing! The volume pedal pots are tone suckers. The other solution is place it on a true bypass switch strip and use it when you needed it.


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