# Volume pedals



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I'm looking at adding a volume pedal to my board primarily for volume swell effects. I need something with a very smooth taper. All the reviews I've ever read on any of the Ernie Ball VP's is that they aren't very smooth and alot of them will have some amount of bleed with gain pedals.
I'd love to buy a Hilton Pro but at $390 US I'm not sure about spending quite that much on a volume pedal. However if it comes down to it I will.
So any recommendations?


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

Morley or if you can find a good used one, Visual Sound.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

I like the VP pedals. Pretty sure Long & McQuade rents them regularly if you want to try it out first. I've found two used under $100 each in good shape. I've been thinking about the tuner version.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

I have a thread I made 2 days ago about the same thing. I wound up ordering a Hotone Soul Press II. It is active, has a volume, wah, expression and tuner out. There is a switch that takes the wah from classic to warm, and a knob that adjusts the wah Q. Another switch goes from volume to wah to volume/wah. The expression pedal option doesn't require power. It's solidly built, relatively small, and has some cool led lights. It's $129 plus tax on Amazon. Funny thing they are $172 at Aliexpress.









Hotone Wah Active Volume Passive Expression Guitar Effects Pedal Switchable Soul Press II 4 in 1 with Visible Guitar Effects Pedal : Amazon.ca: Musical Instruments, Stage & Studio


Hotone Wah Active Volume Passive Expression Guitar Effects Pedal Switchable Soul Press II 4 in 1 with Visible Guitar Effects Pedal : Amazon.ca: Musical Instruments, Stage & Studio



www.amazon.ca





A member here did a video demo of it if you search.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

I recently purchased a Lehle Mono Volume pedal. Very sturdy, feels great. If budget allows for it, definitely worth checking out. It does require power. I had a Mayer volume /wah that was great as well and does both wah and volume really well.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Volume pedals are a very personal thing. The taper of the change has to dovetail with how you use your ankle to "express", and not everyone's ankle bends or pivots the same way. That's fixable in many instances, by either changing the pot out or tailoring the taper with a resistor here or there. But I'm sure most folks would prefer to have something that "works" right out of the box.

I have one of the early-issue Visual Volume pedals. It uses a dual-ganged slider pot, operated by a cam shaft. One of the pot sections isfor volume control, and the other is hooked up to a 10-level bargraph chip and changes which LED lights up, according to level. This is why Bob Weil called the company "Visual Sound"; the pedal visually indicated your level, such that it could be aimed for and repeated again. When I visited VS in 2009, Bob had a sort of "museum" in a glass display case in the hallway, with the various early prototypes of the Visual Volume, including some made of wood.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

mhammer said:


> Volume pedals are a very personal thing. The taper of the change has to dovetail with how you use your ankle to "express", and not everyone's ankle bends or pivots the same way. That's fixable in many instances, by either changing the pot out or tailoring the taper with a resistor here or there. But I'm sure most folks would prefer to have something that "works" right out of the box.
> 
> I have one of the early-issue Visual Volume pedals. It uses a dual-ganged slider pot, operated by a cam shaft. One of the pot sections isfor volume control, and the other is hooked up to a 10-level bargraph chip and changes which LED lights up, according to level. This is why Bob Weil called the company "Visual Sound"; the pedal visually indicated your level, such that it could be aimed for and repeated again. When I visited VS in 2009, Bob had a sort of "museum" in a glass display case in the hallway, with the various early prototypes of the Visual Volume, including some made of wood.


Correct me if I am wrong, which where your world is concerned is often, but is there really much to a strictly volume/expression pedal that is not just a potentiometer?? I cannot really imagine a world where it needs to be much more than that and then your example of really what taper someone is looking for being so subjective... I couldn't help but wonder. I know there can be a lot more, but fundamentally is there??


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## ampdude (Mar 17, 2011)

Free The Tone. Best one I've ever used, hands down.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Mark Brown said:


> Correct me if I am wrong, which where your world is concerned is often, but is there really much to a strictly volume/expression pedal that is not just a potentiometer?? I cannot really imagine a world where it needs to be much more than that and then your example of really what taper someone is looking for being so subjective... I couldn't help but wonder. I know there can be a lot more, but fundamentally is there??


Depends what you use a volume pedal for. If it's just for turning down when you hear the phone ring or want to talk with bandmates, using the pedal as basically a mute switch, then taper doesn't matter. If you hope to use it for expressive swells on individual notes, then pot taper matters, just as it matters for wah pedals. That doesn't mean it is MORE than "just a pot", but pots vary in how they translate rotation into proportional change.

Take a read of this classic: The Secret Life of Pots


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

How will you use it? Is it guitar into amp, or do you have something that can take an expression pedal? For swells, like mhammer mentions?

$300 doesn't sound too bad. Oh, $390 USD, that's a lot.

How about the other classic steel guitar pedals? Lehle, Goodrich. Goodrich is the same price or more. Telonics is even more.








Steel Guitars of Canada (SGC) is the premier provider of pedal steel guitars in Canada and worldwide.


SGC is owned and operated by renowned pedal steel guitar player Al Brisco. In addition to various instruments and music the store offers catalogue and events to suit wide range of tastes. We are located near the town of Colborne, province of Ontario, Canada.




www.steelguitarcanada.com





There's a 60's Fender on Reverb for $150. That's a deal. A little rusty.

My giant volume pedals:

Old Ernie Ball with in & out one side. Works as it should, the string will need to be replaced, eventually, I guess.

Dunlop DVP-1. I haven't had a problem yet, but the metal band will break.

Dunlop DVP-1XL. I would recommend if they can still be found, they fixed the metal band problem. Is the much smaller DVP-3 any good?

Boss FV-500H. A classic. The little teeth may wear out, some day.

What else?

A 1 Meg pot would be a great thing to try.

There seems to be a Behringer version of the Boss, FC600. It's pretty cheap, I wonder what the quality is on that. It doesn't disclose the pot value.

I've always wanted a Fender Volume-Tone pedal. There is a video of Gordie Johnson using one. The new ones don't work as well, I've read.

There's a couple of Tapestry Audio Bloomery volume pedals on Reverb. They look like they could tip over. How is that pedal? I recall it had positive reviews. Is that company still in business?

There's an old Linkon on Reverb, and some old Morleys and DeArmonds. I can't imagine a 70's pedal that plugs into the wall would work well anymore.

Didn't someone on here buy one of those EHX NextStep wah pedals for his daughter? I wonder how well that bit of magic works for a volume pedal. It's not going to stay where you set it.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Hammerhands said:


> How will you use it? Is it guitar into amp, or do you have something that can take an expression pedal? For swells, like mhammer mentions?
> 
> $300 doesn't sound too bad. Oh, $390 USD, that's a lot.
> 
> ...


I saw something about the bloomery that turned me off buying it. I searched but the video was in a review on some site. The guy shows how the optical portion gets pulled out of position and eventually damaged from this defect. His video showed exactly what happens.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

For me it’s Morley all the way.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

mhammer said:


> I have one of the early-issue Visual Volume pedals. It uses a dual-ganged slider pot, operated by a cam shaft. One of the pot sections isfor volume control, and the other is hooked up to a 10-level bargraph chip and changes which LED lights up, according to level. This is why Bob Weil called the company "Visual Sound"; the pedal visually indicated your level, such that it could be aimed for and repeated again. When I visited VS in 2009, Bob had a sort of "museum" in a glass display case in the hallway, with the various early prototypes of the Visual Volume, including some made of wood.


I *knew* I had a pic somewhere.


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## Buzz (May 15, 2008)

I found a blue fuzzy Foxx loud machine. It probly will need a new pot sometime.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I'm looking at a couple different pedals. One thing I don't understand is the difference between 500k 25k or 250k. Can someone explain that so I can understand what best to get?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Ever tried one of these? There's no pot. They use a photo cell and a shroud. Glassy smooth and totally quiet. Doesn't seem to alter the tone at all to my ears.









Morley Volume Pro Series | Reverb Canada


TESTED!!!VERY GOOD CONDITION FULLY FUNCTIONAL. ALL OUR USED GEARS ARE CAREFULLY TESTED AND HAVE A MINIMUM OF 12 MONTHS WARRANTY. NOT SATISFIED? CHANGE GUARANTEED WITHIN 14 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PURCHASE.




reverb.com


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Milkman said:


> Ever tried one of these? There's no pot. They use a photo cell and a shroud. Glassy smooth and totally quiet. Doesn't seem to alter the tone at all to my ears.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Just that I can't find one in Canada. Even the one Morley that L&M has listed they don't have any stock. I'm thinking of trying the Xotic which I can order online from L&M and it shows stock. Just don't know if I'd get the 2k or 250k.





__





Guitar Volume Pedals & Guitars Effects - Long & McQuade


Long & McQuade is Canada's biggest music store offering a huge selection of volume control effects & much more. Shop online today!




www.long-mcquade.com


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

guitarman2 said:


> Just that I can't find one in Canada. Even the one Morley that L&M has listed they don't have any stock. I'm thinking of trying the Xotic which I can order online from L&M and it shows stock. Just don't know if I'd get the 2k or 250k.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I can't comment on the Xotic, but the Morely is worth checking out. Like I said, glassy smooth. There's no rack and pinion and no pot.

For steel guitar swells they're the cats pyjamas.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

I have had issues with the 2 Xotic pedals I have owned.


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)




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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

guitarman2 said:


> I'm looking at a couple different pedals. One thing I don't understand is the difference between 500k 25k or 250k. Can someone explain that so I can understand what best to get?


25k is more for synths, or for a master volume in the effects-loop.

250k is what you find in most volume pedals. It may take off a little or a lot of high-end, depending on the guitar and the amp or pedal it goes into.

500k will be brighter, probably better for humbucking pickups.

Assuming your single-coil guitar has 250k volume pots and your humbuckers have 500k volume pots.

I saw a couple of videos...

At 1:30 there's a pretty good example of the typical tone suck of 250k with humbuckers. I think you recover it at the amp, but it could mess with your pedal settings.





This guy is less happy, but I think the difference in taper is the major factor in the passive pedal sounding...bad. That volume pedal I think has a taper switch.





There's a one hour video by That Pedal Show, Volume Pedal Fundamentals, I'm not sure I learned anything.


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## Midnight Rider (Apr 2, 2015)

This video shows just about every way you can utilize a volume pedal into the effects chain. Some very interesting and creative options depending on the effect desired.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I ordered an Xotic volume pedal from Long and Mcquade yesterday and should have it by next week. Seemed to be about the best they had in stock. I almost decided to call and cancel it today and order in a used Mission VM-Pro they have in a store out west. But I figure I'll give the Xotic a chance first. I've got 30 days to decide and I have a couple gigs inside that 30 days. The Xotic seems well reviewed as a quality volume pedal. My needs are fairly simple. Just need it at the beginning of my chain for volume swells. I'll not be using the tuner out as its not isolated.


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## zztomato (Nov 19, 2010)

Milkman said:


> For steel guitar swells they're the cats pyjamas.


I believe that's what Daniel Lanois uses. He knows a thing or two about sound.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

zztomato said:


> I believe that's what Daniel Lanois uses. He knows a thing or two about sound.



I agree.

It's worth it to try a few different designs I suppose, but the absence of the rack and pinion system and a conventional pot really makes the Morleys feel much smoother.

I've tried Ernie Balls with the little string and pulley system and several with the normal Crybaby type rack and pinion and they all have more resistance (I mean physical drag, not Ohms) than the Morley.

The only complaint I had with the early ones was the MASSIVE footprint. You almost needed a step stool to get up on them.

They've fixed that now but kept that glassy smooth feel.

If you're doing volume swells (steel guitar swells et cetera) that smooth feel really comes into play. You're playing the pedal.

Anyway, it's worth trying in my opinion.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

I sent a Hotone Soul Press II back to Amazon because the volume seemed to jump from 0 to maybe 20% then it's a linear taper. I can't do the violin sound I can do with my old Dunlop and a Next Jen buffer.


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## spacebard (Aug 1, 2009)

guitarman2 said:


> I'm looking at a couple different pedals. One thing I don't understand is the difference between 500k 25k or 250k. Can someone explain that so I can understand what best to get?


If you're using the volume pedal through the signal chain of your effects pedals:
-Guitar with passive pickups -> 250K-500K
-Guitar with active pickups -> 25K-50K

If you're controlling the volume through a device such as an Axe-fx, you need a volume pedal that work with active electronics.

Some volume pedal like the Ernie Ball MVP will work with both active or passive electronics.


Impedance mismatch = tone loss


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

Any time I see a volume pedal thread I post this video. I have a (passive) Goodrich pedal. Expensive but silent, smooth and built to last. No batteries required.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I have two Dunlop High Gain Volume pedals (Passive) --one for my guitar board & the other for my bass board
I find them smooth, and they do great for volume swells--so another one to look at--but best if you can try it out in person.
I got both mine used. So that helps too.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

zontar said:


> I have two Dunlop High Gain Volume pedals (Passive) --one for my guitar board & the other for my bass board
> I find them smooth, and they do great for volume swells--so another one to look at--but best if you can try it out in person.
> I got both mine used. So that helps too.


I have one of those, plus another that's black. What's the difference between the two?


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Oh well. The Xotic volume pedal was a very quick and fruitless experiment. Had it plugged in for 15 minutes and the tone suck was horrendous. Tried it at the beginning of the chain and after my buffered bypass compressor. It was a little better after the compressor. So back it goes. I'll maybe look in to a Goodrich or maybe a Hilton.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

guitarman2 said:


> Oh well. The Xotic volume pedal was a very quick and fruitless experiment. Had it plugged in for 15 minutes and the tone suck was horrendous. Tried it at the beginning of the chain and after my buffered bypass compressor. It was a little better after the compressor. So back it goes. I'll maybe look in to a Goodrich or maybe a Hilton.


I have never liked Xotic pedals. Get a passive Dunlop and a high quality buffer. That's what I have been having the most luck with.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

player99 said:


> I have one of those, plus another that's black. What's the difference between the two?


Same here, my other one is all black--but never found any difference between them--probably just when they were made.


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## rtomancini (Dec 26, 2021)

Hi
I have used many.
one of my favorites are:
-Morley 20/20
-AMT LLM-2 (ideal for pedal board (due to its small size)
- Recently bought Artec VPL-1 and it is great.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Long and McQuade has the Mission Pro VM in stock now. It has high quality buffers and is the kind of volume pedal that you plug in to a 9v. It has some options like restoring the high end as the volume is rolled down which will be good for my Les Paul that suffers more from high end roll off than my Fenders. The only thing I can't seem to find is if its good for guitars with 250k pots and 500k. It doesn't seem to mention it like the xotic pedal did. Or because of the buffers does it matter?


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

If it is buffered it should not matter.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I picked up the Mission with buffer, volume pedal lastnight. Got home and hooked it up to my pedal board first in line. It sounds great. I tried the sparkle switch thats supposed to maintain high end as you bring the volume down but I preferred it off. I found it gave a little bit of fizz when playing light to medium gain. One minor complaint as the length I can swell is a little shore but its not too much of a problem as most of my swells are fairly quick. My main purpose is just eliminating the pick attack, smoothing out fills. 
I wanted to see what tone suck if any I might be experiencing with the volume pedal. So I compared it connected then I unplugged it and went in to my first pedal, compressor. I was surprised that with out the volume pedal it sounded like my tone was sucked out a bit. Put the volume pedal back in and it sounded better. So the volume pedal is actually improving the tone. I wonder if I shouldn't put a decent buffer at the other end as well. I've got 8 pedals, 9 including the volume pedal, so maybe a good buffer on both ends would be good. Although 4 of the pedals are in the FX loop. Not sure if that still affects the tone.


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