-
Volume pedals are common in rock. Often seen after compression and distortion to control volume into other effects or amplification stages while keeping the distorted sound fully saturated. Seems they are seldom seen in jazz. Still, could be combined with a delay to create chord washes for slow ballads. Or as a way to keep your guitar pots full up and still quickly adjust volume. Or to control a saturated compressor to get a different sort of attack and threshold. I'm going to use one on an ambient board for some self indulgent shoe gazing but was thinking there might be an application or two in jazz.
-
04-11-2024 07:39 PM
-
IIRC, Eddie Diehl used one in lieu of putting a volume knob on his D'Angelico.
-
The only player I know of who uses volume pedal on a stand up guitar is Larry Carlton. That’s like, his thing that set him apart.
As far as I know it’s a lap/pedal steel thing.
-
Bill Frisell used to be a heavy volume pedal user way back when.
I always have a volume pedal on my boards ?
-
If you sit when playing, the classic Cry Baby is good foot rest.
-
Huh… it’s not the first time I’ve been straight up wrong.
Originally Posted by D.G.
-
If you find a volume pedal useful, use one. Otherwise don't.
-
I play with my foot on a volume pedal 99% of the time.
It allows me to adjust my balance with the band on the fly.
It allows for dissociation between picking intensity and volume. So, I can pick gently and still have it loud, or the opposite.
Now and then, I'll use volume swells, but, frankly, it's awkward.
The downside is that it's hard to do standing up because it puts your weight on one leg for the entire set.
Also, sometimes, it's hard to judge volume at the very beginning of a tune. You know you're somewhere in the middle of the sweep of the pedal, but you don't know exactly where.
But, most of the time it feels automatic.
-
This! And it allows me to maintain a guitar’s volume- and tone-control sweet spot, which I’m very picky about. There’s also the option of running it in in the amp’s effects loop. My volume pedal has an adjustable boost function for even more flexibility. Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
-
I've used volume pedals many times over the years. They're a good tool.
At the moment, I use one to add some expression to notes, similar to vibrato, but it's not pitch warbling, it's volume warbling.
-
I recently saw Mike Moreno with a big band. He used one to maintain overall volume balance with the ensemble as well as doing the “volume warbling” thing a couple of times.
-
A passive analog volume pedal will cut some high end (that's just how analog potentiometers work). Sometimes that's ok, sometimes not.
I use a passive analog volume pedal from time to time, mostly depending on guitar and amp, but obviously also when I need it for swell effect (it happens).
-
I’ve had a Morley optical volume pedal for many years. There’s no pot so there’s no effect on tone, and it's internally adjustable for sweep. Mine’s stereo, with two separate channels each with its own I/O. I used to use it a lot, especially with my Roland guitar synth. Originally Posted by JCat
The current ones have either wah or boost built in, and I don’t know if they’re identical inside. But my old one sounds great. It has a minimum volume control so you can narrow the sweep as you wish. It’s all steel, built like a tank and heavy. But the size and weight are non-issues for me because it sounds great, works great, and feels great.
A few reviews over the years have claimed to be able to hear a tone effect from having the photo-resistor in the signal path. I and most others are unable to hear this. I think it’s clean, quiet, and transparent.
-
But your Morley isn't passive, it needs to be powered and if it's not true bypass it would typically color the tone in stand-by... Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
I've got an optical Morley wah on my board as we speak (my favorite wah). It's got the right tone when on (swish-swoosh) and it's got the right tone when by-passed ("hard-wired"). I use an Ernie Ball VP, transparent enough for most situations, but not all situations.
-
I have an Ernie Ball VP Jr. and use it for volume adjustment on the fly and for swells. Great to be able to turn off and tune, disconnect guitar, etc. without having to fiddle with the guitar or amp controls.Tuck Andress uses one on virtually every song, in fact almost every chord. It's interesting to watch him use it craft the sound.
-
The signal path is completely passive. The only element in the signal path is a light sensitive resistor that adds resistance but has no bleed to ground and no moving parts except atomic particles. The power only energizes the LED whose light energy controls the photosensitive resistor that attenuates the signal. The intensity of the LED is fixed, ie it does not change with signal strength or pedal position. The amount of light that hits the photoresistor is controlled by a mechanical “curtain” between the two. The minimum volume pot controls the intensity of the LED and is not in the signal path. Originally Posted by JCat
The new Morley volume pedals with boost or wah apparently have an input buffer stage, but the old chromed steel volume-only Morleys do not AFAIK.
-
I used a Sho Bud volume pedal a long time ago for pedal steel like volume swells.
I don't like fiddling with knobs while I play or relying on my feet for anything but standing, so for Jazz I now use a TC Electronic Spark Booster Pedal to add a touch of volume and fatness for solos.
In my rock/pop rig, I recently decided I'd like to revisit the pedal steel volume swell thing, so I just got a Electro-Harmonix Pico Attack Decay Tape Reverse Simulator Pedal. It does the pedal steel volume swell thing really well, especially with a touch of compression in front of it and some mild echo after. I'm sure it can do other things, but I haven't explored what else it can do yet.
-
I have a Boss FV500L which I sometimes use after pedals in a rock setting. It's for low impedance applications.
I've thought about using one for jazz to use instead of the guitar knob (which I set for tone) but I guess I'd need the FV500H to use straight from the guitar.
-
This one is a Lehle. It's an active (powered) pedal and works based on a magnetic sensor. No pots to wear out or get scratchy and shouldn't impact the signal like passive pedals sometimes do. 9V power will come from the pedal board power supply.
-
They were pretty common in the Western Swing world. Guys like Junior Barnard and Eldon Shamblin from Bob Will's band were using them back in the 40's. I think part of it was for the ability to stand out for a solo, but it also could be to for the volume swells to imitate a steel guitar.
-
Re: tone suck with passive volume pedals.
I solve this by always running a high quality buffer first — GigRig Grumpybot.
-
I actually *like* this feature, as I pretty much always roll off some top end on clean tones anyway. I find that all of my guitars, amps and efx have more than enough top end to still get very bright, sparkly highs when that's what I want for, say, distortion guitar or chorusey clean sounds. Originally Posted by JCat
As Oscar notes, a vol pedal allows you to adjust output without straying from the "sweet spot" that you've dialed in so carefully with the passive vol/tone controls on the guitar, and as Rick says, you can instantly match your volume to the band without changing your pick attack. And, yes, I always put it into the efx loop.
-
I almost always use a Boss ME series (I recently went backward from the ME80 to the ME70). Volume pedal works fine. It does not have max or min adjustment, but that's never bothered me. I want to be able to turn it all the way off, for example, when tuning or fiddling with the guitar. And, I want the max to be set at the amp or with the ME70 output level control.
Now and then, I use an old Ernie Ball volume pedal that has a pot.
I don't notice any fall-off in the highs. Since I roll off highs with the guitar's tone control anyway, it doesn't matter. I rotate the knob until my ears tell me I've got the right amount of treble. I don't care what is reducing treble, whether it's the tone cap, the pot or the cable.
One of the things about riding a volume pedal is that it works best sitting down, but sometimes I don't want to be sitting that low. So, I often bring a drum throne and an old hard sided thick briefcase. I put the ME70 on that and raise the throne accordingly.
-
I knew someone who would use a volume pedal to hands-free change volume depending on if they were soloing (loudest) comping (mid) or comping during a bass solo (quietest). They never used it for swells but swore by it for practicality.
-
Yeah, this is clever. Originally Posted by starjasmine
It's like the "Little Black Amp Box" from JHS, that people use with their Fender Hot Rods.
Or DIY like Brian Wampler is demonstrating here:
Or we just use a passive Volume Pedal for the same purpose.
Many modern amps are voiced on the bright side, fortunately some got an FX loop. The good thing with a passive pedal in the FX loop is that there's no additional noise from any DC pedal power supply.
Reply With Quote
Handling an"old" Epi and new Gibsons
Yesterday, 11:59 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos