Can you recommend a good volume pedal?

[crazyzeke]

I'll keep it short, which is rare for me, but I need OSG's abundant knowledge to help me solve a little problem.



I have one of these on my organ sim board, and I don't like it. Not only is it kinda big and clunky but the sweep is too wide from heel to toe and it's not smooth - it's all too easy to go from "no organ sound" to "so much organ it's overpowering the guitar and everything else" so I can't really do smooth swells or subtly introducing it to choruses of songs and then rolling it back in the verses, which is a problem at gigs and rehearsals.

So if you please, can you recommend a good volume expression pedal that doesn't have those problems and is numerous enough that I can easily source one from Reverb or eBay and not spend a fortune?

[GreenKnee]

I have used a Lehle Mono S for the last 3 years or so. It's bullet proof, totally transparent and a decent size. They're quite expensive, although the price is long forgotten now as I've had it for that long. There's other features hidden in the unit; slight EQ changes if desired (I think), a boost when toe full down etc.
I don't think it's programmable to a certain amount of sweep though, which sounds like something you might be looking for?

[marqueemoon]

I have used a Lehle Mono S for the last 3 years or so. It's bullet proof, totally transparent and a decent size. They're quite expensive, although the price is long forgotten now as I've had it for that long. There's other features hidden in the unit; slight EQ changes if desired (I think), a boost when toe full down etc.
I don't think it's programmable to a certain amount of sweep though, which sounds like something you might be looking for?

Another happy Lehle user here. I bought mine used. I like the taper well enough.

I like this idea a lot, and if I hadn’t gotten the Lehle I might have done that instead.

[fuzzjunkie]

I have a Source Audio Reflex, which is out of production now, but they replaced it with a dual expression pedal that has adjustable range and it can control 2 pedals. That might be handy for a synth board? It’s readily available and reasonably priced.

The Reflex is the perfect controller for multiple pedals though. It wasn’t cheap and I guess it became too expensive to manufacture? That seems to be the reason it was discontinued? Anyway - it’s programmable and can control several pedals via regular cable, midi, and CV. You can program the sweep range and the shape. Want a linear sweep for delay time for your echo pedal, but a steep Q for a filter pedal? The Reflex can do that!

I send CV control to one filter pedal, midi to the 2 Eventide pedals, and a regular speed sweep to a Univibe.

[Arthon]

mission engineering is a really great choice.

[crazyzeke]

Thanks for the suggestions - I wouldn't say Lehle and Source Audio ones were in the "affordable" bracket though as I looked them up and they were about £300 and £200 each! The Mission Engineering one was a little more cost-effective, but I ended up going to Anderton's on Friday (getting stuck in ludicrous amounts of traffic each way, meaning my travel time was four times as long as the time I spent in the store yay ) and grabbing an EHX one new for the princely sum of £65, good value and comes with a year warranty so if it pops it's clogs in the meantime I can have it replaced FOC.

While I was there I also picked up a Shubb C4 vintage radius capo, as is turns out none of the 3 I had were matching the Jag neck and it explains the out-of-tuneness that was happening when using them, and for songwriting I use them a lot (basically I have a different song or two written in fret positions 1-5 for the whole originals band album I'm working on) so it's kind of important. Took me a long time to figure that one out





It's fairly lightweight, the sweep is small but accurate so foot tremolo is a thing again. Also it's passive so I got to pull a big 12V wall wart off of my organ sim board mains extension lead, and has a little switch to go from 25K to 250K. Construction inside is simple but good, blue PCB used throughout and the design is dated 2017 so it's relatively new as a product, not some ancient design as I was expecting.

Downside was having to mess around with patch cables again for ages to make everything fit as the input/output jacks on the EHX are way lower down. I start to remember why I used guitar multi-effects for literally a couple of decades - you don't have to worry about this kind of nonsense, fiddling with positions of mains adapters and patch leads, and in my case literally taking a meat cleaver to the oversized ends of the L-jacks to make them fit through the curtain holes on the pedal board.

[fuzzjunkie]

Zeke the Ripper!

Because he rips up the fretboard?

No, because he took a meat cleaver to his pedalboard.

I think I would have used a drill to make the holes larger? Everyone knows bigger holes let more tones through.

[marqueemoon]

I didn’t realize EHX made a VP. Sounds like the taper is working better for you.

I used a passive Ernie Ball before getting the Lehle. It seemed to be happiest with a buffered pedal after.

I’m a heavy capo user. Really opens up a lot of possibilities, but it can be a pain live.

[crazyzeke]

Zeke the Ripper!

Because he rips up the fretboard?

No, because he took a meat cleaver to his pedalboard.

I think I would have used a drill to make the holes larger? Everyone knows bigger holes let more tones through.

This entire post is gold I laughed pretty hard.

Because he rips up the fretboard?

Can't it be both?

[crazyzeke]

I didn’t realize EHX made a VP. Sounds like the taper is working better for you.

I used a passive Ernie Ball before getting the Lehle. It seemed to be happiest with a buffered pedal after.

I’m a heavy capo user. Really opens up a lot of possibilities, but it can be a pain live.

Yeah neither did I, happenstance that Anderton's did. I miss having Pro MT in Portsmouth though because going to a large guitar store who have a good range is now a long drive, mostly because thick with thick traffic (as in those who love their 25s in a 40, 45s in a 60 etc as goes speed).

I looked at the EB ones but again they're in the £100+ range for some reason and I refuse to pay this amount for a volume pedal, considering I have paid £20 for a pedal with 7 effects in it, basically all of which I use in some song or another.

Ah someone who knows what a gift and a drawback capos are. Do you have the one where the bass player complains he can't play as many open notes because you're in keys that use a lot of sharps/flats? Hey I want an album where not every song is in E, A and D so sue me...

[marqueemoon]

Do you have the one where the bass player complains he can't play as many open notes because you're in keys that use a lot of sharps/flats? Hey I want an album where not every song is in E, A and D so sue me...

Fortunately no. I also play bass in a band where the singer alternates between tuning down a step and E standard. I just stick to E on all the songs. Not having open strings in common keeps things interesting.

For me using a capo is as much about being able to more easily play in different *voicings* as it is about playing in different keys.

[crazyzeke]

For me using a capo is as much about being able to more easily play in different *voicings* as it is about playing in different keys.

Amen, especially when recording. A song I tracked recently (a rearrangement of something from a few years ago, one of the better pop-rock songs I've ever written) had stuff like capo 3ᴿᴰ and 7ᵀᴴ for normal concert pitch tuned electrics, and then the acoustics were in altered tunings with the capo on 1ˢᵀ and 6ᵀᴴ. Lots of different voicings and voice-leading the vocal melody inside them so it sounds like one giant guitar at points, rather than just double-tracking the same part, panning and calling it a day.

[-JB-]

Ernie Ball VP Jr / Tuner