Expression Pedal Review Thread - please post your reviews here :)

  • Thanks so far...
    So i will just go with a normal pedal...
    Mission seems to have good PR guys, if they sell a pedal as Kemper pedal, which is not really supported ;)


    The Mission pedal is at least informally supported by Kemper (I don't know what they needed to do, to be able to advertise a pedal specifically for the KPA) - the Remotes at NAMM had two pedals connected - a Mission Pedal, and a Dunlop DVP.


    The Mission pedal works for Wolf, the way he described it. Another user had problems getting it to work - I've not had a chance to try it, so I can't speak from experience.


    HEY, MISSION: If you would like independent confirmation that your pedal can be used for Wah/Volume within a single rig, send me a pedal, and I will post a first-had review of it :)

  • Hey guys, I have the Mission EP1-KP pedal and just found this thread. I have wah loaded in all of my performance rigs, and I'm able to alternate between volume and wah in the same rig with only one pedal. The toe switch activates stomp B (where I put all of my wah pedals in performance mode). I'm away from home, so I can't look up all of my notes, but I basically played around with options in the menu and set my Wah stomps to the "On" setting so that the toe switch would activate it.


    It took a few minutes for me to figure out, but it works great. Only thing I can't do is volume swells and wah-wah work at the same time, but I don't need that.


    If anyone's curious as to how I did this, let me know and I can pull up my notes when I get back to my laptop in a day or two.

  • Hey guys, I have the Mission EP1-KP pedal and just found this thread. I have wah loaded in all of my performance rigs, and I'm able to alternate between volume and wah in the same rig with only one pedal. The toe switch activates stomp B (where I put all of my wah pedals in performance mode). I'm away from home, so I can't look up all of my notes, but I basically played around with options in the menu and set my Wah stomps to the "On" setting so that the toe switch would activate it.


    It took a few minutes for me to figure out, but it works great. Only thing I can't do is volume swells and wah-wah work at the same time, but I don't need that.


    If anyone's curious as to how I did this, let me know and I can pull up my notes when I get back to my laptop in a day or two.


    I got it to work too with only one issue....when activating the wah with toe switch, then turning it off again with toe switch and then using the pedal right away as a volume pedal, pushing the heel down doesn't swell the volume down. It shuts abruptly after a second. Then it behaves normally. AFAIK this is the way it is with the Kemper and this pedal as I emailed both Mission and Kemper about it. The volume worked fine after that initial cut off. This is only when using wah and volume in the same rig.


  • I think I misunderstood the post while readig it first... This does not sound so bad...

  • Wah switching or pitch shifter switching in and out does not work well, because the pedal has to be reset with a full sweep more often than not. I have documented my experience in another thread. This is not a fault of the Mission Control pedal and I'm sure if you use that toe switch for another effect, it will not demonstrate the same behaviour.


    Rule of thumb: when activating a wah or pitch shifter, it's better to jump to another rig altogether. The manual explicitly states that this function is not supported and it's for a reason.

  • Wah switching or pitch shifter switching in and out does not work well, because the pedal has to be reset with a full sweep more often than not. I have documented my experience in another thread. This is not a fault of the Mission Control pedal and I'm sure if you use that toe switch for another effect, it will not demonstrate the same behaviour.


    My Mission has the same problem, I did not notice this before because I mostly use the Wah and Volume more or less only to get the tuner. I guess this is really a KPA software issue, I think Kemper could easily fix this with a new "Mission Wah/Volume" mode where the volume becomes active @ 100% when you switch off the Wah,

  • I previously posted the following, but have since halved the value of the fixed resistor from 27k to 13.5k.


    Measuring the midi values on the KPA for equal increments of the pedal the response is even closer to linear and feels totally useable.


    app

  • Sadly I had a problem with one of my DVP3 pedals tonite. It started off with the wah just suddenly activating every now and then during our 2nd set at first I thought it was because we were on a stage and the bass was vibrating the stage but then I thought it hasn't happened before when we were playing on a stage?. When I bent down to feel the pedal and it was so loose and kind of floppy, as though the pivot point inside had broken or come loose. I will be taking it back to the shop tomorrow to exchange it for a new one. I hope this is just unlucky and I got a duff one and it doesn't happen again. :(

  • Bummer :(


    I forgot to review my Mission EP1-KP, so here goes.


    Did a small gig last weekend (some country-ish stuff) and didn't want to take my FCB, so I used the Mission pedal to control volume, with the switch toggling either a pure boost or an overdrive, depending on the rig (with this band and set up, I use one rig per song, so can switch rigs using the buttons on the KPA between numbers). It worked flawlessly. It's basically been moulded exactly the same way as a Dunlop Crybaby, if not using the exact same mould, so it's immediately familiar in feel, and the build is as solid and robust as you'd expect. The switch isn't as 'stiff' as on a Crybaby, so you don't have to stomp as hard to engage it, at least that's my experience of Crybabies anyway.


    All in all, it performed exactly as I hoped it would.


    Cheers,
    Sam

  • Sadly I had a problem with one of my DVP3 pedals tonite. It started off with the wah just suddenly activating every now and then during our 2nd set at first I thought it was because we were on a stage and the bass was vibrating the stage but then I thought it hasn't happened before when we were playing on a stage?. When I bent down to feel the pedal and it was so loose and kind of floppy, as though the pivot point inside had broken or come loose. I will be taking it back to the shop tomorrow to exchange it for a new one. I hope this is just unlucky and I got a duff one and it doesn't happen again. :(


    Raoul, I don't think it is broken, I think you missed that it's a feature on the DVP's to determine the Action (tightness/looseness) yourself by tightening or loosening the screw.
    Could it just be the screw that determines the action went loose?
    I would expect this to happen from time to time and I would check to tighten the screw first.
    I had this when my DVP's were brand new. They came from the factory with a totally loose feel and I had to tighten the action screw quite a bit. Of course the wah will also come in randomly with a loose screw.
    It's a feature actually.


  • Raoul, I don't think it is broken, I think you missed that it's a feature on the DVP's to determine the Action (tightness/looseness) yourself by tightening or loosening the screw.
    Could it just be the screw that determines the action went loose?
    I would expect this to happen from time to time and I would check to tighten the screw first.
    I had this when my DVP's were brand new. They came from the factory with a totally loose feel and I had to tighten the action screw quite a bit. Of course the wah will also come in randomly with a loose screw.
    It's a feature actually.


    thanks Ingolf but its not loose like when you have to tighten the screw it kind of rocks before engaging with the pivot motion of the pedal. The screw underneath the heel part is a tight as it can go :(

  • Raoul23 - I do hope it turns out to be nothing serious. I read somewhere about a control band fault on the DVP3's.


    As for me I'm right on the fence between getting a pair of DVP3's or Mission EP1-KP's, so I'd be very interested in what you discover to the core issue. Thx.

    Happy Kemper

  • Raoul23 - I do hope it turns out to be nothing serious. I read somewhere about a control band fault on the DVP3's.


    As for me I'm right on the fence between getting a pair of DVP3's or Mission EP1-KP's, so I'd be very interested in what you discover to the core issue. Thx.


    Ive rung the shop up and they are getting me a new one for thursday which is good my local store always look after me they are even delivering it for me :) I'm not tech minded on stuff like that, but what does the control band do coz that maybe what's gone wrong with it. The pedal just feels really lose and has no friction at all stramge thing was it was ok in the first set then the 2nd set it just failed??

  • As near as I can tell, the Dunlop DVP3 use a band to control the taper settings of the pedal.
    Whereas (from my familiarity) Ernie Ball pedals use teflon strings.


    Again, I read somewhere the DVP3's control bands loose their integrity somehow which could lead to failure.


    Unlike you, I'll probably be getting mine on-line and I don't really want to bother with defect exchanges.


    edit: To put this all another way, as much as I very much admire the DVP3's impressive functional features, it would never be at the expense of a product with lesser base integrity. (if that turn out to be the case)
    Moreover, I'd always favor a robust product design which could support repair over replacement.


    By design, Mission Engineering products standards are looking to be a better fit for these needs. IMO

  • Raoul23 - I do hope it turns out to be nothing serious. I read somewhere about a control band fault on the DVP3's.


    As for me I'm right on the fence between getting a pair of DVP3's or Mission EP1-KP's, so I'd be very interested in what you discover to the core issue. Thx.

    If you're serious about the Mission, I'd recommend getting one of their regular expression pedals, if there's a price difference. Unless of course you're needing the switch. For me, the EP1-KP was perfect for that last gig I played, but once the Remote arrives, I can see myself using the switch less and less.
    just a thought.


    Cheers,
    Sam

  • Sambrox - Isn't the SP1 model the one with the on/off switch?
    My understanding is the EP1 (minus the switch) would best compliment use with the Remote.
    But I might be missing your point somehow.

    Happy Kemper

  • I'm talking about the dedicated KPA-themed pedal, but yes, my point was that the switch is probably redundant when using the pedal with the Remote, especially in a one-pedalled set up, where it's to control both volume and wah.


    Cheers,
    Sam

  • Well... Stopped in Guitar Ctr store last night before practice and took a first hand look at the DVP3.
    Only had a few minutes, but I did get a quick feel for it.


    Nice fluid feel regarding the action. I did see a metal band within a plastic housing on the taper cam. (Interesting)
    My best guess it's roller type potentiometer it connects with.
    Raoul23's issue still gives me pause. By chance did your store rep happen to comment on your issue?


    I'll spend some time with it this weekend before my gig while I have all my stuff packed.
    Too bad they didn't any Mission pedals to compare with in the store.


    edit: If any of the DVP3 owners out there could pop their base plates and share some pics, that would be great. I'd really like to see what makes this thing "tick" Thx