Best Volume pedal?

  • I saw that some pedal, depending on the function, works better with Type2 others with Type1 curves, typically for Volume is better Type2 (not linear), while for Wha/Morph better Type1 (more linear), but it's not true 100% of the time... this was my personal notes on my use about my tested pedals, maybe can be useful to someone


    That is quite an odd finding.

    Running a Type 1 polarity pedal with Type 2 turns it from a linear taper into an anti-logarithmic curve, as can be seen on the bargraph in the Pedal menu.

    The very progressive curve of the volume pedal engine is counteracted by that.


    Do you guys feel the volume pedal is too progressive (too slow)?

  • That is quite an odd finding.

    Running a Type 1 polarity pedal with Type 2 turns it from a linear taper into an anti-logarithmic curve, as can be seen on the bargraph in the Pedal menu.

    The very progressive curve of the volume pedal engine is counteracted by that.


    Do you guys feel the volume pedal is too progressive (too slow)?

    Personally now I'm used to it.

    I learn how to make out the better of each pedal and I write down notes for each one, depending on the curve, the function, the pedal...

    If I would choose I would like to have an additional tweaking parameter for pedal curve to adjust it better and to have the possibility to save full pedal configurations as pedal preset ... just to speak!

  • Ok, I ran some tests, this is what I've found. I'm going for a very specific Jeff Beck sound swelling into chords and melody and I want the distortion and gain to increase as the pedal goes higher, emulating the volume knob on the guitar.

    I'm testing this using a strat with p90s, into a Wampler Ego Comp and a Boss FV-500H (my preferred volume pedal ) into the Kemper using RMPacheco's Morgan AC20. All effects slots off except delay and verb. Expression pedal is used for INPUT Volume only. I tried pre and post amp stack locations but modifying the input gain is really the effect I'm going for.


    I tried the expression pedals I own and this is how I need to set them to get as close as possible to the sound of the FV-500H in front of the Kemper, which feels and sounds perfect to me.


    Boss FV-500H (as Expression) Mode 1 -4.0


    Boss EV30 Mode 2 range -3.0


    Boss EV-5 Mode 1 -3.5


    Yamaha FC7 Mode 2 range -3.0


    So to answer your question, I do think the volume pedal swell when using the full range of -5.0 is too progressive, (too slow) at least for how I'm trying to use it. It seems like half of the range of the pedal is gone before half of the volume is achieved.


    I think the Boss EV pedals physically have too short a throw and the Yamaha has too long of a throw. The FV-500 is just about right under the foot in range and feel, but it's pretty big. I bought the EV30 hoping to use it for travel gigs but I am typically in the studio all day and use a hybrid setup with analog pedals in front of the Kemper, like Tim Pearce uses.


    I still think the Boss FV-500H analog in front feels and sounds better than using it as an expression pedal but with the above settings it's pretty close. It could be though that when using it analog, I get the full range from off to fully on. To get the feel right using it as expression volume I have to narrow the range so it doesn't go completely silent.


    I can try to record some video examples but it's a feel thing and hard to show. At least now I know that using these settings will get me close if needed. Expression pedals may all be linear in output but they definitely feel and respond different based on the physical throw and brand.


    I think if there was one more control called CURVE with -5 to +5 range in the volume pedal settings that changed the logarithmic taper, you'd be able to make any pedal respond exactly how you wanted, and could keep the pedal range set at -5.0.


    Also, I didn't notice a dead spot in any of the pedals. They all responded similarly.


    Here's a quick demo of the FV500H used as expression with range set -3.0 so I have a wider sweet spot on the pedal. I used a little Valhalla delay and verb in post. Hope that helps.

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    Edited 3 times, last by Guavadude ().

  • I took a lot of advice from this forum and ended up burying the Dunlop DVP3... love it. I haven’t used some of the others listed on here so I don’t have a comparison- but it’s working great for me. Volume swells are smooth which is primarily what I need it for.

  • Guavadude , at half swell our volume pedal engine does roughly the same volume as the FV 500. We are about 2 dB less, which is pretty close.

    However, in the first third we are more progressive than the FV 500, which is more or less linear by technical reason, and thus has a sharper onset.


    Is it this what‘s bothering you? The first third of the range?

  • Guavadude , at half swell our volume pedal engine does roughly the same volume as the FV 500. We are about 2 dB less, which is pretty close.

    However, in the first third we are more progressive than the FV 500, which is more or less linear by technical reason, and thus has a sharper onset.


    Is it this what‘s bothering you? The first third of the range?

    the first third of the range is what's bothering me about the exp pedal settings vs using FV500 analog. It's the 2db less on the exp pedal that I'm hearing. I want to use the full sweep of the pedal so it's very expressive but if it takes too long to get to a decent volume level, then I end up using only the top half of the range of the physical pedal. The exp pedal seems too linear now for the way I use it. The pic below is what I wish I could set the curve to while keeping the range at -5 so it's from no volume to full volume.


    That's why I wish there was a curve control because this sweet spot of the physical pedal is different depending on what pedal you use. They may all be linear but the way they feel and respond under foot is different. Admittedly I'm being really picky here but for these types of swells on lapsteel and pedal steel, it's really important to feel and respond right.


    Michael Thompson, session stud who does a lot of this style volume work, also uses an FV-500. This is a good example. The Vertex mod just removes the tuner out.

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