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volume pedals seem overrated to me. does anyone really use it that often? i had one for a while, but noticed i never really used it. if i need to make my volume higher or lower i just hit a stombox for a little boost or change channels on the amp or just turn my guitar volume knob. volume pedals seem very overpriced considering all they do is raise or lower the volume of your signal.
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I want to get one for live playing. It's nice to be able to tune your guitar without having to have your volume up.
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It's helpful in the effects loop in situations where you have to finetune your volume situationally. I'm playing in a pit orchestra for a musical now, and having a volume pedal is nearly priceless.
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every tuner ive ever seen bypasses your signal while your tuning, which means nobody can hear you while you tune. i like how my guitar sounds more from turning my guitar volume down as i play softer. lets your tone follow the music as you build up or break down. good point Rainer
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Originally Posted by nick2282 every tuner ive ever seen bypasses your signal while your tuning, which means nobody can hear you while you tune. i like how my guitar sounds more from turning my guitar volume down as i play softer. lets your tone follow the music as you build up or break down. good point Rainer this is true (about the tuners) but in a long chain i've been told that alot of pedal tuners suck the daylights out of your tone...if you're a tone snob a volume pedal is a great way to remove possible tone suckage.
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I have been using one for years, wouldn't be comfortable without one... it all depends on what you get used to I guess. I never could get happy with using a guitar's volume control for much; it interferes with playing, at least for me - I find it hard to adjust volume while playing, unless there is a pause. guitar volumes (on passive pickup guitars) do suck tone - as you reduce the volume, the impedance of the amp/rig loads down the pickups causing a loss of highs, more noticeable with some guitar/rig combos than others. Active volume pedals don't do that. You can, however, install "keep the highs" caps in yer guitar to alleviate this. I also like the ability to instantly kill the signal, like at the end of a song; again, without my hand having to find the guitar volume and rotate it 300 degrees. If I'm playing a solo, or signature riff, and its too distorted or loud or obnoxious, I can instantly reign it in without missing a note. Gotta have it...
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When I've use one, my foot is chained to it, it seems. I havn't found one I really like yet, they all seem to do wierd things to my my tone. I've got my eye on a few volume pedals that pedal steel players use, they're supposed to be much better.
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Originally Posted by LWatford When I've use one, my foot is chained to it, it seems. I havn't found one I really like yet, they all seem to do wierd things to my my tone. I've got my eye on a few volume pedals that pedal steel players use, they're supposed to be much better.
I have always used volume pedals with a buffering device between it and the guitar. IMO, any volume pedal will affect the overall tonality coming out of the amp - not due to the volume pedal itself necessarily, but because the level of the signal fed into your amp's input has an very significant effect on the amp's tonality. Rolling back on the volume "cleans up" any amp's tone - less compression, less crunch, sometimes thinner sounding... I don't know of any way to get around that. What I do is use the volume pedal and my guitar volumes full on for most everthing, in other words my default setting. I use a boost device for solos or signature riff type stuff, and only roll back for a short soft passage. Some players like the tone they get with the guitar volume on like 5, so that is their default or normal setting - they turn it up for a boost, or down for softer stuff.
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I wouldn't want to play without mine. I use it constantly with delay and my eBow for volume sweeps and all sorts of cool sounding sounds/licks.
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I don't think they are overrated at all, especially for those who play live. You don't want to stop and change the volume on the guitar (because that can cut the signal) or change it on your amp.
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If I got one it would be so I could have the sound of the guitar at 10 without the volume or the sound of the guitar at 2 with more volume.
PS - What part of New Orleans are you from? I live in the area.
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Exactly what I was thinking, Bob. I'll probably buy a volume pedal eventualy..
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Originally Posted by Major Tom I have always used volume pedals with a buffering device between it and the guitar. IMO, any volume pedal will affect the overall tonality coming out of the amp - not due to the volume pedal itself necessarily, but because the level of the signal fed into your amp's input has an very significant effect on the amp's tonality. Rolling back on the volume "cleans up" any amp's tone - less compression, less crunch, sometimes thinner sounding... I don't know of any way to get around that. What I do is use the volume pedal and my guitar volumes full on for most everthing, in other words my default setting. I use a boost device for solos or signature riff type stuff, and only roll back for a short soft passage. Some players like the tone they get with the guitar volume on like 5, so that is their default or normal setting - they turn it up for a boost, or down for softer stuff.
Oh, I know. I was saying I havn't found one that I like the sound of when it's in the signal chain. A few I've had did strange things to the sound even when they were all the way up. I use my guitar volume all the time to clean up my single channel amp, it's become second nature (strangely enough even when playing unplugged).
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Originally Posted by LWatford Oh, I know. I was saying I havn't found one that I like the sound of when it's in the signal chain. A few I've had did strange things to the sound even when they were all the way up. I use my guitar volume all the time to clean up my single channel amp, it's become second nature (strangely enough even when playing unplugged).
I found this out the hard way some years ago... Some (or maybe all?) volume pedals have a low impedance pot - the only way you can really use them is when there is a buffering device between the it and the guitar to drive it properly, otherwise, they can suck major tone. I always put mine last in line...
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Originally Posted by Major Tom I found this out the hard way some years ago... Some (or maybe all?) volume pedals have a low impedance pot - the only way you can really use them is when there is a buffering device between the it and the guitar to drive it properly, otherwise, they can suck major tone. I always put mine last in line...
Why is it that they use low impedance pots, anyway? Doesn't that just let a lot more highs goto ground?