Volume Pedals

I'm needing a volume pedal for mah basses. Tried using a BP200 for the job, but it's not smooth and I am unable to set the parameters of the pedal (If I want to see it so that all the way forward is 80% volume and all the way back is 50% volume for example).

I was noticing Earnie Ball has the same pedal, but different numbers. 25k, 250k, and all that. Normally, I would just grab the most expensive one and assume it's all I'll ever need. I don't want to spend double on a pedal though if it isn't going to do anything special for me.

What's the skinny on all this?

passive volume pedals are like adding an extra volume pot to your guitar, so they load your tone a bit if you have passive pickups (which you don't).... but the different values will have different loading characteristics and a different sweep.... some are better for doing swell and reverse effects, some are easier to nail in on very specific spots so you can have a couple different output levels when playing dynamics aren't enough

that said, passive volume pedals are generally kidna delicate, moreso than a traditional wah pedal... I have had better luck with the morley optical volume pedals, though they have their delicate parts too

the ebst volume epdal I've ever tried was the visual sound active version with the LED indicator for output level, its built like a brick shithouse and is a pretty neutral buffer/booster type circuit that can actually enhance your tone depending on what your definition of nice treble response is

personally I just use my volume knobs, why have 'em on there if you don't use 'em? I flirted with pedals but its just another thing to keep track of while performing and another gadget that can break down mid-set

if you are just looking for 2 preset levels (say half and full output) you could build a stompbox with a passive volume attenuation when engaged, if you perceive trable loss try different value pots ranging from 250k to 1meg in conjunction with playing with treble-bleed networks... in my arsenal I have a 3 voice booster I designed that's an always on tone enhancer/shaper with 2 different footswitchable output levels, one with treble bleed so tis bright at low output and one with a lower value pot and no bleed so it provides a louder and somewhat darker tone when turned up as a boost... its a very simple circuit, but a smidge more complicated than a straight passive volume-knob in a project box with a footswitch

there's a pile of info, but I am just not super clear on what you are trying to do so it may all be worthless to you

I'm looking to bleed in and out of sound smoothly. While playing, I maybe want to add a last note of a chorus right before we go into a quiet, pre-chorus section of the song. I want to be able to hit the note and smoothly, steadily drop out of the mix rather than abruptly slam on the breaks and go from 100% to 0.

As a bonus, I'd like to be able to select the output level on it. My last gig, the sound guy said I was too loud and he had the soundboard all the way down for me. I had to use my volume pedal at 80% and leave it so that I didn't overshoot the volume later. I would rather be able to select all the way forward as 80% to match his needs, but also select the pedal all the way back as 0% so I can do my smooth flow outs, allowing me to stomp it all the way and not worry about nailing a blind sweet spot.

My main bass has 3 volume knobs on it. Too much of a pain :)

hahaha, it took me years of wrangling to master the Gibson volume/tone layout when switching pickups and adjusting my output while playing.... 3 vus would be too far over the top for me too

look into the visual sound pedal, it will also provide the soundboard with a nice, strong, low impedance signal even if you use a bass with passives... I want to say you can adjust the top of the volume spectrum to be anything from gain boost to gain cut and the LED vu meter helps you know what you're outputting relatively, but I may be wrong, look it up

either that or just use your current volume pedal but insert a pad after it (maybe a passive DI with a -10dB function then you can send the dude a balanced XLR cable to boot)... for this purpose you can't do any better than the Radial engineering DI boxes which, incidentally, all sound really great for bass guitar be they passive or active varieties

Can you throw me a link? I'm not seeing a pedal like that.

I forgot they changed their name to truetone recently!

here:

http://truetone.com/specialty-pedals/visual-volume/

also, I swear by this passive DI for bass

http://www.radialeng.com/jdi.php

its got a -15dB pad built in, but you can also use the thru out to drive an amp at full tilt while sendinlanced and attenuated signal to the board, the passive circuitry cannot clip like active DIs and your board won't need phantom power to run it

they also make this, its less money because it has less features (you won't use) but it doesn't have as nice a transformer so the direct feed isn't as punchy and fat for bass (though you will only hear it if you A/B them in the studio):

http://www.radialeng.com/prodi.php

The lights would sure help. Hard to find them about now it seems. I wonder how hard it would be to rig an LED strip to say, a Morley pedal to get the same effect.

I'm sure you could buy an LED VU meter and wire it up, it'd be ghetto as hell

I think I would personally stick with a readily available pedal and use a DI with a pad to send an attenuated feed to the board, that way if you do decide to drive an amp you can send the biggest, fattest signal to your rig from the 'thru' jack

your soundman really needs a pad on his inputs, bummer that he doesn't, but its not standard on affordable sound reinforcement consoles anymore

read this, its got all the dirt on volume pedals I failed to explain correctly

http://missionengineering.com/?page_id=4029

According to that, the more expensive volume pedals would cause my tone to suck, but using the pedals at half price would be ideal. Interesting.

I looked into a variety of pedals this week. Seems like the best volume pedal out right now is the Mission Engineering Inc VM-Pro. Has all the high end technical specs any audiophile would want. For me however, have no volume potentiometer on the outside is a problem. You have to unscrew the bottom plate and adjust 1 screw inside to set the minimum volume. I'm going with the Boss FV-500H. http://en.muzicastore.ro/public/photos/xlarge/2013/01/boss-fv-500l.jpg

Something I find upsetting is that the only volume feature any of the pedals on the market now have is MINIMUM volume adjust. I'm really needing Maximum adjust.

look, the reason you are overloading the board is that your active electronics are too hot for the preamps in the sound board thata re likely designed for low output dynamic microphones like the sm57, also those preamps are designed to take a balanced lo-z signal and you're sending an unbalanced one.... also, every mic pre has different input impedance and your active electronics may not be as low as the line input on the board wants to see

you really should just invest in a volume pedal that is great as a volume pedal and then in a DI box that will balance your signal for the XLR input of the board, provide phase flip if needed, ground lift if in case you get hum due to some abd venue wiring, and most importantly a 10 or 15 dB pad so that you can send appropriate voltage elvels to the board as well as the correct impedance and a properly balanced signal

there's more going on here than just having too much output, interfacing electric isntruments with equipment with inputs designed for mcrophones and rack gear is more complicated than just adjusting your max voltage...

My bet is on the Ernie Ball MVP Pedal. It's an active pedal with a minimum and gain level knobs as well as a tuner output with no tone suck. I'm planning on getting my own. I like that gain knob...

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XVP20

Narcy makes a point with the MVP assuming the gain can be adjusted below unity. It would do exactly what you wanted.... but now you are going Fly Rig as a DI so it may not matter much.

HAHA

My dad brought his work computer and I CAN FINALLY USE IT, BECAUSE I HAVE THE TIME

Anyways, I don't think the gain can go below unity. It's either 100% or boosting. For below unity... I'm thinking of those Saturnworks pedals, but i'm not sure anyone makes a volume pedal that goes below unity on the toe position AND has all the features you mentioned, Boom.

life is cruel, isn't it? Boom will have to use multiple pieces of kit to achieve his ends... I would totally have bult something by now or modded my existing volume pedal to do what I want

no wait, I wouldn't have because I just use my guitar's volume controls

Wait, here's an idea!

Slap a Saturnworks Volume pedal at the beginning of your chain.

Adjust it according to your sound engineer until you can find the loudest you can be.

Duct tape that shit so it doesn't move.

Add good volume pedal like that Korg or something after it.

Bam. Toe position is at good level and you can still use that Korg for your sweeps or whatever.

(Or you can use your volume knobs like a normal bassist, but that's not the point of this thread).

you are so ghetto... why not just get the right tools if you are springing for 2 volume pedals?

almost everything you ever suggest with gear is ghetto rigged even though your ideas often involve copious amounts of gear and may not even be cheaper than doing it the correct and effective way

and anyway, you want the voltage pad at the end of any effects chain. not the beginning, so if you have him using another volume pedal as a trim knob then he should stick it right infront of the sound guy's feed... it won't help all his problems, he has some impedance issues going on as well as gain probllems

I wish people would read a book or at least get some legit real world experience before they hand out advice. All you younger guys on here are the biggest smack talkers, Liam excepted. He actually has a clue how some of his gear works evne if I don't get his aesthetics all the time.