Volume Pedals

Alright. I'm stuck within indecision. I HATE My mini Dunlop. It simply does not work. I know for certain I don't want an Ernie Ball and this is due to the string.

I was leaning towards the Boss FV-500Hl, the Morley series due to it supposedly having the smoothest operation, and the Missions. I've read out site's recommendations and even explored others. My main issue, besides not being able to put my foot down on them before I buy them, is I don't understand electricity. I have tried. I have been told all sorts of different analogies to represent the current, watts, volts, resistance, etc. I don't understand it... and I never will.

That being said, I think ya'll know by now that I use mostly active basses and I prefer boosted, but NOT over-driven/static-y/distorted tones. When it comes to 250k, 500k, 25k, low impedance, high impedance.... what pedal qualities do I need for my hotrod basses?

1. I need a volume pedal with a smooth action and an even smoother volume control. This above all else. Valar Dohaeris.

2. If it comes with tricks and whistles, I'm cool with that too. A Wah could be handy to have built in, but not at the cost of the main function. Valar Boomdingus.

I am pretty sure you need a 25K pot in your pedal for an active bass -- otherwise? No other advice. Brands? Mission makes great stuff, they are expensive but worth it. I have used their expression pedals before and that is one sturdy piece of kit. But yeah, not a brick and mortar product usually. I would think you could find a place to try the Boss and Morley stuff though.... I will say I have seen some broken Morley wahs over the years... they are not as bulletproof as they claim, so don't assume its immortal, Morleys don't suffer from the same problems as classic volumes and wahs but they still have some other reliability issues... not sure about Boss' pedal, but I never see anyone using one so that's a bit of a tip off there (I mean, on planet guitar if no one uses a product professionally its probably not a professional product) and I wouldn't buy it without trying it first... did I mention that the Mission stuff is sturdy and probably worth the buy in? If I hadn't gone with the MIDI board I would own a Mission expression pedal for my Flashback X4.

you know, if you just look at Morley's bass wahs you may find something you like in both roles tat is specifically designed for an active bass... I'm pretty sure my local Sam Ash has every morley wah in current production in their pedal case, why not take a roadtrip to your nearest samash or GC (or whatever big box guitar retailer you have in TX) and try them? You won't find the mission stuff and you may not find that unpopular Boss pedal but you will certainly encounter a Morley and you can see what you think.... also check out the new EHX next step volume pedal, that whole line is really intriguing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3kq4NAJQfY

Video for the Hotone Bass Press.

Hiya Boom,

I have the Soul Press... (guitar version of this). Works just fine. Switchable between vol/ wah / exp. LED lights so you know when it is on, and a dial on the side for deciding when vol is all the way "Heel" how low that floor volume is.

This way you can have it vol zero to full, or e.g. vol 5 for quiet sections, or play it at heel at about vol 7 and slam it forward for bass runs and solos.

People complain about the build quality online. have not had an issue yet.

well, they got that wah sounding pretty badass in the video.... but then again they always do! having seen the hotone products in person I gotta say they LOOK chintzy to me, so much so that I went right by them without trying the wah or those cute little nano guitar heads. After watching this video I wonder if I shoulda tried the soul press last time I was puttering around GC

Well, I have about decided to get a Visual Sound LED Volume Pedal. If I cannot find one in great condition for under $200, I'll probably go with the Boss tank.

I thought that was off the table awhile ago. The VS kills, really great product...

Yeah. I was going to ty and save room, but I really dont need that much room anyway. Fro what I can tell, the Visual Sound pedal is top notch. It's not just an okay pedal with LEDs on it; It's an actual top notch pedal with smooth volume control and reliability.

I saw this thread and I'd just tried the Dunlop mini and I was just about to suggest it to you when

I HATE My mini Dunlop.

What's wrong with it?

the volume control, at least on mine, is not smooth. When it gets nearly all the way up, it skips a few db and gets way louder than the prior bit was. If it were a TV, the volume goes from 0-90, then skips to 100.

that's correct, top notch with or without using the visual reference, which is more than gimmick in practice. I've used someone else's version 1 in the studio for some swells that needed to be really smooth and peak out at different levels to match the drummer's dynamics with different amounts of amp grit on those peak (it was a real specific thing we were shooting for with a cocked wah creating feedback/dirt into a really loud marshall, just one of those really specific noises you add after all the really musical parts are tracked and there's a rough mix with a final vocal take/comp)... I couldn't get them dead on with my volume control so I borrowed that VS pedal and it was so easy with the visual reference to know where my crest was and how much space I had to blow things up a bit more each bar. The pedal had very little tone coloration and was smooth as butter to operate with an intuitive range to the sweep. I mean, they're visual sound because of the meter on the volume pedal, which was their first offering and in my eyes is still their flagship. Its not THAT big, maybe the size of a standard Morely... I'm not usually one for playing with my eyes, but its hard to tell how much room you have until max volume on volume pedals, but the VS just gives you that tip off when you need to be exact.

Well, that's certainly a revelation for me! I'll keep that in mind when looking for expression pedals.

Jim, how big was the VS pedal? It look really big and clunky from their website.

as I said, its like one of the big Morleys, maybe a bit bigger.... y'know, like the size of 70s treadle phasers and flangers... in fact, I had a mu-tron foot flanger back then and the VS volume was the same basic size as that

for straight expression usage I would go Mission or Moogerfooger