i want a volume pedal, but i'm not sure what brand i should get.

 

any fellow guitarists wanna help me out?

 

 

You can learn to strum notes while holding the knob with your little finger and turning it like that. It's not that hard and will only take a little practice to get used to.

So put that wallet away!

 

My bandmate used to have a Morley volume pedal and it performed really well, so I would recommend it.

The pros (Steve Morse, etc) however seem to favor the Ernie Ball brand, but it's probably more expensive.

 

Volume Knob option:

 

It doesn't really work like a volume pedal if you use distortion (as we all almost do) because the guitar will *always* be before the distortion device (be it pedal or amp) so that fading with the volume knob will also fade the *gain* along too (from clean and soft to distorted and loud).

 

The volume pedal (put *after* the distortion device) however really fades the volume but with the full intensity of the distortion already present.

 

So for Steve Hackett-style soloing the volume pedal, I think, is a must.

 

POD XT Live:

 

The expression pedal can be used as volume pedal (the default) and logically be positioned before or after (the default) the distortion in the virtual effects chain. So, it works right out of the box.

 

The Whammy effect can be obtained by upgrading the software (via USB connection and Line 6 Monkey software) for free. This adds the "Bender" effect (in the "Stomp" category). By assigning the expression pedal to the 'position' parameter then you can "bend" the pitch in real time, just like in the Whammy (you lose the volume pedal feature for that preset, though).

 

Hope that helps.

Good luck 

 

HughesJB4 wrote: ^You are aware the reason why people get volume pedals is so they can do things while playing normally with both hands and not have to restrict what they are doing to be able to play with the volume knob? And also, most guitar volume pots are logarithmic taper pots. Sure, you can buy volume pedals that are logarithmic taper as well, but what if you not only want the logarithmic taper use of your guitar's volume knob, but also a way to control volume via linear taper? You would then need to buy a volume pedal with linear taper. If there was no use for volume pedals, they wouldn't be made.. seems plain and simple too me. Simply suggesting that someone "use their volume pot on their guitar" as a substitute just goes to show a  lack of knowledge and understanding of guitar effects and that other players might have needs other than yourself. No offense to you intended, but giving off uninformed advice like that is never a good thing and can lead to that person one gives bad advice too, passing on that bad advice. When it comes to things like suggesting guitar related things, or indeed, any musical devices, make sure you know you stuff before giving advice. People don't deserve to be mislead due to poor and uninformed advice. And again, no offense intended, but please bear this in mind next time.

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My solo music: http://www.myspace.com/anthropiate - ANTHROPIATE

 

Gibson Les Paul guitars have independent volume and tone knobs for its pickups, so you simply turn down to zero the volume knob for the neck pickup (while having the bridge pickup one fully maxed), toggle the pickup selector and there you have it, instant cut-off switch!

 

Back to the volume pedal:

 

The whole idea behind it is to free your hands to play while you manipulate volume (try fading in arpeggios or fast riffing using just your pinky and volume knob!). Also, as I said, you can place the volume pedal anywhere in the signal chain, before or after the distortion, before or after the delay, even before or after your preamp if your amp has an FX loop, so lots of creative choices. The volume knob however can only be at the start of the signal chain and that's it.

 

The volume pedal, placed after the distortion device (pedal or preamp) is a must to get that full gain swell sound (like Hackett and Petrucci use). Otherwise, instead of fading the the full guitar tone, it will fade the gain along (a less sharp, much gentle sound).

 

There are even more uses, like splitting the signal chain and using volume pedals to blend the sounds (i.e. fading the signal to different delay units, FX and/or amps).

 

While the volume pedal function in itself is pretty simple, some of them are made in plastic, some in metal, some are mono, some are stereo, some are rugged, some are less so, some are mechanical, some are optical, etc.

 

For a simple fading effect, a mono pedal will do just fine. The other aspects (brand, material) are down to budget. And that's it

 

I didn't think it would have any effect on my case. It's just a word used for emphasis in my stubborn lash-back. Why bother even pointing that out?

 

Ernie Ball volume pedals have been known to break sooner that other brands, which I why I haven't gotten one yet. Otherwise, they are very good, and if you take good care of them, they can probably last longer than others.

 

Yeah, getting a kill switch installed is very easy to do.  Even if you give your guitar to a store and tell them to do it it will cost you under thirty dollars, possible under twenty.  I have switches on all mine, but a button would be just as easy to do.  It's nice, not only for the effect, but when you're jamming with people and you're trying to stop and say something or set your guitar down, just flick it up and your signals dead and good you're good to go.

 

Got no complaints with my Goodrich.  Now if I could just learn to play that pedal steel...

It's built like a tank and works with no issues, I'm quite taken with mine, you know......