GM10 Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 I'm considering getting an Ernie Ball volume pedal. Anyone has one or something similar? I like the idea of being able to manipulate the sound on stage without any messing Quote
JapanAxe Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 Scott Devine recently recommended a volume pedal among his 'gig bag essentials', but I'm happy with the control on my bass, or muting with my tuner pedal. Quote
ProfFrink Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 Arguably I'm just a beginner so what do I know, but I actually have both the Ernie-Ball Jr and a less-known pedal called "EWS Subtle Volume". It's basically a big knob that you can operate by foot which has a taper that gives you finer control over the higher volume range. I actually haven't got round to installing the EWS on my pedalboard yet, so only did a few short tests with it, but it looks like if you want to do volume-swells (which I never do) you want the EB Jr and if you want to make small changes to volume near that top of the range, the EB is a bit too fiddly. I think once i have time the EWS is going to get a permanent place at the back of my chain. Quote
Woodinblack Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 I use a volume pedal on the B3, its much easier to use when playing than the volume on the bass Quote
TrevorR Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 With my bass it's just bass vol control and Polytune tuner to mute. However, I have used the Ernie Ball JR with an acoustic guitar adn it's a very nice, simple but brick outhouse engineered volume pedal. Quote
dudewheresmybass Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 I use a boss fv500h from time to time. Great feel, very similar to the eb. A lot cheaper too Quote
ambient Posted October 9, 2015 Posted October 9, 2015 I used to use one a lot, to fade ebow'd lines in and out. It was a luxury item though, I needed the cash for uni fees, so I sold it, and now make do with adjusting the ebow's position relative to the strings for fades. Quote
Truckstop Posted October 10, 2015 Posted October 10, 2015 Volume pedals don't really affect the volume of the bass in the same way that the volume knob on the bass does. You can use the volume control on the bass as an extension of the tone controls, you can get a slightly choked tone from your bass which may or may not work for you and it has a knock on effect to the tone controls as well (more obvious on passive instruments I'd say). I used to use the Fender volume pedal in conjunction with delays and reverbs to create some awesome swell effects but that's all I used it for. For muting between songs I just used the control on the bass. Quote
Painy Posted October 10, 2015 Posted October 10, 2015 I've pretty much always used one - mainly for swells but for a while I used it as a volume attenuator setting the minimum volume slightly lower than the full volume. This meant that I could play with it rocked back most of the time and then rock it forwards to full for louder passages like a volume boost. My cheap and cheerful old plastic Bespeco pedal broke at my last gig after about 18 years service though so I'll be trying out my new Morley Volume Plus tonight. It has a footswitch to turn the minimum level control on and off so it can be used for full swells or as an attenuator which should make it a pretty versatile bit of kit. Quote
cybertect Posted October 10, 2015 Posted October 10, 2015 [quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1444407318' post='2883065'] I use a volume pedal on the B3, its much easier to use when playing than the volume on the bass [/quote] Ditto. Makes for some nice fades on quiet passages of songs where you may want to lose the percussive attack phase of plucking a note and just roll it in smoothly. [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1444463299' post='2883374']I used to use the Fender volume pedal in conjunction with delays and reverbs to create some awesome swell effects but that's all I used it for. For muting between songs I just used the control on the bass.[/quote] A separate volume pedal is also handy to eliminate cable plugging noises if you're switching basses between songs. Saves a trip to the mute button on my amp. Quote
Woodinblack Posted October 10, 2015 Posted October 10, 2015 [quote name='cybertect' timestamp='1444483143' post='2883586'] A separate volume pedal is also handy to eliminate cable plugging noises if you're switching basses between songs. Saves a trip to the mute button on my amp. [/quote] I use one of the neutric switching jacks, that way you just don't have to think about it, it is automatically muted. Quote
cybertect Posted October 10, 2015 Posted October 10, 2015 [quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1444490416' post='2883653']I use one of the neutric switching jacks, that way you just don't have to think about it, it is automatically muted.[/quote] I'd not heard of those before. Neat, but Neutrik say they don't work with active instruments, which would rule them out for most of my basses. Quote
Woodinblack Posted October 10, 2015 Posted October 10, 2015 [quote name='cybertect' timestamp='1444495127' post='2883697'] I'd not heard of those before. Neat, but Neutrik say they don't work with active instruments, which would rule them out for most of my basses. [/quote] So are most of mine, and they work fine. They don't use the normal switching on the jack that active uses (ie, shorting the middle and the shaft), they use a physical switch in the body. I see their page says it doesn't work with some, but never had an issue. All my ibanez, and the sterling sub are active, as are a couple of my guitars, all work fine. Quote
cheddatom Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 I don't see much practical use for them other than volume swells. A tuner should give you a mute for changing basses. If you want different volume levels for different passages of songs, I would prefer to know that I've got it right every time, rather than hoping that I've got the volume pedal in the right position. I've used pedals like the LS-2 for this in the past Quote
ratman Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 I tried a volume pedal a few years ago but it was overkill for my needs. Now I have 2 boosts on my big board. One is a clean boost for a simple increase in volume. The other pedal is a fet boost which really kicks in the treble as well as volume, and works well driving dirt pedals into nastier sonic territory. I prefer having the boosts because I don't need gentle swells, I like to quickly go from normal volume to fixed, pre determined increases at the press of the foot switch. Quote
GazWills Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) I need to get one soon for volume swells along with my delay and reverb, can't get the control i want using the volume on the bass and trying to play at the same time! going to go with the EB Jr, seems the 'TU-2' of volume pedals (I see it on pro's boards more than any alternative) Edited October 13, 2015 by GazWills Quote
paul_5 Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) I once used my guitarist's volume pedal. I thought it was brilliant - he was less pleased... Edited October 13, 2015 by paul_5 Quote
Shonks Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) i think you need one when using a Jazz bass with a volume for each pickup, otherwise you can't turn up or down without changing your sound I remember back in the day (showing my age now) there was a volume pedal which attached to the volume control on any amp. A mechanical device obviously, never used one myself, but still a great idea I think!! Edited October 13, 2015 by Shonks Quote
toneknob Posted October 21, 2015 Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) [quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1444759917' post='2885733'] i think you need one when using a Jazz bass with a volume for each pickup, otherwise you can't turn up or down without changing your sound [/quote] Very good point about Jazz bass volume. I use Ernie Ball VP Jrs in my set up, it makes a lot of sense as both a Jazz player and being in a line-up with a lot of voices (guitar, sax, trumpet, keys, drums) and having fade-ins and -outs. Volume swells are a nice-to-have as well. I've heard of a couple of others which would be of interest to me if I upgrade in future: the Dunlop Volume X can double as an expression pedal as well (I've persuaded a VP Jr to act as an expression pedal but it's ugly cable-wise), and the Visual Sound Visual Volume pedal comes with an array of LEDs to show how loud you are - handy if you need to play at 11 for a certain song for example, http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/visual-sound-visual-volume-pedal Edited October 21, 2015 by toneknob Quote
Shonks Posted October 21, 2015 Posted October 21, 2015 i use my Boss ME 20B mainly as a volume and octave pedal .....nice build too Quote
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