Volume Pedal Suggestions

[treillw]

I've been wanting to buy a volume pedal for too long. Every time I sit down to figure out which one I want, I end up getting confused and putting it off - active, passive, pots, tapers, mods, you name it. Seems like it's way too intricate for something that just make you louder and quieter! Or maybe I'm just making it that way, but I prefer to buy once and cry once.

What I want:
Pedal to be used mainly for volume swells
NO tone suck or tone alterations
Willing to pay good money for a good pedal, don't want to go crazy crazy

The top two that I've been reading about are the Goodrich (they have a bunch of different models which confuse me) and the Hilton (either the pro guitar or the standard guitar pedal).

You guys are typically more helpful than the staff at any music store I've been to, tell me how to spend my money!

Thank you.

 

[rugerpc]

...to spend your money, send it to:

The Doc Bill PS Fund
% any of the reputable dealers here

Oh, wait. I see that you want to spend your money on a volume pedal for yourself...

Well, you really are asking in the right place. Lots of knowledgable members here with no vested interest in your final choice.

 

[László]

I like the Hilton and Goodrich for traditional volume potentiometer pedals, but like any potentiometer, depending on the setting you can lose high frequencies just as you can with some guitar volume controls.

Lehle (a German company that makes very high quality splitters, switchers and pedals) has a volume pedal that's the one I'd buy now if I were in the market for a volume pedal. It uses a magnetic sensor to detect the position of the treadle, meaning no wear whatsoever, and it uses a VCA like on an automated recording console, to adjust the volume level. Therefore, there's no mechanical potentiometer to cause noise, or to suck high end from the tone.

My only caveat is that even though it's the one I'd personally buy, I haven't tried it in person. But the video on the Lehle site is convincing.

http://lehle.com/EN/Lehle-Mono-Volume

I have their P-Split passive signal splitter that I use all the time for various things in the studio, and it is a superb device of very high quality. In general, Lehle is the real deal, but as I said, this is one I haven't personally tried.

 

[treillw]

Thanks for the suggestion Les. I never heard of them, but will definitely check them out.

Anybody have any first hand experience with them?

 

[The Fight]

This is a great volume pedal, made here locally by my buddy's. Check em out!

 

[jeffgoobs]

I've been very happy with the Ernie Ball MVP. I like the feel/throw of the EBs, and this one adds a buffer to get rid of the tone-suck, and allows you to set the minimum and maximum level, including with a boost if desired.

 

[treillw]

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll check them out.

 

[nosidamde]

Been gigging with a DVP1 Dunlop for about a year now. I enjoy it, even though it's a little larger than others.

 

[prsrocker1988]

For me and a lot of the guys I look up to in Nashville, the Dunlop volume pedals (the silver and black versions) are really solid and don't have string breakage like the Ernie Ball VPs do.

Also, my size 20 shoe fits perfectly on the larger models and I haven't broke one yet!

A Dunlop VP is my pick.