Best Volume Pedals - Ernie Ball, Roland etc

D

deek

New Member
I'm looking to get a volume pedal for my Fractal standard.This is to link to th MFC pedal board.l've heard they are some issue's with certain pedals if anyone can give me any pointers. my set-up is fractal standard, art poweramp,Bogner 2x12 cab,Tyler Dan Huff, lsl telecaster, ibanez jem.
The set-up is stunning, so many people have been floored with the sound of the fractal it just makes you want to play all the time.amazing, cheers Cliff

http://www.myspace.com/deekmcnair
 
If you're referring to "expression pedals" to plug into the back of the axe fx or the mfc-101 floor controller, most people will agree that the ones made by "Mission Engineering" are the best by a land slide. Others made by companies like Roland or M-Audio will work, az well.

ENJOY your Axe FX rig.
 
I am used to the size and feel of the EB pedals so I really like them..although the pots in mine are not the ideal to use with the MFC101.

Still they work well enough. I use 2 of them for volume and fx mix and use a Mission for wah.

I am thinking about replacing the pots if I can.
 
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tonygtr said:
EB all the way for volume and expression, Mission for wahs. The Roland and Boss pedals all have deadzone problems.
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Sorry for maybe being extremly newbie here.. what is a "deadzone" problem? Im looking into pedals too and wanted to go the Roland route... maybe should consider EV now.

/Urban
 
I'd need to see a split-screen video of a particular pedal along with the default modifier window, showing how the dot moves in relation to the pedal position. I have yet to find a pedal with a linear correspondence. Linear taper pots don't seem to work well at all, as if the Axe is designed for log. I found a couple of audio taper pots that work best if heel corresponds to fully CCW, not fully CW as in a Cry Baby or Mission.

I'd order a Mission, but their 'custom taper' that will work in a Cry Baby type pedal as well worries me, as a Cry Baby pot's taper is just awful with the Axe. I've tried five pedals so far, none of them satisfactory no matter how I adjust the Modifier parameters. Sure, they work *ok* for volume or wah, but trying to get a smooth whammy reveals just how bad the tapers are. I especially can't seem to get good performance out of anything greater than 100k, even after calibration.

I'm beginning to think I just need to order every pedal out there and resolder the volume types to TRS and return all but the best one. I'm really not up for that. I still have a few of the major contenders to try out.

It would be nice to have a parameter to convert between linear, log, and anti-log even before the Modifier parameters come into play. I just can't get the response I want using what is there.
 
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There are a number of threads that report problems with audio-taper pots and success with linear-taper pots.
 
I'm having no success. A completely linear change isn't always the best for a particular effect, but having a parameter change consistently as the pedal sweeps is a good starting point. The tapers I'm getting with linear pots are terrible in my opinion. All of the changes happens over a very small portion of travel, regardless of polarity. Changing polarity just makes it bad in a different way.

The best tapers I've gotten so far happen when I use an audio taper pot wired for a CCW heel position. Since the pedals I have only mount the pot CW heel, I'd have to reverse the scaling in the Axe. The taper still stinks anyway. I'll eventually find something I like, but the perfect pedal is elusive at present.
 
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steadystate said:
The tapers I'm getting with linear pots are terrible in my opinion. All of the changes happens over a very small portion of travel, regardless of polarity.
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Weird. Most people report this problem with audio-taper pots, and report that the problem goes away when they switch to linear taper.
 
I just need to try more pedals. I think that some people also prefer a region of abrupt change when using wah or volume. I just think that would be easier to dial in with the Modifier parameters if the base response was smooth.
 
MrGuitarabuse said:
...what is a "deadzone" problem?
Click to expand...
A dead zone is a portion of the expression pedal travel that produces little or no change. Some pedals have a short dead zone at the beginning and/or end of their travel. Most users report a large dead zone when using audio-taper pots in expression pedals (this is normally the case when using a volume pedal as an expression pedal, because volume pedals typically use audio-taper pots).
 
Rex said:
A dead zone is a portion of the expression pedal travel that produces little or no change. Some pedals have a short dead zone at the beginning and/or end of their travel. Most users report a large dead zone when using audio-taper pots in expression pedals (this is normally the case when using a volume pedal as an expression pedal, because volume pedals typically use audio-taper pots).
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Thanks Rex,

that said, is EV a safer bet actiing "properly" as a expression pedal rather than the Roland EV500L ?

Thanks
/Urban
 
When you say "EV," do you mean "EB?"

I'm the wrong person to ask about which pedal will work better. I've only used MIDI boards with built-in expression pedals, so I have no experience with stand-alone pedals.

That said, I've always liked the feel of the EB pedals. They pivot at the center of the pedal, while the Missions and most others pivot closer to the heel. The center pivot feels more natural to me.

On the other hand, most Ernie Ball pedals have audio (also known as logarithmic) taper pots. Most of the posts I've read on the forum indicate that audio-taper pots have a large dead zone when used as expression pedals, which makes them less than ideal for that use.
 
Rex said:
When you say "EV," do you mean "EB?"

I'm the wrong person to ask about which pedal will work better. I've only used MIDI boards with built-in expression pedals, so I have no experience with stand-alone pedals.

That said, I've always liked the feel of the EB pedals. They pivot at the center of the pedal, while the Missions and most others pivot closer to the heel. The center pivot feels more natural to me.

On the other hand, most Ernie Ball pedals have audio (also known as logarithmic) taper pots. Most of the posts I've read on the forum indicate that audio-taper pots have a large dead zone when used as expression pedals, which makes them less than ideal for that use.
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Sorry Im an idiot... yes EB versus Roland EV500L
 
I liked my EB Jr as an expression pedal. No problems with it (note that with some devices you have to switch L/R).
Yamaha FC7 is also good and sturdy, but very big.
I'd recommend against the EV5. Had several and each developed dead zones.
I'm now using the ME pedals. Like the feel and build quality, although I have to tighten the pedal quite often.
 
yek said:
I liked my EB Jr as an expression pedal. No problems with it (note that with some devices you have to switch L/R).
Yamaha FC7 is also good and sturdy, but very big.
I'd recommend against the EV5. Had several and each developed dead zones.
I'm now using the ME pedals. Like the feel and build quality, although I have to tighten the pedal quite often.
Click to expand...

Yek,
thanks, good to know. My pedal will be used with the MFC-101 (that will arrive at some diffuse point in the future).
Did you use it with MFC or other midi controller?
/Urban
 
I've had a couple of Rocktron Hex pedals as long as I've had my Ultra ( 2.5 years now... )
and haven't had any issues with them at all. No dead zones or scratchy noises.

I've only needed to calibrate once, when I first got them.

.View attachment 3880

I did need to cross over the connecting cables ( tip <> sleeve ), IIRC, but that was no big deal.

Numbers are from the hardware store and have held up far longer than I originally thought they would.
 
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MrGuitarabuse said:
Yek,
thanks, good to know. My pedal will be used with the MFC-101 (that will arrive at some diffuse point in the future).
Did you use it with MFC or other midi controller?
/Urban
Click to expand...

With several controllers.
 
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