Ernie Ball Volume Pedal for Expression

I

indeloon85

Inspired
Hi, I want to use my Ernie Ball Volume Pedal as everything expression (volume, wah, pitch, etc.). I used to use this in a live setup with my Ground Control Pro, going into the Pedal jacks (2-mono 1/4" to 1-Stereo 1/4") of the Ground Control Pro, then just running midi to the Axe Fx. Standard setup, nothing special there.

But now I am using the Axe Fx in the studio more often and want to run just the volume pedal alone, and not have to deal with the GCP. Is it possible or not to just go directly into the back of the Axe Fx II XL with the Volume Pedal, connected with the splitter cable (2-mono 1/4" to 1-Stereo 1/4")?

Upon connecting it, I am not getting any readings, so Im wondering if I have something not setup right, or if its just plain, not possible. Thanks!!!
 
you can do this.

did you use External Controller 1 as the Source when you made the expression pedal?

if so, go to the I/O CTRL menu on the front panel of the axe and change External Control 1 from #16 to Pedal. this "Pedal" corresponds to the Pedal jack on the rear of the Axe.

in the Pedal tab of that I/O menu, make sure it's set to Continuous as well. it should work the same.

if any details are different than what i mentioned, let me know and i'll adjust what i said.
 
It's probably a polarity issue. Swap around the two mono plugs and see what you get.
 
Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
you can do this.

did you use External Controller 1 as the Source when you made the expression pedal?

if so, go to the I/O CTRL menu on the front panel of the axe and change External Control 1 from #16 to Pedal. this "Pedal" corresponds to the Pedal jack on the rear of the Axe.

in the Pedal tab of that I/O menu, make sure it's set to Continuous as well. it should work the same.

if any details are different than what i mentioned, let me know and i'll adjust what i said.
Click to expand...

AH!! Thank you so much!!!! I totally didnt know you could change the External Controller's # from 16 to pedal. This is PERFECT!!! Thank you thank you!!
 
The VP is never going to react as smoothly as an actual expression pedal. It's an audio pot not a linear one.
 
It can be a little bit tricky because of the EB mecanism, but you can also change the pot for a 10K linear. It works very well then.
 
I swapped out the pots on three of mine with 10K linear Clarostat pots. Works incredibly well. HUGE difference in sweep and feel.
 
I'm not quite following this correctly.

I thought that I had read in the owner's manual that TRS cables are required. Can the Axe-XL use standard volume pedals for control even though they are TS and non-linear?
 
Kent said:
I'm not quite following this correctly.

I thought that I had read in the owner's manual that TRS cables are required. Can the Axe-XL use standard volume pedals for control even though they are TS and non-linear?
Click to expand...

You are right. But for the EB or any volume pedal, you use a Y cable TRS at the Axe or MFC end and 2 monos at the volume pedal end.
 
OR...you swap the tuner out mono jack for a TRS jack and just use TRS cables. :D

This does require some modification to the pedal and circuit board...but it really isn't too bad.
 
I use 2 Ernie Ball jrs in my set-up. They work great. There is a thread somewhere deep in the forum discussions explaining how to convert the volume pedal to a expression pedal. It involves swapping the current pot with a 10K pot and replacing the in/out jacks with one stereo jack. I like the EB's, they're light and inexpensive. Not having tried a Mission or Fractal pedal, I can't comment on the "smoothness" factor, but I am totally satisfied with how they work.
 
You can also attach a 'slope' resistor from the wiper pin to the hot (non-grounded) pin of the pot to customize the curve (most people prefer a resistor about half the value of the pot's resistance).
 
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