I got my Fractal EV-1...

G

golfnut

Inspired
...Now what?
I got a great deal on the EV-1 from a friend who wasn't using it. I have never used expression pedals and only started using a volume pedal about a year or 2 ago. So I have it plugged in to pedal 1 with a TRS cable and ready to go. Just not sure beyond volume swells what I can do. Even then with my tele and strats I used to always do that with the volume knob on the guitar. But since getting an R8 volume swells with the guitar knob aren't so easy. Hence why I picked up a volume pedal.
I'd like to do some wah stuff. But I've been told the EV-1 isn't great for that. So what else can I do with it?
 
Take a look at the Neil Schon preset they gave away last year in the gift of tone. This is a great example of how one pedal can be latched to multiple devices and operating things in multiple directions at the same time. (Turning something up, while also turning something down.). The expression pedals on Fractal units can be real game changers. They are way more than just Wah snd Volume pedals.
 
golfnut said:
Just not sure beyond volume swells what I can do. Even then with my tele and strats I used to always do that with the volume knob on the guitar.
Click to expand...
You can change post-amp volume for instance... See the different options explained here by Cooper Carter.

 
If I set the volume pedal to pedal 1 through the global setting, I take it that means I don't have to put a volume block in my presets. Can I still use the pedal for other things such as wah in some presets?
 
So far having fun just as a volume pedal. I have one preset with the wah. Will have to work a bit at getting it to sound how I want. This EV-1 pedal is far superior to my Mission as far as smoothness and range. wow.
 
You can use your EV-1 to control almost anything, not just volume.

For example, let's say you have three different gain settings...clean, grit, and dirt without using Drive Blocks. Instead of selecting these three amp "settings" and assigning them to different Channels of the Amp Block and using Scenes to switch between them, you can add a modifier to the Gain parameter of the Amp block and control that with your EV-1. You can set the minimum and maximum values of Gain which correspond to toe and heel down and even determine the curve for values in between. This way you use just one Channel of the Amp Block but have continuous values of Gain between clean and dirty instead of just a few discrete values. Heel down = clean, toe down = dirt.

You may find that when adjusting the Gain of the Amp block you also want to adjust other values of the Amp Block (e.g. Bass/Mid/Treble or Ouput Level) at the same time. No problem...assign a modifier to each of those controls and select different min/max values and curves for each of them.

You may also find that as you go from clean to dirty with your EV-1 that you wish to change values in other Blocks - for example to reduce reverb mix. Again, no problem. Assign a modifier to the Reverb Block mix parameter and assign min/max values and curve for that too.

This is just one example - the possibilities really are nearly endless.

Other handy facts/tips:
  1. Assign your modifiers to External 1 (rather than directly to Pedal 1 etc.) and then assign Pedal 1 to control External 1. This enables you to easily change later where your pedal is plugged in without changing all the modifiers individually.
  2. Obviously the EV-1 can control different things in different Presets. Within a single Preset, Modifiers can be set to control only one channel of a Block. This enables using the EV-1 to control Tremolo depth in one Scene, Wah in another Scene, and Volume in another Scene. Or for it to control volume before the Amp block in one Scene and volume after the Amp block in another Scene.
  3. The curves associated with modifiers can be manipulated into many different "shapes" enabling things like ramping up/down a value from heel down to mid-way and then leaving it constant from mid-way to toe down. Handy when you want to control multiple parameters (e.g. Amp Gain and Bass) but one value needs to reach its max/min while the other keeps changing.
  4. Modifiers can turn on/off switches too (not just control knobs) and you can use the modifier curve to determine where in the pedal range you wish to enable/disable the switch. Of course this would include controlling the Bypass parameter of a Block to enable/disable an effect.
 
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golfnut said:
...Now what?
I got a great deal on the EV-1 from a friend who wasn't using it. I have never used expression pedals and only started using a volume pedal about a year or 2 ago. So I have it plugged in to pedal 1 with a TRS cable and ready to go. Just not sure beyond volume swells what I can do. Even then with my tele and strats I used to always do that with the volume knob on the guitar. But since getting an R8 volume swells with the guitar knob aren't so easy. Hence why I picked up a volume pedal.
I'd like to do some wah stuff. But I've been told the EV-1 isn't great for that. So what else can I do with it?
Click to expand...

So many things.... Where to start? I have a number of presets where all I use is the expression pedal to get all of my sounds. Record so far is 5 separate sounds on one pedal. :D

The trick is assigning multiple modifiers with the pedal, and messing with the modifier curves to get particular ranges on the pedal's travel to give certain sounds. For example, a nice clean chorus can fade into a dry, crunchy sound, and that can fade into a high-gain lead sound with delay - simply rock the pedal from heel to toe to go through the ranges that give those sounds....

Have a peek at the stuff assigned to Pedal 2 in this preset to get some ideas on all the stuff that just one expression pedal can do.... It twiddles the amp's gain knobs to do something similar to Neil Young's "Whizzer", while simultaneously riding herd over its output level and a lead boost, and controlling mix of rotary and chorus when those scenes are in use. Also kicks in the delay with the lead boost if CS6 is switched on....
 
Think of it like “I’ve got a control knob, so what can I do with it?” The answer is “connect it to, and control, anything with the ability to be controlled by a knob.” On a Fractal device, that means more things than you can imagine. Yes, wah, volume, of course. And level of an effect. And mix. And on and on.

You see people with 4 expression pedals on their boards. When you see everything you can do, this might only be the first EV-1 you own!

(Edit: Whoever told you it isn’t great for wah is sadly mistaken, and likely hasn’t taken time to learn how to vary the wah controls to match the curve you want. The EV-1 works great for wah control.)
 
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Rick said:
Think of it like “I’ve got a control knob, so what can I do with it?” The answer is “connect it to, and control, anything with the ability to be controlled by a knob.” On a Fractal device, that means more things than you can imagine. Yes, wah, volume, of course. And level of an effect. And mix. And on and on.
Click to expand...

Yup. Usually, the biggest challenge I face is figuring out how to get the shape I want in the Modifier panel to achieve zones/ranges on the pedal travel that provide a particular sound. The trick is to leave "flat spots" that don't change sound in the pedal's travel so there's wiggle room on hitting the sound you want. Some zones/ranges have a blend thing happening from one end of the zone/range to the other....

Rick said:
You see people with 4 expression pedals on their boards. When you see everything you can do, this might only be the first EV-1 you own!
Click to expand...
Guilty as charged:
1000012342.jpg

The pedals, in order:
Dedicated volumeexpression pedal
Utility Muffin Expression pedal
Dedicated wah expression pedal
Delay mix expression pedal
- plus a bunch of buttons doing things.
 
I use expression pedals for:

  • gain (dirt) control
  • level control (including boosting for solos)
  • volume swells
  • wah
  • delay time (especially on delay types that emulate changing the speed on a tape delay or analog delay)
  • delay feedback
  • trem speed
  • pitch bend (like a whammy pedal), and I have presets that emulate a Bigbsy down-bend relatively convincingly
  • wet-dry mix of chorus or other effects
  • cross-fading between a clean and dirty sound (including changing the FX mix - for example, in heel it's clean with chorus, and as it sweeps the chorus mix goes down and delay mix goes up and the gain/dirt increases)
 
golfnut said:
If I set the volume pedal to pedal 1 through the global setting, I take it that means I don't have to put a volume block in my presets. Can I still use the pedal for other things such as wah in some presets?
Click to expand...
The advantage of using a Volume block is being able to place it anywhere in the chain, not just at the beginning or end. I place it after the Cab block, before any delays and reverbs, to keep the trails when the volume is rolled off.

As others have said, there are a number of practical things you can control with an expression pedal. I have 2 on my board, one dedicated as a volume control, the other is a 2-channel pedal that I will typically use for reverb/delay mix and adding 'shimmer' with the pitch feature in the Reverb block,
 
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