Post-Amp Volume pedal?

Radley

Radley

Experienced
What have you power users found to be the best way to insert a Volume pedal between the Amp & the stereo effects? I need something that takes the volume all the way to Off (0), and has a reasonably good taper.... any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
That is, for me, the very best place to put the pedal. And I have it on all of my patches. If you calibrate your pedal properly, there's no problem going all the way to 0. I have two pedals that both work well: A mission and an Ernie Ball VP Jr. The VOL/PAN block allows you to make a custom taper. The VP junior stays put better than the Mission, but the Mission has a shorter throw, so it's up to how you want your foot controller to work. I like being able to set the volume and not worry about it moving wildly. The Mission is much more "touch" sensitive. The VP takes a more determined push to move.
Once you set your taper to taste, you can copy the block to all your patches.
 
+1 for Paztag's post

IMHO a volume pedal must be placed before reverb and delay effects for natural sounding swell and even boost changes. The volume block (like most Axe-FX blocks) is stereo, so you don't need to worry about whether it's before or after other stereo effects.

I've also had good success with the Boss FV500L pedal. It stays put (and is adjustable like the Mission pedals), but is bigger, has a longer and smoother action. It also has a minor design flaw with a dead spot at both ends of travel, but I just placed thick rubber stoppers under each end to fix that.
 
Yes, placing it after your AMP/CAB and right before your DELAY & REVERB blocks will give you nice attenuation all the way to "0" and allow FX tails to decay naturally. You can split your REVERB and DELAY blocks off as parallel rows which will give you greater control over them especially if you want to assign an external controller pedal to roll on more or less delay and reverb without directly affecting your "main line" (row).


I'm a firm believer in Ernie Ball pedals...built like tanks, very natural feel, STAY PUT where you leave them in their "throw"...however, many people do not like the taper for continuous controllers and I in fact have modded all 4 of mine with more continuous controller friendly pots...a process detailed over in the MFC subforum.
 
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I use the Rocktron Utopia for Volume expression. (VOl/PAN after AMP b4 VerbandDelay) Its looks cheaply made but has lasted me every weekend the last 2 years.
At my age (42) and ocd like tendencies the utopia has felt more natural to my feet. (plantar fasciitis)
Mission pedal for wah and still debating (for a long while) what I should use for whammy. Nothing feels like the WH-1 pedal wise. My .02
 
wezx said:
I'm a firm believer in Ernie Ball pedals...built like tanks, very natural feel, STAY PUT where you leave them in their "throw"...however, many people do not like the taper for continuous controllers and I in fact have modded all 4 of mine with more continuous controller friendly pots...a process detailed over in the MFC subforum.
Click to expand...
+1 on the Ernie Balls. They feel great underfoot, they don't wander across the floor, and it's easier and quicker to find a mid-throw position you're looking for. And the pivot is farther forward than most pedals, so they're pretty much unaffected by foot pressure; they play the same whether you use a feather touch or stand on them.

If you don't want to do the surgery and chase the parts for the pot changeout (there's often metal work involved), you can get a marvelous linear taper with a couple of srategically-placed resistors. Here's a calculator you can use to tell you which resistors to choose.
 
Rex said:
+1 on the Ernie Balls. They feel great underfoot, they don't wander across the floor, and it's easier and quicker to find a mid-throw position you're looking for. And the pivot is farther forward than most pedals, so they're pretty much unaffected by foot pressure; they play the same whether you use a feather touch or stand on them.

If you don't want to do the surgery and chase the parts for the pot changeout (there's often metal work involved), you can get a marvelous linear taper with a couple of srategically-placed resistors. Here's a calculator you can use to tell you which resistors to choose.
Click to expand...

+1000 on how great Ernie Ball pedals are...I just LOVE them!

Actually the pot changeout is quite simple...the only "metal work" is drilling the pot hole slightly larger and drilling a new stop-spin hole for the pot...grinding a very small divot in the chassis allows the pot plate assembly to sit perfectly perpendicular and that's really all there is to it I'm VERY happy with the linear pot replacement.
 
wezx;669820Actually the pot changeout is quite simple...the only "metal work" is drilling the pot hole slightly larger and drilling a new stop-spin hole for the pot...grinding a very small divot in the chassis allows the pot plate assembly to sit perfectly perpendicular and that's really all there is to it I'm VERY happy with the linear pot replacement.[/QUOTE said:
+1. It's a fairly simple procedure. But some folks aren't comfortable cutting metal, but they're ok with a little solder work. That, and the fact that you don't have to restring the pedal when you're done, makes it an attractive method for some.
Click to expand...
 
There's enough control in the VOL/PAN block to modify the taper in any way you want without metal surgery or soldering. A little trial and error goes a long way on this and once it's nailed, you can copy all the settings easily to all other patches.
 
GM Arts said:
+1 for Paztag's post

IMHO a volume pedal must be placed before reverb and delay effects for natural sounding swell and even boost changes. The volume block (like most Axe-FX blocks) is stereo, so you don't need to worry about whether it's before or after other stereo effects.

I've also had good success with the Boss FV500L pedal. It stays put (and is adjustable like the Mission pedals), but is bigger, has a longer and smoother action. It also has a minor design flaw with a dead spot at both ends of travel, but I just placed thick rubber stoppers under each end to fix that.
Click to expand...


To clarify about stereo for others, it is either stereo (default) or mono . You can also select which input you want to tap (left, right, or stereo)
 
Rex said:
+1. It's a fairly simple procedure. But some folks aren't comfortable cutting metal, but they're ok with a little solder work. That, and the fact that you don't have to restring the pedal when you're done, makes it an attractive method for some.
Click to expand...

do you have any other info on this? pics or whatnot?

thanks,
dave
 
I use 2 Boss FV-500L's, and that's exactly what I do... place them after the cab, but before the FX, so you can smoothly fade out the amp, but the FX trail off naturally... just calibrate them in the MFC ( if you have one ), and you are good to go...
 
I use the Volume block after the amp/cab but before the 'stereo after the amp/cab' effects I use in my signal chain. (Rotary/Pitch/Delay/Reverb).

I have a calibrated Mission expression pedal for volume (I have it switched; so it's all volume 'on' full default and I use the pedal for other things (wet/dry on the reverb settings actually). What I do is the Log-30A taper and use it when I need it. (12ms Dampening/other settings stock in the controller page).

If you calibrate (I use Mission pedals into the MFC) the expression pedals, it goes to zero, no issues. I only use the volume pedal when I need it and am very comfortable and enjoy the setup I run with.
 
I have a tendency to put it first because I want it to effect the gain structure (like a volume knob on the guitar).
 
Patzag said:
There's enough control in the VOL/PAN block to modify the taper in any way you want without metal surgery or soldering. A little trial and error goes a long way on this and once it's nailed, you can copy all the settings easily to all other patches.
Click to expand...
What you don't get is an inverse log taper, which is what you'd need to compensate for a log taper volume pedal.
 
I have no pics beyond the link in my post. You can solder the resistors across the pot terminals, across the jack terminals, or anywhere in between.
 
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