vol pedal q's

bluesmostly

Inspired
I have a hex pedal that I use for Wah and I think I might need a volume pedal as I do not have enough volume range to get on top of the mix for solos most of the time. Can you guys who use one with the Axe tell me how that all works? thanks, David
 
I put a vol/pan block somewhere after the cab block and control it with another hex pedal (assigned to an external number which is then entered into the control window.... something like that- it's not in front of me at the moment and I'm not quite fluent in the realm). Works perfectly. I think I have it before rev and delay so I get trails if I slam it heel down. But mostly it's for on-the-fly volume control. As I'm using the Midimate with only one exp pedal jack, that's dedicated for the vol control. Wanting to minimize floor wires, I'm not using the pedal jacks on the back of the AF. When the FAS footcontroller comes out, I'll use my 2nd Hex for wah. For now, I just use a CC switch for autowah.
 
Thanks Bluesdoc, I have two exp pedal input jacks on my rocktron foot contoller so I can use two hex, one of wah, one for vol I am assuming. I chose a random patch and plugged a vol pedal into the chain, set it to auto on/off, but I don't quit understand how it works from there. What am I missing?
 
You can also place a filter block (somewhere after the amp block)set to a null type and level up about +2-4db. Assign an IA controller on your footswitch to turn it on/off and you have a boost pedal.
 
I think I need to have the basic principle of the vol pedal thing explained to me, I have never used one. When I set it up with the Axe unit (auto on/off) in the down position it has the same vol as when it is off (100%), with the pedal in the middle it is at 1/2 vol and with the heal down, turned off, I am at 100% again. How do you guys use the vol pedal to give a boost? Do you leave the pedal in the middle somewhere with all of your patches and then push it down to get higher vol?
 
bluesmostly said:
I think I need to have the basic principle of the vol pedal thing explained to me, I have never used one. When I set it up with the Axe unit (auto on/off) in the down position it has the same vol as when it is off (100%), with the pedal in the middle it is at 1/2 vol and with the heal down, turned off, I am at 100% again. How do you guys use the vol pedal to give a boost? Do you leave the pedal in the middle somewhere with all of your patches and then push it down to get higher vol?


The volume pedal won't give you a boost, just what you described. I don't use a pedal for a boost. I use an IA switch like described above.
 
mmm... very interesting, I can see how a vol pedal can be used for a boost but just not what I expected having used mid boost, drive pedals and guitar vol in the past to get there... thanks Java, I will check out your idea as well.
 
bluesmostly said:
mmm... very interesting, I can see how a vol pedal can be used for a boost but just not what I expected having used mid boost, drive pedals and guitar vol in the past to get there... thanks Java, I will check out your idea as well.

I just reread you post. Something is weird with your setup. It sound like you set the modifer 10 start at 100%, mid at 50%, and end at 100%. You should have it start at 0% and end at 100%.
 
javajunkie said:
bluesmostly said:
mmm... very interesting, I can see how a vol pedal can be used for a boost but just not what I expected having used mid boost, drive pedals and guitar vol in the past to get there... thanks Java, I will check out your idea as well.

I just reread you post. Something is weird with your setup. It sound like you set the modifer 10 start at 100%, mid at 50%, and end at 100%. You should have it start at 0% and end at 100%.

yeah, it actually does start at 0 and goes to 10, its just that with the pedal in the off position (heal down) vol is at max 10. So you start at 10 in the off position, push down and you go from 0 back to 10, not an effective boost used in that way is my point...
 
bluesmostly said:
javajunkie said:
bluesmostly said:
mmm... very interesting, I can see how a vol pedal can be used for a boost but just not what I expected having used mid boost, drive pedals and guitar vol in the past to get there... thanks Java, I will check out your idea as well.

I just reread you post. Something is weird with your setup. It sound like you set the modifer 10 start at 100%, mid at 50%, and end at 100%. You should have it start at 0% and end at 100%.

yeah, it actually does start at 0 and goes to 10, its just that with the pedal in the off position (heal down) vol is at max 10. So you start at 10 in the off position, push down and you go from 0 back to 10, not an effective boost used in that way is my point...

Turn off Autoengage.
 
I used to gig with a Mesa Tremoverb. a two-channel amp with no boost. I used a volume pedal to control "boost". The way I set it up was to press the volume pedal all the way down and turn the amp to the loudest point I intend to use it (typically solo volume). When that volume point was set, I then depressed the volume pedal to the volume point where I would normally use it (typically rhythm volume). So to achieve "boost" (say during a solo), I pressed the pedal down fully and then backed off again after the solo. Really, the volume pedal was not being used so much as a "boost" as it was a "cut". I was not fully happy with this because it was always hard for me to to back down to the precise rhythm volume where I had been before the solo. The result was I tended to spend a lot of time with my foot on the stupid volume pedal making minute adjustments. I eventually solved this when Mesa came out with the Rectoverb series that had a footswitchable solo boost.

Javajunkie's suggested method is the way to go in my opinion. Now, a problem with using a preset boost is that, depending upon the environment, 2db (or whatever number you might use) might not be enough boost or may be too much boost. Someone solved that issue in a neat way by setting up a second switch that allowed them to change the amount of the preset boost on the fly to account for gig conditions. The Axe remembers apparently remembers the change, so you need only set it once and you are good for the rest of the gig. I don't remember exactly how they did it, but you should be able to find it with a search.
 
That is the way I see it Mesa, thanks, I will try it out a couple of ways. I will turn off the auto-engage too to see how that works. thanks for the great tips guys!
 
bluesmostly said:
That is the way I see it Mesa, thanks, I will try it out a couple of ways. I will turn off the auto-engage too to see how that works. thanks for the great tips guys!

If you have autoengage on a volume pedal, when you go heal down, it bypasses the volume block. If you bypass the volume block, you get 100% of the signal going thru.
 
javajunkie said:
bluesmostly said:
That is the way I see it Mesa, thanks, I will try it out a couple of ways. I will turn off the auto-engage too to see how that works. thanks for the great tips guys!

If you have autoengage on a volume pedal, when you go heal down, it bypasses the volume block. If you bypass the volume block, you get 100% of the signal going thru.

duh, of course, it does work better for my purposes with the autoengage off... thanks again java
 
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