Volume pedal suggestions

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Tue May 03, 2016 4:36 pm

Shortscale, I've been wanting to pick up a volume pedal for a while, mostly for delay/reverb drenched swells, and creating sort of synthy sounds more accurately than picking and rolling volume knobs. I'm also kinda cheap... but I like good gear. What are your recommendations for a reasonably priced, smooth volume pedal with good action?

Or maybe I'll pick up an octave pedal... who knows

BearBoy · Post by **BearBoy** » Tue May 03, 2016 5:36 pm

I've got a Boss FV-500. Built like a tank. Nice and smooth action, which you can adjust to your liking. Also works as an expression pedal (certainly compatible with Boss/Roland stuff, not sure about other brands).

Probably not the cheapest pedal around but feels like it would survive a nuclear attack.

aen · Post by **aen** » Tue May 03, 2016 7:38 pm

I'm still a fan of the Ernie Ball VP. I hear about them breaking now and then, but I've had one kicking ass for the last 5 or six years.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue May 03, 2016 9:35 pm

Quite like the look of the Boss FV-30. Bossy goodness but tinier.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue May 03, 2016 11:34 pm

I'm using a Morley mini volume and it's pretty cool. Although I was messing about with my friend's pedalboard at the weekend and he uses an Ernie ball. To be honest, feel wise I think the Ernie ball's have the best taper.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Wed May 04, 2016 6:03 pm

Great, thanks.
Most of these are pretty close in price; within ~$10.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Wed May 04, 2016 7:17 pm

I use a Bespeco one which fills your cheap criteria because it is, and your good criteria cause it works

singlepup · Post by **singlepup** » Sun May 22, 2016 4:12 pm

I just bought a BOSS FV-50 on eBay for $40 USD. Yes, it's plastic but seemed well worth the price. I like how BOSS has the high/low impedence option (I got low because I'll use this for a drum machine). I also like how you can set the minimum volume on this pedal. Reviews indicated a smooth taper as well.

I don't usually prefer BOSS for overdrive or modulation effects because they are a bit bland to my ear. But for utility pedals like tuners, BOSS has always served me well.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Tue May 24, 2016 4:58 pm

Let me know how it actually feels under foot when it get in.
I'm kind of leaning towards a compact pedal, but, since I don't actually own a pedal board yet and have everything on the floor, compact isn't that big a deal yet.

I primarily want to use the pedal for saturated delay swells, and I think I'll be placing it between my OD/Distortion and the delay so the driven signal is equally driven in the early attack as in the end... but I may also end up using it at the start of the chain. From the sounds of things, I'd want the high impedance at the start, but likely the low impedance mid-chain?

Post by **dots** » Tue May 24, 2016 5:23 pm

only ever used the ernie ball full sized version, but man that thing was smooth as buttah.

singlepup · Post by **singlepup** » Mon Jun 06, 2016 6:59 pm

Ankhanu wrote:Let me know how it actually feels under foot when it get in.
I'm kind of leaning towards a compact pedal, but, since I don't actually own a pedal board yet and have everything on the floor, compact isn't that big a deal yet.

I primarily want to use the pedal for saturated delay swells, and I think I'll be placing it between my OD/Distortion and the delay so the driven signal is equally driven in the early attack as in the end... but I may also end up using it at the start of the chain. From the sounds of things, I'd want the high impedance at the start, but likely the low impedance mid-chain?

I've had the FV-50L for about a week and I'm going to sell it. It's just too loose... when I put my foot down on it, I tend to move it in the wrong direction by accident. I googled this issue and others have said they can't lift their foot off the pedal without moving it a bit. It's a solid pedal otherwise. There's just no way to adjust the tension, so I'm going to look for a FV-500L instead.

Yes, you want high impedance if your chain goes guitar ---> volume pedal. If you place the volume pedal after a buffered pedal, get low impedance.

singlepup · Post by **singlepup** » Tue Jun 07, 2016 12:27 am

^Actually, I'm going to revise my earlier review of the FV-50L. I used it again today and it's not that bad... could be tighter, but still usable. I think my issue is that I'm just not used to using a volume pedal or wah. It's more difficult than I thought. I'll hold onto the pedal for now, but I'll likely just use an EQ as a clean boost instead.

Ankhanu, I'd say go for the full sized FV-500 if in doubt. "Adjustability" is a key feature.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Thu Jun 09, 2016 9:14 am

Interesting, interesting. Great info there, thanks.

royb8s · Post by **royb8s** » Sun Jun 26, 2016 6:02 am

I use a Dunlop DVP1 that I got several years ago at the pawn shop for about $40. I absolutely love it. Very smooth, and build like a tank. I can just about stand on it, and I'm a big boy. Doesn't seem to color my tone at all. I run it in my effects loop before any of my time effects.