Tricks and tips for using volume pedals

Here's a video of me messing around with a passive volume pedal through the effects loops of the amps. It's a really versitile way to add a solo boost, volume swells, or even attenuation to your sound. Hope you enjoy!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• volume
• pedal
• boss
• guitar
• paul
• reed
• smith
• ceriatone
• hrm
• marshall
• dailey
• c-series
• boost
• solo
• swells
• effects
• loop

[prophetdude2]

do volume pedals have an "on and off" switch?

do they hurt your tone? True bypass?

[stratpaulguy86]

@prophetdude2 No they are passive. They can be tone killers IMO, especially if you use a cheapy, and I don't really use mine much anymore. They have their uses for sure but I always notice a little loss of sustain or high end with one in the chain. It's not that big of a deal but I can hear it a little...I think? IMO anything you put between your guitar and amp affects the overall tone and feel. I use my guitar's volume control so I've lost interest in the volume pedal for now.

[jhep1]

@stratpaulguy86 would it not work if the amp was clean and all the distortion was coming from the pedal? I have tried experimenting using a compressor as a master volume reducer and that works but changes the tone a little too much. Its just a case of having different volumes on your distortion unit. As long as the amp is clean with headroom spare

[stratpaulguy86]

@jhep1 It really depends on the headroom from your amp I guess. The pedal will reduce volume and add boost when full on depending on how saturated your amp is. If you are fully saturated the effect will be almost impossible to hear. If you are running an old Marshall set pretty clean/mild crunch I would probably go the route of dual OD pedals like the Fulldrive 2. I'd use the overdrive portion of the pedal for gain and the boost for well....boost! I hope this helps

[jhep1]

I have an old single channel marshall with no effects loop and was thinking of getting a volume pedal to put after my overdive effects to be able to manage rhythm/solo volumes. Will this idea work?

[stratpaulguy86]

@jhep1 With the volume pedal out front it will act just like the volume knob on your guitar. Many guitarists use them this way like Robben Ford and John Petrucci, but it will clean up your signal when you back off on the pedal. In the loop you maintain the same amount of distortion but vary the volume. Hope this helps.

[hillbillygenius72]

whats with the glass in front of your amp, looks like a blast shield

[robert59906]

What guitar is it?

[donottawaguitar]

nice

[muziknewbie]

Im a beginner guitarist how can I do that setting if im using an me-70 boss multi effects pedal

[videobenji]

wow, what a weird optical illusion with your blinds over your amp. anyway cool video thanks

[screenname5150]

Hey great vid. I'm looking for a way to boost my dirty channel so I can use it for solos. I wouldn't really need to control the volume, just something I could stomp on to go louder. Would the volume pedal be the way to go? Looking for a cheap solution. Thanks in advance.

[Foxglove963]

Shake baby shake. put yer cam on a tripod for a change/

[jorgepeterbarton]

@stratpaulguy86 yes they do... i've got mine in a 'loop' pedal(acts as an effects loop.) this pedal acts as a booster as well, which is good because swells loose a bit of volume. however, the simplest way is just to buy an active pedal. they have less of a 'mwah' pedal steel sound when swelling and thats the main disadvantage as well as not have a bypass switch..

[brazilgrass]

@stratpaulguy86 Yeah, but take note that jhep1 said he'd use it AFTER his overdrive unit.

That way you will not clean up your sound that much, since your pickups would still be hiting the overdrive pedal with all their juice intact.

[XXavierTaylor]

do they still sell these?