Vol pedal placement for volume swells

[rearviewmirror]

Several queries here...

I intend to get volume pedal mainly for volume swells... where do you guys place your volume pedals for that purpose?

The reason this is an issue for me... I've read from the Boss website that if you are placing the vol pedal at the end of the chain (or before delay) a passive pedal will do, but to place one at the start of the chain an active one will be better. So I have to be more careful with my purchase here instead of just buying one and experimenting.

I'm leaning towards placing the pedal early in the chain. Mike Einziger (Incubus) uses his vol knob for swells and I like how subtle it sounds. To my ears it seems like it's not just a swell in volume but also gain and modulation depth.

Any suggestions? And any good volume pedals (ard S$100 second hand or more if new) to recommend? Thanks.

Damn it's a volume pedal man... why does it have to be so much trouble? :x

 

[relinquish69]

try this out, should be similar to the boss SG-1.

http://www.guyatone.com/flash/sv2popup1.html

I dont know if this is the kind of volume pedal that you are looking for, but its pretty interesting. hear the samples

 

[rearviewmirror]

Oh I should have stated... I meant an expression pedal type volume pedal. Thanks anyway

 

[dwarfstars]

How about the little alligator? But I'm not too sure about the active/passive part. I think ernie ball vol pedal is active. Btw, can someone elaborate more on the active/passive part, particularly what is the main difference besides positions in the signal chain..

 

[theblueark]

If you'd like an active one, you may also consider

It's got LEDs to indicate the volume level.

Active means there is electronic circuitry within the pedal, and as such will require power. Active volume pedals will allow you to boost or cut the signals.

Passive means it works without power. You'll be able to cut but not boost the signals. Most volume pedals are passive.

Where the pedal is placed in the chain is simply where you would want to boost or cut a signal. Imagine it to be the volume knob on the pedal you place it after. Typically, if you place it before a distortion/overdrive pedal, it will work much like your guitar's volume knob, cleaning up the sound as you turn it down. If you place it all the way as the last pedal, it will work almost like master volume for your pedalboard.

For typical swells I reccommend last in chain, but before the delay pedals.

But hey, if you have the pedal, experiment.

 

[ala_carte]

Keeping the volume pedal in front of ambience effects eg delay, chorus or reverb will allow the sound to be more natural, which is a huge plus if u ask me, esp regarding the fade outs and end-of-riffs...

Placing the volume in front of the chain will control the gain level, which is the amount of crunch u get from ur dist pedals.

However, having it last in line will affect the ambience effects so keep the 1st paragraph in mind and.....weirdly, do experiment the positions, using common sense as a guideline..

Active volume pedals have gain boosts (as in clean boost) where it's applications are only limited by the imagination IMO.

Always try the volume pedal with ur rig to hear it, u WILL want ur tone to be unaffected (cos it's a less tiring and cost effective method to obtain a tremolo pedal instead! )

 

[rearviewmirror]

Thanks for the replies folks 8)

I think the VS volume pedal is beyond my budget though. And not to mention its down right fugly IMO. Haha looks matter!

 

[RazrAsh]

there's no hard and fast rule.. generally, for vol swells, put the vol pedal after distortion effects and before any modulation efx... or.. u could just skip on it and use your guitar vol control knob...

 

[dwarfstars]

hmm den can active/passive vol pedals be placed anywhere as well? i thought active vol pedals are meant to be placed first (to roll off dirt) and passive the last (control overall vol)

 

[dwarfstars]

there's no hard and fast rule.. generally, for vol swells, put the vol pedal after distortion effects and before any modulation efx... or.. u could just skip on it and use your guitar vol control knob...

in this case you should be talking about active vol pedals yea? to give you the boost? pls correct me!!

 

[RazrAsh]

yeah.. active does give the boost.. passives one just cut the sound and dont give a volume boost...

 

[dwarfstars]

so the passive vol pedal only has the REDUCE VOL function? am i right to say. haha.. juz one vol pedal only got so many enquires!

 

[RazrAsh]

i try..

 

[theblueark]

so the passive vol pedal only has the REDUCE VOL function? am i right to say. haha.. juz one vol pedal only got so many enquires!

Yes.

 

[nickyseow]

okie dokes. here's my $0.02

personally, I bought a Boss FV 300L the humungous passive volume/ exp pedal, and I use it at the very start of my chain.

Why this is so, is behind the logic ( well to me at least ) that if you want to do swells and shite, you would logically want to put it at the start of your fx chain. Think of it as using ur foot-up-and-down-motion with the twiddling of the volume knob on your guitar. makes sense? haha

however all said and done, it come down to personal preference.

Ha. 8)

 

[rearviewmirror]

Why this is so, is behind the logic ( well to me at least ) that if you want to do swells and shite, you would logically want to put it at the start of your fx chain. Think of it as using ur foot-up-and-down-motion with the twiddling of the volume knob on your guitar. makes sense? haha

Yeah nicky that's exactly what I was thinking about. The Boss pedal is one of my considerations also... the FV300L, since I'm partial to placing the pedal at the start. How's it for you? And how much did it cost ya?

ps.
Oh I think I made a mistake in my first post. The Boss website was referring to the impedance of the volume pedal (FV300L and FV300H for eg), not whether it is active or passive. I'm assuming they do not refer to the same thing.

Anyone wish to enlighten me on impedance and how it affects signal, tone and pedal placement? Thanks!

 

[theblueark]

Passive guitar pickups have high impedence. You would want a volume pedal with high impedence also to match and give a smoother control. MOST pedals with a buffer will give low impedence outputs. You would want a volume pedal with low impedence for the same reason.

Placing the volume pedal at the start, as said earlier, mimicks the volume control on your guitar. Which is actually more useful as a gain control than a volume control per se. So it depends on what kind of swells you want to do, the kind where only the volume changes, or the kind where the dirt starts to increase as the volume increase also.

This of course, is provided you are using any dirt at all. With cleans it won't make that much of a difference.

If you are getting one, I don't see why you can't just experiment on your own and see where you best like to place it. It is after all half the fun in buying a new pedal.

 

[rearviewmirror]

Heh just wanted to clear my doubts on some technicalities. At least now I know how to spell impedence correctly I'll definitely be dropping the pedal all over the chain once I get it.

Thanks for clearing things up theblueark. You and several others have been most helpful in addressing my queries on probably the most mundane of effects.

 

[nickyseow]

any effect is never a mundane one! haha it can be made un-mundane! if there's such a word. lol im not too sure on the details on the "insides" w.r.t the electronics an all, but i guess, let ur ear be the judge lor. heh