How do volume pedals work

Active pickups require power from a battery or external power supply. See the next question for information about choosing a volume pedal for active or passive pickups.

A: For passive volume pedals, yes. If you have passive pickups , a passive volume pedal in the K — K range will normally be fine.

In this case it is just acting as a controller for the output of the internal amplifier. Both active and passive pickups should work with a well designed active volume pedal.

A log control increases the volume more slowly at the beginning of the rotation and more steeply at the end. This is because human loudness perception is also logarithmic. If you were to use a linear control for a volume pedal it would seem like all the volume increase happens when you first move the pedal, and then very little at the end.

A logarithmic volume control gives the perception of a smooth, proportional increase in volume. Effects loops generally expect low impedance devices, and often have buffers in them of their own. A passive volume pedal with K Ohm range should work fine. It is not generally recommended to use high impedance passive volume pedals in an effects loop.

Active volume pedals, can generally be used with many other instruments such as electric bass, keyboards, harmonica mikes etc. Specialty PZ compatible pedals designed to work with passive Piezo electric pickups should be used on acoustic instruments such as guitars, violins, cellos, stand-up bass etc. You can sometimes use a passive, low impedance volume pedal as an expression pedal by using a TRS stereo insert cable to connect the input and output from the pedal to the expression controlled device.

The volume pedal will likely have a log pot and expression devices normally expect a linear input so you may find the response not to be very smooth, unless the device is designed to accommodate a log pot. Some digital devices can be programmed to compensate for a log pot if you use a volume pedal as an expression pedal.

If you have a passive volume pedal that splits the signal between the instrument and tuner out, you can potentially experience some signal loss. The additional loading of the low impedance tuner device, and that fact that the signal is being split between two different paths can create effectively a low pass filter that removes some of the high frequency component of the signal making it sound less bright.

This can be avoided by using a volume pedal with an isolated tuner out, or using a tuner with a hardwire bypass that can be disconnected from the signal chain when not in use. Transistor based Fuzz pedals behave strangely after buffers because they depend on the impedance Z of a pickup to limit gain, and since the buffer has a low output Z, the fuzz can sound unusually loud and be non responsive to the volume control.

Another effect is that the low input impedance of the fuzz will limit high frequency response when driven by the pickup, but the low Z of the buffer lets more highs through and that can make the fuzz sound harsh. The Mission VM-Pro has a fuzz friendly impedance switch that lets you use it in front of a fuzz. The buffer is always active, and the impedance switch adds a fixed resistance in series with the output to restore the proper fuzz sound and performance.

Keen, R. The Secret Life of Pots , for information on pot tapers. Thanks to Jack Orman for technical information regarding fuzz pedal impedances. Most players will setup their pedal as the first piece or the first piece after a buffer. This is especially important for swells and overdrives. However, some people also like having a pedal or volume control after all of the effects and right before it feeds into the amp.

That way if you are finishing a piece with a lot of sustain, you can quickly truncate the sound and move into the next piece. However, for this second volume control, a lot of artists opt for a simple knob instead of a foot pedal. But you can even set up a pedal on the front and the back and the middle, if you want.

For guitar players this means level sensitive inputs such as overdrive pedals, or the front end of a tube amp will respond accordingly, typically cleaning up an overdriven tone as you reduce the volume. This makes placing the volume pedal first great for things such as swells, or blending between a clean and crunchy tones. It also means that following effects such as delays and reverbs tails will still continue even after the volume is reduced to zero.

One thing to watch with connecting the volume pedal first is to make sure the input impedance is compatible with what you are connecting.

In general passive electric guitar pickups will work best with at least K Ohm on the input of the volume pedal, around K Ohm is better still. A solution is to use an active volume pedal such as the Mission VM-PRO , which is designed to work with multiple different inputs. The second common place to put a volume pedal is at the end of a signal chain after all the other effects.

In this case it is going to behave more like a master volume control. Connecting the output of the volume pedal to the main input on a guitar amp is still potentially going to impact the drive level of the front end of your amp though.

One way to avoid this and make the volume pedal even more like a master volume control is to put it into an effects loop. In this case, for most effects loops, the volume pedal will be bypassing the pre amp and tone stack so as not to impact the drive level on the front end of the amp. This is a good if you really just want the volume pedal to control volume, and not have any other effect on a guitar tone.

Make sure that the amp has a series effects loop, and not a parallel effects loop for this to work. When placing the volume pedal after buffered effects pedals, or in an effects loop, you will want to use either an active volume pedal or a low impedance volume pedal, normally around 25K Ohm.

Connecting a high Z passive volume pedal such as one in the K — K Ohm range will not work that well. The impedance mismatch will cause an uneven response.

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Volume pedals and expression pedals may look exactly the same however they serve completely different functions. These nifty pedals give you an expressive way of creating new and exciting sounds with your guitar by using your foot to rock back and forth and control different parameters. Volume pedals can do a number of different things to your signal including acting as a Master control over the volume of your guitar obviously. A volume pedal is also a great way to create lush, sweeping soundscapes when used with an ambient reverb or delay pedal.

There are 2 types of volume pedals that you can choose from. The 2 main types are active and passive. Make sure you know the differences between the 2 before going and buying one. Passive volume pedals are incredibly simple.

They have a completely different feel to an active volume pedal with a different sweep and sweet spot. They tend to feel less sensitive and have a wider sweep depending on the potentiometer inside of course.

Note: If you connect your guitar directly to a passive control you can — and probably will - experience a loss of top-end. The volume potentiometer on your guitar will have a resistance rating. Nobody wants that. Active Volume Pedals are probably the most commonly used and certainly the most popular of the two. An active volume pedal has got a buffer inside which is why these pedals need to be powered by a power supply connected to a wall socket or a power supply.

Shop Volume Pedals! Beginning — A volume pedal at the beginning of your signal chain will act like the volume pot on your guitar. Middle — One of the most common places to put a volume pedal is in the middle of your signal chain; after your overdrive, distortion and boost and before modulations and reverbs. This is the best way to ensure you keep the same amount of drive on your signal and simply turn that up and down and retain the trails from your reverb and delay.

Most songs you play will require the trails to continue which is why this is the most obvious spot to have your volume control. End — Having the volume pedal at the end of your chain — i. After delays and reverbs, will mean that the pedal acts as a master volume control. If you want to use the volume pedal to strictly change the volume of your guitar, similar to how you would use the volume pot, but easier and with more sensitivity, put it as the first pedal in your chain.

You can use it as a sort of boost or control for your gain stages. Once again, you can lower the volume without losing any of your distortion, though this time you can do so without adjusting the volume of your modulation section.

This helps capture a better portion of the modulation signals, like subtle, quiet reverb and delay trails. Expression pedals can essentially go anywhere in your chain, because they are only interacting with one pedal, so if you use a dual volume and expression pedal, simply follow the recommendations above when finding a home for it on your board. One of the most common applications of volume pedals is to use it to create a sweeping or swelling sound with your guitar.

Think of it like how some songs fade in or out on your favorite records and albums. You can build up to a guitar part like a guitar solo or chorus but slowly increasing the volume. Or, you can slowly ease out of a song without needing an outro riff or big conclusion, by slowly fading out your playing as you lower the volume. Swells using a volume pedal can create a wave-like effect, as guitar chords drift in and out.