Re: active/passive volume & controller pedal

[David Myers <dmgraph@pulsewidth.com>]

This is a point of interest to me because I've always experienced
difficulties with volume pedals, and as far as guitar work, it's a very
important part of the chain.  I've had DeArmond and Boss "passive" pedals,
which are just a pot in a box, and almost immediately they become scratchy
and I always feel the bottom end is never quite "off".  Much better results
with a Boss ME-8 I had where I could use a pedal as control input to
electronic volume control, but in a stand-alone pedal I don't know what
would be acceptable.  I've thought about Morleys but have never tried one.
Right now I have a CEM chip based VCA I built which I control via pedal and
it is beautiful; the only problem is that the VCA is part of a clunky older
thang I built some time ago and wish I just had the VCA in a little box;
don't know whether to build a new one, or find an "active" pedal.  Does
anyone have a recommendation?  "Passive" pedals are simply out of the
question, in my experience....

David Myers

>Hey there, Michael,
>
>    The first majour difference betwixt active and passive volume pedals 
>will
>be the active pedals all use some form of power supply in order to add a 
>bit
>of amplification to the line level, whereas a passive volume pedal won't. 
> A
>better analogy would be a passive volume pedal would act more like the 
>volume
>control on your guitar, whereas the active would be a little bit more like
>the volume control on your pre-amp.
>
>    I understand that this isn't totally 100% on the ball as far as how 
>they
>work internally, but this is just the quick explanation for it.  
>Personally,
>I prefer the passive volume controls and use one both at the begainning of
>the effects loop and at the end (should I have the spare).  This has more 
>to
>do with using line level effects in my effects loop and also because I'd
>rather not deal with something loosing it's battery on me during a gig...
>Been there once and didn't have a spare...
>
>    As far as I can tell you there are a few differences betwixt a volume
>pedal and an expression pedal, mostly having to do with one is a mono or 
>pair
>of mono inputs, and the other is going to be at least a single stereo 1/4"
>and maybe some mono inputs, too.  The latter pedal will control more than
>just the overall volume of an effect or keyboard, and really matters upon
>pre-programming and effects/voices being run.  Typically, I tend to set 
>mine
>to velocities and frequencies of the voice.  Just makes things easier 
>from a
>playing stand point.
>
>    Your last question, I really can't answer off the top of my head, ...
>typically I'm the only one on stage, and I tend to use the tuner that is 
>in
>either my Zoom 2100 or a Korg DT-1...  Now that I have a GR-30, I'll 
>probably
>be using it instead.  One thing you may want to look for in a tuner is
>something that is rack mountable and bypassible.  Hope this helps out.
>
>    Tchus,
>
>        Lee-ohki.