Fender Vol/Tone Pedal Questions

[Jim Fogarty]

Hey,

Recently bought a Fender Vol/Tone pedal off here. Works great, and seems built like a tank. A wee bit scratchy when I got it, but nothing some contact cleaner couldn't fix. I have a couple questions, though.....

How can you tell and original vs a reissue?? I was told this was original, and have no reason to doubt that, but it's in amazing condition.

Has anyone ever modded them to get a wee bit more "wah" from the sideways pedal?? It's cool as-is, but you know......more is always better!

Finally, these strings are looking pretty old. Does anyone repair (or mod) these pedals and replace strings.

Thanks! - Jim

[Tim Whitlock]

Original: The AMP and INSTRUMENT jacks are on the same side, like yours. No tuner out.

Reissue: INSTRUMENT jack on the right side - AMP jack on the left side. Additional tuner out on the left side.

These pedals are very tricky to work on. I have three and only one works properly. I prefer a root canal to having to work on them. Very difficult to source pots with the right resistance, right taper (audio for volume/linear for tone), long shaft and that turn easily. The pedal must be fully disassembled to change the pots or strings.

You may notice that the pedal sucks a little tone and volume vs the guitar straight into the amp. Some adjustment at your amp will help compensate. Over time, the string can tend to slip on the spindle. Make sure your volume pot is maxed when the pedal is fully down. If not, you can stretch the spring, to slacken the string, and turn the volume pot to all the way on with your fingers. Same for the tone pot. Make sure the pot is fully off when the pedal is rotated all the way to the left.

If yours is working, enjoy it while it lasts!