Pot Pedal Blues

[Michael Hill]

I have a goodrich 120 volume pedal. It wasn't quite cutting the sound completely when all the way off so I opened it up and adjusted it. That's been working well but today I was troubleshooting some pedal board issues and temporarily removed the volume pedal from the signal path. I was shocked at how much headroom I'm losing. I felt like no volume pedal was 25% louder than with the volume pedal wide open.

I like the simplicity of a passive pedal but I'm maybe something active that guarantees full range would be better for me. Anyone else been down this rabbit hole? These pedals aren't exactly cheap so I'm looking to educate myself before trying something else.

[David Irving]

I have a passive volume pedal (Dunlop, forget the exact model), which I use as an expression pedal with a Vertex Boost pedal. It's not too bad, although I don't actually use the volume pedal all that much.

https://www.vertexeffects.com/vertex-boost

[Larry Dering]

If you have your pedal set to completely cut the volume then the wide open position is far less than fully on. Try turning the amp gain up more. The volume pedal shouldn't completely cut the sound off when heel is down. Its a balancing act. I tried a active pedal and didn't care for it. I have 6 Goodrich volume pedals and I'm happy with their performance.

[Tucker Jackson]

These pedals aren't exactly cheap so I'm looking to educate myself before trying something else.

The way the Goodrich works (and maybe some other brands) is that you do not have access to the full range of the pot, you have like 95%. The user can decide how they want it to work and adjust the pedal accordingly.

1) Have it full off with heel down. But that means it's not fully on with toe down.

2) The opposite: Full on with toe down... but not quite off with heel down.

3) Or set somewhere in between those two extremes. Not sure what the advantage of this would be, but maybe someone will chime in.

The first option has the advantage of being able to completely silence the rig with the volume pedal. You do lose the top end of the sweep, but that's not necassarily a bad thing. Steel pickups are very hot compared to a guitar's and can easily overload the input to certain pedals or amp inputs.

I use the second option. This provides the full top of the sweep, which sounds a little fatter -- and the very small amount of sound that happens with the heel down is irrelevant in a gig situation because it's so very soft. For those times when I really need silence, kicking the switch on the tuner mutes everything.

There's no right answer, only which one you prefer. And yes, you can go to an active (powered) pedal if you need both ends of a sweep -- but it might brighten the tone, depending on what devices you have between the guitar and pedal. And that brightening can be either a bug or a feature, depending on what tone your ears are looking for. I'm partial to the traditional pot sound... but have used an active pedal in the past and recognize its charms.

[Michael Hill]

Thanks to those who responded. This is really useful information for my scenario. I'll do some fiddling with my Goodrich. I think I would like to get an active pedal to try. I was looking at the Lehle with the side mounted jacks.

[Jim Palenscar]

You will generally get about 85% of the pot rotation using the pedal. Do not ever let the pot stop the travel in either direction or you will likely damage the pot. If the pot has a slot in the end of the shaft that makes it way easier to adjust. The new pots w the D shaft are a bit tougher but can be done. If it's slotted what I do is to clamp the heel position down, loosen the allen screw on the pot collar, and use a small flat bladed screwdriver and turn the pot shaft until I just hear a titch coming through and tighten it back up. You can slot the new pot shafts w a dremel or a hack saw.

[kevin ryan]

I generally don't post much here even when I think there is some confusion regarding whatever the topic. I own Goodrich Sound and really take pride in these products and try to respect the legacy of what Phil Goodrich and his family built. I am also a veteran steel guitarist and know what I need to hear on stage. I had a great conversation with Bruce Bouton a while back and he said something to me that I really agreed with. He said " My ears have gotten used to the midrange that is inherent with a pot volume pedal." I love that observation and think it's an important one.

I use a pretty sophisticated custom A-B setup for comparing sounds direct and through devices, through different popular steel guitar amps, Quilter, Walker rigs, peavey etc.... Guitar amps too, Marshalls, boogies and fender amps. I have also strung many thousands of volume pedals... of course! I am also very aware of the term "TONE SUCK" and have to smile when I hear it. I can find signal degradation in anything we almost run through and sometimes it unbelievably crazy noticeable and a real problem.

At the shop when I am testing a new pedal, I hook it up through our custom switcher which allows me to first to check the tone and gain coming direct from my Emmons guitar (710's) straight into 2 amps, a Peavey and a Quilter, one at a time. Then I throw a switch and route the signal through the new pedal that I am testing to the amps of choice. With that setup we can absolutely hear any differences. At heel down, I have it strung so that you can not hear your guitar at normal stage volumes. Most of us need that so we can tune quietly. At full on I have it strung at 98% full electrical rotation so that we don't damage the pot. What I find is that when it is full on as compared to the direct sound, the gain and high end loss is SO MINIMAL, barely noticeable and that the over all sound of the pot has a fidelity and pleasing thickness to it compared to the direct sound. The pot adds a certain character to my tone that I have gotten use to and love.

Do our pedals when strung properly, TONE SUCK, I would say "not really" depending on your definition of tone suck. Remember you can turn around and add some more gain and high end if you need to on your amp. The Hilton and Telonics are great choices for volume pedals. Many VP's really do tone suck though, I have one brand in mind which I won't mention. I hear more tone issues from players that haven't really defined and found their technique. 90% of my tone is coming from my hands, my amps and all else are the other 10%. I know the sweet spot where I strike the strings and I dampen very lightly behind the bar if at all! At some point I would like to talk about our use of a string as our pot actuator, maybe another time. I love the steel guitar and I love our community and proud to be a part of it. Call me anytime with any questions, Thanks Kevin 619 547 1260

[Jerry Overstreet]

Great comprehensive run down Kevin. Really clear, concise and informative. Thanks for continuing the Goodrich tradtion and sticking with us.

Admitted nerd and certainly no expert here, but I have witnessed some of the same characteristics when comparing different designs and models of pedals.

If I may ask a question, no controversy intended, would you say that, in general, all other things being equal, good quality 500K level pot pedals inherently have more midrange character than potless electronic pedals?

[Ian Rae]

I also find Kevin's rundown really informative. I have all three (Goodrich, Hilton, Telonics) and I know enough electronics to understand why the active pedals don't affect the tone, while the pot pedal does, but in a way that suits the instrument. To my ears it adds more than it takes away, and I can understand why players who grew up with the Goodrich might find the more technically advanced models a little colourless.

[kevin ryan]

Appreciated the feedback Jerry, Ian, I believe there is a certain magic in a pot volume pedal, setup correctly, which sometimes is overlooked. Thanks fellas!

[Jim Pitman]

As an electrical engineer let me make a contribution. Anything active will have a THD, total harmonic distortion, to a degree. Some circuits will be designed so well the THD is indiscernible, some won't. That's why I'm a fan of a pot pedal - no THD and maybe that explains the magic. They may have nonlinearity regarding pedal angle vs volume but so what....and ....no batteries