If your love for soulful music has led you to become an instrumentalist, then you must be aware of what a volume pedal is and what functions it serves. But those who are new to playing electric instruments such as guitar or keyboard, here you can find all that you need to know about volume pedals.
What are volume pedals?
Volume pedals are a kind of expression pedal that is used to control the volume of an electronic instrument remotely. You can understand a volume pedal as a knob or device placed under your foot, which you can use to control the volume of your electronic based instrument.
Then you must be aware of what a volume pedal is and what functions it serves. -The beginning of the guitar volume and effects pedal era had made electric guitar playing more interesting. According to a review article from MusicCritic, “since the introduction of their analog forefathers in the late 1960’s they have been considered one of the most versatile and essential items for gigging musicians.
Traditionally a volume pedal can control only the volume aspect of the instrument, but there are many variants available in the market which you can use to control the wah, whammy, expression, etc. of the device.
Now, there are different variants of volume pedal in the market. But you cannot buy a volume pedal just like that. You must know the features of the pedal and the specification to understand which pedal fits your instrument the best; In such case, you must be aware of your device as well.
Although, there are no set parameters according to which you can determine which volume pedal to buy. Most of the time expert instrumentalist buy pedals based on their requirements. But this has only aggrieved customers who wish to purchase a volume pedal. So here are some specifications that you can set as parameters to find a functional volume pedal for yourself.
- Potentiometer resistance: most of the devices can work effectively with a volume pedal with a potentiometer resistance range of 5000 Ohm to 50000 Ohm. Although you can find this range quite well suitable, there are few instruments or device that are quite specific in their needs. You must know the resistance range of your device and buy a volume pedal of that range only. If the match is not set between the resistance of your instrument and the volume pedal it can give you limited range, notch, jumping or in some instances it’s possible that the clutch will not work at all.
- Taper: potentiometer taper is an integral aspect you must not ignore. The taper is essential as it is responsible for determining how the electric resistance will change with the proportional mechanic movement. Most of the time the resistance of the pedals moves in linear proportion to the device, but this may not be true always. You need to know the taper of the volume pedal and that of your instrument.
- Wiring: it is another critical aspect you must keep in mind before buying a volume pedal. Generally, a potentiometer has three connectors, wiper, clockwise and anticlockwise. Although, there are many ways of wiring these connectors but most of the time they give the same result. There are three variants in connecting the pedal with the potentiometer wiring each set is responsible for a different outcome. So you must know all the three combined and the output it gives to get the best result from the volume pedal.
Hope this information could help you pick the best one of so many popular volume pedal in the market.
