From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Thu Feb 3 05:07:01 2000
Subject:Re: volume pedal (from the old list)

Gary,

> To wit: Since Ernie Ball is a finger-picker, it looks like the
> volume pedals he makes sit in-line, taking input from the guitar
> and output to the amp. Now, isn't guitar output level a tiny
> fraction of a synth output? Only once have I plugged a synth into
> a guitar player's effect pedal. I avoid doing this now as I found
> it to be a highly non-cost-effective activity.
>
> Can Ernie take it? Do I need to look for a specific model that
> handles synth (line) level?

While it's true that line-level output is much higher than guitar level,
this does not affect a volume pedals, because they are "passive"
devices; i.e., they have no tubes, transistors, or ICs, and require no
electrical power to run. From an electrical perspective, all they are
is 1-2 jacks and a volume control (pot). It's possible to put too much
input into a pot, but you won't reach that point unless you're trying to
put an amplifier through the pedal or something.

> My goal is to get wider expression control range for the V3. I'm
> thinking that I would patch Ernie's mono pedal into the effects
> loop. Is that a proper thing to do?

Yes and no. It will work OK, but connecting anything to the V3's Effect
In jack disables the built-in noise gate, which hides a lot of white
noise in the V3's EQ and Spin circuits. Unless you add a noise gate to
the volume pedal loop, you may not like the results.

Another alternative would be to change the MIDI settings so that the
volume pedal (might be the one you are already using) affects the V3's
built-in MIDI volume instead of MIDI expression. The volume control
goes from 0-100% on all V3's, unlike the expression control, which works
well on some units, poorly on others.

Best regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Electrical/Computer engineer
Keyboard player
Voce Support Group moderator
bruce@ashbysolutions.com

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