Volume pedal cut gain?

[Mr. C]

I just picked up an Ernie Ball Jr. Vol. pedal and have been trying it out. I mainly want to use it to turn up the vol. during solos. It seems to me that when I lower the volume it cuts the gain. My amp is a Classic 30. So is this my imagination or is it actually cutting the gain?

 

[metalhead28]

Any time you lower the signal feeding into the amp it's going to sound like you're lowering the gain. It's just like rolling down the volume on your guitar.

 

[TelePaul]

Seems like youd be better off using a booster for the solos and the voulme pedal as a dynamic effect....i like my Boss FV 50 for violining with an e-bow or fade ins.

 

[Mr. C]

So what would be a good boost pedal for solos in the same price range as the Ernie Ball jr.?

 

[Dani Pace]

A "trick" you might want to try is to plug the pedal into the efx loop. This way your amp's pre still has the gain and the pedal works with the power end of the amp. This is like using your pedal as a master volume so it dosen't affect any settings other than your volume (loudness.) I learned this trick from a guy who plays pedal steel and I've been using it for years.

 

[TelePaul]

A "trick" you might want to try is to plug the pedal into the efx loop. This way your amp's pre still has the gain and the pedal works with the power end of the amp. This is like using your pedal as a master volume so it dosen't affect any settings other than your volume (loudness.) I learned this trick from a guy who plays pedal steel and I've been using it for years.

I think we'd have to know more about this guys existing set up before he tries this...does he run anything else through the front of the amp or through the effects loop?

 

[TelePaul]

So what would be a good boost pedal for solos in the same price range as the Ernie Ball jr.?

I use a couple of things...a Boss GE 7 has a boost incorporated into a graphic EQ, very handy for powerful solos, as you can pre-set the highs and mids to taste and increase the volume (up to +15 dB) with the touch of a button.

Another one of my favourites is a Boss Super-Overdrive. If you set the drive to zero, and level to full, you'll give clean sounds a nice kick and augment and sustain your amps distortion.

 

[Mr. C]

Dani- can you explain exactly how i would hook the volume pedal up through the effects loop...like is it the volume pedal ouput to the efx input...and do I still plug my guitar into the front of the amp (I'm using a chorus pedal, and I have a dead Tubescreamer and a Crybaby that's not working properly). I hate to admit it, but I'm clueless when it comes to using the efx loop.
One other thing...would using a boost pedal like the MXR micro amp or the other boost pedal they make be a better fit for what I'm trying to do, which is just boost the volume during solos w/out changing my tone?

 

[Anfontan]

Dani- can you explain exactly how i would hook the volume pedal up through the effects loop...like is it the volume pedal ouput to the efx input...and do I still plug my guitar into the front of the amp (I'm using a chorus pedal, and I have a dead Tubescreamer and a Crybaby that's not working properly). I hate to admit it, but I'm clueless when it comes to using the efx loop.
One other thing...would using a boost pedal like the MXR micro amp or the other boost pedal they make be a better fit for what I'm trying to do, which is just boost the volume during solos w/out changing my tone?

That Micro amp would work well for you're problem-I used one of those for a volume boost for a while years back. Mine had a red LED so you knew when it was active too. It will basically make you louder for solos, just what you want, it seems to me!

The volume pedal will be wired-output of effect loop to input of Vol. pedal-output of Vol. pedal to input of effects loop, easy as that.

 

[Dani Pace]

Sorry I wasn't a little clearer. It's a simple set up, just plug your guitar ( and whatever efx you want to use ) into the input then use the line out of the loop to the input of the volume pedal, then from the output (send)
of the pedal back to the line in (return) of the loop. This way you will only affect the final volume without cutting into the gain so you should be able to get the same sound (tone) at both low and high volume. This works for me, hope it works for you.

 

[cephus]

If you have your classic 30 maxxed out and you are looking for something to boost you above that, you won't find anything to do that without affecting your tone.

I prefer the subtractive approach. Get your good tone for your solo and work backwards. Look for a tool (the EB pedal would work fine) to cut your volume back to where it needs to be when you're not soloing. If you are using the amp's natural distortion, I'm afraid it's not very scalable. You get a specific tone at a specific volume and any change you make anywhere in the chain (guitar knob, volume pedal, EQ/boost, pregain, master vol) is going to change your tone.

I actually just roll off the volume on the guitar a little. It cleans it up and makes it a little rounder. I also use a volume pedal, but I use a fuzztone so I can get consistent distortion at any volume I need.