Help! Volume Pedal Help - Yeah I Know!

[ScoobySteve]

Hey guys, I read through the FAQ and the Sticky, and did a search but couldn't find an answer specific to my inquiry.

1.First of all, where do you guys typically place your VP? My chain is kind of complicated so I'm confused as to where I should place it.

I have my JP6, with a TRS stereo cable, that runs to the Ernie Ball splitter box. The piezo out runs to the PA via a mixer and the mono out for the guitar goes into a TC Nova System, Tubescreamer, Wah, then into the amp.

Now the pickle is the TC Nova system. And the splitter box. If I place the VP after the splitter then I won't get the volume controls on my Piezo. If I place it before the Nova system it seems to make sense to use a Mono Passive VP, but what if I use it at the end of my signal chain? After the Nova System, the Wah and the Tubescreamer? Does the effect processor boost the signal in my line?

And if the VP goes in before the splitter, I'll need a stereo VP instead. So many options and issues, your recommednations would be really appreciated!

I'm kind of lost and want to complete my pedal board, your help would be sincerely appreciated.

-Scooby

 

[bkrumme]

1. I wouldn't worry about having a volume pedal on your piezo. You can always adjust that on the guitar pretty easily.

2. If you put the volume pedal AFTER your effects, you won't be able to do any cool swells or anything with it.

So my answer would be put the volume pedal after the splitter but before the FX. This is what I do and it works really well.

 

[ScoobySteve]

1. I wouldn't worry about having a volume pedal on your piezo. You can always adjust that on the guitar pretty easily.

2. If you put the volume pedal AFTER your effects, you won't be able to do any cool swells or anything with it.

So my answer would be put the volume pedal after the splitter but before the FX. This is what I do and it works really well.

So in this case, just get the Mono Passive volume pedal right?

 

[ScoobySteve]

And also, the VP before the Wah and Tubescreamer too right?

 

[bkrumme]

I would get the mono passive pedal. and put it before everything but the splitter.

 

[beej]

I agree about the piezo, I'd use the onboard volume as well.

Wrt the mags- really depends what you're going for. I find I use my guitar's volume constantly, so don't use a VP in front of the amp. For me, where it shines is in the loop. I use it either to adjust overall volume (series loop), but mostly I use it to blend in wet FX in a parallel loop; the Steve Morse trick. Basically play dry and then use it to blend in reverb, delay, chorus within different parts of a song.

So lots of neat things you can do. Hell, get two ...

 

[SteveB]

I run a passive VP Jr. at the beginning of my amp's effects loop, then all my time-based effects (chorus, delay, reverb) then back to the amp. I put my wah immediately after the EB Splitter Box magnetic output, then to the amp's input.

I use the guitar's volume pot for the piezo. I have a DI box on my pedalboard right beside the EB Splitter Box, so I feed the piezo directly to the PA from my pedalboard.

 

[spkirby]

SteveB's idea's a good one as it will also mute the amps preamp stage...hmmm

My chain is set up:

wah, od, phaser, VP Jnr, Amp(Preamp), FX loop, Amp(Power Stage). This way I can mute the OD and other boost fx that can make the tube amp hiss although I might move it to SteveB's location to mute the preamp stage too....

 

[bkrumme]

Those are some other good ideas. It really all depends on what you're going to use the volume pedal for. If you decide to put it in the FX loop or after an overdrive/distortion pedal, I would suggest getting the ACTIVE pedal.