Volume Pedal Issue with JPMM

[Dr. Metal]

I special ordered an EB 6165 stereo volume pedal that is specifically called out to be used with the JPMM. I now have the pedal and it seems to have a terrible taper to the pots. I barely press the pedal and it is almost at full volume :-( It makes nice volume swells very difficult.

At this point I've been just using in "standard" mono volume pedal mode. I have the stereo cable to use the pedal in panning mode to select between the electric and pieze but have not tried that yet. I also have the same problem playing my 1985 USA Jackson RR1 through it. Both guitars use passive pickups.

Anyone have similar problems? Are there any adjustments I can make to the pedal? Any other solutions?

Thanks!

 

[Raz]

Unfortunately I can't help with the volume pedal, what I can do is offer up my congratulations to you for getting the opportunity to open for Sonata Arctica(great band)...great tunes to BTW. ROCK ON!

 

[SteveB]

I special ordered an EB 5165 stereo volume pedal that is specifically called out to be used with the JPMM.

Who specifically called this pedal out to be used with the JP?

Jon's got a great sticky thread here in the Guitar forum which discusses the volume pedals in great detail. Maybe have a look there.

 

[jongitarz]

Who specifically called this pedal out to be used with the JP?

I was wondering the same thing

 

[Dr. Metal]

Unfortunately I can't help with the volume pedal, what I can do is offer up my congratulations to you for getting the opportunity to open for Sonata Arctica(great band)...great tunes to BTW. ROCK ON!

Hey Raz,

Thanks! We are all very excited about the show on Wednesday! It looks to be a sold out crowd so it should be great exposure. Thanks for the compliments as well! I can't wait for people to hear the new material we are working on or the old stuff with the new arrangements for the new lineup!

Keep up the good work yourself!

 

[Dr. Metal]

Who specifically called this pedal out to be used with the JP?

Jon's got a great sticky thread here in the Guitar forum which discusses the volume pedals in great detail. Maybe have a look there.

Thank you for responding SteveB. Actually, it isn't "specifically" called out for the Petrucci, but the information I got that from was courtesy of Jon. I had read the thread and the FAQ before making any purchases. He talks of the difference between Passive and Active electronics in both the Thread and FAQ (BTW, the links are broken in the thread). And in the FAQ, the 6165 is called out for guitars with piezo electronics and stereo outputs -- just like the JPMM.

Frankly, no other pedal seemed to match the description of what I needed for the JPMM either. It has passive electronics (for the electric portion) and piezo pickup with a stereo output jack.

Thanks again.

 

[Dr. Metal]

Who specifically called this pedal out to be used with the JP?

I was wondering the same thing

As I stated in my reply to Steve, I inferred the answer from the information you provided in the thread and FAQ.

If this isn't the correct pedal, than which one is?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[SteveB]

Dr. Metal,

From the info in the thread, I would use a 25k mono pedal on the piezo output, and a 250k or 500k mono pedal on the magnetic output of the petrucci.

I realize that you were probably hoping to avoid 2 pedals, but with the difference in the signal types, it may be the best solution.

I don't think there is an ideal single pedal if you want to use the combined piezo+mag output on a mono cable, or the stereo cable carrying both signals.

But there's a good idea for Big Poppa. How about a volume pedal that can perform the following miracle:

Run from stereo output of piezo-equipped guitar into a single stereo jack on the pedal. The pedal splits the signal into two discrete paths, one for piezo, one for mag. The piezo signal runs through a low-ohm path, while the mag signal routes through a higher-ohm path. (So that both signals can sweep properly.) Then the beauty... a single mechanical pedal controls the sweep of both paths. On the output side, two jacks.. one for piezo and one for mag.

This combines the 6190 splitter functionality into a usable volume pedal.

Anyone want to back me up on this? I'm sure that calibrating the thing to sweep the two ranges (and keep them in synch) would be the worst part.

 

[Dr. Metal]

Dr. Metal,

From the info in the thread, I would use a 25k mono pedal on the piezo output, and a 250k or 500k mono pedal on the magnetic output of the petrucci.

I realize that you were probably hoping to avoid 2 pedals, but with the difference in the signal types, it may be the best solution.

I don't think there is an ideal single pedal if you want to use the combined piezo+mag output on a mono cable, or the stereo cable carrying both signals.

But there's a good idea for Big Poppa. How about a volume pedal that can perform the following miracle:

Run from stereo output of piezo-equipped guitar into a single stereo jack on the pedal. The pedal splits the signal into two discrete paths, one for piezo, one for mag. The piezo signal runs through a low-ohm path, while the mag signal routes through a higher-ohm path. (So that both signals can sweep properly.) Then the beauty... a single mechanical pedal controls the sweep of both paths. On the output side, two jacks.. one for piezo and one for mag.

This combines the 6190 splitter functionality into a usable volume pedal.

Anyone want to back me up on this? I'm sure that calibrating the thing to sweep the two ranges (and keep them in synch) would be the worst part.

SteveB.

Thanks for your response. You are correct, I have no interest in two pedals. Here is what I want to do, maybe you or someone else can recommend a better path to meet my requirements.

I want to be able to take the JPMM you see me playing in my avatar and be able to select either the piezo or magnetic pickups with my feet. I also want to be able to do volume swells with a foot pedal. I've been playing for over 27 years and until a couple of months ago, I have always used the volume knobs on the guitar to achieve the volume swells. Having your hands freed up to do the same thing allows more complex lines to be played while working the pedal. I know some getting used to using the pedal is necessary, but I think I've given it the necessary time.

So there it is -- I want to switch between pickup configurations and also have a normal volume pedal. I was under the impression that the 6165 did exactly what I wanted. Panning mode to select the output I wanted and volume mode for the swells. I do own the stereo cable from EB that Guitar Center told me I needed to achieve my goals.

Here is the million dollar question: How does John Petrucci achieve this? I've seen him flawlessly switch between the piezo sound and volume swells for the lead sound (The Spirit Carries On on Live in NY DVD). Afterall, this is the guitar he helped design and he plays, so how does he do it?

One more thing. You suggested either the 250K or 500K mono pedal for the magnetic pickups. Right now, that's all I'm using the pedal for -- I haven't connected the stereo cable and tried setting this up yet. So I'm really just using it as a mono volume pedal. Any idea while the taper is so far off? If there is 3" of travel for the pedal, most of the volume is achieved in the first 1/4" of travel. I don't the know the actual travel height, but I do know that the 1/4" is not much of an exaggeration. That kills mnost of the dynamic range of the pedal.

Thanks again for your time!

 

[SteveB]

Does the 6165 have the taper switch like the other models (which gives you another choice of sweep pattern), or did the mono/pan switch take its place?

[Jon, Dargin, Derek???]

 

[SteveB]

Dr. Metal,

In this 2002 photo of Petrucci's pedalboard, you can see that his config utilizes not two, but three Ernie Ball volume pedals.

I would bet that the two next to each other are used exactly as I described above.

 

[Dr. Metal]

Dr. Metal,

In this 2002 photo of Petrucci's pedalboard, you can see that his config utilizes not two, but three Ernie Ball volume pedals.

I would bet that the two next to each other are used exactly as I described above.

SteveB,

As far as I know, my 6165 does not come with the taper switch, but that would be great if they did. If definitely doesn't work well as a standard volume pedal though.

Wow! Thanks for the picture of his pedal board. I had seen the pedal board before but never paid attention to the fact that he uses three volume pedals. That setup is a beast! I'll have to hunt around and look for the specs of his setup. Maybe I can get some idea of exactly what his volume pedal setup is. In the meantime, it would just be nice to use the full travel of my current pedal for the mag outputs.