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Topic: volume pedals |
Carroll Hale
From:
EastTexas, USA
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Posted 27 Mar 2007 12:00 pm |
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could someone educate me about how and when to use volume pedals if playing on a lap steel....or do you just use the volume control knob.....
not sure what is correct....any help appreciated..
ch |
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 27 Mar 2007 12:17 pm
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not a matter of correct or not.
more a matter of choice.
before I had a volume pedal I used my pinky for volume swells.
I like the effect where I pluck the string w/o volume then right away bring up the volume.
doing this repeatedly someone told me it is called violining.
makes sense.
after I got an Ernie Ball volume pedal (which I like a lot) I used that for the same technique, plus a few others.
one nice thing is I can shut down the signal right there, unplug and grab a different guitar and replug w/o that amp popping.
you will find many suggestions for which type of volume pedal. |
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Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 27 Mar 2007 1:03 pm
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| I use my volume pedal a lot - but then I don't play traditional Hawaiian or country style lap steel, I'm more influenced by the athmospheric sound Bill Elm from Friends of Dean Martinez produces with his lap steel - and a volume pedal is a very useful tool there, for fading in chord pads, or single tones, getting violin/brass like sounds, driving the amp/overdrive pedal more or less, etc. |
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Don Kona Woods
From:
Hawaiian Kama'aina
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Posted 27 Mar 2007 8:29 pm
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Rules of Engagement on Volume Pedal Control
aka Do's and Don'ts of Volume Pedal Control.
Do use a Volume Pedal Control on Country/Western
Do not use Volume Pedal Control on old Western Swing
Do not use Volume Pedal Control on Hawaiian music. Alright on Paradise Isle it is permissible. 
Aloha, 
Don |
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 28 Mar 2007 3:08 am
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| Rules, schmules. Ifit works for you, do it. If not, don't. Bleh. |
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Carroll Hale
From:
EastTexas, USA
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Posted 28 Mar 2007 4:48 am thank you...thank you...
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thanks to all for your help..........
great stuff...
ch |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Mar 2007 5:07 am
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Carroll, one of the main uses of a VP is to extend a sustained note or chord by gradually giving it the gas as the strings decay. That's why it's good to give yourself some headroom by setting the amp louder than you actually play and backing off the VP about halfway for normal playing volume.
RA
Big Steel |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 28 Mar 2007 5:36 am
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I'm with you Rick. That's the way JB did it. I'm comfortable either way. My pedal is an old DeArmond, built like a bridge!
BC |
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Randy Reeves
From:
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 28 Mar 2007 7:14 am
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| Rick Alexander wrote: |
Carroll, one of the main uses of a VP is to extend a sustained note or chord by gradually giving it the gas as the strings decay. That's why it's good to give yourself some headroom by setting the amp louder than you actually play and backing off the VP about halfway for normal playing volume.
same here. having more volume on reserve is so helpful. I did that as it is needed to step oput a bit for a lead lick. then it is so easy to slip back for fill volumes.
RA
Big Steel |
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Mike Fried
From:
Nashville, TN, USA
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Posted 28 Mar 2007 8:03 am
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I use a volume pedal when playing console steel or (obviously) pedal steel, but find it very uncomfortable and unnatural to use one with a steel in my lap.
_________________
Visit my music page at http://facebook.com/drfried |
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Steve Pierce
From:
San Rafael, California, USA
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Posted 29 Mar 2007 10:07 am
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Hey Mike,
I'm with you. I prefer playing lap style, but I can't do the VP unless it's a console.
Sometimes if I sit up higher than usual I can get it to work, but then I have trouble with the guitar sliding down to my knees.
Steve
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Steve Pierce
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Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 29 Mar 2007 10:23 am
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Yeah, I agree with you guys - I play with the guitar on my lap, not a console, and using the volume pedal (and I prefer using it with my left foot...) isn't that easy - I have a piece of wood the same height as the volume pedal, to put my foot on, and that's more comfortable; I did consider using a stand for my lap steel, but with those tiny stages I've been playing on, quite often there wouldn't have been enough space for one:
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