POLL: What's the VERY BEST volume pedal?

Alan Kendall · Post by **Alan Kendall** » 26 Feb 2007 4:15 pm

Goodrich 120 for me.

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 26 Feb 2007 4:33 pm

I like the Goodrich 120,and can I mention that I'm not a dealer but I would like to play one on TV!

Larry Strawn · Post by **Larry Strawn** » 26 Feb 2007 4:40 pm

Bruce,
I can't say that one is better than the other, but I used a Goodrich 120 for a long time then went to the Hilton which "I liked" better with the last two steels I had. With this steel I have now with a George L E66 pup I think I like the passive pot pedal better. When I noticed the diffference between pedals I asked some questions over in Electronics and got a couple of very good responses on the why fors and how comes.
With this paticular guitar I like the string seperation I get with my Hilton, but like the more meatyer tone from my Goodrich.
I have a new pot coming from Bobbe so when I get my Goodrich rebuilt I can make a better comparison and decide which one I would rather use with this guitar.

Larry

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 26 Feb 2007 5:45 pm

Uhh...what kind of amp are you using?

Good guitar + good pedal + average amp = less than you're looking for

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 26 Feb 2007 6:49 pm

tried them all

the only volume pedal i will use is a HILTON
why put up witha pedal that that sooner or later, IS going to get noisy..get a HILTON and be done with it once and for all

Carlos Polidura · Post by **Carlos Polidura** » 26 Feb 2007 7:37 pm

In my personal experience...HILTON.

CARLOS

Brian McGaughey · Post by **Brian McGaughey** » 26 Feb 2007 7:47 pm

The very first volume pedal I've ever owned (which the Fed Ex driver delivered two weeks ago!) started making scratchy pot noises within 5 practice sessions. I sprayed the pot with tuner cleaner/lube and it went away for a few days. Now it's back again already. I guess I'll be ordering one of the dunlop pots that Mr. Cutshaw mentions for this Goodrich 120, or I'll ante up for a Hilton.

Paddy Long · Post by **Paddy Long** » 26 Feb 2007 7:59 pm

Goodrich LDR2 is the best I've used. and has an international power supply for us blokes down under!

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 26 Feb 2007 9:06 pm

I believe I would prefer a pot pedal if good pots were available--I think the subtle tone change with pedal position is a good thing, and most steels (since they don't have tone controls) could benefit from the overall slight rolloff of some highs.

But since good pots aren't available, I definitely go with the Hilton. I just wish the power supply cable were longer and more supple. It looks kind of ridiculous onstage all kinked up, and that monster transformer would be better farther away from underfoot.

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 27 Feb 2007 1:08 am

IMO : Hilton ME262
or a Goodrich 120 if one has a lower budget

Ernie Pollock · Post by **Ernie Pollock** » 27 Feb 2007 5:05 am

Thats easy, any volume pedal that does not have to be plugged in works for me.

Ernie

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 27 Feb 2007 5:20 am

I bought a Hilton about six years ago. I'd just had a new pot put in my (then) 15-year old Goodrich 120, so I wanted to eliminate that particular irritation in the future.

I actually found my sound became a little thinner, and II had to make compensations with the EQ on my amp. In all honesty I preferred the old pedal. The Hilton sounded a bit sterile to my ears.

I also dislike the huge transformer, and I'd rather NOT have something else to plug into the mains - with the Profex' wall-wart, I'd need two power strips to cover my needs! A detachable mains-cord would be an improvement on the Hilton.

I confess I was influenced by what others said about the Hilton, and I persevered with it for a while. Now it sits at home, and I carry two Goodrich 120s all the time. The later one (bought from Bobbe about six years ago in one of his 'bonanza sales!) continues to function beautifully with the original pot.

RR

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 27 Feb 2007 6:54 am

I still like the bad tone and sound degradation of my old pot pedals.

Dennis Schell · Post by **Dennis Schell** » 27 Feb 2007 7:15 am

I hear ya Jay! Until my playing reaches a "higher level"

I'll be sticking with my funky old DeArmond vol/tone pedal....

The "best"...? Uh, it's probably not! (Altho' having some control of tone under your foot can be kinda fun!....wah wah) Years ago I swapped another picker for it, found it really scratchy and stashed it under the bed with my mostly unused steel. Now that I've rekindled my interest in learning PSG I figured I'd need to replace the pot(s) in the old DeArmond. Guess what? I cycled the pots 100 times each and it's working perfectly quiet now! (One thing I DIDN'T do is spray any of that "cleaner" junk into it, learning long ago to avoid that stuff....)

Dennis

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 27 Feb 2007 7:37 am

Goodrich LDR sounds closest to a pot pedal for me....Love it

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 27 Feb 2007 9:02 am

Hilton...clean,smooth and powerful real natural tone of your guitar

Db

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 27 Feb 2007 9:18 am

Hilton

Bob Kagy · Post by **Bob Kagy** » 27 Feb 2007 2:56 pm

I like the Hilton much better than the Goodrich pot, but I haven't tried the Goodrich LDR.

Earnest, if you're willing, please comment on why you like the Goodrich pot pedal better.

And Roger, I had to adjust the tone trim pot on my Hilton to diminish the highs from the Hilton - it lets all the frequencies through, and my ears hurt with too many highs. But the Hilton keeps the same tone through all the pedal travel and is more linear.

Just to do a reality check I sometimes switch back to my Goodrich, but I go back to the Hilton.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 27 Feb 2007 5:11 pm

Earnest, if you're willing, please comment on why you like the Goodrich pot pedal better.

OK; the only reason I stopped posting about the Hilton pedal was that every time I did, there was a defensive response from Mr. Hilton.
When I tried it, I heard too much background noise (hiss), and the frequency response sounded too narrow, especially on the top end. The engineers thought so too. I thought it must might be me so I tried it again, in another studio, with the same results. It is even noisier than my old GX-700, which is OK but not great. What I tried was pickup -> George L cable -> Hilton pedal -> Princeton amp or board. There may be other ways that I should have tried.

Pat Carlson · Post by **Pat Carlson** » 27 Feb 2007 8:24 pm

What Herby Wallace said!

Ron Kirby · Post by **Ron Kirby** » 28 Feb 2007 4:44 am

A good set of Monster cords and a Goodrich 120, Im Happy!

Hook Moore · Post by **Hook Moore** » 28 Feb 2007 5:31 am

Goodrich LDR.
Hook

Mark Lind-Hanson · Post by **Mark Lind-Hanson** » 28 Feb 2007 9:16 am

I love my Hilton pedal, but after only two weeks of use, it developed a squeak! That has not (yet) gone away. (any clues as to how this is best rectified?)
I have to say however, so far as "scratchy-pot" goes, it is definitely less noisy (in fact, completely silent) than any other pedal I've tried.
When playing with amplification turned up, it's hard to hear the squeaking unless you're listening for it- but then again, I don't mic my line-in amp to my recorder, so unless someone was using a mic on the amp, it's a total non-issue.
Still, I was rather surprised to find it squeaking at all so soon.

Bob Kagy · Post by **Bob Kagy** » 28 Feb 2007 2:34 pm

Earnest, thanks. Interesting.

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 28 Feb 2007 2:52 pm

i can not believe that some of you are to damn lazy to plug a volume pedal in...instead you had rather put up with a volume pedal that is bad OR WILL go bad just because your to lazy to plug in one more cord....ARE YOU REALLY THAT LAZY

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POLL: What's the VERY BEST volume pedal?

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