Volume Pedal Technique Discussion

Doug Seymour · Post by **Doug Seymour** » 11 Aug 2002 5:15 am

interesting topic. just read it for the first time and I'm realizing that in 1954, when I got a MultiKord and gave Bobbe my home-made triple-neck Epiphone, I must have unknowingly learned something! I had been a Jerry Byrd fan and tuned it to C6th, but I had to use both feet on the pedals to get the
chord combinations I liked. At that point in time, I gave up using a volume pedal because you guys that have seen them can remember that the silly pedals were all on the left end! I had to sit sort of side ways so I could use both feet?! As I recall I tuned the 6 strings (from 1 to 6) E, C, A, G, E & C
P 1 raised both Cs to C#, P 2 lowered the G to F#, P3 raised str 1 to F & lowered 5 to Eb and P4 raised 2 & 3 a whole tone to D & B. It seems to me I came up with these chords from a friends Fender manual that came with his new Fender 400! There were lots of possible tunings listed in it and my set-up (as I recall) was adapted from an Alvino Rey A6th tuning from that book. I just transposed it to C6th from his A6th chords and pedal combinations! How about that Al Marcus.....sound right? Al was there, too! [This message was edited by Doug Seymour on 11 August 2002 at 06:17 AM.]

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 11 Aug 2002 10:19 am

Hi Doug- Right on the money again. Yes, i too had to twist sideways to play the pedals on my 6 pedal Electra-Harp, and later on the 14 stringer I built using a 6 pedal 8 string MultiKord changer head.

Those pulls you had on there are still standard on C6.

We had both feet on the pedals most all the time, no knees, so you covered two with each foot.

In those days they had the Volume and Tone controls right on top, so you could use your pinky finger to get volume swells, etc. and also the tone control to get those Doo-wahss.
Jody Carver knows about that too.

About that C6 pedals Doug, yes right out of the Alvino Rey book.

Alvino Rey was really the Grandfather of the modern Pedal guitar using E6 tuning.

That was the basis, I believe, for the basic C6 setup of today, which was picked up by Bob White and which he did so well on.

I still play a lot with both feet on the pedals when I am in C6 mode. Old habit, I guess. When I used the volume pedal , I don't pump it. I keep it very constant. A lot of volume control can be made by your picking hand. Good post......al

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 11 Aug 2002 10:54 am

Good discussion. Until about 2 years ago I also had quit music for 16 years, except for playing regular guitar on occasional gigs and in church. When I started back playing steel, I noticed I sometimes would back all the way off the volume pedal to mute string or hand noise during a position change, for muting strings during a chord change when I didn't want to "glide" and leave the strings sustaining, and also sometimes as a mute when just changing from one string grouping to another in the same position. Before my 16-years off I never did this and of course I know this is improper technique, yet it's an easy trap to fall into if you're unsure of the competence of your right-hand muting. As already stated, practicing with no volume pedal will clean up your right hand technique and break the habit. When you're confident in your right hand muting and picking technique you won't fall into that bad habit. Also, as for wanting to shoot the regular guitar players who think they're sounding like pedal steels by explosive volume swells, as a regular guitar player and pedal steel player, let me just say, need some bullets? [This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 11 August 2002 at 11:57 AM.]

David Biagini · Post by **David Biagini** » 11 Aug 2002 10:45 pm

This is a bit off topic and maybe belongs in the Electronics secion but I get a loud hum through my amps (Vegas 400, Victoria 45410 and Victoria 20112) with all my volume pedals (two flavors of Goodrich and a new Emmons) and both my steels (Emmons push pull and 1956 Stringmaster) whenever I push the pedal all the way down. So I never go more than half way. Is this hum normal? It sure affects my volume pedal technique.

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 12 Aug 2002 5:03 am

You could be too close to your amp, almost all amps will give you "transformer hum" if you're too close, or you might be picking up some noise in your AC circuits or even transmitted radio-frequency interference from some other source such as those touch-on/off lamps or neon signs. In any case, with single-coil pickups such as on your steels, it is normal to be susceptible to hum and to pick it up from noisy AC or RF environments, not normal to have hum in "clean" AC or RF environments. First make sure you're at least 6 feet away from your amp. Still have hum? Is the amp grounded? Are you using good-quality shielded cables to plug in your steel and volume pedal and not speaker-type cables? Ground switches on the amps are switched the right direction? Got a building with a neon sign nearby? Check these things out and get back to us.[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 12 August 2002 at 06:07 AM.]

David Biagini · Post by **David Biagini** » 12 Aug 2002 9:47 am

Jim, thanks for the suggestions. I moved the amp far away and still get the hum. I'm using George L's cables. I suspect I'm getting some sort of interference although there are no obvious sources.

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 12 Aug 2002 10:38 am

Have you got a guitar of any kind with humbucker pickups to plug in and try? If you do or have a buddy who does, plug it in the same setup you have your steel plugged in and see if you get the same noise. If there's no noise with a humbucker guitar, then you could be picking up airborn interference with your single coils and there's probably not much you could do about it short of shielding the pickups and wiring, a big hassle. If the noise is still there with a humbucking guitar, then it's in the AC somewhere. It could either be in the house AC or a problem with your volume pedals, although the latter is unlikely. If it's in the house AC you could go to Radio Shack and get a Low-pass filter, they don't cost much. You plug them into the AC wall socket and plug your amp into the AC socket on the filter. A low-pass filter permits AC to flow through the filter but filters out everything above a certain frequency, including radio-frequency noise.

Before you buy anything, however, you could first try this: take your equipment to a buddy's house who you know has no hum problems. Does your stuff hum there? Or, have him bring his stuff to your place and set it up right where yours is and see if his stuff now hums too, although it's not absolute that his would in the same circumstances. Better you take yours somewhere else. Also, have you set up your stuff in a different room in your house and tried it there? Sometimes only one circuit can have a problem.....you could also check the houses ground connection, usually there's a grounding wire located outside the house near the fusebox, electricity meter, phone box, gas hookup, or some such kind of utility. They often get corroded and make poor connection.[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 12 August 2002 at 11:46 AM.]

David Biagini · Post by **David Biagini** » 12 Aug 2002 1:17 pm

It appears to be single coil hum. The middle position on my Tele is hum canceling and there's very little noise when I plug it in. Both the Emmons and the Stringmaster exhibit the hum when the volume pedal is all the way down, with the Emmons being a bit noisier than the Fender. Thanks for your help.