The Steel Guitar Forum

To the Many owners of the Telonics pedal.How do You like it?
Can You really hear a difference in the various tapers?
What is the difference?
If I were to settle on the Hilton taper for example,what is the benefit of getting a Telonics when I already have a Hilton?
Billy

Different tapers in a volume pedal have nothing to do with tone or the way a guitar sounds. They only change the way a pedal "feels" or responds to your foot movement. Experienced players automatically move the pedal to get the amount of volume they want, and a different taper may make that task easier or quicker, but it won't change the way anything sounds.

Thanks Donny.
Billy

With pot type pedals (generally speaking) there is a tone change depending on how deep into the throw one plays: deeper=thicker, farther back=thinner. Many steel players unconsciously (or consciously) use the VP as a tone control in that regard. This is also why some play louder than they need to be: to thicken the tone. (Do a search on pickup and preamp loading for more technical info)

My experience with the telonics volume pedal is that the tone does not change as dramatically (except for the psychoacoustic nature of increased volume) with volume differences. One does not need to play the volume pedal "sweet spot" and make compromises in terms of correct volume and volume pedal technique. I can sustain a note and the timbre will remain very close to the same as I increase or decrease the volume of the pedal, from minimum on to "knock your fillings out" loud.(A place where I generally don't like to be)

The impedance and minimum off features allow one to achieve "sweet spot" tone throughout whichever taper one likes.

I agree with Donny in that one does not really hear the difference in tapers as much as feel them. I found my two favorite tapers within about 15 minutes of playing.

Using the Telonics VP has greatly improved my volume pedal technique which I guess I thought was fine, until I experienced the improvement. I generally try to stick with what works for me, and like familiarity. The Telonics allows me to take that which is familiar but makes it better.

I love it.

I have it with John! That pedal is a keeper for the lifetime! It feels better then anything I ever had! This feel has alot to do with ...what I hear!

Is there a clip on the pedal bar attachment available for these pedals, or can you just stick on a Goodrich one ??

The Goodrich clip and just about any other will work fine. I'm using one.

Best, JW

Tom Bradshaw has been helping me lately and he showed this pedal to me yesterday while we were working out some things on a guitar he is fixing for me. Unfortunately, I don't have enough skill as player to be able evaluate it. Anyway, today, when I was talking to him about my guitar, he mentioned his interest in this post and wanted to share some information. However he didn't feel it would be right to "push" something on folks. So, being the pushy guy I am, I offered to pass it along.

As I understand it, the front “feet” of the Telonics pedal can be removed and used to attach that pedal to the common “over-the-pedal-bar” attachment bracket. Apparently you can use a Goodrich bracket, but you will have to widen the holes in the bracket about an 1/8”.

Give Tom a call/email. He will know better than I. I think he has the pedal and the brackets on his website.

OK, enough gratuitous shilling. Back to our regularly scheduled program.

Thanks John and Scott - I thought as much !

Actually the Goodrich bracket needs to have a small modification to bolt to the Telonics pedal- no big deal- just the 2 mounting holes don't quite line up.

Frank, my Goodrich bracket fits perfect on the pedal, without any modifications! Also the Hilton- and the MSA bracket works great!

My Goodrich pedal bracket lines up perfectly. I spoke with Dave Beaty of Telonics recently and he informs that some brackets had some minor hole alignment issues.(an easy fix). It is my understanding that a new hole pattern on the pedals makes them more universally adaptable.

Any Northeast players who wish to demo the FP-100 are welcome to contact me. I am also an authorized distributor.

Re:.How do You like it?

Billy,

I'm really enjoying mine. I'm still testing the pedal on it's own merits and have not done any A B testing, so far. It's got a great feel to it, it's also extremely quiet and I love the overall sound I'm getting through it.

Bob

''

I'm relatively new to PSG but have used a Goodrich pedal on my electric guitar pedal board for years.

I bought the Telonics pedal so I could buy one volume pedal and never have to think about it again. Also, I thought it would be good to see what the different tapers "felt" like, in terms of throw, feel and sound. I am also curious to see what future developments might happen with this very cool technology.

All I can say is that the pedal is everything I hoped for and more. It is DEAD QUIET and really gets every bit of tone out of my Blanton PSG. The various tapers provide a slightly different playing experience; my favorites are 1 (Hilton LED) and 4 (Emmons). I also enjoy the blue light that it casts on my pedals.

My guitar and amp are each over 40 years old...it's nice to a have bit of modern technology in the rig. A great product with good folks making it.

Mullen most certainly does not raise the price. Neither does Herby Wallace or me for that matter. They advertise at the retail price. If you comparison shop and are able get a lower price, well good on ya, but Mullen is doing the right thing by advertising at MSRP. This is a standard marketing and distribution procedure, and probably part of the distribution agreement with the manufacturer. To bash them for "raising the price" just because they do not discount to your satisfaction is simply incorrect.

Quite a few people I know would buy this pedal just because it is more expensive, thinking that the overall quality & sound MUST be better because it's way more expensive. I think a lot of people think this way, "it's more expensive, it must be better" - I'm willing to bet if you take away the extra gadgets that makes the pedal so expensive it's just a Hilton or an LDR in another shell with another name on it. Some guys will never be happy until they own the most expensive thing out there. Sort of the same thing goes with steels. Ah well, to each their own I reckon

For what it's worth, here's my story.

I have about 8 Goodrich pedals because I kept running across them in pawn shops for ridiculously low prices. I read about the Telonics and saw it in the Mullen room in St. Louis last month. I was pretty scared by the price but finally realized I could sell several of my Goodrich pedals and cover that. So I got the Mullen-Telonics.

Previously I had believed I wouldn't get any powered volume pedal. However, this pedal is very, very nice. Smooth as silk, quiet and full of features. I think it's great. And, yes, I still carry a Goodrich as a backup everywhere I play.

My other thread is all but disappeared, but Mickey Adams and I ran some comparisons between the Mullen Preamp, The Revelation Preamp, Hilton Pedal, and the Telonics pedal.

This was to show the differences among all the multiple setups and not to have a clear winner. If you search in the Electronics section you can see the comments that were made.

Sound files are available upon request as they were not posted.

Regards,

I have had my Mullen Pedal (Telonics) for about 3 months now...It has proven to be the perfect pedal. I cant say enough good things about it. I have sold all but 1 Goodrich L120, which I keep for students, and for backup...I am extremely satisfied with this product!!

I've probably spent over a thousand bucks on volume pedals over the last 25 years, owning many Goodrich pedals both light beam and pot types. They have always seemed reluctant to service several of my old ones I still have sitting around. I don't think this will be a problem for my Hilton pedal and I hope it won't be the case with my new Mullen. After two years the Hilton is going strong, time will tell on how well the Mullen holds up. I play out with my Hilton and use a pot Goodrich for back up...I have my Mullen at home for recording. "IF" there is a difference in the quality of sound between the Hilton and the Mullen, I doubt it would be dicernable in a band situation. The Mullen seems to be a fine addition.

Well I got the chance to try out the new Telonics pedal this past weekend when Ivan Posa visited with me and bought his toys with him ...including his 12" TC split.
I used the pedal on my saturday night gig and was instantly impressed with both how it sounded and how it felt ....it was a little lower profile than my standard Goodrich LDR2, but felt better and I also found it easier to lift my foot off it for the 2 foot stomps on the C6th pedals. I noticed an improvement in the clarity in the lower register (on both necks), the notes seemed to have more punch which was nice.
I was driving it through a Rev pre into my Nashville 1000.
Next day I tried the pedal out through the TC split 12" .... (and still through the Rev) .. I first used my LDR2, and thought the sound through the split was a little brittle for my tastes, then a swapped in the Telonics pedal and couldn't believe the difference in tone -- which took me a little by surprise, it was a much warmer tone, without losing any of the clarity and punch of the mid range. So I played the Telonics pedal through the TC at my birthday bash with the rest of the band boys that afternoon and thought it sounded fantastic -- !!

I need to get one of these

Hi ya Paddy, am i right sugesting you MIGHT have a LDR2 for sale in the near futute,, LOL no bait yet Pad, might have cuaght the wrong wave, cheers Des

Hi Des - yes mate, I have 2 of them so one may become surplus to requirements You have first dibs of course !!

Get that Rains down on the river bank and serenade those Bait into coming upstream !

Paddy awsome mate, just starting to arive now, got 5lb today, but got there to late, should have had 15, but will be there at sparrow fart in the morn, when is your brother going to be here Pad? just let me know and will flick you over a good fresh lot, cheers , Des