| Author |
Topic: Volume Pedal Taper Mod |
Jeff Watson
From:
Anza, CA. USA
|
Posted 15 Aug 2011 2:55 pm |
|
If you've got a pot/mechanical volume pedal and have always wished it wasn't so "sensitive" check this out.
I've always been lead footed in my application of the volume pedal both on and off. Because of this I've always set my pedals so that they never turn off completely and that way my volume usage isn't so jerky.
I've recently gone back to a pot pedal for a number of reasons and when the backoff point is set like this it only leaves about half a turn of the volume pot shaft to reach full volume. This leaves very little pedal travel and you end up hitting the end of the sweep of the pot instead of the pedal stop points.
I've got a Sho Bud pedal that I opened up and started looking at to try and solve this problem and I realized that this was an "early man" issue, the solution to which had been right in front of my face forever.
Leverage, ratios...gearing.
Most mechanical/pot pedals operate some sort of linkage that ends up turning a drum or wheel on the shaft of the volume pot.
In the case of my Sho Bud theres a sleeve/drum over the shaft (that the string wraps around) and I realized that if I built up the surface with something (I experimented first by wraping tape around it) and increased the diameter of the sleeve I could BOTH increase the amount of pedal travel between the start of sound and full volume and decrease the amount of volume change relative to pedal travel.
Wow...I can't tell you how dramatic the difference is and what an unbelievable improvment it has made in my playing. I now LOVE my volume pedal instead of it being my weak link. |
|
|
|
Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
|
Posted 15 Aug 2011 7:56 pm
|
|
| Jeff, you said you first used tape. What did you end up using as a permanent solution for increasing the diameter? |
|
|
|
Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
|
Posted 15 Aug 2011 9:49 pm
|
|
I know it's slightly more expensive than sticky tape, but going the Telonics way is also effective.  |
|
|
|
Jeff Watson
From:
Anza, CA. USA
|
Posted 15 Aug 2011 10:47 pm
|
|
I was originally going to make a crack about a poor mans Telonics then thought I'd just leave it alone, but since you left the opening....
The first thing I tried after the tape (just because it seemed easiest and could be undone) was a hot glue gun. It didn't go too smoothly but I managed to build up a decent thickness of glue and shape it a bit with a flat portion of the gun.
The tricky part was holding on to it while applying/shaping the molten glue.
It was never meant to be the final solution but works so well I'm sure it'll stay.
I bet multiple coats of Plasti Dip (its being discussed in another thread somewhere) would be real effective.
I suppose it wouldn't cost too much to get some of those sleeves machined to a greater thickness.
Last edited by Jeff Watson on 15 Aug 2011 11:13 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
|
Posted 15 Aug 2011 11:08 pm
|
|
| ...by making a larger, excentric sleeve you could experiment with pedal feel just by turning the sleeve slightly, increasing or decreasing volume change rate at the beginning or end of pedal travel – making it more or less logarithmic, sort of. |
|
|
|
Dick Sexton
From:
Greenville, Ohio
|
Posted 16 Aug 2011 5:48 am Question?
|
|
Jeff, I had the same notion, just haven't gotten around to it.
What pot are you using and what was the approximate diameter you ended up with on the collar?
Thanks... |
|
|
|
Jeff Watson
From:
Anza, CA. USA
|
Posted 16 Aug 2011 3:37 pm
|
|
Dick, I'm using one of the Dunlop pots that Tom Bradshaw sells.
Looks like I'm at 9/16" or 5/8" for the diameter. |
|
|
|
Dick Sexton
From:
Greenville, Ohio
|
Posted 16 Aug 2011 4:06 pm Thanks Jeff...
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Jeff Watson
From:
Anza, CA. USA
|
Posted 28 Aug 2011 8:13 am
|
|
I've increased the diameter of the sleeve to about 11/16" and still more improvment.
 |
|
|
|
Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
|
Posted 28 Aug 2011 11:01 am
|
|
| I modify tapering on all my pot VPs to suit me, but I use variable and fixed resistors for the mod and leave the mechanics alone. |
|
|
|
Mark Durante
From:
St. Pete Beach FL
|
Posted 28 Aug 2011 5:37 pm
|
|
Jeff,
Does the pot turn the full excursion, from all the way down/off, to all the way up/on, with your mod? |
|
|
|
Jeff Watson
From:
Anza, CA. USA
|
Posted 28 Aug 2011 7:20 pm
|
|
| I'm not using the pots internal stops. I've adjusted (shortened) the travel on my pedal so that the "off" position has just a whisper of sound and the full on position stops just short of hitting the pots stop point. If I was using the full travel of the pedal there would be plenty of room for all that dead space (practically speaking) thats at the bottom of the pots rotation. |
|
|
|
