The Steel Guitar Forum

I had a look in the index expecting to find a few threads about this but can find nothing so thought I'd ask.

I have come to pedal steel from lap steel where I never did any volume swells and only ever used the tone part of a volume/tone pedal. I'd control my solo/backing level with the volume knob on my guitar.

I am finding volume pedal technique to one of the hardest things about pedal steel.

So far, I've been concentrating on the other stuff but now it's time to bite the bullet, I think.

From what I can gather, a lot of it comes down to muscle memory but my question is about boosting your volume to take a solo.

Do you have to develop two separate muscle memory ranges or do you just floor the pedal when you do a solo and resume the riding of the pedal when you go back to the backing? Or do you get the boost from picking a bit harder?

I've got a Goodrich Matchbox and really like the sound of it and was thinking I could keep my right foot constant and boost the volume on the Matchbox but I'd rather not get into bad habits if there's a better way.

Develop a mental connection between right foot and ear. Turn the amp UP. The top half of the pedal travel should be for sustain.
When you go from fills to solos, go from a little open to a bit more open. .

For your solo, it still shouldn't be floored for a few reasons:

a) You'll probably still want some extra headroom for expression/dynamics during your solo, so you don't want to plan on playing everything 'maxxed out'.

b) If you did play maxxed out, you may discover too late that the band has gotten louder and you're not quite loud enough to cut through the band anymore, but you'll have no more headroom left to boost it further.

I use an Earth Drive, mounted on the leg.
I feel way more comfortable setting my working volume with that, rather than trying to pick harder and softer. And when the band gets louder, I just bump it up right there. Also nice to have the tone control and dirt all very handy.

All of my backup and fills are done at about 1/3 pedal. My lead parts are around 1/2 and up depending on how the band plays. This gives me plenty of room when needed.

A little is muscle memory but most is done by ear.

I don't see much harm into working the volume pedal into your playing when you are ready for it...

Here I go documenting how lazy I am but recently I made some of my best recordings ever, using a compressor with my right foot not even touching the volume pedal. That being said, I also recorded" Crazy" where my use of the volume pedal as an expression pedal is what made that song. RP

I play through a two channel Peavey VTX Classic Twin. I set one channel at comp volume and the other at solo volume and place the foot switch between my ABC and volume pedals...it works well for me. Also, I run an MXR 10 band EQ and position it next to my seat. As the band gets louder, I use the volume slider on the EQ to keep up. This way, the relationship between my comp and solo volume remains the same. It also helps me maintain full swell capabilities with the volume pedal regardless which channel I'm using.

Jeff Mead wrote:
I have come to pedal steel from lap steel where I never did any volume swells and only ever used the tone part of a volume/tone pedal. I'd control my solo/backing level with the volume knob on my guitar.

I am finding volume pedal technique to one of the hardest things about pedal steel.

So far, I've been concentrating on the other stuff but now it's time to bite the bullet, I think.

From what I can gather, a lot of it comes down to muscle memory but my question is about boosting your volume to take a solo.

Do you have to develop two separate muscle memory ranges or do you just floor the pedal when you do a solo and resume the riding of the pedal when you go back to the backing? Or do you get the boost from picking a bit harder?

I've got a Goodrich Matchbox and really like the sound of it and was thinking I could keep my right foot constant and boost the volume on the Matchbox but I'd rather not get into bad habits if there's a better way.

The volume pedal should be just like the accelerator in your car, the one place you control ALL your power. That way, you really won't have to resort to relying on turning other knobs on a box, your guitar, or on the amp, to increase/decrease your volume. However, you are right that properly using the volume pedal is a skill that some players lack. One nice bonus is that when you properly learn this skill, and turn the amp up, you'll have "sustain for days" available, no matter what guitar you use.

I'm convinced that most all the "lack of sustain" complaints we hear from players are caused by having the amp volume too low, and not properly using the volume pedal.

Hear, hear! If you have an amp of normal steel amp power, and you are unafraid to open the pedal all the way to pick, you don't have it up enough for sustain.

On addition to the great advice above, I adjust my pedal so that in the "off" position sound is still coming through, not totally off.

If you have to "hunt" for the pedal position where by the sound begins to come on, you have taken your concentration away from your playing on top of your guitar. With the pedal slightly on to begin with you are up to volume sooner and smoother.

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Also Check your Volume pedals Pot travel. Most volume Pots rotate about 350 degrees in their cycle. I have seen volume pedal that someone has changed the pulley on the pot to a larger pulley to slow its rotation down, Equaling slower volume increase and easier control. But by slowing down the travel the pot may not be making its full cycle from off to its full volume capability. Just something to check. Good Luck and Happy Steelin

Bobby, most pots can only do around 290° rotation from full off to full on.
The collar that slows down the pot relative to pedal travel is there to protect the stops inside the pot, as the foot/leg muscles and the leverage of the pedal would EASILY blow past the stops, ruining the pot.
I choose to set mine to go full-on when floored, and still passing a signal when at its offmost position.
If you feel the need for a pedal that goes from 0 to 100%, a pot pedal is not for you, but both Hilton and Telonics make a great active pedal.