Volume pedal passive vs active

[Kevin Quick]

Ok thinking about goint to an active volume pedal. Any comments or suggestions?

[Dave Mudgett]

Lots of extensive discussions on the subject of volume pedals, active vs. passive, and so on, including some very recently:

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=332257

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=332166

and some not quite so very recently:

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=323284

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=307319

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=300407

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=282331

and many, many more going back years.

Passive pedals used by many pedal steel players are Sho Bud and Goodrich. Active pedals used by many pedal steel players are Hilton, Telonics, and the recent Goodrich active/passive pedal (discussed in the 2nd link). You can find fairly extensive reviews of all these active pedals if you search.

[Tony Prior]

One more thing to plug in, so on gigs it's a the 120 PASSIVE pedal for me.

[Bill Terry]

Yeah, L-120 for me. I know folks say it's not a big deal, but I hate having to power a v-pedal. That said, if it works for you, have at it..

Wasn't there a poll a while back on passive vs active pedals?

[Lee Baucum]

Ok thinking about goint to an active volume pedal. Any comments or suggestions?

Is there a particular reason why you are considering an active volume pedal?

What are you currently using?

[Steve Spitz]

I use Telonics, before that Hilton,before that Goodrich with 9 volt battery.
At one point some time ago, I was chasing a vintage sound, and experimenting with different gear.

I was getting close. Had a single coil in an old bud, and a Fender tube twin. Sounded cool, but wasn’t quite the sound I was chasing. Something was missing

I was using a powered pedal. I replaced it with a with a passive pedal one day, and BAM! There was the sound. It was the passive pedal that really made a difference.

While I still love that sound, ( thinking 60s Brumley, Jimmy Day) I’ve moved on. It’s good to know that passive pedal was a critical link to the sound.

YMMV.

Im liking what I use now, all Telonics, but I will keep an open mind.

[George Kimery]

I got a Hilton pedal and preferred my Goodrich 120. Sold the Hilton. Couple years later after all the great things people were saying about the Hilton, I thought I
must have missed something the first time around, so i bought a 2nd. one. Same result, I preferred the pot pedal, so the Hilton became my backup pedal. Then I found a great deal locally on another 120, so I bought it as a backup and sold the 2nd Hilton.

All of this was before the Telonics pedal even existed. I have tried Telonics at shows and they are very nice. I like the variable taper feature. But, I have heard there is almost no difference in the sound between the Telonics and Hilton.

I am old school, I guess. All the great steel recordings and players tone I admire were all passive pedals. Who knows how they would have sounded if active pedals had been availble. Different, but better ? Depends on your ears I guess.

I've heard the statement "got tired of having to replace pots, so I got an active pedal" This has never been any big deal to me. Pots have always lasted several years with me before needing replacing.
It is not a big job to rep!ace one. 30 minutes job,tops.

Paul Franklin and JD Maness still use pot pedals. Does anybody know if John Hughey, Buddy Emmons, Lloyd Green, or other well known players stayed with pot
pedals?