VP JR. in signal chain?

BuffaloSouljah · #1 12-25-2012, 09:10 PM

Not sure if there is a rule of thumb or logical place to have volume pedal in chain. Currently my signal path is
Tonebone>Compressore>VT Bass> Micro Synth>MXR Envelope>Big Muff>Micro Pog
Tonebone keeps polytune out of signal chain.
Where would you guys place the VP?

skulletwhip · #2 12-25-2012, 09:19 PM

I put mine second to last. Before my delay.

steve_rolfeca · #3 12-25-2012, 09:19 PM

Last in the chain, means that noise from distortion pedals, single coil pickups, etc. is muted when the pedal is off.

It also means that all pedals get a consistent drive, so your tone doesn't change as you fade it in and out.

OTOH, there are some interesting effects to be had from fading the input signal before some effects.

For instance, you can get a nice "hang" at the end of a section if you have a delay after your volume pedal. This means that the delay is not affected when you do a fadeout, and the echoes persist after the last note.

walterw · #4 12-25-2012, 09:20 PM

the volume pedal needs to be after a buffered, "active" signal, or it will suck tone.

once that is confirmed, it depends on what you want to use it for.

at the very end it'll be a master volume for the whole rig; before the drive or compression, turning the pedal down will clean up the sound as it's turned down, much like turning down the volume on the bass.

(as an aside, is this the 250k or 25k pedal? because the 250k after a buffer will tend to be really abrupt, not having a good sweep; 25k is best for after a buffer for that reason, and still won't hurt the sound.

frankly, given that the 250k sucks tone before a buffer and has a bad sweep after one, i don't even see the point of that pedal at all.)

BuffaloSouljah · #5 12-25-2012, 09:59 PM

Thanks guys! It is the passive pedal. And I want it to function as a master volume. And I surely do not want to degrade the tone.

walterw · #6 12-25-2012, 10:16 PM

then yeah, at the very end of the chain.

you might want to look into the 25k pedal for this; the 250k will drop off really fast from full-up, no matter which way you set the little "taper" switch.

this'll make it hard to use the pedal as anything other than an on-off switch.