What Am I Missing?

[Elsie8687]

This may be one of those "who cares" questions, but I'm curious. Does anybody use a volume pedal? I ran across a Boss FV50 pedal at the church the other day. Hooked it up, and it works great, but I can't figure why I would use it. Stating the obvious, I have volume controls on my basses and amps that work just fine. I use a floor tuner and can tune silently, so I don't need that function. The only thing it offers that I might use is two inputs that would allow me to hook up one bass with flats and another with rounds for a quick switch if I want when changing music styles during a set. Bottom line is, if anybody uses one of these, I'd like a little insight on why and how.

[Mingus Addict]

Two reasons for me.

1. Volume swells.

2. On the fly volume adjustments. E.g. I want to start digging harder in the middle of a passage because of the impact it has on timbre but I don't want the proportional volume increase.

[Elsie8687]

Appreciate the feedback.

[agreatheight]

For those playing dirty set ups, volume pedals can be super valuable. You can roll them back for less volume hitting the preamp tubes giving you less grind and then you can roll them forward to hit with more volume giving you more grind.

[cchorney]

I use one. My guitarist has a gazillion pedals and he manages to use several on most songs. This means he can't keep his volume even from song to song and particularly in and out of solos. So I use my bddi as a mild volume boost if I need it and my volume rocker if he hits his solo and I am already boosted. For live play where you can't stop playing for even a note to tweak your amp, a pedal for volume really helps.

[Unrepresented]

Originally Posted by Mingus Addict

Two reasons for me.

1. Volume swells.

2. On the fly volume adjustments. E.g. I want to start digging harder in the middle of a passage because of the impact it has on timbre but I don't want the proportional volume increase.

I'm going to have to steal my guitarist's volume pedal for a part of a song we're recording because I need to have a degree of control over volume swells and silence that the volume knob on my bass can't offer.

[finalrequiem]

I love mine, since my bass is passive and doesn't have a master volume control. Since changing pickup volumes changes the tone, I like being able to have something independent of that. Unless you run both 100% on or just use a single pickup, it's a pain to have to turn two knobs down and up, and keep the same ratio or try and find your settings on the fly.

[StereoPlayer]

Dynamics. Sometimes I'm too loud...so, I adjust on the fly.

I also play basses that are wired stereo. the treble PU has the volume pedal. I use it all the time.

[Elsie8687]

Most helpful, folks. Guess I best play through this thing for a couple of rehearsals to see if I can get a feel for the finer points, techniques, and advantages y'all have brought to my attention. Hope everyone has a great 2012 with gigs to spare, intra-band harmony, and appreciative audiences.