PRO GEAR TIP - Volume Pedal Signal Chain

Ever wondered where you should place your Volume Pedal in your pedal board signal chain? In this video I show you 3 different options and discuss the Pro's and Cons of each.
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Video Contents:
Intro - 0:00
Why Use A Volume Pedal? - 0:47
Option 1 First - 1:26
Option 2 Middle - 7:09
Option 3 End - 10:48
Summary - 13:11

[@mkusch2337]

This was awesome! I had my volume at the end of my chain of new Boss pedals. It sounded horrible. I watched this video and went with your suggestion. It now sounds amazing! Thanks! 😃👍

[@FretlixGuitar]

You are welcome! I’m glad the video has helped you with your pedal chain 😃

[@qstaratma9096]

Thank so much! Great demonstration and explanation.🍻🍻🍻

[@FretlixGuitar]

You are welcome! I’m glad the video was helpful :)

[@chotilottilot3431]

this is a very objective way to go about explaining it. the video focused on giving options not criticizing the other ways. I wish all guitar aspects are presented this way. Thanks brother!

[@FretlixGuitar]

You are welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed the video :)

[@mrjazboy]

This was great! Been solidly in #2 camp for a long time. That realtime level control is so flexible, especially if your dirt is coming from pedals. Whenever I try to explain the difference to people I just get blank stares. Now I can just play them this video!

[@FretlixGuitar]

Thanks, I'm glad the video was useful! I'm in camp 2 as well as I prefer the flexibility I get for dynamics with pedals. It's great to have options though :)

[@HollywoodRecordingStudio]

Putting a volume pedal before a germanium drive pedal can be a really cool effect. When you play it quietly and sweep up, the tone colors really nicely. This is similar to using the volume knob on your guitar a la Hendrix.

[@FretlixGuitar]

Cool 😃

[@nickatkins9627]

Thank you, Ryan. I've just learnt more in this 15 minute video on how to use a volume pedal than I have in the past 5 years. Excellent video with a very clear explanation. I was using the pedal in the first position and wondering why all my gain was dropping. Now I know why and I've switched to position two after the dirt but before the modulation.

[@FretlixGuitar]

You are welcome and I’m glad the video was helpful. It can make such a difference by simply moving the pedal to a different place in the chain!

[@beetlemusique]

Good job! Un thé second mode what pedal do you use ? High impédance or low impédance? I hésitâte boss 50 H or boss 50 L… Thank you for answer.

[@macoticoz77]

in OPTION 2, after or before noise gate pedal?

[@FretlixGuitar]

In OPTION 2 I would put the Noise Gate after your distortion pedals before the volume pedal. As a rule of thumb with noise gates, put them directly after the noisy pedals but before any time effects, delays and reverbs. If you put the Noise Gate after the volume pedal and you have the settings high you'll cut the signal as soon as you decrease volume. Give it a go though as it's always worth experimenting and finding out what you like best! Hope that helps :)

[@MattsVideoEmporium]

For option 2, do you need an active volume pedal?

[@FretlixGuitar]

Hey, you don’t need an active volume pedal for that to work :)

[@MyJ2B]

I believe that you assumed a high input impedance pedal ? What about the placement of low input impedance pedals ?

[@FretlixGuitar]

Hi, great question! Yes, I would assume high impedance for this set up. The video is aimed at usual suspects of volume pedal brands Ernie Ball, Dunlop, Boss etc with their more flagship models most of which (I think??) are high impedance. I haven’t actually tried this with a low impedance volume pedal. If you have one try it out and let me know what happens and how it all sounds as I’d be interested to hear the results :)

[@MyJ2B]

@@FretlixGuitar I have a passive Daphon Volume Pedal (Lo-Z-in Model) that I place after a Holy Grail pedal (High Z-in, low Z-out). The volume pedal then feeds my guitar amp (Hi Z-in). This works fine in this configuration. It is not recommended, however, for direct connection from a guitar (lo Z-out) with passive pickups. That would drop the audio signal level "at birth"! Make sense? NOTE: There is a high Z-in model of the Daphon volume pedal. It would work in the situations that you described in the video. To our viewers - Beware of the spec of the volume pedal that purchase (Hi-Z-in seems more versatile).

[@FretlixGuitar]

Hi, I’m not familiar with the Daphon gear but I’m gonna check it out. Yeah, that makes sense. Have you tried a pedal in the chain with a buffer? Or a dedicated buffer pedal? It may help, or not. Often with signal chains in my experience there are ‘correct’ or ‘preferred’ ways of doing things but nothing beats a bit of trial an error :) It’s ia very good point you make to the viewers if the video. If you are looking to buy a volume pedal then Hi-Z in certainly seem to be more versatile. I’ll also add that in experience of using different volume pedals no two brands sound the same or react the same. Volume pedals are notorious for sucking tone and the ‘sweep’ or ‘swell’ varies from brand to brand. If you are total tone purist but you want to add a Volume pedal to your rig I recommend using some sort of switching system such as the gigrig or similar and sticking it in one of the loops - that’s what I do for gigs. Or you can experiment with buffered pedals :) We’ve opened a can of worms :) Thanks for the great and interesting comment!

[@MyJ2B]

@@FretlixGuitar Who would have thought that adding a simple pedal-driven potentiometer would cause so much discussion and potential sound complications! It might be time for a new generation of volume pedals with buffers and signal processing "smarts" ! You have the electronic skills to do it! A Fretflix Volume Pedal is born...Thank you.

[@FretlixGuitar]

I love this idea! The Fretlix volume pedal, no tone loss, a perfect linear swell, buffered, all at a reasonable price :))