foot controller

[Duncan Brinsmead]

Does anyone have any recommendations on a good volume pedal? I would like one that is sensitive and responsive yet sturdy. (using a breath controller can get exhausting)

[thesoundsmith]

It depens what synth you\'re using it with. I used to like the Yamaha FC7 pedal, but it comes apart too easily (worked with DX7, I forget what else.)

I currently use the out-of-production Roland EV-10 when the synth will read it (Alesis stuff doesn\'t) because it is a full-size pedal , and you can adjust the minimum point with a separate pot. The EV-5, which they still make, sucks. Short stroke, too light to step on and trust, and only about 1\" throw, so precise control is really difficult.

Dasher

[JonFairhurst]

And make sure that the pedal has the right electrical resistance. I bought a Yamaha pedal for my Kurzweil, and found that it didn\'t match electrically. One of my to-do items is to get the right mini-potentiometer mail order. No amount of soldering resistors in series and parallel will get the pedal to match.

[Giorgio Tommasini]

There are two kinds of pedal: linear and logarithmic.

The only logical use I see for a logarithmic pedal, is to control crossfades between different instruments. In all other cases, a linear pedal will do.

I\'m using Bespeco VM16L (L stands for linear) and Proel PVP16L pedals with good results.

Giorgio

[Duncan Brinsmead]

Thanks everyone for the info. I\'m using a Korg T1 and I found that Korg and Yamaha use exponential style pedals( everyone else uses linear ones ). So I will go with a Korg EXP2 pedal. Roland makes a somewhat pricy expression pedal for organ use that has an optical switch that looked good, but it probably wouldn\'t work with my Korg.

[thesoundsmith]

Duncan, keep in mind that it is usually pretty simple to change the pot in a pedal, if you like the feel of it. A linear taper pot could easily be exchanged for log taper (or verse vice-a) with under an hour\'s work, in most cases. But go for what PLAYS good for you, and feels right.

Dasher

[JonFairhurst]

Log vs. audio vs. linear taper is one issue. The actual resistance is the other.

Let\'s say you have a 100 k ohm linear pedal. At one extreme it\'s 0 ohms. At the other it\'s 100 k ohms. In the middle it\'s 50 k ohms.

But your keyboard wants a 10 k ohm pedal. So you solder an 11.1 k ohm resistance in parallel. Now it\'s 0 ohms at one extreme, 9.99 k ohms at the other and... 9.08 k ohms in the middle. Oops. You can\'t get there without replacing the pot.

Now let\'s say you go for a 10 k ohm linear pedal, but your keyboard wants a 100 k ohm pedal. This is even worse!

So it\'s best if you get the pedal that matches the keyboard, unless it\'s junk. In that case you may want to get the best mechanical pedal, and replace the pot if needed.

The problem for the Yamaha pedal is that it uses a mini-pot, rather than the full-sized ones they sell at Radio Shack. And you need to make sure to get the right shaft length. It could sure be easier!

[Hudson]

Hey! Korg T-1 user...good to see there\'s still a few of us around...hehe. It\'s a great little master keyboard.
-Hudson

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Duncan Brinsmead:
[QB] Thanks everyone for the info. I\'m using a Korg T1 and I found that Korg and Yamaha use exponential style pedals( everyone else uses linear ones ).

[thesoundsmith]

Jon, the way you describe it is correct - but why NOT just replace the pot? It\'s a bit more work, but I have done this a number of times with no problems...


Dasher

[Duncan Brinsmead]

Hey! Korg T-1 user...good to see there\'s still a few of us around...hehe. It\'s a great little master keyboard.
<font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">I don\'t know if it\'s \"little\", but I think it was a pretty unique and special machine when it was created. On opening it up one can really appreciate the craftsmanship( a term I don\'t normally associate with electronic gear ) that went into its construction. Everything on it is still working flawlessly for me( except the aftertouch which I\'ve disabled ).

[JonFairhurst]

Originally posted by thesoundsmith:
Jon, the way you describe it is correct - but why NOT just replace the pot? It\'s a bit more work, but I have done this a number of times with no problems...<font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Hi Dasher - Yes, replacing the pot is the only way to go. The difficulty I\'ve had is that I can\'t find one locally, and I haven\'t spent the time to hunt one down on the net. The places that I know for electronic components have minimum orders, so, with shipping, the pot could cost me about half of what I already paid for the pedal!

Too bad Radio Shack ate the lunch of all the little electronics stores that used to be around 30 years ago.