Mickguard Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 I've seen volume pedals and I'll consider getting one, but I want something even simpler. I don't want to deal with batteries and extra AC cables, that's a certainy. Since my amp (Music Man 65 and possibly an Ampeg J12T soon) don't have footswitchable boost channels, I need a way to boost my level when I want to hack out a lead. I'm not good enough (yet) to do this on the guitar itself...I can practice that, sure, but in the meantime...ditto for a normal volume pedal, I don't want to fuss with that, but it can always come later. In the meantime, it'd be nice to have a little footswitch with a volume pot. I can set my normal/rhythm volume (i.e., dial down on the volume) with that. When I want a bit of boost, I step on the switch, it disengages the volume pot and voila-- instant boost! But maybe this exists already? How difficult would this be to build? Shouldn't I be able to do something like: jack in ----> switch ---------------> jack out ^---> volume ------>^ What kind of switch (basically an on/off switch) do I need for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 J. Everman's got you covered, for less than $100!! The Pot Or you could make the same thing with a 1Meg audio pot, a 150pF ceramic cap, a Hammond 1590B box, a DPDT switch, an LED, one resistor, a 9 volt battery and a couple of 1/4" jacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 idch, id honestlly just go with a minimalist booster pedal. if you're willing to build it then there are many around that will literally run on 10uA (so a normal 9volt battery will last *mental calculation* just shy of 100 thousand hours i think) so changing batteries will hardlly be a problem http://www.geocities.com/tpe123/folkurban/fuzz/snippets.html this is Tim Escobde(sp?)'s site. have a look at the cinnabar, the tytewadd or the syrupp for 3 boost circtuits that all have minimal current gain. withoutgoing active if you want something stompable then you're going to have to go with a pot in a box like LK said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted March 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 J. Everman's got you covered, for less than $100!! The Pot ← Yeah that's it...one of the Harmony Central reviewers is using it the same way I want to ....I'm guessing it still uses a 9volt though? (I have a bad habit of forgetting to turn off these little boxes, so batteries are always running dead on me at the wrong time) So okay, it's more complicated than just hooking up a volume knob I guess. And this box is much nicer than anything I could come up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 The battery's only used to run the light - it's not necessary. You can always just run a 1Meg volume pot with a bypass switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 Is C1 just for treble bleed or does it have some nefarious sonic role? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 No, it's just a standard bleed cap - you could leave it out, but it's a good idea, since the pot's load is in parallel with your guitar volume, and tone suck can become an issue. The obvious solution is to use an active buffer, but that's a lot more complicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 I believe the singer in my son's band is named Tone or Tonie or sumthin. They have a regular problem with Tone suck. Do you think he could benefit from one (or more) of these capacitors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggardguy Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 I believe the singer in my son's band is named Tone or Tonie or sumthin. They have a regular problem with Tone suck. Do you think he could benefit from one (or more) of these capacitors? ← funny,yet not.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sepultura999 Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 why not get a seymour/duncan pickup booster pedal? A lot of reviewers say it turns single coils into humbuckers but it's just a volume pedal as a stompbox. Up to 26 db or something i believe. Go to seymour duncans website and check it out there, its around 80-100 bucks. -Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 The SD Pickup Booster is a preamp with variable midrange EQ - it is not just a volume control. Still, it's not too expensive, and it'll probably do what you need. Of course, the passive version should be under $30.00 to build, even with a nice Hammond box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted March 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Okay, I'm making progress, maybe. I picked up a footswitch ===a Peavey Remote Switch, has two footswitches on it. Will I be able to take one of these switches and use it as the basis for a pedal? Or is it the wrong kind? Hmmm, time to hit those electronics tutorials! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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