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DIY Stompboxes => Building your own stompbox => Topic started by: rogerinIowa on June 09, 2004, 07:44:12 PM

Title: volume pedal question
Post by: rogerinIowa on June 09, 2004, 07:44:12 PM
Hey-

It's my first post here, but I have been lurking ( read "learning") for some time now. I am interested in building a volume pedal (using the empty housing of a dead crybaby).  I cannot find a schematic for a volume pedal, which leads me to believe that the circuit may only be the "in"and "out" jacks and a potentiometer. Does anyone have a schematic, or guidance on what is required for a volume pedal circuit? I dont need fancy features, but would love to be able to preset the minimum volume. It will be used for fake pedal steel bends mostly ( Alt country guitarist)

thanks in advance,

Roger in Iowa
Title: volume pedal question
Post by: RDV on June 09, 2004, 08:34:54 PM
Well, you'd wire it up like a pedal without the guts or switch.

Input to pin 3
Output to pin 2
Grounds to pin 1

RDV
Title: volume pedal question
Post by: freebird1127 on June 10, 2004, 12:22:42 AM
Hey,
Title: volume pedal question
Post by: freebird1127 on June 10, 2004, 12:23:48 AM
Hey,

RDV has it dead on, where pin 2 is the wiper.

It's super easy to preset a minimum volume level using a potentiometer and a resistor.  simply put a resistor between pin "1" and ground.  For the sake of an example, if the value of the pot is 90Kohms, and the value of the resistor is 10Kohms, the total resistance from input to ground is 100Kohms.  The lowest the pot can go is pin 2 (the wiper) shorted to pin 1 (this is it's lowest setting), and the 10Kohms in the chain cannot be removed, therefore the output volume can never go lower than 10% maximum volume.  

As another example, if you have a 50K pot and a 50K resistor, you'll never be able to go lower than 1/2 volume.  Get it?  

Good luck
Title: volume pedal question
Post by: spar on June 12, 2004, 02:21:33 PM
RDV and freebird1127 should have gotten you there - not much to a volume pedal. If you do want a schematic, there's a DeArmond here:

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/v2/diagrams/dearm_vol.gif

I just built a simple little volume control stomp box. I just needed two volume levels so I used a DPDT switch to switch between bypass and the volume pot.
Title: Cool
Post by: petemoore on June 12, 2004, 02:38:19 PM
Tha'ts a good trick for a volume setter. I like that on volume control sometimes. Bypass Vol Via switch.
 Turns it into a Vol/preset boost [actually cut] pedal.
Title: Re: Cool
Post by: spar on June 12, 2004, 03:12:14 PM
Quote from: petemooreTha'ts a good trick for a volume setter. I like that on volume control sometimes. Bypass Vol Via switch.
 Turns it into a Vol/preset boost [actually cut] pedal.

I built and tried an LP2, but all I really needed was two volume levels, not a booster. I used to use a volume pedal, but since I never used the pedal for volume swells, the switch does exactly what I want...