All to pot

[Zumbilly(Murdoch)]

Without mentioning brand names
What is Your preference ? A pot pedal or a potless one.
I prefer a potless.To My ears it sounds cleaner.
Billy

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Why can`t we mention Brand names Billy ? I use Telonics and I reckon you do too....... and if your clever enough to get into the cracks of the thing I think it can be made to sound and feel like any other pedal you want it to.......... OK its expensive but that only reflects the work thats gone into producing it IMHO its worth saving your pennies for

[Zumbilly(Murdoch)]

John,
It really was'nt My intention to ask for opinions on Brands since there are good and bad in everyones opinion. I wanted to ascertain whether The fraternity prefer pot or potless.
There is no harm in mentioning which brand We prefer which makes for a more interesting discussion.
I use a Telonics,having previously had a Hilton, an Emmons and I still have a Goodrich(as backup)
The Telonics is by far the best.
Billy

[James Crowbear]

like many, i started out w: a Goodrich 120
it served me well for 4 years
never had to change the pot
no hum a ditty in my neck of the woods & enough use from keeping it too idle
(non use of a pot pedal does'nt do it any good)
i then went on to a Hilton ME262 which i found excellent
it too, served me well - no maintenance or breakdown
last but not least, i went for the Telonics vp
now that one is something else !
6 vps in 1 - great options - reliable
great customer service from David B to boot
so i'll stick w: the pot when it come to recreative smokin'
otherwise when it comes to vps, well, active pedals like Hilton & Telonics are where it's at

[Ken Byng]

One thing that I can't make out - why buy a Telonics pedal and then put it on the 'Hilton' setting. I find that a little weird.

Pot pedals are inherently noisy - just floor one and hear the noise that comes out. Having said that, I have 3 Sho~Bud pedals, an Emmons pedal, a 1950's Fender Vol/Tone pedal and a Goodrich 120. I love 'em all, and pot pedals are still favoured by many pros who consider electronic volume pedals as too 'sterile' sounding. The new long life Goodrich pot seems to be an ideal replacement for the old Allen Bradley type J pot.

Billy, in answer to your question, I'm happy to use a pot pedal for live gigs (fewer cables) but use a Hilton for recording. You get the best of both worlds. I am being sent a Telonics pedal soon so will see if it lives up to the hype.

Ps - there is a new volume pedal being designed by a friend in the USA who is well known to the steel guitar fraternity. It will be a true stereo active volume pedal, and will retail at no more than $200 US. It might blow everything else out of the water if the spec is anything to go by.

[Zumbilly(Murdoch)]

When I first tried My Telonics pedal I had assumed the five different settings were tonal .
I tried the pedal for about five minutes at home and then went out on a gig.At the warm up I asked the bass player to listen(along with Me)to the different settings.Neither of us could hear a noticeable difference !!!
I later found out that these settings are for "feel" not tone or timbre.When I was at Dallas I spoke to Dave Beaty and He gave Me a graph which explained the different settings.This graph showed the volume increase in relation to the angle of depression of the pedal.I actually found this quite useless since I found that within a minute or two of using the pedal My foot learns how far to travel for the resultant volume result.
telonics have added a sixth preset to the pedal which can be downloaded on line,this setting I found to be very useful since it gives a boost to the volume at the top end when You often need it to get past the lead player
Telonics are a great company to do business with and Dave Beaty is a gem.Dave is continually endeavouring to improve and add to an already excellent range of equipment.
Billy

[Peter Nylund]

Hi everybody. I have been using Hilton's now for a couple of years and I am quite satisfied with them. I have not had the opportunity to test drive a Telonics, and I could probably not afford it anyway. There is one thing that I don't understand, why several different volume pedals in one? I'm trying to get used to the one pedal I use, so why many different?
Peter

[James Crowbear]

why several different volume pedals in one?

When Telonics conceived their vp, they wanted to offer the most common & popular vps in it
so they put the Emmons w: the Bradley pot, the Goodrich LED, the Goodrich 120 w: the Clarostat pot , the older & newer Hiltons : which makes 5
Like my buddy Zumbustin' Billy, i opted ( & adopted) for the newer 6th option which gives that extra boost at the top end
(so far i don't know of any other vps that have this)
i'll agree that there are no great noticeable diffs in the main 5 options ( at least not to my lame ears)
what i find the most useful in the Telonics vp is the Taper ( Minimun On) that can be adjusted & varied to one's needs/liking quite easily
balanced or unbalanced inputs & outputs & a specific tuner output
input impedance can be adjusted for those who need it ( i don't)
Ok so yes, it's costly - is it worth it ?
it depends on whether one is
an amateur bedroom player; in which case unless you're rich & wanna splurge, you don't really need one
pro or semi pro : those who are quite content w: their pot pedals & Hiltons, no need to change - stay as you are, don't worry - be happy & play on
for those who do have the extra £££ / €€€ / $$$ to spend & want a high steppin' hassle free vp - then go for it
Telonics back up their products & clients 500 %
fwiw : i sold my hilton which covered more than half of the price of the Telonics
the manual is here :
http://www.john-lemay.com/FP-100-Manual.pdf

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

James, wot u said about Telonics service is so right (should you ever need it ) its 100% and a great guy to deal with....