Lehle Volume Pedals

[Ted Nesbitt]

Does any of you players out there use a Lehle volume pedal? They make a side loading pedal ideal for pedal steel. Would love to hear any comments from anyone who has one.

[Jif]

Hi Ted, I bought one last year, the side loading version, Lehle Mono Volume 90, I also bought the bracket which has a swivel option. I love it, to me it has a very smooth natural response. It's a good bit cheaper than the more well known brands and to me every bit as good.

When I first got it my friend Calum McLean, (Haddock on this site), brought over a Telonics pedal and a Hilton Pedal, we compared them and of course the Telonics is an exceptional pedal with many options, but to be honest I thought the Lehle was just as responsive, less options of course but if I remember correctly once Calum had found the settings he liked he stuck with them. I preferred the Lehle to the Hilton, though this too is a good pedal. I also have a Goodrich L120 which I like but prefer the response from the Lehle.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/lehle-mono-volume-90-1024

https://www.andertons.co.uk/lehle-volume-bracket-pedal-steel-rack-mounting-system-for-lehle-volume-pedals-7015

Lehle Bracket.jpg (11.1 KiB) Viewed 7962 times

[Ted Nesbitt]

Many thanks Geoff, I will definitely buy one. Difficult trying to source a Hilton pedal in UK, so I will give the Lehle a try.

[Jif]

You're welcome Ted, hopefully it'll be to your liking. Would be interested to hear what you think of it.

Cheers Geoff

[Ted Nesbitt]

After corresponding with Geoff Noble, he told me how happy he was with the performance of the Lehle Mono 90 volume pedal, I decided to buy one and see for myself. Well guys and gals, I was more that impressed. I currently use a Hilton pedal, but I must say, the Lehle has the edge on it. This is the best kept secret in the steel guitar world, and a lot cheaper than other similar type pedals. It is powered with a 9 volt power supply, same type as your Boss pedal power supply, but does NOT come with the pedal. If you are tempted to buy one, remember to order the Mono 90 model, as it is a side loading pedal, suitable for pedal steel.

[Jif]

Happy it worked out for you Ted

[geosteel]

Just bought the Lehle Mono 90, but really hot and shrill signal even when adjusting the pickup height..
Seen on the other forum there's a mismatch between the impedances of the PU and pedal
Did anyone else have the same issue? How did you overcome it?
It's a lovely pedal otherwise and love the option to change the minimum volume

[Jif]

Hi Geosteel, can't say I've encountered the problems you are having. I've attached a picture below which shows the specs of the pedal, the input impedance is 2m ohms, that seems to me like a good match for the pickup impedance where the high impedance is not loading the pickup.

I do have a high impedance input buffer cct built into my steel but I can switch it in and out, with it in the tone is a bit brighter than bypassing but never had any problems with either setting.

I've read some stuff about the pedal on the US forum, not wanting to blacken anybodies name but Keith Hilton put up a post which in my view was designed to steer US players away from the Lehle and to buy his pedal. In it he made an appeal to buy US and indicated that the Lehle was German made and made references to WW2 as to why people shouldn't buy German products.

He also claimed that Lehle copied his design, almost to the point where Lehle could have taken a lawsuit out against him. I have repaired a Hilton Pedal and looked at the circuit etc in the Lehle and there are nothing alike other than they don't use a pot to control the volume. Hilton use an optical system, Lehle uses a magnetic system.

I believe there is a gain control in the Lehle which alters the way the pedal responds, have you tried adjusting that to see if it makes a difference?

[Jif]

Just checked out the manual. Here is a description of how the volume pot can be used to reduce the preamp gain. Perhaps adjusting this to reduce the input level would work to un-heat your response.

As you can see in the picture below and on your own pedal, there are 2 pots on the front, the one on the left adjusts the overall volume response, reducing the gain should help, perhaps your signal from your pickup is overloading the preamp in the pedal.

[hatterjack]

I bought a second hand Lehle mono about a month ago. I absolutely love it's smoothness and sweep profile. Mine doesn't have the side sockets but I've never had a volume pedal with those anyway. Obviously it's a powered pedal and runs fine on a standard 9v fx pedal PSU. But on stage what I've done for the last couple of gigs has been to Velcro a pp3 battery to the side for convenience...I seem to get around 8 hours of playing time from one battery so fine for a few gigs and I don't need to run a wall wart. It's a pretty heavy unit...built very solidly. Definitely recommend it despite the cost.