AamerKhan Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I use my 2001 Heritage H535 with Schallers (that will soon be replaced by something else) with two overdrive pedals, a T.C. Electronic Mojomojo and Fulltone Fulldrive II Mosfet. However, I really need to crank the volume on the pedals to get the same volume as when the pedals are off and that is something I don't need as I just want a bit of drive from the pedal to colour the sound without boosting the input of the amp too much. On the Fulldrive II the volume needs to be all the way up and on the Mojomojo I need to have it at around 2-3 o'clock. Where I set the drive makes no difference I still need to turn it up. Can someone please explain to me why this happens ?Are my Schaller pickups not hot enough - or too hot - for the pedals ? Does it have something to do with the DC resistance in the pickup ? The two Schallers are supposed to be 7,4 and 7,9 kOhm pickups. My Reverend Buckshot with stock pickups doesn't have this issue and I can keep the volume somewhere in the middle with both pedals. The same goes for a Fender strat that I borrowed for a while. No volume issues there. And it doesn't matter if I play through a Fender Blues Deville 4x10, Vox AC30 TB or Fender Blues Junior I always have to crank the volume with the Heritage. When I turn the pedals off the volume rises again. Any input would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegleg32 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I'm not sure I understand your question, but I can tell you what I do. I set the volume on the amp where I want it, with the guitar volume at about 3/4". Then I balance my pedal volume so that there is no volume change whether they are on or off. Then I can play rhythem or laid back lead either with a small amount of gain or no gain, and when I want a higher gain lead, I kick in the pedal and turn the guitar volume wide open. I don't think that answers your questions, but like I said, I probably don't understand the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AamerKhan Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 I try to do the same as you do. I am just a bit surprised that when I use my Heritage with my pedals I now have to set the volume very high on the pedal, almost all the way up just to get the same volume that I get when the pedal is off. I used to use the Fulltone Fulldrive II for solos which meant that I wanted there to be a volume boost as well. Nowadays the volume is all the way up so I can't get more volume out of it 'cos I'm at full volume already. With my Reverend I could set the volume of the Fulldrive at say 12 o'clock if I just wanted an overdriven sound at the same volume as the clean sound. That would usually be right. If I wanted more volume I could have the volume on the pedal raised to give me some more volume. Now I can't do that because I am already at max. volume and that's really what is confusing to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I have a similar problem, my Epi Dot volume seems much lower than my Strat. Not sure what it is. It's not the pedals though.... My pickups are Seth Lovers, an Alnico II magnet humbucker... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big bob Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Have you tried adjusting the pickup height? It might do wonders! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AamerKhan Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Originally I had the pickups adjusted so they were placed as close to the strings as possible. I then tried to lower the pickups a bit to take away some of the muddiness of the neck pickup. Same result in both cases. My pedals are true bypass and when they are off my sound is full and clear. When I turn on either of the pedals I have to turn the volume on the pedals up quite high. So my suspicion is that my H535 has a very low output into the pedals that needs boosting for it to drive the pedal properly. It's the first time this has happened to me with any of my guitars. Could it have something to do with the fact that we're talking about a semi-hollow guitar here ? It is my my first semi ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitArtMan Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Does this happen when playing by yourself or with a band? The reason I ask is that sometimes the perceived volume can be lower than the actual volume. I've owned probably every version of the Fulldrive made and several of them multiple times. For me the pedal sounds great when I'm playing by myself, but in a band situation it just get's lost in the mix. It doesn't cut. I can have it set for a substantial volume boost when playing by myself, then with the band I'll click it on and I can't hear myself. It just doesn't cut through the mix. I know allot of players love the Fulldrive but I've had that experience with everyone I've owned except the TR100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Out side and maybe unrelated idea. Spray your pots with some deoxit or some equivalent.(contact cleaner) If when you plug straight into the amp the two guitars are equal volume then dont worry about the first line in my post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AamerKhan Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Out side and maybe unrelated idea. Spray your pots with some deoxit or some equivalent.(contact cleaner) If when you plug straight into the amp the two guitars are equal volume then dont worry about the first line in my post. Thanks for the input, I'll try anything at this point as it annoys me a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AamerKhan Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Does this happen when playing by yourself or with a band? The reason I ask is that sometimes the perceived volume can be lower than the actual volume. It happens both in a band situation and when playing alone. Today I thought maybe the power supply was to blame but I connected a different one (both made by Cioks, though) and it's the same. Could it be that the pickups are just too weak to drive the pedals properly or maybe even faulty ? Or maybe one of the pots ? When bypassing the pedal the signal is strong and clear and apparently hotter than when the pedals are turned on. I'll try the contact cleaner thing first and if that doesn't do the trick I'll put in a hotter bridge pickup just to see if there is any difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Does this happen when playing by yourself or with a band? The reason I ask is that sometimes the perceived volume can be lower than the actual volume. I've owned probably every version of the Fulldrive made and several of them multiple times. For me the pedal sounds great when I'm playing by myself, but in a band situation it just get's lost in the mix. It doesn't cut. I can have it set for a substantial volume boost when playing by myself, then with the band I'll click it on and I can't hear myself. It just doesn't cut through the mix. I know allot of players love the Fulldrive but I've had that experience with everyone I've owned except the TR100. Ah, that's my problem too. Seems to happen with the band, not at home. When switching guitars, my strat will scream in volume over my Dot. I believe its a mid frequency problem being lost in the mix... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 When bypassing the pedal the signal is strong and clear and apparently hotter than when the pedals are turned on. I'll try the contact cleaner thing first and if that doesn't do the trick I'll put in a hotter bridge pickup just to see if there is any difference. I dont think contact cleaner will help in this situation. I dont know whats going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitArtMan Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Ah, that's my problem too. Seems to happen with the band, not at home. When switching guitars, my strat will scream in volume over my Dot. I believe its a mid frequency problem being lost in the mix... Yes the flat mids FD2 was completely useless to me because of this. Flat mids? How about blanket over the amp. Sounds great at home, but live it just wouldn't cut through the mix. But then at that time I had to compete with bass, drums, piano, electric keyboard, acoustic guitar, another electric guitar and vocals. I've had similar experiences with the Dumble type pedals - big fat lower midrange that sounds great by iteself or with a small group. Try and cut throgh a larger group and it's just not gonna happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AamerKhan Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Yes the flat mids FD2 was completely useless to me because of this. Flat mids? How about blanket over the amp. Sounds great at home, but live it just wouldn't cut through the mix. But then at that time I had to compete with bass, drums, piano, electric keyboard, acoustic guitar, another electric guitar and vocals. I've had similar experiences with the Dumble type pedals - big fat lower midrange that sounds great by iteself or with a small group. Try and cut throgh a larger group and it's just not gonna happen. Flat mids FD2 setting does sound good alone and worked okay for me for a while but I also currently play in a trio. It's funny that technicians in studios spend a lot of time getting guitars to sit right in the mix by using lo-cuts and cutting/boosting certain frequences. We guitarists just forget maybe we should do something similar to our live rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smurph1 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 One mans opinion here..But a Strat will always cut through, because it's a trebly sounding instrument..My Les Paul has much more powerful pickups than my Strat but it get's lost in the mix easier..It's tone is more mid range and likes to fight with the bass a bit..Not sure if that helps..But there it is.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AamerKhan Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 One mans opinion here..But a Strat will always cut through, because it's a trebly sounding instrument..My Les Paul has much more powerful pickups than my Strat but it get's lost in the mix easier..It's tone is more mid range and likes to fight with the bass a bit..Not sure if that helps..But there it is.. I hear that. Teles and strats I have previously owned all cut well through the mix. I am thinking that maybe my volume issues with my pedals have to do with the frequencies my guitar outputs and the voicing of the pedals. A friend of mine has a bunch of guitars including an ES-335 and a Danelectro barytone. Maybe I should go to his place and try them all out with my pedal setup to see if the problem is specific for this one guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I hear that. Teles and strats I have previously owned all cut well through the mix. I am thinking that maybe my volume issues with my pedals have to do with the frequencies my guitar outputs and the voicing of the pedals. A friend of mine has a bunch of guitars including an ES-335 and a Danelectro barytone. Maybe I should go to his place and try them all out with my pedal setup to see if the problem is specific for this one guitar. When given an opportunity to play someone's awesome collection of guitars, never say no! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AamerKhan Posted March 27, 2013 Author Share Posted March 27, 2013 When given an opportunity to play someone's awesome collection of guitars, never say no! Oh, I never do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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