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nickname009
Published on 04/04/11 at 20:16
This is a volume pedal, one of, it not the most simplest pedal ever made for guitar. It's simply a 250k pot controlled via a string, some pulleys and a spring. This is an older 6166, and by that I mean so old it doesn't even have the model number on it. But considering the 6166 is the most basic volume pedal, I'm sure this must've been the predecessor to the 6166.
Just one in jack and one out jack. Nothing else!
UTILIZATION
It's older so it's not as well thought out in terms of layout, even though there's almost nothing to lay out except the placement of the input and output jacks. Which, aren't laid out properly haha.
The in/out jacks are on the SAME SIDE, both on the right! Which in today's world is completely inconvenient for chaining to other pedals or boards! I like to have my pedals lined up like the signal chain I have it in, with this inconvenience, I can't do that, AND I need a longer patch cable to get to the other pedals. It's really not well thought out.
Otherwise, the pedal motion is quite smooth. I had to replace the string/spring since it's so old, the old string was wearing out. More on that later.
Not much to say otherwise!
SOUND QUALITY
It produces no sound, it's used for swells or muting between guitar changes or song changes or tuning etc, things of that nature, what I COULD comment on in terms of sound is how evenly balanced the swelling is from heel down to toe down position. In which case it is smooth, though I don't think it's perfect. It could be the pot, maybe it's not as linear as others? But it seems that from heel down to about 2/3rds through the signal comes in, and the main volume difference is noticed from before then. Going all the way to toe down position is sort of not dynamic enough for me, it's a bit too subtle or just jumps right to full volume. Sort of like there's a sweet spot range where the swells can be the most dynamic and NOT within the entire range of motion of the pedal.
However, I could still get it to do what I want.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall it's decent. It's a volume pedal, and unfortunately there hasn't been anything too revolutionary with volume pedals aside from maybe the visual volume, which even then isn't that big of an improvement on the overall function of a volume pedal. I will review that eventually.
My one beef with this other than the range of motion not being as wide as I thought, would be the string replacing kit. It's actually VERY difficult to do properly!! It took me nearly 2 hours or so to replace these strings! I don't know how the employees do it! it was HARD! Even now I don't think I did it right, but it seems to be working so I'm just gonna leave it as is until the string wears out or until I grow more patience to reattempt the install.
I got this for free from a friend! But I know they're also quite cheap. Volume pedals usually are within $100 or less. It's definitely sturdy though, super hard steel chassis and all. I don't expect any problems except the strings, which are problematic with all volume pedals that are designed this way. So it's expected, and will most likely not break or wear for a very long time.
Just one in jack and one out jack. Nothing else!
UTILIZATION
It's older so it's not as well thought out in terms of layout, even though there's almost nothing to lay out except the placement of the input and output jacks. Which, aren't laid out properly haha.
The in/out jacks are on the SAME SIDE, both on the right! Which in today's world is completely inconvenient for chaining to other pedals or boards! I like to have my pedals lined up like the signal chain I have it in, with this inconvenience, I can't do that, AND I need a longer patch cable to get to the other pedals. It's really not well thought out.
Otherwise, the pedal motion is quite smooth. I had to replace the string/spring since it's so old, the old string was wearing out. More on that later.
Not much to say otherwise!
SOUND QUALITY
It produces no sound, it's used for swells or muting between guitar changes or song changes or tuning etc, things of that nature, what I COULD comment on in terms of sound is how evenly balanced the swelling is from heel down to toe down position. In which case it is smooth, though I don't think it's perfect. It could be the pot, maybe it's not as linear as others? But it seems that from heel down to about 2/3rds through the signal comes in, and the main volume difference is noticed from before then. Going all the way to toe down position is sort of not dynamic enough for me, it's a bit too subtle or just jumps right to full volume. Sort of like there's a sweet spot range where the swells can be the most dynamic and NOT within the entire range of motion of the pedal.
However, I could still get it to do what I want.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall it's decent. It's a volume pedal, and unfortunately there hasn't been anything too revolutionary with volume pedals aside from maybe the visual volume, which even then isn't that big of an improvement on the overall function of a volume pedal. I will review that eventually.
My one beef with this other than the range of motion not being as wide as I thought, would be the string replacing kit. It's actually VERY difficult to do properly!! It took me nearly 2 hours or so to replace these strings! I don't know how the employees do it! it was HARD! Even now I don't think I did it right, but it seems to be working so I'm just gonna leave it as is until the string wears out or until I grow more patience to reattempt the install.
I got this for free from a friend! But I know they're also quite cheap. Volume pedals usually are within $100 or less. It's definitely sturdy though, super hard steel chassis and all. I don't expect any problems except the strings, which are problematic with all volume pedals that are designed this way. So it's expected, and will most likely not break or wear for a very long time.