Last year, I bumped into this Scott Grove video and it helped me a lot. I purchased a Morley Mini Volume pedal and it sounded like ass-juice. This video supplied me with the cure. Now, the thing is worth keeping. Been watching his videos ever since.
Hey Scott...info from Morley...The Volume sweep on the PVO, PWV-II, PDW-II, PWOV, SCV and EOV are factory set for AUDIO taper. This is a better sweep for violin type swells and pedal steel effects. It may not suit every player, hence the need to adjust it. The Little Alligator (PLA) is set for a LINEAR taper to feel more familiar to players who are used to potentiometer based volume pedals. Adjusting the volume sweep is similar to the wah adjustment. The full-off volume is controlled by an LED (labeled L2) and LDR (labeled LDR 2). The full on volume is controlled by an LED (labeled L1 and LDR(labeled LDR 1). Adjusting the orientation of each of these sets of components is the key to a pleasing volume swell. Example: if the volume comes on too fast, adjust L1 & LDR 1 away from one another by tipping the LED or LDR up slightly or moving them slightly forward toward the toe end of pedal or back toward the heel. Again, the pedal should be sound tested after each adjustment. Remember a little movement goes a long way.
Many thanks for the advice on the Morley, Scott ... my Optical Volume had sat and gathered dust for a couple of years because the sweep made it unusable. The mod made it so that it'll never leave the rig.
Hey Scott, love your insights, knowledge and sharing. I bought a Morley Volume Plus a month ago and the black card is now cut to allow a sweep in volume. Someone at Morley must know about you.
I recently bought a new PVO+ and it had the lower portion of the "T" shape (or whatever you want to call it) sanded down. It didn't look overly smooth so I think it was probably a last second alteration. The piece definitely wasn't cut that way originally. I still ended up modifying mine some. I tried adjusting the LED a bit to reduce the uptake my pedal came with, it helped but I ended up taking some small files to it, making a larger window and then I used tape to shape the sweep as you suggested... that was a good idea. Thanks!
@generatemusic Hi there my friend and thank you for the purchase. All CS-3's are NOT created equal. So many have been Modded to make the Hiss quieter. It's a very common operation available via Ebay purchases. There are about 3 mods that they have done to the used ones. Plus, depending on if it was made in Japan or Taiwan will make a difference too. The Japanese one's are very noticably the best of the best. Same as always, the Japanese really put out some great stuff.
@TroyGrilli Surely you haven't watched the video. My mod allows the volume to go from of to full with the fluidity of the pedal's travel. It doesn't do it out of the box. None of their models do. Their stock settings go from zero to 10 from 5 to 6 on the pedal.
That was great info I think I have same pedal volume I never use,its somewhere in dusty closet, it cuts volume way too early , I'm gonna have to adjust that, tHanKs!
Hello Scott I only recently discovered your videos and the first thing I noticed is your love for the CS-3. I have owned and modded several (changed a few values and upgraded component quality) and I was wondering if you could provide some insight on these mods. Is it worth it? What exactly are these mods doing? Thanks in advance and btw i've been playing the guitar since i was twelve and only now do i see how guitarded i am.
Scott, You ALWAYS Have such GREAT Information, Knowledge, and Advice! ....As for modifying the shape of the optical "window" inside the Morley volume pedal, I'd suggest using a small jeweler's file, or something like that, to allow the easy removal of sufficient material to change the shape of the "window" to the appropriately pie-shaped profile. Perhaps this should be done gradually, and tested periodically, to test the response of the pedal, as the shape is gradually altered, to find the optimum degree of taper, etc. => You offer Great insight as to how to modify this equipment! THANK YOU Very Much!!!! :D
@TroyGrilli It is done by how much light is allowed to pass through the shape that is cut out and how much light is collected by the cell on the other side. So, a shape has to be cut that gradually allows for more light to be let through gradually and at a constantly increased rate instead of no light...no light..no light, then in the middle of the pedal travel BOOM 100% light for the rest of the pedal travel. Zero though put into that part. The optical part is brilliant, just Dumb on the rest.
In order to fix the sun issue that goes through the Wah led, I painted it by the inside in a way that no light pass in. This way I can still see the led on when I wan to use wah...
What model of Morley pedal is this, Scott? I'd like to buy one but can't quite make out which model (and serial number) your pedal is. Many thanks. Great videos, incidentally.
There's also a pedal that's marketed as an optical tremelo that can be used as a "pot-free" volume pedal. No moving parts; it reacts to how close your foot is to the sensor. Unless you turn it off, you have to keep your foot on or near it for any volume. Aside from that, it's very cool.
@togstn666 Yeah, the shoes have been rockin' with me for about 30 years. I get a new pair of these Vans every year. For some reason, the guitar don't sound the same if I wear my New Ballance shoes.
@TroyGrilli Yeah, it has zero tone drop, it just needs fixed is all. What the SAD part is, is that when talking to Morley, they have no intention of making the volume travel smooth. They like it just the way it is. From zero to halfway, it does NOTHING, then from halfway to 6 it goes full blast and from 6 to wide open....well, it's wide open. So, it's either off or on until you do my mod to it. But, after that's done, you have a super smooth volume pedal with no tone loss at all.
Hey Scott, Great insight here. I just bought your complete video set. Are all Boss CS 3 comps created equal? Because I just got a 2nd hand one and set the way you say here... and it's really quiet. I wonder if it's defective, or if it's a good thing???
@guitardog64 That 2nd, goofy small slit, it exactly what the original one looked like before I made the fix to it. The 2nd one is there for no reason at all. It's like the hole punch machine had a malfunction, but I have a lot of these pedals and they are all that way. So, it's useless and Morley is just moronic and wasing the electricity it takes to make the 2nd punch. You'll alter the first hole, the only one that's anywhere near the photo electric cell. It will be obvious which to use.
@ApotheosiZ The Goodrich and the Fender were fun in their day. They both KILL your tone, but they didn't know any better back then and most folks still don't know any better and are still using pots (as did the Goodrich and Fender). The Omnifex compressor will compress like all other compressors, but sustain is not gained by using it, so like all others, it's usless for my applications. Other folks will like it and everything else just fine. They just don't work for my situation at all.
Hello and thanks for many great tips Scott. I used a big Morley volume pedal with 220v because im living in Sweden. I belive there was wha wha in it to. I tryed many vol pedals around 80 90 when i played in sevaral bands. I used two Marshall tops 2550 with 2 12 in each. I really liked my Morley but a friend did to i got a very good price. I bou ught another vol pedal with was much easyer to transport and so on. But i used my send and return for a while and i belive it worked much better there than before the amp. Isnt it the right place to make it work if you dont have a Morley? I hear you looked and tested a lot of guitars but you havnt said anything about Blade RH 4. I belive its the best guitar i ever played with. I bought mine its a RF 4 only difference is the pick up choise. I belive theres more sold in Europe then in the states, but i recomend it to everone who needs a guitar that can plays every musicstyle really well. Please tell me little about it, i have the old headstok, fender didnt like the old one. I belive Gary Levinson workt for Fender many years before he started with these.. Do you have any experience, please let me know. Thanks for all education. Ex i changed many tunomatik saddles to rollerbearing and got moore sustain and better tone. I played a long time but not really cared about how it works. I wanna know more, its fun and intresting. Thanks to you. Lennie in Sweden
Hey Scott I have the Volume Pro plus the one with the minimum volume switch. The slot you modded is the L1……Does the one right next to it (L2) need to be modded as well? Not talking about the very first one(shown in your vid) but the L2 further down. Looks like the footplate would need to be removed, to get at it. I did the L1 mod and it sounds okay but this L2 has me curious…..unless the L2 is for another model, just like the very first one is intended for the Wah model etc
@groovydjs Hey Scott, I have a few questions; 1) what's your thoughts on the Goodrich volume pedals and the Fender volume/tone pedals? 2) have you ever heard of the omnifex compressor how you think it compares to your boss and what were your settings.
@TroyGrilli No, they don't. Every Morley you will find these days uses the optical method. I talked to the guy who builds all of the Morley's and they have no interest in making a volume pedal that runs smoothly like I have them. He said that he wants them to run like a volume pedal on a guitar but without the tone loss. So, they HONESTLY want them to not do a thing until they are about halfway pressed down and then get really loud, just like on cheap guitars. Pretty sad huh. lol
Hey Scott, apparently many companies are retiring their pots on volume pedals (it is about time). Check out the Hilton Pro Guitar Pedal, limited edition. I have a Morley too and I`m thinking about this one now.I liked a lot.
@generatemusic There are 3 versions of the Boss CS-3 The Japanese one (the good one), the one made later and still from Taiwan....just kind of ordinary and then the Keeley modded version which is dead quiet. So, if you bought second hand like you said.....you may very well have lucked out. I'd love to see it. I run the volume at 1 o'clock, same with the tone, the attack off and the sustain wide open. Try yours that way and see if it remains quiet for you. Come back and let me know. Scott
@bmiranda2645 Thank you my friend. Finally someone who "Gets it". LOL I'm proud of you for graduating with the degree, that is awesome. Congrats. Yeah, I don't think any designers actually work in the trenches outside the factory. It would be nice to have some seasoned veterans of the club and road circuits doing some test drives and mod requests before they release flawed gear all the time.
@UltimateGuitarQuest Sweet my friend. Maybe one day Morley will actually invent a pedal that does what it's supposed to. The tonal quality is fixed using the Morley, but somebody was just a couple of brain cells short when it came to the taper of the actual shape on the thing allowing the light through. Oh, well......maybe some day. Enjoy! Scott
Scott, The second hole is not there for a moronic reason, it is there for the PSV... Pro Stereo Volume! Stereo, needs two screwed up optical ports, lol. That is definitely a really weird taper they have... Reminds me of the old Morely Wha pedals that went from low pass at about 100hz to high boost so strong the thing was squealing like a baby pig.
@bmiranda2645 True, anti-guitarded gear is a must. I kept getting so many requests as to how to modify this pedal to work the right way, that I got tired of writing a novel explainging it. So....now a link to the video. Funny that I never thought to simply save the explaination as a word pad document or something. lol
well Scott I've learned alot more from your vids ...then all the friggin myth mags I've read....lol,,,,,,,,who's that strange man on your shirt?........lol
@ciromago I hear you my friend. I put that on here because I actually passed a guy once on the highway that actually had probably a 17" monitor in his SUV and had his porn playing and I just laughed until I cried. I could only envision little kids passing by and the parents having to explain to them what they were looking at. lol
@RavenMadd9 Yeah, I know. I can't figure it out either. Women are just a goofy species. I thought the first lady that thought it was a bunny was just off her rocker, but then it just keeps happening. I just don't understand that one little bit. lol
@RavenMadd9 Thanks so much my friend! That is too cool! You want to know something funny? I've probably HONESTLY had like at least a dozen different women say (about that shirt) "Wow, what a cute bunny rabbit on your shirt". What the hell? A cute Bunny? Really? I just don't get it. lol
@groovydjs Well that sounds like what I want... A volume pedal that does nothing to tone. Why is that sad? Sorry if Im missunderstanding lol I just want a legitimate volume pedal, no tone drop, no shenanigens.
@ciromago Thanks man. I love my Vizio. I take it with me everywhere I go. I put it in the back seat of the SUV and throw porn on it at night so that all the kids in the other cars going down the highway have something NEW to watch other than BARNEY. lol
watches other video thinks to self "now that i know a dumb asses point of view lets see what Scott Grove has to say" then watches this video this guy talks no bull shit
