Expression pedals….

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JackBootedThug

JackBootedThug

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Anyone ever use one? I basically found a whammy effect on my Ms-3 unit and have to try it out. Dumb question but is there any latency or anything with them? Can also use it for volume or even wah. I have a killer wah btw but it’s another option to have. Also what would you recommend for me? Go cheap or expensive? Thanks!
 
I am using Dunlop GCB-80 volume pedals which I modded to work as expression pedals; I removed the original mono jacks, PCB and pot and replaced them with a stereo jack and a 10kohm linear pot. All the replacement parts were Dunlop OEM parts. Some FX units, modellers etc which accept expression pedals might require a different value pot.

I think Boss has EV series expression pedals, which are going to work with the Boss MS-3, Mission Engineering has expression pedals for multiple devices.
 
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No latency or anything weird. You can use it for whammy/wah/volume whatever suits your taste. You can go small or big depending on your feet/liking. The Boss EV-30 is made for the MS-3. I like the Dunlop DVP4 mini. I also like the big Ernie Ball pedals but they sometimes need mods to work correctly as exp pedal so it's a bit more involved.
 
I can't offer you any help, but will be watching this thread closely. I'm so confused about expression pedals lol.
My friend just picked up a Boss FV-500H and I keep an EV-30 on my watchlist.
 
I’m going on a deep dive today into them. I will start with the boss/roland model and then start comparing. I like the looks of the ernie ball because they are metal.
 
Best deal new….Yamaha. Looks mostly plastic but great reviews. Nektar is cheap but plastic. Built in cable is a mistake with both…not sure why they would do that? Best deal used is the electro harmonix. Looks like standard crybaby build with plenty of options. Tough. The Ernie balls were overdrive, delay or tremolo apparently. Not sure if you can bypass the effect and just use it as an expression. I don’t need the effects. Shame cause they look great and solid as heck. I started with looking at the boss models and forgot to check price on them. The boss ev has two outs and can control two devices. The eh does this as well I believe. The standard boss model looks solid also. Both look plastic though but not sure. These things can get pricey pretty quickly…pretty surprised actually. Best bang for the buck is the electro harmonix imo. Price + materials + functions + quality…hands down number one. Cheapest-Nektar….19 bucks on Amazon. Best cheapie-Yamaha….$37 on Amazon. Dod makes a solid looking mini one for around $60 or so as well. Oldblood makes one with a slider…are you supposed to use your foot on it? I dunno…seems kinda ghey…but anyway that’s my Sunday morning synopsis.
 
JackBootedThug said:
Best deal new….Yamaha. Looks mostly plastic but great reviews. Nektar is cheap but plastic. Built in cable is a mistake with both…not sure why they would do that? Best deal used is the electro harmonix. Looks like standard crybaby build with plenty of options. Tough. The Ernie balls were overdrive, delay or tremolo apparently. Not sure if you can bypass the effect and just use it as an expression. I don’t need the effects. Shame cause they look great and solid as heck. I started with looking at the boss models and forgot to check price on them. The boss ev has two outs and can control two devices. The eh does this as well I believe. The standard boss model looks solid also. Both look plastic though but not sure. These things can get pricey pretty quickly…pretty surprised actually. Best bang for the buck is the electro harmonix imo. Price + materials + functions + quality…hands down number one. Cheapest-Nektar….19 bucks on Amazon. Best cheapie-Yamaha….$37 on Amazon. Dod makes a solid looking mini one for around $60 or so as well. Oldblood makes one with a slider…are you supposed to use your foot on it? I dunno…seems kinda ghey…but anyway that’s my Sunday morning synopsis.
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Look at the specs of what you want to control to be sure the expression pedal will work; most do but I've had situations where they didn't.

Roland EV-5 seems to work with just about everything I've tried.

I had to get a Mission Engineering expression pedal for my ISP Theta Pro DSP MS, my EHX expression pedal didn't work with it; could be a unique case?
 
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The boss or Roland will work because it’s being used with the boss Ms-3. The eh has a switch for different uses…a few of them do.
 
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rsm said:
Look at the specs of what you want to control to be sure the expression pedal will work; most do but I've had situations where they didn't.

Roland EV-5 seems to work with just about everything I've tried.

I had to get a Mission Engineering expression pedal for my ISP Theta Pro DSP MS, my EHX expression pedal didn't work with it; could be a unique case?
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Was gonna post about this earlier, but didn't have the details. My friend has a Beetronics Zzombee and in the manual for the pedal, it gave a spec for what expression pedal to use: 10k expression pedal (pic below). I don’t think all expression pedals are 10k (or maybe that's just my misunderstanding which is why I'll be watching this thread closely lol).

 
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JackBootedThug said:
Anyone ever use one? I basically found a whammy effect on my Ms-3 unit and have to try it out. Dumb question but is there any latency or anything with them? Can also use it for volume or even wah. I have a killer wah btw but it’s another option to have. Also what would you recommend for me? Go cheap or expensive? Thanks!
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I have 2 that I use with my Fractal FX8. An old Dunlop 95Q modded as an expression pedal as well as a mission. Expression pedal.

I use the mission as a wah Expression and the 95Q as the whammy/Divebomb pedal.

Just make sure you get something with the required range for the unit. If you get something that's not enough range, then your effect won't get to the 100% range.

For pedals, either go for the Fractal made expression pedal, or Mission.

According to Mission , this is the one you need:
https://missionengineering.com/shop/sp1-rb/

Good luck.
 
Love my EH Dual Expression. Works with everything I’ve tried it with, which is a lot of different brands
 
JackBootedThug said:
Dumb question but why are they so expensive?
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With the Mission ones... I'd say 75%-80% of the cost is the housing/chassis alone. Expression pedal circuit is nothing special. I do have to say the Mission pedal are built very well. Very solid and sturdy. Definitely road worthy.
 
Back when MIDI was a thing i had EP options but never felt the need to use it.
 
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