Volume Pedal for Electro 2?

[Danielmartin09]

I bought an Electro 2 about 10 years ago. Absolutely love the little board! Playing a lot of funk and blues. Dynamics and swells are a key... BUT... I can’t seem to find a volume pedal that works well with it. Searched the forum and web and it seems that there is no volume controller that will pair up to it. Is this so? I can use an in-line volume pedal but finding the right one?

I have tried the Boss Fv50L and an Ernie Ball “guitar” volume pedal. The boss worked ok, has a decent sweep but I can’t get a total volume drop-out unless i adjust it to its max and its so light and flimsy giving you no control, no back pressure to keep your foot grounded. The Ernie Ball is a solid feeling pedal but it has a sharp volume attack at the top of the stroke. No vol.. no vol.. a little vol.. a little vol.. WAM! FULL VOL! The only way I can get a good swell is to stereo my Roland KC 550 and 350 together and crank the volume to an insane level. And then its too muddy and harsh.

So my question... Is their a controller that will work well and feel nice with the Electro 2 ? ... and if not is there a good in line volume pedal such as the BOSS FV500L? It looks sturdy..

Thanks In Advance

[NolaNord504]

I've been using the Moog EP-3 for a while now and consider it to the best of the ones I've tried. It's affordably priced and very well built. In addition, It has a 1/4" TRS jack so you can use your own cable. For me this is a big plus.

In the past I've used the Boss/Roland EV-5, and the Yamaha FC7. Both were okay, but I much prefer the Moog. I think the Boss/Roland is over priced for what it is, but any of these would be preferable to an in-line pedal in my opinion (especially if your using your Electro in stereo).

[twofarmers]

Yes, I also had a Moog EP-3 for about a year until it started to "skip". It developed a dead spot in the rheostat and would hesitate the volume change. I had some of the 50 Ohm rheostats for the FC7 and decided to put one of these in it. Didn't work out perfect since the EP-3 had a 100 Ohm, so it only covered about 70% of the range. I ended up giving to the guy that bought my S80 and went back to the FC7 for my NE6. I like the FC7 better because of the smooth feel, but the non-removable cable is a weak spot. I've ended up replacing the cable on the current pedal and I've even tried adding a stereo 1/4" plug on the pedal so I can use my own TRS cables, that worked pretty good. Even though a little bit more $$, (about $45) the FC7 seems to be a better product and I get about two years out of one. Also, the NE6 has a selection in the menu for the FC7 pedal.....Tony

[Danielmartin09]

Thanks for the info! For some reason I thought I read that the FC7 wasn’t compatible with the Electro 2. My local GuitarCenter has one. I’m going to go try it out. I may order the Moog as well, both are great price range. I was playing a show Friday night doing some big swells with my volume knob... thinking to myself it sure would be nice to have a good expression pedal!

[Danielmartin09]

Quick question? Which has a heavier feel? The Moog or the Yamaha? I read that you can adjust the spring on the Yamaha?

[DirkW]

Yamaha FC7 has worked perfect with my NE2, using the control pedal connection on the Electro. One thing: I remember polarity had to be reversed to use it with the NE2. Long ago, could be wrong though, perhaps there is an old post about this on the board somewhere.
Control pedal on NE2 only works for the organ only and as with a B3 volume will not go 100% down, you’ll always have some noise.
You can set the travel of the FC7 pedal, following the manual to cope with sitting or standing position. i don’t think you can set the springload.
FC7 also works perfect with NE6.

[analogika]

My stock Yamaha FC7, bought new in 1990, worked fine with the electro 2 for ten years. No hacking involved. I literally just plugged it in and it immediately worked as volume pedal and as a wah-was when that was switched on on the panel.

[Part-Timer 67]

My experience with the FC7 is that, like a volume pedal on an old Hammond, it does not go to all the way off to zero volume. i've tried a bunch of different guitar volume pedals in line, and they work, but they don't seem to work correctly. I'm not sure why and its hard to explain. Maybe that's something that Nord should offer?

[twofarmers]

My understanding is that the organ module on the NE6 is designed to emulate the Hammond, so the swell pedal does not completely turn the volume off on the organ. It will go to zero on the piano and synth modules. In the setup on the NE6, you can see the response from 0-100% in the setup mode when FC7 is selected...tony

[analogika]

Yep, the FC7 goes to zero.

Organs don’t.