EP-30 or EP-15

[Ecaroh]

Hi all!

Any experience with those new pedals? Is there something extra worth buying it with over 2 times price compared to Yamaha FC-7 for example?

[Ecaroh]

They look really nice and heavy-duty to me. I would prefer the EP 30, but I cannot buy a pedal that expensive that doesn't have a detachable cable.

-dj

[elkami276]

Great summary.

[jeffkeys]

I have the EP 30 and I love the pedal. Yes, very heavy duty, and I prefer the calibration of the sweep to any pedal I’ve used that wasn’t attached to my CV. I agree that at that price, it really should have a detachable cable. I like it much more than my FC-7. I think the EP 15 would have too short a throw for me.

[Rusty Mike]

I have the EP 30 and I love the pedal. Yes, very heavy duty, and I prefer the calibration of the sweep to any pedal I’ve used that wasn’t attached to my CV. I agree that at that price, it really should have a detachable cable. I like it much more than my FC-7. I think the EP 15 would have too short a throw for me.

Can you perhaps answer a question for me? What does the pedal weigh?

Thanks!

[jeffkeys]

2.8lbs.

[elkami276]

I have the EP 30 and I love the pedal. Yes, very heavy duty, and I prefer the calibration of the sweep to any pedal I’ve used that wasn’t attached to my CV. I agree that at that price, it really should have a detachable cable. I like it much more than my FC-7. I think the EP 15 would have too short a throw for me.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the EP-30 expression pedal. I've been using Yamaha FC-7s for years and always found them excellent. So when you mentioned preferring the EP-30, it really caught my attention and I got interested getting one. Could you elaborate on what makes it stand out for you?

Since I play sitting down, the EP-30 is the more practical choice for me. If I were playing standing up, I'd probably lean toward the EP-15 given its shorter sweep.

[jeffkeys]

As I mentioned, I think the EP 30 has a more even calibration over the entire throw of the pedal compared to the FC 7 which I think has a greater volume change toward the front of the throw compared to the back. I also like the adjustable amount of friction you can add to the pedal to make the throw have a bit more resistance than the FC7, which is my preference.

[elkami276]

As I mentioned, I think the EP 30 has a more even calibration over the entire throw of the pedal compared to the FC 7 which I think has a greater volume change toward the front of the throw compared to the back. I also like the adjustable amount of friction you can add to the pedal to make the throw have a bit more resistance than the FC7, which is my preference.

Thanks for elaborating. Those are very good points.
The adjustable friction in particular sounds very appealing to me.

As for the sweep linearity, I honestly can't say I've noticed it on the Yamaha FC-7, but I've never used any other expression pedal with my Nords, so I'm not the most reliable judge of that.

I've been using the FC-7 for a long time, going all the way back to my Nord Stage 2 that I got in 2012. Back then it was actually my main workaround for the Stage 2's lack of seamless program changes. I'd set up completely different sounds in one program and use the expression pedal to transition between them mid-song, verse (heel) to bridge (middle) to chorus (toe). It worked well for that. I got so used to having an expression pedal in my setup that I still use it constantly on my Stage 3.

Given how essential the expression pedal is to my playing, I really should just get the EP-30.

Thank you again for sharing your experiences about the EP-30. Comparisons always help a lot.