Morley volume pedals?

Dan Najvar · Post by **Dan Najvar** » 1 Mar 2002 1:50 pm

I was wandering if any of you had tried using a Morley volume pedal on the steel?
Particularly the Steve Vai "Little Alligator"
It too uses optical electronics and has this knob that lets you ajust the cut off.I haven't tried it but I'm in the market for a pedal and I'm just considering all the options. thanks all

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 1 Mar 2002 2:42 pm

For occasional use with a straight guitar, it would probably be fine. (It's certainly cheap enough!) But if you play steel guitar, you want something dependable, and more importantly, you want something that was designed for the steel guitar. Good used pedals are often available for around $100, and since it's your only essential accessory, it's a good investment.

mike nolan · Post by **mike nolan** » 1 Mar 2002 4:46 pm

Dan,
I just used the "Little Alligator" last week in an emergency. I didn't like it at all, feel or tone wise, and couldn't reccomend it. I normally use a Goodrich, which works well.

-Mike

Sam White R.I.P. · Post by **Sam White R.I.P.** » 1 Mar 2002 5:33 pm

Hi Dan if you check with Bobbe Seymour he has a great goodrich steel guitar volumn pedal on sale and they are great.I just bought one from him now I have two.
Sam White

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 2 Mar 2002 8:35 am

Just because it's used with a straight guitar (or any other instrument, for that matter) doesn't mean that it can be of lower quality to be acceptable (distorted or not). Just because it's not normally used by steel players and/or you're not using it with a steel does not mean that it can be less dependable. Just because it was not designed for the steel guitar does not mean that it can't be used with a steel guitar or is less dependable.

However, it is probably safe to say that of all the instruments out there, that pedal is going to get more of a workout with a steel than all of the others combined. It is also safe to say that because the steel industry is a small community and run by dedicated people, that there probably isn't a lot of low quality steel stuff out there; at least I haven't found a lot in my limited travels so far.

If the pedal is designed properly you should be able to use it with any instrument and have it turn out OK. I posted a topic related to this a few months ago because I was looking at going to an active pedal, but was hesitant at spending the big bucks on a Hilton or Goodrich active pedal. I did some net surfing and came across something that led me to believe (right or wrong) that the Morleys were not designed the way that I thought they should be. Once again you need to do your own research, and I could be all wrong about them or that one in particular. (By the way, I am a Steve Vai fan.)

I decided to stick with my Goodrich passive pedal for now. If your passive pedal (any brand) has at least a 500K pot inside it should work fine. I have a 30 year old Fender volume pedal with a new pot that works fine, and there are a lot of Ernie Ball users as well. And if you can use some kind of buffer between the guitar and pedal that usually helps, too (IMHO). It can be virtually any kind of effect pedal with active switching in it, and the effect does not have to be switched in to get the benefit of the buffering. I have used a Boss CS-3 compressor in the past, but you could use a Boss Heavy Metal pedal if you wanted.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 2 Mar 2002 9:24 am

moved to 'Electronics'

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Dan Najvar · Post by **Dan Najvar** » 2 Mar 2002 10:53 am

Thank you for all the advice guys. I be up the creek without it.If only there was a forum this good for guitar pickin'.
Thanks again

Keith Murrow · Post by **Keith Murrow** » 2 Mar 2002 11:49 am

..[This message was edited by Keith Murrow on 26 October 2004 at 04:36 PM.]