Ernie Ball EB6180 VP-JR Reviews

Ernie Ball Vlume Pedal EB6180 VP - JR

This pedal is well made of solid aluminium and works by means of a strong string moving the volume pot, it is the same principle as a Eemmons pedal used for pedal steel guitars very reliable l know because l play pedal steel and the string on mine has never broken so its a good system l would have liked a A&B pot in the ernie ball pedal but they are hard to get now but apart from that its a great pedal robust and sounds very good.

Really good investment!

If you want complete control over the volume of your instrument this volume pedal is the only job for me. It doesn't effect the tone of your instrument or give any hiss... I'd recommend this pedal to anyone.

Excellent Volume Pedal

I spent ages reading reviews to find out the best volume pedal for ambient swells and this one came up tops a lot of the time.

Since purchase it has been sturdy and taken quite a bit of abuse on busy stages.

There have been no incidents with the string that connects to the interior of the pedal which I have read about and it hasn't broken.

The contour of the volume increase and decrease is very pleasing for ambient swells and you really feel in control of what you're playing.

It won't take up huge amounts of room on your pedal board unlike some other volume pedals.

I haven't noticed any 'suck' of tone but I do not use the tuning out which is where some loss has been reported.

All in all this is a great pedal and would recommend it to anybody who is in the market for a volume pedal.

Simple and robust

Good build quality, excellent response to the movements. The switch for the behaviour is a fiddly to operate and the potentiometer is a bit weak – but it is a standard one and can be changed without problems.

Brilliant

I bought this as I was constructing a new pedal board and was sick of using the volume pots on my guitar. It's of very sturdy construction and it's a very responsive pedal. I've not had any problems in over a year, and it's been used A LOT!

Excellent tuner pedal

This is an extremely satisfying volume pedal to operate, with the string mechanism provided just the right amount of resistance to ensure smooth swells but still allow for the pedal to be moved quickly, for example to mute the signal completely. The tuner output on the back is very convenient, with my only minor gripe being that due to the passive nature of the pedal, plugging a tuner into this output slightly affects the tone being sent from the main output, but only in a very minor way, and I would definitely say that it is a trade-off I am willing to make.

Ernie Ball EB6180 VP-JR

A must have for any pro set up great for doing swells. Build quality is great the Jr is also a nice size compared to it's larger big brother.

Go-to volume pedal

There are many things to consider when purchasing a volume pedal and I've personally found that overall this is possibly the best option at this price range. The volume sweep sounds and feels very smooth, there's perhaps a small "notch" towards the end of the sweep near the toe down position resulting in a small but sudden increase of volume. Personally I find this negligeable and it doesn't bother me.

The build quality is excellent, the entire chassis is heavy duty metal and it feels very sturdy overall. The covering on the footplate also provides excellent grip.

I've heard some users complaining about this pedal sucking tone but I have not experienced that, with it being a passive pedal I believe the way to avoid any tone suck is to not put a tuner into the tuner out jack.

Highly recommended.

Guitar effects pedal

I was wondering which Volume pedal to get and I decided to Look at what all the pros are using. SO I decided to invest in an Ernie Ball. I'm happy that I did!! the action on this pedal is silky smooth! The range from toe to heel is beautiful!! Absolute poetry in motion! If only all expression/ Volume pedals had a smooth range like this! but you get what you pay for!!

Sturdy, simple, effective

This is basically everything a volume pedal should be... sturdy enough to take some abuse, straight forward, and passive!

The only thing I don't like about this pedal is how far it moves, it feels like my foot is at an un-natural angle when all the way down, but I'm sure I'll get used to that.

I can't comment on the "tone-sucking" of using the tuner output on this pedal as I have a Line 6 G30 wireless receiver going into it which has a built in buffer so my tone doesn't suffer with the tuner out, but others may have different results.

I've heard that the string in these is quite fragile, but from giving it a little flick it seems perfectly strong to me, especially as there isn't too much tension on it.

There's a nice little feature of a dip switch just inside the pedal which toggles two different modes, almost like it goes from linear to logarithmic increase. I guess this is useful if there's a specific usage you want from your volume swells, but it's more or less redundant for me as I leave it on linear!

Old reliable

Ernie ball has always been a company that makes reliable products, especially when it comes to volume pedals. The Vp Jr does what it says on the box, it has a strong metal chassis that is practically bullet proof and is big enough for it to feel very comfortable under your foot but not too big to make it heavy and cumbersome.

The volume control range is very smooth and you don't get any strange jumps in volume and sudden drops, it's all nice and even. The Vp Jr also has a separate tuner output so you can plug your tuner in and tune whenever you need to without switching on and off the tuner, which is extremely helpful in a live situation.

The pedal also works well as an expression pedal, just plug in a trs cable and you're good to go.

the mercedes benz of Volume Pedals

Ernie Ball Volume Pedals are for me the Mercedes Nenz of volume pedals, the housing is supersolid and even after 6 years of daily usage the volume pedal works as fine as on the first day. i often do volume swells with it, or turn down the volume of the guitar to get a kinda semi clean tone out of the distorted rhythmn channel.

The Pedal works smooth and you can perfect control the amount of volume change.

The smaller VP-JR is perfect for fitting on effectboards where you dont have much space or at home where you dont play with shoes.

Ernie Ball VP-JR

The VP-JR is the pedalboard friendly version of the original Ernie Ball Volume Pedal. Technically the JR is identical to its bigger brother, so if space is rare on your pedalboard you should consider this pedal.

The previous reviews mention already most of the important (positive) aspects and I agree to all of them but there is one negative aspect that was not mentioned yet. The string that is pulling the poti does not seem to be too reliable. I had to change it two times within 5 years and the changing procedure is not too easy. There is an instruction video on youtube, but it never worked as flawless for me as in the video.

But overall the VP-JR is a good quality pedal in a solid enclosure and i would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a volume pedal.

Solid Pedal

Really well known brand and model.

Being the junior version it is still large enough for my size 13UK feet!

This model is a lot more economical in size and seems indestructible, even with most of my weight on it.

And the functionality is good too! :)

Ernie Ball Volume pedal JR

This is a great volume pedal. This is the physically smaller one in the series. It is completely passive and require no batteries or power supplies. The action of the sweep (both physically and the sweep of the volume due to the potentiometer) is great and super easy to control. Since it is completely passive a use of the tuner out may result in some tone loss due to the loading of you're signal when passively splitting your signal into two different paths. A buffer in front of the pedal may help this issue. Even though it has this little flaw it is my go to volume pedal because of the natural sweep in volume and the fact that it doesn't color your tone i the different positions. If you dont use the tuner out it's a no brainer.

Good sturdy volume pedal

A good well made pedal. Feels reassuringly heavy and has a nice smooth action. I have used it with double bass to match arco and pizz volumes, it has performed perfectly every time.

Good volume pedal

This volume pedal does its job well. There is always a slight loss of tone when using a volume pedal unless you have a true bypass looper. All in all a nice pedal indeed.

Just what it says on the tin.

The pedal has worked flawlessly, it feels very smooth under the foot, and in my current setup adds no background noise nor does it colour my sound. Some have said that when using the tuner out, causes unwanted clouding, however I haven't used the tuner out so can't comment on the accuracy of that. Does exactly what I need it to do, if it were to be stolen or lost I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.