After my Goodrich model 120 standard pot pedal ate its second pot (in 20 years!) I decided to purchase a new pedal. Being familiar with Goodrich products I decided to buy the Goodrich LDR2. As you can see from the detailed pics below, this pedal is very similar in size to the model 120 but has a little shorter throw to it. At full volume the front of both pedals are at the same height but in the off position, the LDR2 is a little lower at the front.

Since I have extensive recordings with the 120 pedal I decided to record the LDR2 with the identical setup to compare the sounds. The song I recorded, Telesmasher , uses the LDR2 only on the steel guitar part with the full range output. I am still not sure which output, full range or normal, I like best. The normal output is adjustable for tone. Clearly the full range output has more highs. Neither output, to my ears, sounds identical to the 120 pedal. It's not just that the LDR2 is a little cleaner, it also makes the steel sound a little more sterile or electronic to my ears. My opinion of this may change over the next few months and if so I will update this page to reflect that. Overall, mechanically, the pedals have the same excellent feel.

I do like the way the power supply cord attaches to the LDR2. It plugs into the pedal and has a retainer that prevents it from pulling out easily for example if the cord is tripped over. The power supply is not hard wired into the pedal and it would be easy just to carry a spare power supply ($25) and replace it on the fly. I did purchase a replacement pot for my 120 pedal and I'll post all the details of that on another page soon. This is a really fine pedal but you need to try it yourself to see if you like the sound of the LDR2 better that the sound of a pot pedal. I am on the fence right now. With adjustments to my amp settings and the Normal input tone, I may in time find a setting close to the sound of the 120. Pots pedals are not inherently bad for sound, just different. The way a pot pedal loads down the pickup and rolls off the high frequencies produces a very pleasing sound to my ears and most of the recordings on this web site were done with the model 120. On the other hand having adjustable tone and not having to deal with pot failures is a big plus for me with the LDR2.

You can actually see the two light sources through a hole in the top of the LDR2. They are a cool green color and you can visibly see if two, one or none are working (see top pic below). Also Goodrich mentions that a LDR7A remote box with Gain and Tone adjustments is available, no battery required. See the LDR7A details in one of the pics below.

Update 11/10/06: I am still liking the live tone of the pot pedal slightly better. See the Goodrich 120 pot pedal repair page I posted for that experience. The full range input on the LDR2 is closest to the 120 pot pedal sound. Depending on the brightness of your guitar you may like the Normal Input which can be adjusted to suit your taste. This is a really versatile pedal! The last picture in the top row below shows how clearly you can see the light source from the top of the pedal (I just added that pic today).

The first pic below shows the LDR2 stacked on top of the 120.

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