Lehle Mono Volume 90 Review Review



Here's some pictures, sound files and comments on my new Lehle Mono Volume 90 pedal. I purchased it new from Reverb.com vendor Rock N Roll Vintage for $279.00.

  • Strangely enough this pedal does not come with a power supply! It works excellent with my 9 VDC One Spot power supply's voltage and connectors. It's nice not to need a special power supply so I can power this from the same cord trunk that powers my stomp boxes.
  • Like all the fine Telonics, Goodrich (LDR) and Hilton pedals I've tried, this one has no noticeable his or hum at any pedal gsin position or setting.
  • The MIN control doubles as a minimum volume control at the higher settings and as a volume taper curve adjustment at the lower settings.
  • A recessed gain control varies the gain from unity to +12 db with no affect on frequency response.
  • Like all the buffered pedals I've tested, this one has high input impedance and low output impedance and getting that classic passive pot pedal sound is just not possible IMHO. It's a real clean sounding pedal and I prefer to run it through a reverb stomp box with 10' of cable after the stomp box and before the amp to roll of the highs a bit.
  • There's a ton of pictures below that compare the Lehle to my Goodrich model 120 pot pedal from all angles and with the pedal fully on and fully off.
  • The top tread of the Lehle is super grippy and has a noticeable rubbery cushioned feel to it. The bottom feet are made of very soft rubber that grips well on both hard floors and carpets.
  • Pedal weight is 3.7 pounds compared to the Goodrich model 120 weight of 3.1 pounds. So that's another 0.6 pounds to carry in your steel seat!
  • Although both pedals are roughly the same size, their axle locations are somewhat different which affects their off position heights and degrees of rotation. The Lehle rotates back 2 degrees more than the Goodrich model 120
  • A premium Blackmer® VCA (= Voltage Controlled Amplifier) is used in this pedal. You can buy our own VCA to experiemnt with from Mouser Electronics for about $7 in single quantities.
  • A buffered direct output is provided to feed a tuner or other device.
  • The stiffness of the pedal movement can be adjusted by turning an easily accessible adjustment screw.
  • Screws are provided to fasten the pedal down to a base if so desired.

    • Some useful links:




    Here's one full song recording. All pedal steel, mandolin and guitar parts are played through the Allen Chihuahua amp and use a Hall of Fame reverb. The amp is mic'd with a Shure SM-57 with all live tracks recorded on a Zoom R24 and then ported to Reaper for mastering and combining with the drum and other generated tracks.
    Click here to listen to Corrina Corrina


    Review Summary

    As mentioned above this pedal has a clean clear sound free of added hum, hiss or distortion. It's a little bit heavier than my Goodrich 120 pot pedal. Although the top of both pedals are perfectly horizontal when fully on, the Lehle pedal is at -19 degrees and the Goodrich is at -17 degrees when off. Doesn't sound like much but you can feel the difference and depending on the flexibility of your ankle, you may prefer one over the other. There's no annoying discrete jump in volume as you move the pedal from fully off to barely on. I didn't find the taper adjustment (lower settings of the gain control) to be particularly useful as it didn't have a huge affect on the taper. The mechanical movement of the pedal is very smooth and it holds its position firmly when you take your foot off of it. It's actually a pretty big deal that this pedal doesn't require a separate wall wart with a unique voltage. I aways have my One Spot power supply with mutliple plugs on the end handy for my reverb stomp box. It's no trouble and no more cords to just plug one of the extra One Spot power feeds into this pedal. If your into gutting sounds or dynamic and fast volume moves, the lower part of the pedal travel taper really work well for those. Overall I still prefer the pot pedal sound but this pedal easily matches any of the other buffered pedals I've tried and the quality of workmanship and mechanics are outstanding. Everyone seems to have a favorite taper for a volume pedal. While I've played with a lot of different pedals with different tapers, I've yet to find a pedal that can't do what I need in terms of sustain and dynamics after a short re-adjustment period.






    Sound Samples



    Here's some sound samples.

    Selection
    Recording Method
         		Comments
    Shure SM57
    		 Pedal Steel - E9th - Sample 1
    Shure SM57
    		 Pedal Steel - E9th - Sample 2
    Shure SM57
    		 Pedal Steel - E9th - Sample 3
    Shure SM57
    		 Pedal Steel - E9th - Sample 1
    Shure SM57
    		 Pedal Steel - E9th - Sample 1



    Bench Testing and Accessories

    If time permits later, I'll hook up the digital scope and publish a plot of this pedal's volume taper.




    There are quite a few pictures below. Click on them to see them full size or at least sized to a browser window. Click on the picture again if needed to zoom in even more!







    Comments? email webmaster Greg


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