FV-300H Volume Pedal

Firstly, Im using a H/S/S Strat through a 2 Channel 50w valve amp. I tested the FV300 with clean, OD and Distorted sounds. I was impressed with how the pedal did not degrade my sound. The tone of my guitar was not altered whilst engaging the pedal from 0 to full volume. In addition, when I left the pedal in "mid" position, I did not experience a loss of treble as you would expect when lowering the volume pot on your guitar. Overall, I found this pedal very pleasing. I'd read reviews that many vol pedals "tone suck", but I can't say that the FV300H is one of them.

The FV300 casing is cast iron. That makes it stage-ready in my opinion. It feels like a rock under your foot. The  minimum vol knob concerns me though - its positioned just above the footplate and in such a position that it would snap easily if something were dropped on it, or if you stomped on it by mistake. Unlikely, but possible. I had a peek inside the FV300H and my model seems a little different from what others describe. Some other reviewers have had problems with the pedal not returning to 0 (i.e. always letting some signal through). They attribute this to the pedal mechanism slipping round the pot shaft. My model does not have a rotation pot - it has a slider. Its a very clever design and I cant see it failing. I purchased mine second-hand. The guy I bought it from hadnt used i for ages - when I tried to do slow volume swells the mechanism would sqeuak. However, I greased the mechanism which smoothed it out. I would definately gig without a backup. I chose this over a ernie ball model as Ive heard stories of the kevlar cables snapping under normal use. Ernie balls are supposed to be the best, but I cannot accept the risk of a £100 pedal breaking (possibly in mid-performance) due to a f**king cable. It happened to Knopfler once. What are ernie ball thinking??

Like all volume pedals, the FV300H is very easy to use. 2 standard Inputs which connect to 2 respective Outputs. Also features a Tuner Out, and minimum volume knob so you can accurately set the signal range of the pedal. Very easy to use !! The footplate is huge, which means you can rest your foot on it comfortably. The travel of the pedal is perfect; not as much travel as an ernie ball but much better than a vox/dunlop wah type unit. We'll discuss Ernie Ball pedals later though - see reliability. The pedal is the "H" model (H=High Impedence, L=Low) - I dont completely understand this, but from my research "H" models are better suited for low-level signals (i.e. guitar, mic, line) and "L" models are better for high signals (after keyboards, in effects chains [post-dist,pre-delay], post pre-amps etc). I assume "H" is the equivolent of the standard Ernie Ball and "L" is the 25K pot ernie ball model.

I had to use Boss once before and they replaced a 3-year old dodgy DD6 without question. Never used them for second hand stuff - I assume they would service the FV300H if I sent it in.

A great volume pedal. Smooth taper, no tone loss and enclosed in a medium-heavy metal rugged box. If you want further info then email me.

I use an Ibanez connected to a Marshall DSL 401.  This pedal is quiet and does what it's supposed to.  No complaints here.

Now this is where I have the biggest gripe!  4 months after I bought it (might I add, just after the 90-day labor warranty expired), the blasted thing broke down.  THE PEDAL WOULD NOT STAY UP IN THE POSITION I LEAVE IT IN!  Now for a volume pedal, that completely defeats the whole purpose.  The resistance on the pedal just gave out or something... I'd lower the volume, and then the pedal would just go right back to a 'high' position.  Sucks!  I had the pedal repaired at a local authorized shop for $35 - not worth it!

Come on.. this is a very simple device.  It changes volumes - and that, it does very well.  Very easy to use.

Besides the stupid warranty running out just when I needed it, I have no complaint with customer support.  Their web site was pretty helpful - I searched for a local authorized shop and found one right away.  I didn't try to call them, however... didn't need to.

I thought this thing breaking down was very uncharacteristic for a BOSS pedal.  I actually opened the thing up myself to see what it looks like - it's a very very simple device but not built very well, in my opinion.  The resistance mechanism on the pedal itself is pretty shabby.  If I lost it, definitely would NOT get it again.  I'd probably replace it with a Ernie Ball vol pedal. But hey, when it works, it works great.

It changes your volume. You can specify the range by setting the min volume. Useful. No noisy or anything. I used mine with Trademark 60. It's stereo and has a tuner out, which lets you tune even if you turned the sound down, which is nice unless you wanna pay for a stompbox tuner.

Yeah, it's very solid. metal construction, like a tank. It's kinda large, so if your space on a board is limited... It fits into SKB PS-25, though. I'm sure it's tough like all Boss pedals.

It's easy, period. It doesn't need a power supply (that's great). manual is clear (there's not much to say)

Great pedal, but... I went to Sam Ash after a day or two and noticed that Brownsville now makes Volume and Wah pedals that are constructed of metal. They are shaped like a CryBaby. The Volume has same exact features, but costs about $49. It's also a bit smaller and way lighter than Boss. As for Wah, it's main advantage is that the cable connectors are not on the sides but on the back, wich saves much space on a board! No other wah is like that. It sounds different from CryBaby, but nice. I will review both of these in about a month, cause we gotta see how reliable they are. So Boss FV-300 are still nice, if you have the extra money.