Morley Little Alligator Volume Pedal

Pretty simple really. Plug into the fx loop of your amp and you can kick your levels up for solos. I strongly believe volume pedals are a necessity to non pro musicians as we don't always have a sound guy to ajust volumes .

well. sounds very transparent to me. There seems to be a few morons who talk about it talkin balls off your tone. If you strictly want a volume increase but the sound to stay the same then place it in the effects loop otherwise its just like having a guitar volume pot at your feet.

nothins gone wrong yet.

haven't dealt with them yet.

A perfect volume pedal with a smooth taper. Although I haven't tried an ernie Ball yet . I hear they are the dogs testiculars. But I don't see what can be improved.

Hey all! Bill Wenzloff of Morley here. Thank you for the reviews of our products. We appreciate all the comments (good and bad). Just a tip I thought I'd pass along:

When using a volume pedal (any volume) in front of the amp, you will tend to lose drive and sustain as you lower the volume on the pedal (much the same as using the volume knob on your guitar). This is because you are lowering an already weak, passive pickup signal to the front of the amp. When you use the volume pedal in the effects loops of the amp (send and return) you can lower the volume but keep your drive and sustain. If I can ever be of assistance to anyone who readds this note, feel free to call me at 800-284-5172 ext 12.

This pedal is pretty easy to use. Just set the minimum volume knob to your preference and use your foot to control the output volume. I use this pedal for a wide variety of applications. I use this pedal to completely mute my signal so no noise can be heard when I'm not playing. I also set the minimum volume knob so that I can go from rythm to lead. I also use it to control the amount of signal feeding into my distortion box so that I can accomplish smooth overdrive tones or heavy distortion at the press of my foot.

This pedal is not noisy at all. The taper is pretty smooth. It gets along with my other effects pretty well. I don't notice any difference in tone when this pedal is in the circuit. I use this pedal mainly to mute my signal so that no noise comes through when I'm not playing. I also use it to control the signal level feeding into my Tech21 Sansamp GT-2. This combination works very nice.

No pots to wear out, but for the Minumum Volume knob. But, this knob should last a long time since you pretty much just set it and forget it. Optical operation is smooth and quiet. Sturdy metal unit. Battery lasts a very long time. I always play this live without a backup. I just bring a spare battery. I have two other pedals from Morley and have no problems. They seem to build quality products.

I E-mailed them a question and they got back to me right away. The person's answer helped me out a lot. They also have schematic diagrams for their products on their web site.

I have other effects from Morley and have enjoyed using them for years. The Little Alligator pedal seems to be one of the better volume pedals out there. No pots to wear out. No tone-sucking. Minimum volume knob for a wide variety of applications. Long battery life. Smooth taper. Durable construction. What more could you ask for?

Plug and Jam!

I play a Jackson Soloist and Jackson Randy Rhoads Pro through a Peavey VTM60 head into a Peavey 4X12 cab, with a BBE 462 and Digitech RP5 run through the effects loop. The BBE gives a ton of balls to my sound and really helps cut through the mix....but...as soon as I added the volume pedal, I lost all the balls in the tone! I noticed that someone else here played a VTM120 and the pedal didn't work well with it either, maybe this pedal and amp series are just a bad match.
It had to be full volume otherwise it radically changed my sound, which is just not acceptable. I played with it for a few weeks, trying to get it to work for me, but it has since been sent to my milk crate of unused pedals!

I didn't play it long enough to rate this fairly, but it certainly seems ready to take some abuse, and never had any problems with it while I did play it.

I play in two different bands: one all cover band that does mostly radio friendly rock, and one mostly covers classic metal stuff ( Maiden, Priest, pre-Bob Rock Metallica ). I've been playing for 22 years and this is my first experiment with a volume pedal. I think it is my fault for not liking this product, and not a flaw with the product itself...it just didn't do what I THOUGHT it was supposed to do, which was boost the volume for leads and so on, without changing the tone structure. I guess I should have known better. Anyone looking to boost volume for leads should look elsewhere!

Very easy to use. Not much to read about it-it's simple to use. Nine volt battery last forever, very low drain. The green light is nice to let you know you are powered up. Mine a 2001.

I use mine in conjunction with a Digitech RP-100 unit to control both volume and effects such as whammy and it works perfect! Very smooth operation. I use it with a Peavey Delta Blues and Fender Champ amps. Work great with any amp.

Mine has been trouble-free and I've used it every day almost for at almost a year. I wouldn't worry about a backup. I honestly don't see what could break. The thing is rock solid and has a good feel to boot.

Never had to deal with the company.

I play a little of everything. Been playing 25 years. I love the whammy effects I get with this smooth pedal with the Digitech RP 100. If it broke or was stolen I would buy it again. I can't see how anything could be better and considering the price, this thing is tops. I like to try a Morley Wah-Wah. It is a mainstay in my set up. For a volume and expression pedal it makes the Digitech RP-100 come alive! Check it out for yourself.

I've had a chance to use the new Little Alligator at a couple of gigs. Heavy-duty, flawess workmanship, great little volume pedal. Not quite as much throw as the old chrome Morley volume pedal which I've used for 25 years, but I adapted immediately to its feel.

In my original band, I mainly use a Gibson DC Standard and a Gibson SG Supreme strung with 8 to 38 mil strings. In my cover band, I mainly use a solid mahogany Carvin DC 127, an early Carvin TL60 and a brand new American Standard Strat. For effects, my basic setup is now a 1977 ADA Flanger, a Boss RV-2 reverb pedal, my choice of 3 Octavia pedals (Fulltone, Roger Mayer and Voodoo Lab), a Morley Bad Horsie II wah, and now the Morley Little Alligator volume pedal. I power all of these units with a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power unit. My amplification consists of a 1991 Mesa Boogie Mark IV combo with an EVM-12L, a Carvin Vai Legacy 4x12 cabinet, and a Mesa 4x10 cabinet. Using the Little Alligator at the end of my effects string controls my playing level. I run all of this right into the input on the amp and bypass the amp's effects loop. I find that this works best for me. I don't need distortion pedals due to the Mark IV's great wealth of switchable tone settings.

Read my review of the Morley Bad Horsie II for the scoop on reliabitity. In a nutshell, I've used a chrome Morley Vol-Wah pedal since the mid '70's, and have NEVER had a problem with it. It's seen over 25 years of continual service and is still chugging along. I've retired the old stuff and opted for Morley's two new Vai pedals, mainly just for fun. I would never consider having to bring a backup for any Morley equipment after the proven track record I've had with their equipment. The new pedals seem to be even better built than the old ones.

Again, see my Morley Bad Horsie II review. Morley support is some of the best in the business.

I'm mainly a rock guitarist and have been playing guitar since 1963. I've learned over the years to always have the volume pedal active when playing. I contour my sound with it. The Little Alligator is very smooth and quiet. I really like the opto circuitry design instead of a mechanical potentiometer. And these new pedals seem to be more rugged than the originals. If this unit was stolen, I'd buy another one (and use the old chrome pedal until I received the new one). I just love these Morley pedals. The company has taken the original design ideas and brought them to the next level.

Ok, i posted a review here about a month or so ago.
A Mr. Bill Wenzloff from Morely actually took the time to read my review, and mail me back, twice even, answering a few questions i had and leaving a number i could call if i ever needed anything from their product support. To me, that is amazing. Anyone reading this and considering buying a morely product should know; If the sound pleases you, then buy it. Because they're really kind and helpful people. Thanks Bill, and um, sorry the Bad Horsie & i didn't get along. It just hated the rest of my equipment for some reason.

It's a volume pedal...
How hard could it be?

Once again, it's a volume pedal.
My only complaint is the fact that it doesn't have a completely smooth audio taper. I got used to using a volume pedal made for keyboards. Which had a perfectly smooth transaction. With this pedal, if you have your amp overdriven, you have the pedal tilted all the way back, and the minimum control all the way down, it goes; Almost clean, almost clean, a little overdriven, a little overdriven, little more gain, little more gain, full throttle. I'm used to a few more stages between "a little gain" and "full throttle". Other than this, it's a satisfactory volume pedal.

The pot will never wear out considering it's fiber optic. Which means there is no pot. And like all morley's, it's built like a tank.

No idea.

Ok.
If i'm wrong, correct me.
But isn't the Morley PVO Volume pedal the exact same damned thing? Without Via's signature and the green paint & LED of course? Is there any difference at all? Same minimum switch. Same everything. This is a mono volume pedal, but i'm not sure if the PVO is a stereo or not. If there's no dofference, i'm sure the PVO is cheaper, considering Via didn't endorse it. So anyway...
It's a good pedal. Does the job anyway. Considering how much Tool i play, i needed a volume pedal. No way i have enough coordination to make my pinky do that much stuff with the volume knob while i play. Other than that aodio taper i mentioned, i have no problems with it. And that's a simple matter of getting used to.

About as simple a pedal you will find, it has a minimun volume control
and the foot pedal for raising or lowering your volume.

This pedal doesn't really change the sound tone wise, but does what a volume pedal is supposed to do, change the volume. When the switch is in the back position, you can get a clean sound and boost it for more distortion, or if you want to play rythm and you need a boost for playing lead just set the volum control.

No problems yet, very tough pedal.

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

A great pedal for doing just what it needs to.

Very Simple. Run your guitar through it and you can control the volume. Minimum Volume nob lets you set, oddly enough, the minimum volume.

Sounds very transparent and has a good linear taper.

Haven't had it too long, but it is well built. Ive had my Bad Horsie for quite some time and it is working great. I do not expect any problems.

I wrote a quick email to them regarding product specifications and they responded quickly and gave me a very thorough response.

I've been playing for 10 years and have used a lot of equipment. I play everything from classical guitar to shred rock to jazz and fusion. I'm using this with a Mesa Boogie DC-5, Fulltone Fulldrive, and some other pedals n' such. I've used it with my 335 as well as my Ibanez USRG and Strat.

I tried using the ernie ball pedal because it was so ballsy looking, but the PLA is far better and you'll never get scratchiness from a dirty potentiometer(its cheaper too!).

This pedal is great for controlling the dirtiness of your distortion and rules for volume swells etc. I recommend this pedal over any other volume I'm used.