Morley PVO Volume

This is a very easy pedal to use, from a technical point of view. There is only a "minimum volume" control. The swelling technique can be difficult to handle, though, and is up to the player to control. I found that putting the minimum volume at zero (7 o??clock) makes the swellings coming too fast. When put at 12 o??clock the swellings are easier to control. One can then hear pick attack in the background, but the listeners don??t hear them, so that??s OK for me. The pedal has a very transperent and nice sound otherwise.

I use this Morely volume PVO pedal in front of my Blues Deville 2x12, and run it only in the clean channel. I have put it last in a chain of a Boss OD3, a Boss DD3 and a Boss Chorus. The amp has a GE JAN 5751 in V1 so the amp distorsion is minimal. The signal coming into the volume pedal therefore is already "finished" and there is no change of the sound if I pull down the volume slightly with the pedal.

There are some negative reviews of this pedal here, and it seems that some of these are based on experiences of the pedal not put in front of the amp. Thats strange since it is said very clearly at Morleys homepage that "The PVO is designed for use in front input of amp only". Only Morleys PLA (Little Alligator) are to be used in loops, not this one. At Morleys homepage it can also be seen that this pedal has a very low current draw of only 2.5 mA. If this was a distorsion or chorus pedal, which that we put on and off, it is so low that there is no need a for a AC adaptor, but since this pedal is "on" all the time an adapter probably is still necessary.

I must say that this pedal sounds very good and delivers exactly what I want it to do.

I`ve only had it for some weeks, but it seems to be reliable. I??ve heard many musicians complain about their volume pedals becoming scratchy after some time, but perhaps this optic solution is the solution of that problem? Too early say, though.

No contacts with Morley.

I play jazz fusion and now use this volume pedal for swellings in my solos, and for making chords grow smoothly behind a soloist. I have been playing since the mid-60s. I had a Colorsound volume pedal in the mid-70s and the volume came very early for that pedal too, so I??m used to it, so to say. With the minimum volume knob it is possible to handle that, IMHO (see above). It gives a very clean sound, and no scratching so far. I have put some oil on the screws that holds the rocker, to get rid of the very silent screeching from the rocker. It also made the rocker run smoother, which made the swellings easier to handle. So, yes, I??m quite happy with this pedal.

Yes, it's a volume pedal, usage should be easy. I had my problems...
First of all, I can't cope with the full-on position: your toes will be slightly declined in this position which is really uncomfortable to me as I'm used to a pedal where the max position is parallel to the floor.
Second, I really, really don't like the swell. My feeling is that there is a massive jump to volume in the first third, then a linear raise in the second third and in the last third happens close to nothing. I read from some other guys that the position of the pedal in the chain might therefore be changed. I use it as last device in the FX chain.
Third, the volume knob won't work to satisfaction. The position where the pedal goes to zero volume (heel pressed down) doesn't equal the knobs zero position. The button at around 7 o'clock will mute the signal in that position. Turning the knob completely counterwise (close to 6 o'clock) will prolong the way you have to press the pedal down before you get a signal. What good is that for?? Might work for some guys, not for me.
Mechanically the pedal works really smoth and gives you a good feeling of control. Especially the oversize of the pedal implies good handling.
Due to the major cons (end position declined, swell progressive instead of linear) I chose to bring it back to my local dealer and change it into a Dunlop. I used to work for nearly 10 years with a ?15.00 device and it worked well for me. I opted for the Morley because of the big names, you know, Vai, Tremonti and so on... in the end it's what YOU feel good with.

As I said, I used it as the last device in the FX chain (Chorus-> Flanger-> Delay-> Vol) of a Peavey XXL 212 and a Peavey Classic30. I mainly use my US Double Fat Strat which goes into Tuner-> Reu?enzehn Daniel-> PW-10 Wah-> Overdrive. My feeling is, that the sound quality is superb -couldn't notice any change of quality or any humming. But as a guy mentioned before, you have to push the level button of the FX chain on your amp. Could be a slight signal loss if used directly in front of the amp.

As you may know: it's heavy. Really heavy. I went for it because of the optical poti. Can't see why the thing should let you down.

No contact so no opinion.

I really love the massive style and reliable technique it is equipped with. Then, I get easily influenced be endorsers... so I bought it and found it not to be sufficient to me. As always: check for yourself but if your working on stage on a constant basis like me (TOP40) you might want something different. The main problem to me is the non-linear swell. If you can do with it, go and get one, if not be aware and test it.

The PVO contrary to others comments took several weeks of tinkering with it (not really the pedal itself)to make it work like I expected. I changed it's placement in the chain of effects several times to adjust the output level of my guitar into what ever effect gave me the response over the entire travel I was looking for. Each time the minimum volume needed to be changed since the amount of gain into the PVO was changing with the different scenarios. I ranked it a 10 since the changes were a result of my own pickiness and the Morley adjusted well in every situation

Very clean and smooth. I was expecting the optical circuit to be too fast or maybe jumpy along the travel but I find it exactly equal to a Ernie Ball Stereo I have. I am using active P/U's into a newer tube amp and its smooth ad clean all the time. Obvious differences when I go to passive P/U's not as a result of a pedal shortcoming. I did notice the tiny High end cut but not something amp EQ could'nt fix. I tweak EQ on the amp whenever I add something to the rig.

Just like anything electrical thing I expect it to go out any day even though it has worked just the same, perfectly, for 8 months now. I am a gambling man and would not travel with a backup. I do not get paid enough at gigs for that and what is a good gig without unnecessary drama

I do not plan to deal with the company. If it breaks I will buy another one.

It works (surprise!!!) just like a volume pedal which is why I bought a volume pedal. Same response from clean to high gain. Works well with all instruments, effects, and amp combination. Glad it fits on my cramped pedal board unlike EB. Hope it never goes out. I will write another review in a few years and see if it stays the same

Well, it's a volume pedal, therefore very easy to understand.

The main problem with this unit is that the signal path is essentially passive. That's why the other folks keep on complaining about the volume loss. The battery is only needed for the LED's in the optical part. BUT THIS IS A STUPID DESIGN! A buffered input doesn't cost much but would take away the additional resistive load from the guitar pickups. Bottom line: Better used with active instruments or after a stompbox or preamp or whatever. Other than that the sound is okey.

Built very strong, will last very long.

Maybe I should find out...

As I wrote above, the thing's not bad and well constructed, but a few pennies for an operational amplifier would make it even better. I don't think it's a good idea to have it first in the FX chain, because it steals you highs like a guitar volume pot.

Very Easy to use.

I have quite a few vintage amps (Fenders, Gibsons, Ampegs) and several new amps (Matchless, Kendrick, Victoria). Main guitars are ES-175D, ES-335 Dot, ES-150DW, Fender Starcaster, Les Paul Special. The volume pedal is in a complicated set up of effects that includes two gcx switchers, a truebypass strip from Pedalboards.com, and two true bypass switches from Pedalboard.com.

The Morely volume pedal is smooth and not scratchy or hissy. However, it was cutting out treble and reducing the overall volume, so it went into a switch to take it out of the signal path when not in use. I am not satisfied with the latter aspect so am looking for a new volume pedal. Therefore, it gets a 7.

It seems very very solid.

If you have a simple set up (say a Wah, volume and overdrive), it's probably okay. When it's more complicated, the loss of tone and volume are a pain.

Easy to set up, but I've had 2 problems which make it unuseable.
1) It acts like a switch, i.e. high or low volume, with no real swell effect from low to high.
2) It reduces my overall amp volume.
OK if all you want is a switch from low to high and have lots of headroom.

Quiet in operation, but see above. Using it with Fender 52 Re-issue Tele and Victoria 45410 or Fender Deluxe

Seems reliable enough, but of no use to me.

Excellent support. Morley tried to fix the problems I had with the pedal, but to no avail.

Very simple. Has a minimum volume control for easy
switching between rhythm and lead. Only problem is the
slight nonlinearity of the minimum control pot. The ideal
setup would be to have the pedal rocked back for rhythm, then
depressed fully for leads. It takes some practice to properly
balance the minimum volume control and the amp volume so that
you neither disappear while chording or overwhelm while soloing.

I am using this pedal with a 50's reissue Fender Stratocaster.
The pedal is not designed for effects loops so it's the first
thing I plug into (even the tuner's second). Other effects include
a Danelectro Cool Cat chorus and an Electro-Harmonix Talking Pedal.
The noise comes out of a Peavey Classic 30.

The pedal is dead quiet. It uses an electro-optical shutter system
rather than a potentiometer so it'll never get scratchy.

The pedal is built like a tank. Very sturdy. I gig with this
pedal and don't feel the need for a backup. Haven't had to change
the battery yet.

I've been playing for almost 25 years (I'm 38). My favorite
guitarist is Richard Thompson, and it's his ability to step
up on leads without distorting that I've been after with this pedal.
I'd say I've been pretty successful so far.

Were this pedal to go missing, I'd replace it. It does what I
need it to do, and I think that, with practice, I can get
it to bend to my will.

Very Easy, simple is good, if you like smiple you will like this peddle. Read other reviews.

Clean, clean, and by the way did I say CLEAN! I use it with Bass guitar set ups, including Fender Deluxe special P bass, 5 string Yamaha TRB 5, Fender Fretless Jazz with 60's special pickups, and Sigma acoustic bass, with amps- SWR 160, Gallen-Kruger 1001R, or Fender 112 plus Deluxe. Great sounding pedle, easy to use, very efective.

I beat the hell out of it, it always works fine.
9 volt battery needs to be replaced occationaly.
Professional product, well built (see customer support).

This is the main reason I had to write this review. I got home from a gig and found my PVO missing the output jack. I called the company and asked for customer service, they put me through, and I found myself speaking with the engineer who DESIGNED THE THING! He was very helpful and said they would ship me a new jack at NO CHARGE! Three days later I had the jack, screwed it on, it works great again.
This is the best customer service I have ever seen.

Been playing almost twenty years, need pro gear that takes a beating
and still works great, this is it, buy a Morley never regret it.

If you can't figure this pedal out, then I am sure that you do not own an amp, a guitar, or any other musical equipment. You must have stumbled on this by accident.

You have your rocker (controls the volume) and a min. volume knob (controls the min. volume)

Sound quality is great. It is like the thing isn't even in your effects chain. The only problem I have is that you get a kind of "jump" when you begin to fade in your guitar. But after this little jump, the transistion is very smooth.

Seems very reliable and sturdy. I can't imagine anything going wrong with this. I would gig without a backup...

Don't know, and hope I never have to deal with any guitar effect manufacturer (I am sure it won't be fun)

Easy to use and rugged. I don't know why more people don't have a volume pedal in their chain...you can do so many things with a volume and say, a delay. Same goes for using an E Bow and a volume pedal...The nice thing is that this is about half the price of an Ernie Ball, and there isn't 50 dollars worth of difference between the two. The only thing I wish this had was a tuner out, but that isn't that big of a deal.

It is a volume pedal, you set the minimum volume with a knob. There's no power switch, once you plug in it is on, and starts draining your battery.

It is a professional product, I bought it when I read that Mark Knopfler was using this pedal "jumping on it" for his solos. I use it connected to a Fender 112 amp, with a Fender Stratocaster reissue 58. I found the pedal a little "hard" at the beginning, now it works much better.

Well this thing is supposed to be really strong. You can jump on it and it does not break.

Good product. You need only one volume pedal in your life, and I found the Morley to be the One. To be used with AC adaptor on stage!

come on, it's a volume pedal! if you can't figure this one out hang up your guitar. only added trick to this pedal is the min volume setting. a quick turn of the knob on the base and you can set a volume level to reduce too instead of cutting the sound all together. comes with a product catalog instead of instructions.

i got this pedal so that i could get a lead boost out of my amp. i'm running a mesa dc5 which is only two channels so it presents a problem when you want to increase your level for playing leads. i'm running the pedal in the effects loop of the amp right before the return. in this configuration i'm not finding any loss of tone or introduced noise. it's also kinda nice because since you are reducing the effects level being returned to your amp you can get a different amount of effect in your lead and rythm sounds. i'm also running it in the loop so that i do not change the way my guitar is driving the pre-amp in the mesa. i have emgs in my jackson and i wanted to keep hitting the tubes as hard as i could even though i was reducing the overall output level from the amp. the configuration seems to work great for me. it also works out nice because since i set the power amp level in the amplifer for my lead level and then reduce to the rythm level with the volume pedal, i get to run the power amp a little harder and get thoose really good tube tones.

seems to be built greaet. i have read that the battery wears out pretty quick so an no/off switch would be nice so that you don't have to keep unplugging the pedal every time you want to quit playing. i would gig without a backup, just have some spare batteries. if you goto a gig without spare batteries you are stupid any way.

haven't had to use it. don't think i'll need to.

i play mostly metal so it was important to me to find a way of getting a level change that did not reduce the overdrive i was getting from my amp. running this pedal in the effects loop seems to be the ticket. i was looking at an mxr micro amp but i couldn't see paying almost a hundred bucks for an op-amp in a battery box. i think this is one of the best and cheapest ways to turn a two channel amp into a three channel. no modifications, extra gain stages or tone soaking devices needed. if it were stolen i'd buy another. i've paid more for less useful peices of gear.

This is a basic volume pedal. It has the standard foot rocker control and it has a control for the minimum volume. It has a input and output jack. The pedal is on when a chord is inserted in the input jack. Otherwise it's off - no switches.

This pedal is fine as long as it has a strong battery or a power supply. Since it's on all the time that you're plugged in (there's no bypass) it sucks batteries very quickly. It takes very little use to drain batteries to the point that series tone thinning is occuring. Because of this, a powersupply is a must with this pedal IMO.
The rocker pedal controls volume. Since this is an active pedal, volume can be boosted as well as attenuated. The 'minimum volume' control sets the lowest volume that the pedal will produce. This allows you to choose between using the pedal as a booster (set the minimum volume high and use the minimum as rhythm level and maximum as lead level) or as a volume swell pedal (set minimum volume low so that you can do swells up and down).

This is constructed with a strong metal chassis. It doesn't have a pot to wear out. It has the newer Morley optically controller, so there's not much to go wrong. Wouldn't take it to a gig if I used batteries in it. It may not make it through a long gig before draining a battery away.

I use this for doing volume swells and it works well for that. I've used it with my Mesa/Boogie DC-3 (see other review) and my Marshalls and it sounds good in all cases.