Re: Volume pedals

[Travis <tiktok@sprintmail.com>]

My guess would be that things with moving parts tend to cost more than 
things with fewer moving parts.
And things made in expensive-to-live-in countries cost more than in 
cheap-to-live-in countries.
And, the manufacturing formula includes percentages for profit for the 
manufacturer, the distributor, and the final vendor.  If a box costs 
twenty dollars to make (parts, labor, overhead), and the manufacturer 
sells it for forty bucks to the distributor who sells it for eighty 
bucks to the dealer who sells it to you for 100 bucks, there you have 
it.

Personally, I've used Ernie Ball volume pedals for fifteen years, and 
they lasted me about five years between rebuilds, and that was with 
heavy, heavy use three or four times a week (swelling in almost all 
phrases).  I always kept mine on a pedalboard, and maybe I was lucky to 
play in cleaner venues (although they didn't look that clean). I found 
they weren't terribly transparent, but they felt better than anything 
else.  I also use the Visual Volume pedals, and they're very 
transparent, but not as good ergonomically (your foot sits up higher, 
and they're made of much thinner metal).

And to me, the Behringer looked cheaply made.  I've got a soft touch 
with the foot, but the Behringer looked like it would just wear out 
(like the old DOD switches).

TH


On Wednesday, April 23, 2003, at 02:50 AM, 
Loopers-Delight-d-request@loopers-delight.com wrote:

> I don't know much about manufacturing, but I still have a hard time 
> believing a hinged bit of die cast metal and a pot can run you $100.  
> I also have a hard time thinking a bunch of sheet metal, an LED and an 
> optical diode can cost the same.  For $30 more you can get the 
> Behringer FCB1010 midi controller.  Doesn't that seem odd?