Multi axis foot pedals?

[WeAreAs1 at aol.com]

Hello Grant,

DeArmond used to make some pedals that could be modified to work as dual-axis 
pedals.  They were used by Maestro as controller pedals for the Maestro Ring 
Modulator.  I had one, and frankly, it sucked.   Way too wobbly and flimsy.  
Very Mickey-Mouse mechanical arrangement.  So bad, in fact, it was hard to 
believe that Maestro would put their name on it.  It's unfortunate too, 
because it sure is fun to play guitar through a ringmod with simultaneous 
foot control over mod pitch and wet/dry mix.  Fender made a dual axis pedal 
back in the 60's and 70's too, but I'm sure it would be impossible (and 
expensive) to find.

Schaller also made a very nice dual axis pedal (heavy-duty polished cast 
aluminum).  I'm pretty sure you can still get these, but it's a special order 
item, expensive, and they are known to take a lifetime to fill orders.  They 
are very nice pedals, though.  Definitely built to last, with a very solid, 
simple, and clever rotational axis scheme.  They make them mostly for pedal 
steel players, who use them as a combination volume and tone control.

If you want to do it on the cheap, I would build some kind of rotating 
platform onto which your regular volume pedal would be placed.  The rotating 
platform would turn a pot side-to-side, and the pedal itself would work as 
normal.  You could probably make the platform be no higher than 1.5" with a 
little ingenuity.  This would eliminate the need for making the pedal's 
footpad (and its internal mechanics) have to move on two axis - which is 
where these pedals get wacky and unreliable.

Let us know how you solve this problem, OK?

Michael Bacich