Foot pedals

[maarkr]

So i attached my Yamaha FC-5 foot pedal to my new SX900 in fp 1, and added a Casio foot pedal in fp 2.  I get nothing from the Casio, then I remembered they usually are reversed in polarity.  So when I get another pedal, I should prob get a real sustain pedal?  There are cheapos to the pricey Yamaha... any recommendations or what to stay away from?

[Lacko]

You can change pedal polarity in menu, so you can use also that Casio pedal.

[Divemaster]

Pedals, like everything in life these days have become crazy expensive for what they are.
All they are is foot operated potentiometers or switches. Forget the hype and high prices.

I have several that I've accumulated over the years, my favourite of which is a  Bespeco GA-VH13 volume pedal. Think it cost me £3. It's built like the Forth Bridge, and I'm sure it will outlast me! It works just fine. Bespeco pedals work fine on Yamaha keyboards, are extremely well made and sensibly priced too.
Their more modern Bespeco VM series are what I'd buy now. Built to last. Great quality

Friends of mine have even used various guitar pedals on organs and keyboards for some really good effects.

However, never lose sight of the basics. It's a pedal. Plain and simple. That's all it is. You press on it, and it sends a signal WAH, Volume whatever. There's tens of thousands of them out there.
There's no such thing as a 'keyboard pedal'.

Of course, some work better than others, and the Yamaha FC5 and FC7 are good pedals, just way way overpriced.

A good tip for you.
Check out Musical Instrument listings.
For example, right now, near me, is a listing for an old technics keyboard which is complete with stand, stool, pedals and a pile of sheet music all for £20.
If I wasn't laid up at the moment, following an op, I'd have already gone after that! Worth buying just for the stand, stool and pedals...sell the rest on. 😊

[maarkr]

So I put the polarity of the Yamaha to - and the Casio to +.  Set articulation to the casio and sustain to the yamaha.  The casio worked fine, but the yamaha wouldn't work... i know the pedal was good? I kept searching and found the Pedal 1 Control in the Registration sequence menu was enabled (by default?), and since I only had 1 in memory, I couldn't see anything change, so after turning it off the pedal worked fine in the assignable menu.

[BogdanH]

hi maarkr,
I'm glad you sorted that out by yourself -learning that way makes sure that we don't forget things easily 

@Divemaster
I quite agree with you about pedal prices. I have two sustain pedals: one normal pedal (15€) and one smaller switch (9€) and both work as expected. I also have FC7, but I use it very rarely -is also an example on how we learn on our mistakes 

Bogdan

[andyg]

We're all influenced by our own experiences, of course.

I went through two Bespeco volume pedals in short order, they just weren't up to the job IMHO. I then bought an FC-7 (I had the advantage of getting things at trade price as I was very much in the business at the time!) and it stood up to constant 'use and abuse' for around ten years. The internal pot then failed and while I could have replaced it, I bought a used FC7 off Ebay for around half the retail price. 4 years later it's still fine. It's the only volume pedal I recommend to my students. Built like a tank, reliable and stays where you put it! The old FC-7 is still here, just in case I need a spare part at any time.

But I have to agree about the prices of the Yamaha pedals. Same with most of the pedals from the big makes. Apart from the FC-7, none of my pedals are Yamaha. I have a 20+ year old Pro-El footswitch - metal, not plastic - and an unbranded piano type sustain pedal that's almost as old. I inherited a spare set of unbranded pedals recently. They work OK but are there 'just in case'.