Best Expression Pedal For Guitar (2024 Update)

Does not work very well. The volume range is full on, down to 98% and then off… not very practical at all. Disappointed.cmorgan9501

Unless you have a lot of space on your pedalboard, and don't mind paying a lot for a known brand, passive volume/expression pedals don't have to be large and expensive. This is a perfect pedal for people with a small board and a tight budget. Time will tell if the pedal is durable, but I think as long as you don't abuse it, it will last for some time.grimmy608

It's a very versatile delay. The delay tone is middle of the road (between digital and analog) and can be used in a lot of different ways. Having the ability to add "wetness" to the sound and take it out without just switching in and out is great. Be sure to get a external tap as there is no ability to set dotted8th or any of the more subtle delay effect.Al

The product was shipped immediately and arrived as expected. It works perfectly so I am pleased. I'll have to keep an eye on that string mechanism that gets some online complaint chatter, but I won't be using it nearly as much as those players.dgcdesign12

If you use a volume pedal to control how much you overdrive your tube amp, this is a better way. You can boost or cut different eq ranges or even drive the signal before it gets to the amp.kevmoe

It's a plastic expression pedal. However, it is fairly robust. There is nothing fancy about it but it connects with my Helix stomp with no problems and makes the wah models operate. Being a modelling unit expression pedal it doesn't have it's own sound characteristics.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Solid! I read reviews about his pedal being made out of plastic and was concerned. Listen, this pedal is VERY well built… you would have to intentionally try to break it. The plastic feels like metal… it's that solid. It's operation is smooth from heel to toe. The cable it came with, however, is an abomination. Mine broke immediately upon arrival. Just toss that guy in the trash right away and get a nice cable for it. Honestly though, I'm glad i picked this pedal up.thefuzzymenace

I'm going to make this very simple. It is very robust and does what it says it should do. I have two quibbles however that detracts from a 5 star rating. 1. No matter where in the chain I placed it (I use buffers), on low volume settings, all the top end disappears from the tone. 2. I love the idea of a separate control to set the minimum volume level, however I strongly believe it needs a wider range. It appears to have a "maximum" minimum volume (if that makes sense?) of about half. This is exactly the point at which all the tone is sacrificed. For players who simply want a slightly lower rhythm volume and therefore to use the pedal like a "boost" to help leads cut through, a lot of finesse is required in getting the pedal to exactly the right angle. Had they allowed the minimum volume control cover the full range of the pedal, it would be much improved.Daniel C.

I use this pedal as an expression pedal with my Arturia Keylab88 MkII. This Boss pedal is one of the only ones out there that work 100% perfectly with Arturia's products. I bought it because it's made out of metal, it's durable, I can kick it and use it as much as I want and it will still feel solid and steady.YOHAI

Its cheap and made of plastic – that much is true. But its also built to last and works like a dream. I have three of these and they've seen more abuse than human rights in South Africa in the 1980s. Still work just fine. (One note though: if used with a MoogerFooger MF-101 to control the Cutoff, the pots inside do get dusty, which causes noise in the effect. I've never experienced problems using the EP3 with any other pedal.)Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I purchased two of these for use with a Kemper, in the expression pedal input on the rear of the unit. I am very pleased with how they work; if you want a limited travel pedal that will stay where you leave it (i.e. no spring return to neutral), this is an excellent choice. It worked 100% to my satisfaction right out of the box with no adjustments or changes. Even though it is made of plastic, it also appears to be plenty rugged enough for stage use, and has sufficient weight and rubber feet that keep it from sliding around. It has very smooth and accurate operation, and the additional height did not prove to be an issue. I do not know if its stiffer feel would work well for a wah, but as a volume or mix pedal, it is perfect IMHO (the stiffer feel makes it easier to set to a particular point and get your foot off without changing the position, which is hard to do on say a Behringer FCB1010). The price is very nice as well. I am 100% satisfied with the pedal, especially with its excellent price.birchives

For me, this pedal works just fine. I did have concerns about it being housed in plastic, but once i got my hands on it, all that worry went away. Reasonably heavy and sturdy. Smooth action with minimal resistance but stays where you leave it in the range. Nice angle for your foot to rest on while using it. Adjustable sweep, and works with a wide variety of devices. Not much to complain about, especially at this price. 4 stars because im sure you could damage it with a sledge hammer.R. Phillips

I'm on my second one and it's broken again. I never get more than a few years out of them, which is no good for the price. Last one the cable broke, as they always do, so I added a jack so I could use my own cable, which worked well for a while. Now the pot is broke and I'm not buying another one of these. Believe what people are saying, these are real junk.DemChanges

I own many different WaHA pedals and expression pedals but I wanted this pedal which is controlled by my Boss amp amp. I have to say as a waha it’s amazing and with slight movement controls the frequency to give my guitar lots of impressions. It is light to the foot so not a lot of force needed to make the slightest impressions to the frequency.STEVEAUX

I've been using these control pedals for at least two decades! They're the best! Light in weight, unlike other 'cast-iron' pedals, they are surprisingly sturdy in construction. I'm still buying them, as my arsenal expands.arkgabriel

Although rather pricey for a very simple passive device, this is a first rate complement to the Headrush Pedalboard. The construction feels military spec. Even more rugged than the body of a crybaby. The pedal action is easily adjusted for personal taste with a supplied Allen key. It works seamlessly with the onboard pedal after a simple change in the global parameters page. I have it permanantly set to use for performance as an output master volume control but it can be assigned to almost any required parameter.MR G.

I love the fact that there's actually an LED to show you when the pedal is engaged. Using an A/B switch, it's not obvious when using a traditional Cry Baby. The sound is great and you can adjust it with easeReviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Used alongside a Zoom G3 It functioned very well – the actual usgae instructions are pretty poor but once you've got your head around it, the thing is super versatile. Combining effects on one pedal is quite amusing. Cons – poorly made IMHO and not particularly ergonomic – always felt high on the footplayingwithfireguitars

Overall: First of all, this pedal does EXACTLY what it's supposed to do… which is to turn into a volume control for the G5 (or whichever pedal you may be hooking it up to). My expectations had been that I would be able to program the G5 to have this pedal do whatever I wanted to assign, but it doesn't work that way. It turns into the volume pedal, and that's pretty much it. I was a little disappointed, but then I started using it and it's much handier than I originally thought. With the G5, you can assign many different parameters to the onboard pedal, but it operates in such a way where it is a volume pedal until you press the toe-down button and then the pedal operates whatever it's assigned to. The issue is that, say you're playing with the volume helway between full and off and you want to switch to your wah… to press the toe switch you have to take the volume all the way up first, leaving your wah sound at full volume and much louder than the previous tone. This pedal takes the place of the volume control, rendering the onboard pedal ineffective UNTIL you press the toe switch and presto… complete control over BOTH parameters using both pedals! Very handy to have!Brian

I was debating with myself if I should get this pedal or not. After all, it's only an expression pedal, and there are some cheaper alternatives out there. However, if you pay just a little more, you can get a pedal made out of metal(aluminum maybe), and the reliability of Zoom. I have used their pedals for many years, and they are simply awesome. I bought it in order to be paired with my Zoom G3. I never wanted the expression pedal built-in version, as I like to use the G3 as a desktop while the X pedal is on the floor. Although the FP2M is made out of metal, the rack itself is made out of sturdy plastic. these can outlast the steel racks of heavies such as the CryBaby etc. Even if it broke or damaged, you can get these type of parts from Zooom America. I have received several parts such as knobs and battery covers for free. The pedal works great with the G3 and I am quite happy with the overall quality as expected.Bopshop

Works amazingly and 5e action isn’t superb. Very impressive piece of kit, it’s a stand alone unit so you will need to have or purchase a power supply and appropriate trs/rts etc cable. It’s very very quiet in all aspects so 5 stars for sound.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

First of all let me say I also have the G1ON and bought the G1X Four for the enhanced features and so I'd have one with the expression pedal. I sold all my tube amps when I was laid off, retired and moved to Mexico. My reference point is tweed and blackface era tube amps. I gotta say, once you learn how to dial in the tones you want, these little plastic boxes do a pretty decent job of amp and effects modeling. Like the G1ON, the G1X 4 does a good job of imitating the touch and volume control dynamics of a cranked tube amp at any volume. I really like the Deluxe Reverb, AC30 and DC30 simulations. The G1ON has more vintage style amp types to choose from, and in that regard it is more useful to e. Two kinds of spring reverb, one eats up a lot of memory but really sounds lush like an external unit along with the other types (room, plate, hall, church, etc.). Tremolo is built into the Fender models that have tremolo along with a couple of very configurable trems and rotating speaker effects. The G1 4 does NOT have the Z Organ effect the G1ON does, boo hoo. Beyond that, there are tons of effects to play with and they all sound good to my ears. I currently have 3 small amp setups. 1. Quilter 101 mini docked in their 10" BlockDock cab. 2. Quilter MicroBlock 45 pedal teamed with a 5E3 pine cab with a Emi Legend 12" and 3. an old Carvin SX50 1×12". I can get all three do to do the Deluxe Reverb,Vox AC15/30, E and F series Tweed tones that don't make me miss my tube amps. Wish I would have had the G1ON and the 17.7lb Quilter 1×10" combo back when I was in a blues band and gigging. Interface improvements from the G1ON… Improved display allows for more descriptive/longer patch names. Four pots act as master vol, bass, middle, treble during performance mode for global tone and volume tweeking. The four pots also make adjusting settings easier. To sum up, very cool pedal for under a hundred..Tomcat

For several years now, my pedalboard has had only ONE guitar "FX" pedal. First it was the G1Xon. Now it's the G1Xfour. I play both acoustic AND electric thru the pedal, and they BOTH sound great! Though I've played for over 40 years, I'm not a professional musician and rarely play out; but I do play a lot at home and IMO this is the best VALUE "name brand" guitar multi-FX pedal on the market. It's super affordable, very easy to use, sounds terrific, and is a total blast to play. In fact, this is the FIRST of TWO guitar pedals I recommend for every novice guitarist. Checkout my video links below for a quick start on G1Xfour pedal, and why it's one of the two first pedals I recommend.The Image Doctor

Great little pedal. Solid as a rock. Works well. Takes up a small foot print on board. Not too small I have size 13 no problem.mclewis77

I chose this pedal because I have always trusted Korg! This did not let me down. It is built like a tank! Solid, and durable. I am guessing this will last for many years. The connections feel like high quality. The pedal is very smooth to operate, and just heavy enough that it does not slide around. Excellent pedal.Ealkie

Solid construction, ersatile and easy to use. I paired it with My Kross, and it works great! Super volume control, and expression too! Thinking about getting another one for my Triton Taktile controllerMike P.

I own multiple expression pedals and have not been able to record or play in the box while using one. This pedal is a godsend. Just plug in to your computer via USB and you have digital MIDI and can assign the sweep to your digital wah, volume, etc. That coupled with MIDI TRS and wireless, you don't need anything else for PC recording or jamming. It's also a smaller form factor, I wouldn't say compact, maybe 75% the size of my other expression pedals. You need this!ScottyKnows

Premetto che non sono un chitarrista professionista, ma suono solo per diletto. Lo uso (in abbinamento a un Fw6 sempre di Boss) con il Katana Air e debbo dire che sono notevolmente soddisfatto perché mi permette di espandere le possibilità del Katana Air e il doppio funzionamento (come volume e come pedale di espressione ad esempio come wha) e la portabilità sono impagabili. Lo uso dappertutto. Il consumo della batteria è ragionevole e una volta dotato di una coppia di pile ricaricabili non fa rimpiangere assolutamente l'alimentatore che sarebbe solo un ingombro in più. Non ho messo le cinque stelle perché l'abbinamento con l'iphone o con lo smartphone Android va rifatto ogni volta e può essere noioso, ma ci vuole meno di un minuto. Se fossi un professionista sarebbe più fastidioso, ma per me il problema non è così dirimente. Lo ricomprerei.Valeriano Salve

A convenient little pedal to get you two different sounds from an expression input of your favorite effect pedal.Plus the price is right.kevmac

Fantastic expression pedal for Kemper. Configured and used properly this enables me to control volume, wah, pitch or morph (amount of gain is how I apply this) depending on what I have in the rig (I tend to only use one or 2 of these at a time and I proritise the one I want as stomp A in the Kemper for the appropriate rig). The additional beauty is the switch under the pedal so if you press on the toe portion of the pedal you can turn on/off the effect in stomp A – which, while it sounds simple, gives a lot more flexibility on the fly for how the expression pedal can be applied and potentially saves a rig slot too. Well built, looks cool and works great so can't fault it really!Reviewed by SX Pro customer

Built like a tank. Plug and play with my Line 6 Firehawk FX. Does everything expected. Note – The guy that complained about it not having a toe switch misses the point of an expression pedal. It doesn't need a switch. You assign the parameter to the pedal, save the patch in the state that you want it to default to when you switch to it, then the pedal does nothing until you actually use it, no matter where the pedal is at, up or down. But once you move the pedal, it is active and does its thing. A toe switch would just screw up the ease of use.Grinch

I am ordering a second EP1-L6 to go along with another EP1-L6 and the EP1-Helix to use with the Helix Control and Helix Rack. I was using 2 Roland EV5s in place of the EP1-L6, but after the 7.71 update those became erratic as controllers but still work just fine with my Roland FC-200. These are solid, road worthy construction for any professional setup. Smooth treadle, works flawless with the Helix Rack/Control. Designed to work with, and look great with, any Line 6 product that uses an expression pedal input. To other reviewers: The EP1-Helix has the toe switch to turn an effect on/off. The Helix only has one input for this function, but has 3 other expression pedal inputs. These are designed to work with Line 6 products only. If you have another brand device, either get the dedicated pedal from Mission (like the EP1 for Avid, or Kemper) or use the standard EP1. I would guess that this is why my EV5s stopped working correctly with Line 6, but works just fine with other equipment.sshogrin

Terrible pedal. First, it can only be used with a Mustang amp. Pretty much every company on earth had no problem allowing a regular ole expression pedal to be used, but not Fender! Nope, using an Apple-esque money grab, they make it so that this pedal and this pedal only can be used. So, you spend ninety bones that you'll never be able to use for any other purpose ever. And if you already have an expression pedal or two? Tough luck. Now, all of that ticks me off as is, but what REALLY grinds my gears is that this piece of unversatile junk is noisy. How can that be, you ask? Every time you use it, it introduces a digital crackly noise. No, it's not a dirty pot as this pedal doesn't use potentiometers. Rather, it's a bad design. It uses some IR sensor that picks up noise when the values changes. Think about adding a single coil pickup to your chain, and removing the shielding every time you touch the expression pedal. Yea, sucks. It's not a defect as the same issue has existed with 2 different pedals with multiple Mustang amps in multiple buildings with multiple cables, etc. It's just a hunk of junk, end of story. And on top of that, every now and then the red/green led fritzes out and you have to turn the amp off and on to get it to light up. Never again will I buy any Fender modeling product because of things like this.DH

I went through 2 of these, both ordered new through Guitar Center. The first one was too easily engaged and would sometimes not power up if it were connected to the amp when I powered on the amp. The second one, again too easily engaged, after a few weeks I ran into the same problem where it didn't power on occasionally. Now I'm using a Digitech RP-500 in front for Volume and wah. The EXP-1 was a PITA, the switches on the 2 I received were never right, if you were using it for wah it was disengage back to volume no matter how light your touch is. Fender Mustangs are great amps but honestly the 2/4 button footswitch setup sucks. The Sanpera is a great controller for the Vypyrs… if fender would come out with something like that for the Mustangs it would be great. In fact the Mustang Floor layout would be great but design one as just a controller for the mustang,dnottis

Super disappointed, because although this will act as Wah and Volume pedal, IT WILL NOT DO BOTH at the same time!?! Why not just allow the Wah to be activated by the foot switch, which it does have?? Makes this useless to me, as the volume control purpose is my main need, and wah secondary! BUT, it's a decent pedal otherwise.Henry

I am yet to try the expression function but the wah is decent, if a little wooly in overall tone, i think there is a bit of a low end boost through the whole sweep. The volume function has a lot of effect at the begining of the sweep with not much difference the once your toe is half way down. However it does more than expected for the price. Build quality is very solid and the leds are bright enough to see very well but wont blind you as they're under the top plate.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Absolutely loving this pedal. It takes a little while to get used to, especially if you're more used to a regular wah however the applications for this are great. It's easy to use and so much fun when used with other effects. You'll really have a great time with this. My only issue was with the fact that the one I bought, inside packaging had been opened and box was a little dented but for the price I couldn't complain. Pedal works great and I'm really pleased with it. Very worthwhile purchase!Steven L.

Overall: Here it is, the signature wah from the love him or hate him wah master himself, Kirk Hammett. For this review we'll just exclude Kirk, his playing style….or overuse of the wah itself and stick to the sound and use of this wah. After trying out the Dime wah, and a few others (still going to buy the Slash wah later) I decided on this one in particular for a few reasons. One it handles so well with a lot of gain going on, it does not get thin or cut out or sound like tin. This is great when it comes to that. Secondly, the graphics, while those aren't overall important I love the look of this pedal. Now, the downside is that is does not have that wide of a sweep, but the tone and great construction of the pedal make up for it. If you are in a Metallica cover band I say get it, I play a Gibson Les Paul, Fender Stratocaster through a Marshall Code 100 half stack (classic metal setting is near perfect) and can get those killer, sick wah sounds. Check one outJohn

I have been wanting to get this pedal for awhile and I am so glad I did. This pedal is amazing, not only the graphics and paint are second to none especially under the lights on stage, the basic design of this pedal is solid and you can customize your solos with this thing. The build of this pedal is sturdy and Dunlop did a year job with this. Kirk has these pedals spread throughout the stage when he is playing and I can see why, if your looking for a fabulous and amazing sounding wah pedal, you must get this!! Metallica and Kirk hammett fans this pedal is for you as well.Dave

The ONLY reason I gave this pedal 4 out of 5 stars, is that the TRS cable is hardwired to the unit. This causes at least two issues; if the cable goes bad, I have to either replace the unit, or hack it for a TRS jack. Second, it comes with a six-foot cable. I only need about 2 feet of cable from my pedalboard. So, I have to wrap up the excess and tuck it somewhere out of the way. I like to keep my pedals and cables neat, so this doesn't help. Other than that, the pedal works great. The sensitivity knob on the side is smooth and feels like it will hold up well. The pedal itself is surprisingly solid and travels smoothly. For $20, you really can't go wrong with this.seasidemessiah

I currently use this as my 2nd expression pedal with the Headrush. Before that I used 2 of them with the Boss GT-1000. Things I love: nice feel, low profile, lightweight, looks nice, on the smaller side so good for pedalboard (or in my case, cramming next to the huge Headrush). Personally, I would prefer it didn't have the long-ish attached cable because I'd like to use my own shorter patch cable, but it's a minor issue and I could alter it if I really cared that much. Don't let the super low price fool you, it's a legit alternative to bulkier, heavier, and pricier options, coming from someone who has owned Ernie Ball, Dunlop, Moog, and Line 6 pedals for this same purpose.Matt F