Personally, I love volume pedals, and have had one on my board for over 10 years. While there have been some updates, features added and modifications galore as of late, volume pedals in general were always about the same size, shape and functioned as you’d think they would. The cats over at Tapestry Audio decided enough was enough, and set to building a revolutionary product that has forever altered the volume pedal landscape: the Bloomery Volume Pedal.
The first thing you notice on the Bloomery is its size – measuring a mere 7.8″H x 2.25″W, it looks much smaller than most traditional volume pedals, which is because it is. Although smaller, the size has its advantages: first, it still feels nice and comfortable underneath your foot, which is key to any volume pedal. Second, it takes up WAY less room on your pedalboard, allowing you to squeeze another pedal or two into any crack or crevice you can muster. For its size, the Bloomery weighs in at almost 3 pounds, due to the fact that it is built from solid, durable steel. It also uses a slide potentiometer and a direct shaft drive, using no string, which has caused problems in the past for other volume pedals, to be sure.
Another great option for these pedals is that Tapestry Audio offers two different models, an Active and a Passive, so you can choose depending on what your current rig or setup is comprised of. While both models have a tuner out, the Active version features a dual buffer, for no tone suck, and a 20mA center negative 9mm power jack. The Passive version, on the other hand, lets you configure the tuner out to become an expression output if you so choose, turning it into an expression pedal with a quick flick of a couple internal DIP switches. Finally, both come with a smooth, flat pedal surface, but included in your box is a piece of strong and sturdy grip tape, which you can choose to put on or not (even though I always use it, it’s still nice to have the option, you know?).
Basically, this thing is the Cadillac of volume pedals: look, design, features and sound quality are unparalleled, and although the price might seem a bit high for a volume pedal, just know that it will probably be the last one you ever need. We’re always saying that pedal builders need to constantly re-invent the way we all think about traditional pedals, and Tapestry Audio has taken a huge step in putting themselves on the map for doing just that. Make sure to check out the rather straightforward (sorry) video below to hear how crisp the Bloomery sounds, and go see the Tapestry Audio website, too, and thanks to those guys for letting us check this bad boy out. Cheers!
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