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Hi Folks,

A couple of questions for you fine, intelligent folks that hopefully someone will be able to answer. I don't know much at all about electronics and how they work, which of course leads me to do stupid shit, like plug a Yamaha FC5 sustain pedal into the expression/CV input of various effect pedals. I have found that with my Flint, it works sort of like an on/off type of function, and with my Your and You're makes it sound more octave-y. So, my questions are...

1) How does a sustain pedal work? I get that they're essentially an on/off switch for sustain, but in electrical terms what does that mean? Is it a voltage thing?
2) Am I a complete idiot for doing this? Will it have any negative effect on my pedals?

Thanks in advance!

Sustain pedals are usually a normally open switch, that is closed when you press the pedal. Sometimes the are normally closed and open when you press the pedal, but regardless of type, it's a switch that changes state when you press the pedal (either shorting the tip and sleeve of the cable, or breaking that connection).

I think for the most part, you can get away with plugging them into an expression input without doing damage. Be warned that a lot of expression input have a reference voltage supplied to a leg of a TRS jack, and sticking a TS cable into it can effectively short circuit the reference voltage to ground. A lot of circuitry is designed to tolerate working into a full load (short circuit), but, some may not... and it'll boil down to the design of the pedal and/or the selection of components.

I'd love to be able to say "no worries!" but it's best to consult the manufacturer/manual if possible.

crochambeau wrote:Be warned that a lot of expression input have a reference voltage supplied to a leg of a TRS jack, and sticking a TS cable into it can effectively short circuit the reference voltage to ground. A lot of circuitry is designed to tolerate working into a full load (short circuit), but, some may not... and it'll boil down to the design of the pedal and/or the selection of components.

Ok, so I’m so uninitiated in the ways of audio electronics that I don’t fully understand this. Like, I know there is a difference between tip-ring-sleeve and tip-sleeve, but I wouldn’t know how to explain that difference or how it works. I guess I need to do some reading!