Ernie Ball VPJR Tuner + Volume Pedal

The Ernie Ball VPJR Tuner + Volume Pedal is a 2-in-1 pedal: a compact Ernie Ball volume pedal with a digital chromatic tuner built into the footboard itself, on a touch screen set into the top of the treadle¹². The idea is to save pedalboard space by combining two pedals most players already carry, and Ernie Ball pitches it as delivering the same rugged construction and time-tested performance as its traditional volume pedal, with what the maker calls an "enhanced definition digital tuner" for a "smooth, accurate, and visually pleasing tuning experience"¹.

It was announced at the NAMM Show in Anaheim in January 2019, where Premier Guitar described it as a combined tuner and active volume pedal that "saves space, power, and signal routing on pedal boards"³.

What it does, and how the tuner works

The pedal looks and feels like a regular Ernie Ball volume pedal, with a rugged metal housing and, under the hood, a durable PVC-coated Kevlar cord that keeps tension consistent through the foot sweep²⁴. The difference is the touch screen in the treadle, which handles both tuning and volume readout.

The tuner and volume modes hand off to each other automatically. Premier Guitar's launch coverage described a pedal that "automatically switches between tuner and volume modes depending on the signal level, allowing the player to tune at minimal volume"³, and gearnews.com reported that the pedal switches from volume to tuner once the guitar signal drops to a certain level, a threshold you can adjust and preset on the touch screen⁴. In practice, the tuner function also engages automatically when the treadle is heel down⁶.

You can also take manual control: a double tap on the touch screen toggles between modes, and the screen can be set to stay in volume mode or tuner mode regardless of where the pedal sits in its sweep¹.

In volume mode, the screen shows a large 1 to 10 level indicator. Premier Guitar's reviewer described it as "a monitor-filling 1-10 level indicator is right at your feet"⁶, and Guitar World's volume pedal buying guide notes that with the heel down it displays the tuner, and as you move the treadle up it shows a volume level, with 10 displayed when the pedal is fully toe down⁷.

The effects loop and rig setups

Alongside the familiar instrument In and Out jacks, the pedal carries Effects Send and Return jacks². That loop is what makes the pedal flexible in a larger rig, and MusicPlayers.com laid out four ways to use it:

• As a gain control for an amplifier
• As a gain control for pedals in the loop
• As a master volume for pedals
• As a gain control combined with a master volume control²

Active, not passive

The VPJR Tuner is an active volume pedal, as Premier Guitar's announcement described it³. That sets it apart from the standard Ernie Ball VPJR, which is a passive volume pedal, the kind Griffin Effects sells a buffer retrofit kit for⁸. For a player comparing the two, the active circuit is part of what supports the tuner's touch screen and automatic mode switching.

Where it comes from: the VPJR volume pedal

The pedal is a reworking of Ernie Ball's long-running VPJR volume pedal. Guitar.com reported at NAMM 2019 that Ernie Ball had "reimagined and reengineered" their popular volume pedal to build the tuner in⁹, and Premier Guitar's later review noted that Ernie Ball used "their industry-standard, rock-solid VPJR volume pedal as a template"⁶. The VPJR itself remains a common sight on pedalboards; Premier Guitar's interview with DJ Williams in 2023 lists an Ernie Ball VP Jr. among his gear¹⁰.

The VPJR Tuner was first shown as a prototype at NAMM 2019, and Delicious Audio shot a demo video of it in their Stompbox Booth at the show⁵.

What reviewers said

MusicPlayers.com's review in March 2020 found the combination practical, concluding:

The price drew more scrutiny. When MusicPlayers.com reviewed it, the pedal carried a $199 MSRP and was set to ship that spring². By the time guitar.com reviewed it in January 2021, the reviewer found the value harder to justify:

Ernie Ball's current list price is $249.99¹, so that comparison still holds: a player who is happy to fit two separate boxes on the board can undercut the VPJR Tuner's price with a standard VPJR plus a compact tuner like the TC Electronic PolyTune Mini. The argument for the 2-in-1 is the board space, the single unit, and the automatic tuner handoff, which is what reviewers on both sides of the price question credited it for²¹¹.

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