Kurzweil CC-1

The Kurzweil CC-1 is a continuous control pedal, Kurzweil's own expression pedal for its keyboards and controllers. An expression pedal does not alter the signal passing through it the way an overdrive or delay does; instead, it sends a control signal that the connected instrument assigns to a parameter, such as volume, modulation depth or effect intensity. Kurzweil lists the CC-1 as a continuous control (expression) pedal available through online retailers¹.

Wiring and how it connects

The CC-1 connects with a single 1/4 inch stereo (TRS) connector¹. Kurzweil specifies the internal wiring precisely, because an expression pedal only works if the instrument reads the potentiometer the same way the pedal is wired:

• Wiper of the potentiometer connects to the tip of the 1/4 inch plug
• Top end of the resistance element connects to the ring
• Bottom end of the resistance connects to the sleeve

Kurzweil states that its keyboards require a pedal with a TRS 1/4 inch connector and a 10k linear potentiometer, wired exactly this way².

What it controls

As an expression pedal in the expression pedals family, the CC-1's job is set by the Kurzweil instrument it is plugged into: the keyboard assigns the pedal's position to a controllable parameter, and moving the pedal sweeps that parameter continuously. The 10k linear taper is what makes that sweep even across the pedal's travel¹³.

A note on the name

The CC-1 name is also used by Pete Cornish for an entirely different product, a distortion circuit. In a technical analysis of that pedal, Aion FX described it as "which Pete describes (correctly) as having two soft clipping stages", referring to its two soft clipping stages⁴. The Kurzweil CC-1 covered here is a control pedal, not a sound-shaping effects pedal, and the two share nothing beyond the name.

Questions