Filter Help?

[bender918]

I'm in the market for an envelope filter. (or maybe a synth) My problem is every demo and sound clip I can find is so far away from my tone and playing style that I don't feel comfortable pulling the trigger. Especially on something I can't test through my own rig. I'm running a 76' P-bass through an Ashdown ABM 900 and ABM 410. (I've also got an ABM 115, but I don't use it much as we have four 18" subs in our PA and I run direct from my head) I've also got a Wooly Mammoth and I'll probably order some kind of an octave -probably an Octabass- in the next month or so.

I'm not a guy that steps out of the pocket much, and I'm not doing any big slap solos anytime soon, so lead tone is not what I'm looking for - what I want is a little shape without losing my low end. The closest thing I can think of is 'Canned Heat' or 'Planet Home'

It seems every sample clip I find online is either a bass that sounds thin to begin with or there is so much effect on the bass that it would be almost inapplicable. I'm assuming that it's just an adjustment on the sweep, but on cheaper filters and synths I've played if I wasn't wailing I got bogged down in mud.

I won't say money is no object, but I'm willing to invest in a nice pedal if I thought that it was really what I was looking for. I gotta to have my tone - it's what I have instead of chops.

Wow, I got a little wordy for a first post. Sorry about that.

Thanks.

[kevteop]

I think most filters are demoed with very wet, peaky, wobbly samples, but that doesn't mean they can't do a deeper tone with less movement - just turn the sensitivity down.

If filters generally sound a bit too reactive to you, maybe consider a phaser instead.

Oh and I'm not going to recommend any filters to you. Like fuzzes, it's all about your personal taste. I would, though, suggest starting with a Q-Tron. It's a good, practically "standard" filter, and will if nothing else serve as a reference point for the other pedals you try out.

[bender918]

I hadn't thought about trying a phaser...

I am leaning towards the Q-tron - I just haven't heard one that I really liked. The effects loop might be fun to play with though...

Maybe my quest to sound like an old moog is ill-fated.

[markjazzbassist]

for planet home a ehx bassballs in distortion mode at around 9 to 11 o'clock gets that tone.

that might be a great pedal to get if you're wanna more subtle, yet still enveloping tones.

for canned heat, it's keyboard bass, so an octaver using just the octave down will get you there.

[kevteop]

Originally Posted by bender918

Maybe my quest to sound like an old moog is ill-fated.

The EHX Bass Micro Synth does a surprisingly grin-inducingly good impersonation of that sort of thing all in one box, but you do have the restriction of iffy tracking on notes from low E to around A. Otherwise I'd recommend a filter with an FX loop (so yeah the Q-Tron+ would be about the cheapest option), plus an (analogue) octave down and a good fuzz stuck in the loop.

[dubsymmetry]

Originally Posted by bender918

Maybe my quest to sound like an old moog is ill-fated.

you could sound like a new moog though ; )

I have mf-101 and you can set it just the way you like it... zero envelope with some resonance for a deep reaggae/dub tone..
add envelope sensitivity to taste.. you can open the filter with a pedal also. or you could experiment with a very responsive setting, but very low on the mix.

I read a few times that it´s hard to set, but that´s not what I experienced.