FX MFG Rant

[77PBass]

I just saw the MXR envelope filter review by Ed Friedland on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/BassGuitarMag

Ed does fantastic reviews of equipment.

The thing that got me was the fact that the MXR filter has both Dry and FX volume knobs.

WHY IS THIS NOT ON EVERY BASS EFFECT PEDAL???????

For years I have created my own mixing network for my fx pedals so I can blend in the dry sound and keep playing bass while using an effect.

You want to up the ante? How about including dry and fx along with a sum output. This would allow you to send your FX to a separate amp channel for further volume/tone manipulation.

Hats off to MXR! I will be selling my EBS IQ and getting a MXR pedal shortly.

[Smurf-o-Deth]

A dry output is not always needed (or wanted), and often times is implemented less-than-optimally. The MXR M82 requires a dry output, due to it being a band-pass filter (the BassIQ is low-pass, and does not require a dry output). Different products for different target markets. Personally, I (generally) prefer effects that don't need any sort of clean blending to sound good, and also generally dislike the clean blend implementation in most instances (I think a full-spectrum clean signal blended with a wet signal sounds pretty awful most of the time). Your mileage varies, obviously.

I would like to see a level knob (and often times an input gain) more often, though.

[bongomania]

I agree with Smurf 100%. I'd also point out that it costs more money in parts, and more labor during R&D, to add the blend and multiple outputs, and it takes up real estate in and on the pedal housing as well. Pedal makers try to avoid all of these things, either out of a desire to save money, or sometimes laziness.

[Jared Lash]

+1 to Smurf's whole post.

There are plenty of effects that have either a mix knob or separate dry and wet volumes. Some do this with excellent execution and some are fairly poor.

And in some cases a straight blend isn't optimal. Distortion is one of those for me. I think FEA Labs designed their distortion exactly right in terms of a crossover and clean blend but most don't sound right to me.

In any event, if I was more likely to want to blend my effects with my dry signal I think I'd prefer to have a blender pedal, the Xotic X-Blender specifically than individual blends on each effect.

[RCCollins]

I'm with smurf and company. If you want to blend in dry signal, you can use your amp's effects loop (for modulation and some other effect) or just split and blend your signal with your choice of a range of devices. but personally, I prefer to use effects that are properly optimized for bass geetar - mild OD rather than blended distortion, lowpass filters rather than bandpass (usually), modulation effects with frequency control, and so on.

[77PBass]

The implementation on the MXR pedal is great. The Soundblox Multiwave Distortion pedal does as well.

Most pedals eliminate the dynamics, punch and attack from a plucked note. I don't like giving that up.

What if you are using vintage equipment that has no fx loop?