Quote:
Originally Posted by bassbrad  My all time fave is EHX Bass Balls or the Rocktron Heart Attack which is a dual envelop filter that sweeps both up and down and crosses in the middle for an almost flange like effect they also include a funky fuzz effect. |
You know, for the filter junkie that I am, I've never tried either of those! Thought about the Bassballs quite often, but I always find ways to get distracted. lol
I posted a Filter Mini-Shootout in
another thread where someone was asking for similar advice... I figure I'll repost it since it may be some help here as well!
5sg.
Filters I currently own: 3Leaf Groove Regulator - My current favorite filter. Like others have said, no harsh peaks and very well mannered (in that I always know how it's going to react to my playing). Great thick tone, not bright, but not too dark. SUPER super funky, IMO. The less aggressive sound is exactly why I like it. It fits into a mix well, but isn't in your face.
Ashdown Bass Envelope Plus -
Avoid this one! Had to have the input maxed to get it to do ANYTHING. Sound wasn't even mediocre at best. Can't get rid of it.
Barge Concepts MB-1 Grinder - Swiss army knife filter. This one can get you
any envelope sound you want, and is a clone (and improvement) of the venerable Lovetone Meatball, which is quite rare and expensive these days. Downside, quite large and can be pretty complicated to dial in... 7 knobs, 4 switches, effects loop and jacks for THREE expression pedals.
Mojo Hand Analogue 442 Red - Clone of the old school DOD-440's, dialed in for bass. Simplicity in a filter compared to the Barge... level and range. Good thick middle-of-the-road sound and pedalboard friendly.
MXR M82 Bass Envelope Filter - More aggressive sounding filter, can get quite quacky and wet but still has a pretty wide variety of envelope sounds. Two KEY controls... Dry blend for keeping low end in your sound, Decay for getting the filter to close faster if you're going to play quicker stuff (runs, scales, staccato-ish funk stuff). Great sound. Plus, it's purple and it sparkles. hehehe
Subdecay Prometheus - Another filter that's not too bright, not too dark. Don't worry, definitely capable of a "standard" envelope sound. It can get wetter and more intense than the 3Leaf, but has a slightly darker overall tone, if that makes sense. I don't use the Step filter at all really... but it IS a very cool/interesting feature. This one was my favorite until I found the 3Leaf.
Filters I've owned and sold: Digitech Bass Synth Wah - Solid envelope sounds, with other wackier (in my opinion) modes. I used envelope and envelope octave, the others were throwaway for me. Even with the dry blend, it didn't keep low frequencies as much as I would've liked, but it wasn't TOO noticeable.
EHX Micro Q-Tron - Straighforward EHX filter sounds. Low Pass mode sounded pretty good, a little bit more on the aggressive filter side. But High Pass and Band pass were unusable IMO unless you are looking for "an effect." Low end was completely gone with those settings. Also, I found it to have a slight volume spike when engaged.
Ibanez AW7 Auto Wah - Has distortion built in, which you can have before or after the filter, a nice touch. Not a bad filter, but not bass specific and therefore did have a slight drop in low frequencies.
MXR M-188 Bass Auto Q - The Bass Auto Q had an interesting mojo to it. The Blend knob isn't for mixing in dry signal, it's for mixing in a "shimmer" effect, and the shimmer could make this pedal sound VERY watery (warbley, not "wet envelope filtery"). The filter itself sounds pretty good, adding in the shimmer makes for some pretty cool sounds. Quite unique.
Other filters I've only played: DOD FX25B - The guy who owned it pulled up
this video, and the FX25B sounded pretty darn close to that. But like others have said, I wasn't terribly impressed with the bypass. The blend knob was the only thing that saved this pedal from low end suck, but that's why it's there, right?
If I found one out there for cheap, I might pick it up for curiosity.
EHX Enigma Qballs - Not quite Swiss army knife, but you can still dial in a wide variety of sounds. It's got distortion built in, which reminded me slightly of a Bassballs sound. Again, High Pass and Band Pass dropped way too much low end for my taste, but Low Pass was definitely tasty. A good solid envelope sound, edging into bright and a little aggressive.
EHX XO Qtron+ - A classic straightforward envelope sound, not subtle but not TOO aggressive either. Again though, High pass and Band Pass just weren't to my taste. The Gain knob functions as Sensitivity, and the Boost knob is like a "turbo" switch for even more sensitivity... it actually managed to get close to the Mutron III in terms of briteness and quack. Like the other EHX filters I've played, it had more of a volume jump than I'd like.
Moog LPF - Not a bad sound, very "vintage." Interestingly, the Drive control is on whether the pedal is bypassed or not. Meaning, you'll have to set the Drive setting before you do ANYTHING else with any of your effects. BOOOO.
Mutron III (LSound modded) - WAAAAAY too bright for my taste, but WAAAAAY Bootsy! Duh, right? lol Tried it with a few different basses, overly hot pickups will open the filter pretty fast, sometimes the filter sweep would get lost. If you're serious about Bootsy, this is the one.
Pigtronix Envelope Phaser EP-2 - Currently #1 on my G.A.S. after getting some time with it. The envelope sound by itself is quite good, not overly bright, but still has plenty of quack and bite available. Adding in some Phaser, which is also good just by itself, will really make your envelope sound sing. Tough to describe though, check out Doug Johns' solo on Chew on a Dog, at 2:21.
WMD Super Fatman - Another Swiss army knife filter. LOTS of controls, with an LFO mixed in. 12 different settings on the Range knob will give you any shade of brightness you want and the LFO will add in anything from slightly swirly sounds to almost tremolo choppiness. Dial in anything you want.
