Something like the Bass Murf?

[prsbass]

I had a Murf for awhile and decided I couldn't find a place for it in the band I was in and turned it for something else.
Now I think I might have a place for something like that but I was thinking maybe I'd try a different pedal.

Any suggestions for a pedal that will do the resonant filter thing with tones following a note. I'd like to be able to make my own patterns instead having just the preset selections on the Murf.

I now Zvex has the cool Ringtone, Seekwah or Ooh Wah, has anybody tried those on bass? They kind of do what I'm looking for.

Any other options?

[Jared Lash]

I don't know about the Ringtone, but I thought I remembered someone (bongo maybe?) saying that they tried the Ooh Wah and it completely cut bass frequencies.

Neither of them is really doing the same thing a MuRF is, but they do sound cool in their own right. That said, the Zvex stuff actually seems to give LESS control than the MuRF, not more.

[bongomania]

Yeah, it was me. The Ooh Wah is a bandpass filter with a center frequency that is fairly high for a bass guitar, so any of the knob settings other than "fully open" will by definition be rolling off the low end, sometimes to an extreme. So the only way to use an Ooh Wah with bass IMO is with an external clean blend. If you do have a blender, then it's worth a go.

The Ringtone OTOH was terrific with bass. But BigO's right, the Zvexes have fewer patterns to work with than the MuRFs (well technically the analog pots on the Zvexes = infinite patterns, but they all consist of six or eight equally-spaced steps).

In order to have the more complex patterning of the MuRF, but programmed by you, I think you'd be dealing with a modular synth, or a MIDI-controlled filter slaved to a sequencer. That second option would be fairly easy to do, but would require more hardware than just a pedal.

[whoatherechunk]

Maybe a Line 6 FM4 might suit your needs.

[RickenBoogie]

I kinda miss my bass MuRF too. Same problem, no use with the band, and wishing I had more control over the patterns. Still, it's a fun toy, and to my knowledge, there's no single pedal out there that does exactly what it does.

[prsbass]

Originally Posted by bongomania

In order to have the more complex patterning of the MuRF, but programmed by you, I think you'd be dealing with a modular synth, or a MIDI-controlled filter slaved to a sequencer. That second option would be fairly easy to do, but would require more hardware than just a pedal.

Could you elaborate on either of these topics? I've ventured down either one of those roads and know nothing about them.

Anybody have sounds clips of bass going through a Line 6 FM4? All I could find was guitar wankers and none of them had examples of what I'm looking for.

[prsbass]

Originally Posted by TheBigO

Neither of them is really doing the same thing a MuRF is, but they do sound cool in their own right. That said, the Zvex stuff actually seems to give LESS control than the MuRF, not more.

I sort of listed them so nobody would suggest them because I know what they do and while I agree they seem very cool they fall short of what I want by a little bit.
I also mentioned them to get some opinions that I might not have considered.
It's good to that the Ringtone works well because I was considering settling on that if nothing else turns up.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by prsbass

Could you elaborate on either of these topics? I've ventured down either one of those roads and know nothing about them.

The basic concept behind both is the same, although modular synths are usually all-analog and MIDI sequencing is digital control over either digi or analog signals. The two concepts can overlap, too. The idea is that you have a signal processor (in your case a resonant filter) that is designed to have one or more of its parameters controlled by an external device, and an external device (a hardware or software sequencer, or a collection of pattern-generating synth modules) that does the controlling.

A simple version of this is an expression pedal controlling a Moogerfooger. The pedal is providing a control voltage change which "turns the knob" of a parameter on the Mooger.

So if you use a MIDI-controllable filter, you'd need to know that each "knob" parameter has a specific MIDI number that identifies it, and a range of 128 possible values (going from "0" to "10" on the knob). You would write a pattern of "events" on a sequencer, and it would look like a monophonic line of music- you'd use whole notes, eighth notes, rests, etc. to create the rhythmic pattern, and instead of pitched notes up and down a staff you'd be choosing different values from 0 to 127. It's just like writing a bass line. Loop the pattern by setting the sequencer to repeat indefinitely. Then you hit "play", and run a signal through the filter, and voila! the filter is changing in exactly the pattern you programmed.

There are software and hardware versions of both sequencers and signal processors, and if you're using MIDI then the software and hardware versions are compatible with each other. You could keep the entire process inside your laptop, running your bass signal through an A/D-D/A converter, or you could run the bass signal through an analog filter and use either software or hardware sequencers to control it.

[whoatherechunk]

I'll try and record some of my Line 6 FM4 tonight. One of the pedals you're inquiring about even is modeled on that pedal. That pedal being the Z-Vex seeker wah. I really don't know why more people talk about this pedal because it sincerely rocks.But obviously that's my opinion.

Originally Posted by prsbass

Could you elaborate on either of these topics? I've ventured down either one of those roads and know nothing about them.

Anybody have sounds clips of bass going through a Line 6 FM4? All I could find was guitar wankers and none of them had examples of what I'm looking for.

[prsbass]

Originally Posted by whoatherechunk

I'll try and record some of my Line 6 FM4 tonight. One of the pedals you're inquiring about even is modeled on that pedal. That pedal being the Z-Vex seeker wah. I really don't know why more people talk about this pedal because it sincerely rocks.But obviously that's my opinion.

That'd be much appreciated.

Do you have a seek wah?

[prsbass]

Thanks Bongo, I might go down that route, maybe. Do you have a resonant filter in mind that would be a starting point for putting something like together?

[bongomania]

The Akai MPC42 is a good option as it is easy to find and not too expensive. The Waldorf Mini 4-pole is another good choice, but harder to find. There are lots of spendier options.

[SFjonstarr]

The Mfc 42 is pretty cool for the money. It can do some pretty cool stuff once you spend some time with it. You might also want to check out the Adrenaline pedal by Roger Linn. It can do alot of the sequenced filter stuff very well and the newer versions are pretty bass friendly. A friend of mine had the Ringtone for a while, but it was hard to dial in with the huge range on each of the little trim pots. It sounded cool though. I haven't tried the Seekwah yet.

[SpankyPants]

I had the Akai for a bit, and it was a great sounding unit. Easy to use, too.

I did find that it added some hiss to my signal, though. Maybe it was just my unit?

[SFjonstarr]

I had some hiss when I had it too. I think it's because you have to boost the gain so much to use an instrument level signal. I think it's a good deal quieter when you feed it line level. I never had any noise when I fed it synth signals at line level.

[SpankyPants]

IIRC, it was in the effects loop of my amp...

But I may be wrong...

[SFjonstarr]

I sold mine because the Midi control response wasn't working right. Without the Midi control I couldn't play and change the settings at the same time. It would probably be perfect for someone with an electric piano or something where you could play with one hand and twist the knobs with the other.