bass auto wah

It seems a lot of people are looking for this pedal because of Justin Chancellor and his use of it. If that's the case, I don't know what would make a suitable replacement as his use is very different from how I approach an autowah or a envelope filter.

But if you are just looking for something funky, I think the MXR Auto Q is a great autowah. Personally I like envelope filters better than autowahs or manual wahs, but the MXR is super wet sounding and funky.

 

Ibanez AW7 does a SUPERB job. It isn't very Active bass friendly though.

I used it on the song "Six Eight Groove" on my myspace, www.myspace.com/thecelltheorem.


i sold it a couple months back, and I'm gonna pick up another one soon. I really liked that thing.

 

I've got a Micro Q-tron, MXR Bass Auto Q, Ibanez AW7 and most recently a Digitech Bass Synth Wah. I know they're not "boutique" pedals, but I like them all in their own ways and swap them on my board depending on mood. I've never played the Guyatone, so I can't compare them directly to the filters I own. Sorry!

The MXR can get some pretty good sounds... fairly subtle to much more quacky and dynamic. What sets this pedal apart is the wild shimmer effect which can get you really crazy watery sounds. A good range of mild to very wild. It has a lot of controls and takes some tweaking to dial in the right sound, but it's worth it.

The Micro Q is a standard (but pretty good) sounding envelope but I've noticed a slight bump in volume when engaged. It's more of a one trick pony and is more subtle than the MXR, but it does a good job at middle of the road funk. The low-pass is the ONLY setting to use for for bass, though, unless you want to cut out all the low-end... which can still be an interesting effect.

I originally put the Ibanez AW7 up on the shelf... tried it, dismissed it and I can't figure out why. I gave it a real go a couple months later and was quite pleasantly surprised. It's a great sounding auto wah with distortion built in (which you can put before or after the wah). Distortion aside, it seems like a happy medium between the MXR and Micro Q.

The Digitech Bass Synth Wah actually has seven settings. The synth settings are WAY out of my range of taste but the first two settings (standard envelope and envelope with octave) are pretty d@mn cool. I'm still getting used to the BSW, but I've already gotten a really nice subtle funk sound, which was what I was looking for. The thing I really bought this pedal for, however, is that on settings 1 & 2, the CONTROL knob functions as a blend between dry and wet signal. Very cool, IMO.

Those are the four I've got, so that's all I can speak of. The December 2006 Bass Player reviews a bunch of overdrives, envelope filters and octavers: http://www.bassplayer.com/article/step-it/Dec-06/24282

The text didn't come in for me, if it doesn't for you, hit me up with a PM and I'll scan in the section on envelope filters and send it your way.

5sg

Edit: Sorry... took me a minute to type up my novel. hehehe

Just a quick note: I haven't noticed any problems using the AW7 with active vs. passive basses, but you might want to try before purchasing just to be sure.

5sg

 

I'm still perfecting the combining of separate pedals for distortion and envelope. Currently, I've got a Keeley mod Sparkle Drive after my envelope and things can get pretty insane. The Keeley has lots (and LOTS) of gain/boost, so it can be easy to go too far and melt some faces, particularly in combo with the Micro Q. hehehe

That's where the Ibanez comes in super handy. I can have my Sparkle Drive set for use by itself, the AW7 as my envelope or (with a flip of the handy switch) have distortion built in. No fuss, no muss.

I'll find some time in the next couple days to post some samples of various combinations of overdrive/envelopes and the Ibanez by itself. Right now, I've gotta cash out. Have to work in the morning and if I start playing now, I won't get ANY sleep!

5sg

P.S. Bear with me on the samples though... it's almost Christmas and there's still lots to do!

 

If you want an "Auto Wah" that continues to keep the wah effect going, you might also consider the BOSS AW3 Dynamic Wah - it gives you three different effects: Auto Wah (with foot control tap tempo), Humanizer (giving vowel effects to the wah), and a good envelope follower.

 

qtron or mxr bass auto q. the qtron gets my vote, go for an envelope filter, embrace the funk

 

I wanted an auto wah for the same reasons - to make weird, tweeky sounds like Justin. Not interested in a FUNKY envelope. I bought a BR2 and it didn't work for me because it needed a signal that was as hot as a nuclear reactor to make the gate open. I then bought a Micro Q-tron to replace it - it sounded NOTHING like the BR2 or what I was going for (and what I think the OP is going for).

No one here on TB seems to know what pedal sounds like the BR2 but actually works with the output of normal signal strength.

PS - I'm very happy the DO A SEARCH jerks didn't show up.

 

so did you every find a pedal equivalent to the guyatone br2??

From my reading in the forums the maxon af-9 seems to be compared to the br2 a lot.... Can anyone prove/disprove this??

 

I've got a Bass Auto Q here but I haven't found a use for it yet. That's not to say I won't - I almost sold my Bassballs at one point but it's the most consistently useful pedal on my board now, so maybe the Auto Q will find its place one day. Might be nice after a delay actually...

The one thing I do like about the Auto Q is that it's got all the controls it ought to have (unlike some pedals - I'm looking at you, Electro-Harmonix) and it's really easy to dial in the sound you want - the pulsing LED showing the rate of the secondary effect is a good example of their attention to detail in the user interface department. The main thing I don't like about it is that it sounds a bit too "hi-fi" - it needs something else to filthy it up. It's not the sort of pedal you switch on because you want to hear it.

 

I had the MXR (solid, well built pedal) and the above statement was my biggest problem with it (and maybe these types of pedals in general for my uses). It is a solid pedal but having 6 knobs to dial in sounds almost frustrated me trying to figure out how they interacted with each other. The shimmer effect is cool but unless you are playing in a band where far out sounds can used what do you do with it?

having said all that I am thinking of trying the AW7. It's pretty inexpensive and I sort of like having the distortion on board the pedal.

 

I use the DOD FX 25. I have found it to be one of the funkiest. My only complaint is it's high input sensitivity but them again, that's one of the things that makes it so expressive.

JKT

 

Personally I'd recommend just about anything over the BR2. I think it sucks. Very muddy and peaky. But that's me.