Can anyone explain what a low pass filter does?

[Parkin92]

Hi folks,

Can anyone explain what exactly a low pass filter is and what it does please? I noticed Chris from Muse uses it on musewiki Bass
It's also mentioned in an interview with Shane Goodwin Chris' Bass tech DunlopTV - Muse Bass Tech, Shane Goodwin - YouTube (If you haven't already guessed I'm a bit obsessed with Muse) and I was wondering exactly what it is that it does?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[BrBss]

Low-pass filter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Muaguana]

You know the tone knob in passive basses and guitars? That's a low pass filter with a variable resistor (pot.)

 

[bongomania]

Additionally, bear in mind that by itself low-pass filter just means "it passes the lows" i.e. it cuts the highs. Very often when you see an LPF mentioned in an artist's gear list it also is understood to be resonant (has a big spike in strength around a certain frequency) and/or it is envelope-following (reacts to your playing).

Gotta dig deeper to know exactly what is meant in a specific case.