- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
- 20,350
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
I've been using a 'crossover' pedal now for a couple years. I find it to be a great pedal-board utility, but have been sort of underwhelmed by TB's representation of them in the Effects forum. So... I guess it's time to fix that.
I want to talk about the hows and whys of using a crossover, have a resource for those who want to look at options, and give some quick pros and cons of the ones I've got experience with.
So...What is a crossover pedal and why would you want one?
-A cross-over pedal takes your bass' signal and splits it in two... with the 'lows' below a point going one place, and the 'highs' going somewhere else. They allow for you to adjust the frequency of where the 'split' happens to tailor your tone. In some cases you can have effects on both the ‘high’ signal and low signal, and in other cases you can process just the highs. From there, most pedals allow you to adjust the volume and ‘mix’ the highs and lows back into a single signal; or you can send the individual signals to different amps (tube guitar amp for the highs, your choice of bass amps for the lows).
-Often times pedals allow you to mix clean signal with the effect, which is great but sometimes that’s not the best option. You may want clean lows with your favorite fuzz on the mids and above, or you want clean tone underneath your envelope filter, or you have an envelope/filter that goes to extremes and you want to tame it a bit in the lows. ‘spatial’ effects (Delay/Reverb) often can get muddy/washy in the lows but if you could only apply it to the upper reaches it would work great. Or if you’re using chorus you often will get ‘beating’ in the lows that is really awful.
-Some of the pedals allow you to apply stuff to both the top (HPF) and bottom (LPF), in which case you can put each through different effects. Fuzz on the low stuff, envelope on the high stuff or vice versa?
-I also like that I use a crossover pedal as an on/off single-loop switcher too.
So, yeah…you get the idea as to how it might give you some flexibility and could improve your sound.
My experience due to a packed pedal-board is with ‘compact’ crossovers. It’s a limited field, and they’re hard to nail down in a search due to how people list/market them. Here are the three I have (and a few thoughts):
-The Iron Ether Divaricator
- John Kallas' Cross-mix
-Byte Heaven Sugar Britches
-The Divaricator is the one I started with. I loved the concept and there's a lot of 'good' with this one. Pro's: slick implementation of a 'Y' (insert) cable for the HPF loop, ability to mix your clean signal with both high and low. A noise-gate for the loop if you're using noisy fuzzes, etc. The 'excite' feature allows for some processing options, including a decent rudimentary fuzz/distortion (great for things like envelopes that need mid/high harmonic content if you don't want to carry a separate fuzz), an octave effect and something that's akin to a bass-tuned verb/thickener. It also has all top-mounted jacks for tight boards. Cons: you can only apply effects to the 'high' loop. Wasn't an issue for me, but if you want different things running on the lows, no dice. I didn't find the octave or density (verbish option) to be terribly useful/usable. The biggest negative is that there's some signal processing 'exciter' happening that you can't defeat. I ended up wanting something that when engaged but without effects was as close to my clean sound as possible.
-The Cross-Mix was my next try. Pros: The most compact, and a simple feature set. It allows you to split your signal and have effects on both high and low signals then mix them back, or if you only use the high you can mix that with clean lows. When you set the levels on it to be unity with your bypassed signal...it sounds exactly the same. No bumps, humps or funkiness. And it's a small thing...but I really like the placement of the LED on this. Its not under my foot or obscured in any way during on/off. Cons: may be hard to find, only a small number made, though you might be able to work something on a custom order. I also found that this was more prone to getting some form of oscillation/feedback on the high channel at loud stage volume. I've been thinking around the how or why and haven't come up with anything, given with all effects in it's HPF loop bypassed, it sounds dead on to my 'bypass tone'. I found I had to be more careful with effect/gain staging than with the Divaricator. Not a deal breaker but something to think about.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]is my newest. Made by a TB'er...it didn't come up in any of my searches previously. It falls somewhere in-between the Cross-Mix and the Divaricator. Same size as the Iron Ether box but lots of side-mount jacks. This one has the added feature of a phase switch on the high-loop..and it only has a high loop, not a low. Pros: This one is cheaper than the others by a good chunk, y'all. That phase switch is nice. I found that there IS a difference when you flip it between + and - (some fuzzes switch phase, so this may help when re-blending), and I had better resultant tone with it set to '-' for me, so nice move. So far, it seems less prone to any gain/feedback on the high loop (but I haven't used it on stage, only in testing at home). Works at 9 or 12v...so if you have an extra 12v out on your power supply, you can utilize it. Cons: the jack layout is a little wonky, I get it from a visual flow perspective, but having jacks on the "4-corners" is a bit funky for cable routing. The graphic design...looks like it was done by an engineer.
Other pedals or options out there:
(if size isn't a concern)
Link Removed
Link Removed
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] (not in production)
Honorable mention: Rolls SX21 (small and splits, but isn't a 'pedal' and doesn't have the combine/remix portion...you could get away with it if you've got a pedal that will sum two signals to one.
ANY OTHERS? Let's add 'em to the list!
I want to talk about the hows and whys of using a crossover, have a resource for those who want to look at options, and give some quick pros and cons of the ones I've got experience with.
So...What is a crossover pedal and why would you want one?
-A cross-over pedal takes your bass' signal and splits it in two... with the 'lows' below a point going one place, and the 'highs' going somewhere else. They allow for you to adjust the frequency of where the 'split' happens to tailor your tone. In some cases you can have effects on both the ‘high’ signal and low signal, and in other cases you can process just the highs. From there, most pedals allow you to adjust the volume and ‘mix’ the highs and lows back into a single signal; or you can send the individual signals to different amps (tube guitar amp for the highs, your choice of bass amps for the lows).
-Often times pedals allow you to mix clean signal with the effect, which is great but sometimes that’s not the best option. You may want clean lows with your favorite fuzz on the mids and above, or you want clean tone underneath your envelope filter, or you have an envelope/filter that goes to extremes and you want to tame it a bit in the lows. ‘spatial’ effects (Delay/Reverb) often can get muddy/washy in the lows but if you could only apply it to the upper reaches it would work great. Or if you’re using chorus you often will get ‘beating’ in the lows that is really awful.
-Some of the pedals allow you to apply stuff to both the top (HPF) and bottom (LPF), in which case you can put each through different effects. Fuzz on the low stuff, envelope on the high stuff or vice versa?
-I also like that I use a crossover pedal as an on/off single-loop switcher too.
So, yeah…you get the idea as to how it might give you some flexibility and could improve your sound.
My experience due to a packed pedal-board is with ‘compact’ crossovers. It’s a limited field, and they’re hard to nail down in a search due to how people list/market them. Here are the three I have (and a few thoughts):
-The Iron Ether Divaricator
- John Kallas' Cross-mix
-Byte Heaven Sugar Britches
-The Divaricator is the one I started with. I loved the concept and there's a lot of 'good' with this one. Pro's: slick implementation of a 'Y' (insert) cable for the HPF loop, ability to mix your clean signal with both high and low. A noise-gate for the loop if you're using noisy fuzzes, etc. The 'excite' feature allows for some processing options, including a decent rudimentary fuzz/distortion (great for things like envelopes that need mid/high harmonic content if you don't want to carry a separate fuzz), an octave effect and something that's akin to a bass-tuned verb/thickener. It also has all top-mounted jacks for tight boards. Cons: you can only apply effects to the 'high' loop. Wasn't an issue for me, but if you want different things running on the lows, no dice. I didn't find the octave or density (verbish option) to be terribly useful/usable. The biggest negative is that there's some signal processing 'exciter' happening that you can't defeat. I ended up wanting something that when engaged but without effects was as close to my clean sound as possible.
-The Cross-Mix was my next try. Pros: The most compact, and a simple feature set. It allows you to split your signal and have effects on both high and low signals then mix them back, or if you only use the high you can mix that with clean lows. When you set the levels on it to be unity with your bypassed signal...it sounds exactly the same. No bumps, humps or funkiness. And it's a small thing...but I really like the placement of the LED on this. Its not under my foot or obscured in any way during on/off. Cons: may be hard to find, only a small number made, though you might be able to work something on a custom order. I also found that this was more prone to getting some form of oscillation/feedback on the high channel at loud stage volume. I've been thinking around the how or why and haven't come up with anything, given with all effects in it's HPF loop bypassed, it sounds dead on to my 'bypass tone'. I found I had to be more careful with effect/gain staging than with the Divaricator. Not a deal breaker but something to think about.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]is my newest. Made by a TB'er...it didn't come up in any of my searches previously. It falls somewhere in-between the Cross-Mix and the Divaricator. Same size as the Iron Ether box but lots of side-mount jacks. This one has the added feature of a phase switch on the high-loop..and it only has a high loop, not a low. Pros: This one is cheaper than the others by a good chunk, y'all. That phase switch is nice. I found that there IS a difference when you flip it between + and - (some fuzzes switch phase, so this may help when re-blending), and I had better resultant tone with it set to '-' for me, so nice move. So far, it seems less prone to any gain/feedback on the high loop (but I haven't used it on stage, only in testing at home). Works at 9 or 12v...so if you have an extra 12v out on your power supply, you can utilize it. Cons: the jack layout is a little wonky, I get it from a visual flow perspective, but having jacks on the "4-corners" is a bit funky for cable routing. The graphic design...looks like it was done by an engineer.
Other pedals or options out there:
(if size isn't a concern)
Link Removed
Link Removed
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] (not in production)
Honorable mention: Rolls SX21 (small and splits, but isn't a 'pedal' and doesn't have the combine/remix portion...you could get away with it if you've got a pedal that will sum two signals to one.
ANY OTHERS? Let's add 'em to the list!
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