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Envelope filter
- Thread starter dideah
- Start date
I'm not sure he is using an effect. If you listen there's very obviously clean bass being played in parts. And then there is a very heavily effected part which to me sounds like a synth.
It definitely doesn't sound like a bass through an envelope filter, more like an octave doubled part with a keyboard like ADSR envelope. You could cop it on a bass but it would take more than just a standard filter.
Just as a note, when Bootsy DOES use effected bass he's generally triamping his signal with different effects in each chain and will often stack envelope filters. His tones can be difficult to cop.
Envelope Filter: 3-Leaf Audio Groove Regulator FTW, (all the funk, enough options to get your sound but not overwhelm you and NO VOLUME SPIKES!) Here is what I tried and why it didn't work for me.
1) EHX Q-TRON 24V: The sound was NASTY! (in a very good way). It could deliver a nice wet drippy filter and was very funky. Gor rid of b/c: weird power supply, bypass had more to be desired, BIG vlolume spikes (get a limiter and place after it).
2) Boss AW-3: It was OK but sounded lifeless to me. It couldn't quack worth a damn and the only cool part was the humanizer which allows you to pick between 5 vowels and how it interacts. Its cool but not worth it to me. Bypass (buffered) was fine but no more than 3 Boss pedals or bye bye tone. Got rid of b/c: no useful for me.
3) EHX Q:BALLS: Now this thing was FUN! Like an upgraded Q-TRON, used 9V power supply, excellent bypass but still had BIG volume spikes (see limiter!). Could dial in the start and stop for a lot of sounds but it seemed limited on its range (useable) to me. Got rid of it b/c: discovered the 3-leaf
4) EHX NANO BASSBALLS: Tried this little pedal for a while and messed around with the internal trimpots and it was fun. Getting a Bass Micro Synth back soon and it can make the sound of this. Got rid of it b/c: getting a BSW, this pedal is not for everyone but I thought it sounded pretty cool.
5) 3-LEAF AUDIO GROOVE REGULATOR: The bees knees! It is based off the Lovetone Meatball (never tried one or seen one up close). But it gets all the good and no bad. Bypass is amazing, built rock solid, can get burpy, wet, stinky and downright FUNKY! Can also get synthy if you add an octaver plus fuzz. ( I use an OC-2 and Wooly Mammoth clone). It can zap, stun and downright just sound AMAZING! This will never leave my board and trying to get a Proton...
1) EHX Q-TRON 24V: The sound was NASTY! (in a very good way). It could deliver a nice wet drippy filter and was very funky. Gor rid of b/c: weird power supply, bypass had more to be desired, BIG vlolume spikes (get a limiter and place after it).
2) Boss AW-3: It was OK but sounded lifeless to me. It couldn't quack worth a damn and the only cool part was the humanizer which allows you to pick between 5 vowels and how it interacts. Its cool but not worth it to me. Bypass (buffered) was fine but no more than 3 Boss pedals or bye bye tone. Got rid of b/c: no useful for me.
3) EHX Q:BALLS: Now this thing was FUN! Like an upgraded Q-TRON, used 9V power supply, excellent bypass but still had BIG volume spikes (see limiter!). Could dial in the start and stop for a lot of sounds but it seemed limited on its range (useable) to me. Got rid of it b/c: discovered the 3-leaf
4) EHX NANO BASSBALLS: Tried this little pedal for a while and messed around with the internal trimpots and it was fun. Getting a Bass Micro Synth back soon and it can make the sound of this. Got rid of it b/c: getting a BSW, this pedal is not for everyone but I thought it sounded pretty cool.
5) 3-LEAF AUDIO GROOVE REGULATOR: The bees knees! It is based off the Lovetone Meatball (never tried one or seen one up close). But it gets all the good and no bad. Bypass is amazing, built rock solid, can get burpy, wet, stinky and downright FUNKY! Can also get synthy if you add an octaver plus fuzz. ( I use an OC-2 and Wooly Mammoth clone). It can zap, stun and downright just sound AMAZING! This will never leave my board and trying to get a Proton...
Mmm...stacking filters.
Yeah, Bootsy has had a filter in the up position feeding one in the down position in the same chain or had his highs using the down sweep while his lows have one sweeping up.
His rig is complex and often changing. He seems to prefer Mutrons and FX25s but I know he's made use of the Chunk 00Funk as well. Given how many products he endorses without seeing his actual setup for a specific recording or live gig it's pretty much impossible to say what his effects chain is at any given time.
Back on topic, I've used and dug a ton of different filters. Right now I have (and love) an Iron Ether Xerograph but there are a lot of great ones floating around. Others I've liked:
Original Mutron
old school DOD FX25
Maxon AF-9
Pigtronix EP-1 (I've heard the EP-2 is even better but haven't tried it)
Xotic Bass Robotalk (with the cool sample & hold filter)
Xotic Robotalk 2
Chunk 00Funk
EHX Qtron and Qtron+
MXR Bass Envelope Filter
EHX Bassballs
EMMA DiscumBOBulator
EBS BassIQ
Tone Factor Analogue Filter Red
Moog MF-101 Low Pass Filter
Frostwave Funk-A-Duck
Guyatone BR-2
MXR Auto Q
WMD Fatman
Subdecay Prometheus
EHX Enigma
3Leaf Audio Groove Regulator
You might be catching on- lots of variability from filter to filter. They're very cool like that. I have the Haz MuTron III+ (reissue), an original MuTron III (that needs a refurb), and a QTron+, and after the last GTG I'm seriously thinking about either the MXR or the Source Audio.
I'm shocked I like this pedal...not bad at all. I kept this over the 3Leaf Proton.
On his June concert he primarily used a FX25 (Kermit green). But, on his pedalboard he as (2) FX25s, Hazlab Mutron III, MXR BEF, EHX BMS and about 10 other effects pedals. I'll try to post an actual pic I took of his pedalboard later...
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I've happily used a Maxon AF-9 for a couple years now. I've preferred it to everything else I've tried.
Personally I've only found a couple filters that I thought were terrible or unusable. For the most part it's really a matter of finding the one that gives the sounds you like while also playing the way you want it to. I think that more than any other effect an envelope filter's value is really dependent on your technique and style of play.
I would not go so far as to say they are all good, but yes, there is no "one" correct one. I don't know why I have to say this to you... I think you know this... but the player's touch interacts with a filter like it does with few other effects. Add in bass tone and amp, and really there can't be a one-size-fits-all envelope filter. Plus there's just differences of taste in what one wants to hear from a filter.
I'd think of this thread as a good list of pedals to start checking out, and any that get mentioned many times (like the 3-Leaf) are probably going to be a good bet to "work".
I love my Aguilar Filter Twin... Most of all because it keeps my bass tone intact and fat then adds the effect and it also is very clear and articulate as opposed to being muffled... I've had a Groove Regulater, Micro QTron and BassBalls... No looking back after I got the Aguilar.
Although, the individual on/off switches of the exotic pedal is very intriguing... I need to try one.
Although, the individual on/off switches of the exotic pedal is very intriguing... I need to try one.
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You'll quickly learn a good setting for your sensitivity level so that you can have your filter work best with your playing style and your bass' output level.
That was one nice thing about the MXR I tried at the GTG - it had a narrow sensitivity threshold, allowing pretty loud playing that didn't open the filter hardly at all, and then a bit harder and it started to open, pretty much most of the way. On most it seems more like soft playing opens it a little, and medium and hard open it more and more, like a continuum of filter motion. The MXR seemed a bit more like a pretty distinct threshold. I think their "Q" control enables these kinds of settings, and it was pretty cool.
