Filters up or down - what's your fav?

[Al Krow]

Are you a DOWN-sweep lover or do you prefer to keep it UP? If you like both but had to choose one over the other, which would you go for and why?

What's your filter pedal journey been so far and where have you landed in terms of the pedal that get's you that juiciest filter face?

 

[sillyfabe]

Can’t choose one! All my filters have options for both.

Subdecay Prometheus
Source Audio Manta
EHX Q-Tron +
WMD Super Fatman
EHX HOG2 (reverse exp)
Various models on Zoom MS-100BT, Eventide H9

 

[gfen]

My Pigtronix EP2 has a switch for either, I definitely prefer down sweep.

 

[Al Krow]

Can’t choose one! All my filters have options for both.

Subdecay Prometheus
Source Audio Manta
EHX Q-Tron +
WMD Super Fatman
EHX HOG2 (reverse exp)
Various models on Zoom MS-100BT, Eventide H9

Do you have particular songs / styles / material where you prefer using one over the other?

 

[Al Krow]

Interestingly, I'm not sure I've ever come across a pedal that does only down-sweep. Seems to me the choice is between up-sweep alone or both?

 

[FilterFunk]

Interestingly, I'm not sure I've ever come across a pedal that does only down-sweep. Seems to me the choice is between up-sweep alone or both?

Good point...

 

[dannybuoy]

The only way is up.

 

[Robertron]

If I had to choose one it'd be Down but luckily I don't have to.

 

[Bassist4Eris]

When I first got my EHX Enigma Q-Balls I thought it was cool that it could sweep either way, but I really only ever use it sweeping upwards.

 

[Bassist4Eris]

What's your filter pedal journey been so far and where have you landed in terms of the pedal that get's you that juiciest filter face?

I started my fx journey in the late 90s with a Zoom 506. I thought it was pretty good for what it was.

Around 2006 the switches started to go, so I bought a Boss ME-50B multi. But I really hated the autowahs in that pedal, which is one reason I got into buying individual pedals.

I started with the Boss AW-3, then the EHX Micro Q-Tron, then the EHX Enigma Q-Balls. At that point I was satisfied with my fingerstyle filter tone, but not my slap tone. For that, I bought the MXR Bass Envelope Filter, and had both filters on my board.

Then I went a little crazy. I started buying a ton of pedals, and a huge board. During this phase I bought a Digitech Bass Synth Wah, a Source Audio Bass Envelope Filter, and a Pigtronix Envelope Phaser, and had them all on one board.

When I decided to downsize back to something more manageable, I ended up back at the same two I started with: the MXR BEF, and the EHX Enigma.

Then one day I was dialing in the Enigma and I finally got a slap tone out of it that I liked. One that was pretty similar to the MXR in fact. So now I just rock the Enigma.

And that's the exciting story behind that.

 

[cosmicevan]

3 Leaf faithful when it comes to filters. Rocking a Chromatron currently and with a double switch flick and a 1/4 twist of a knob I can quickly bounce between both. I default to up but when the funk gets too freaky we switch it to down to i vert that sucka!

 

[DDXdesign]

My favorite one does both at the same time (aggie filter twin), but it's cool to be able to pick either direction depending on the sound you need, like on a mutron.

 

[mikewalker]

this thread could really benefit from some sound clips...

 

[hennessybass]

How about two filters on one board... one up / one down
A board from many years ago.

 

[superheavyfunk]

To keep it simple: up sweep is the standard/most useful/most versatile but down sweep is the true test of a good filter imo

 

[avvie]

Interestingly, I'm not sure I've ever come across a pedal that does only down-sweep. Seems to me the choice is between up-sweep alone or both?

The MXR BEF is downsweep only.
I like it generally, but don't use it because the lowest tone that closes is a speaker beater.
@FilterFunk

 

[Al Krow]

The MXR BEF is downsweep only.
I like it generally, but don't use it because the lowest tone that closes is a speaker beater.
@FilterFunk

Are you 100% on this? It's certainly a bandpass rather than low pass filter, but I had understood it to be upsweep rather than downsweep.

Shame you're not able to use it. I use a Thumpinator at the start of my chain, but any decent HPF should work, to cut out the low end crud from my signal and which provides a fair degree of speaker protection in the process.

 

[DDXdesign]

The MXR BEF is downsweep only.
I like it generally, but don't use it because the lowest tone that closes is a speaker beater.
@FilterFunk

The BEF sweeps up as the filter opens, but as it closes it comes back down and then you get the THWOMP you're talking about.

 

[Al Krow]

3 Leaf faithful when it comes to filters. Rocking a Chromatron currently and with a double switch flick and a 1/4 twist of a knob I can quickly bounce between both. I default to up but when the funk gets too freaky we switch it to down to i vert that sucka!

My own journey started with the Aggie FT, which has the versatility of both sweeps at once, but I quickly came to realise I preferred the sound of one direction of sweep at a time and that I was looking for something a little less 'civilised' than Aggie.

I've since had both the MXR BEF and Fwonkbeta, both of which I'd be very happy to recommend; for me their only real limitation was that they we're uni-directional.

I'm now left with:

• two dedicated filters: the SA Manta and, like you, a 3Leaf pedal in the shape of the GR2; and
• two pedals with pretty good filter capability: the HX Stomp and the Boss SY-1 synth pedal.

All provide a huge variety of filter soundscapes and I've still got a long way to go in terms of getting my head around everything they can do!

 

[OptimalOptimus]

My Mutron can go from up to down with the second footswitch so