late to the party on low/high pass filters

Knowing what I know now, I'd get the HPF/LPF.

Lots to explore between the high and low settings.

Keep us updated.

The always-on Broughton is still the best piece of kit I've added to my rig!

 

I use a Broughton HPF to control stage rumble and boom. It's an always-on tool for me. Especially if the FOH guy is a little heavy handed with the subs. (Try to find one that isn't.)
Never used a LPF for bass. It might be handy for a cab sim effect, but I already have one built in my pre, so it's not really needed.
B.

 

I use the Broughton always on HPF for all kinds of music. I fill in with a lot of groups. I hide my HPF behind my rig. Sound guys are CONATANTLY telling me that I am ridiculously easy to dial in. It's a secret weapon.

My favorite thing about it is that it has no numbers on the dial. You have to use your ears.

 

There's a lot of magic in the LPF in the 2.5 - 5 khz range. A few folks labor under the assumption they'll sacrifice some level of definition...nope.

Riis

 

I got the HPF/LPF, love it.

 

Using my Broughton H/LPF as a cab sim of sorts. Tamed the highs I don’t want to send through my DI and also helps to shape my lows for FOH and the room.

The boost is also nice to drive a signal just a bit more.

Highly recommend!

 

Although I already have a HPF, has anyone tried dialing in an LPF to reduce sliding string noise? Just curious.

 

I completely agree. It’s the easiest and most useful tool in my arsenal. I’m a simple guy, I can do without the LPF or knob adjustments.

 

There are good reasons to place the HPF at the beginning of your chain but also good reasons to have the combo HPF/LPF at the end...

 

What are the good reasons?

 

I think every bassist who plays live or records at any time would benefit from both an HPF and LPF. I still want to get Broughtons myself. But I've been using an FDeck ver 1 HPF for years now and I have some other filtering on my board that sorta work as an LPF. But yeah, you really can't go wrong with Broughton and I'd grab the dual filter. It's simply a win win.

 

LMAO

By using an HPF prior to additional effects pedals helps by cutting out poopiee that might cause sonic anomalies by processing those 'low ass freqs.' Sayin' that... I tend to put 'spacial' effects such as reverb or delay last, after other signal processing and HPFs and/or LPFs...

 

I second this wholeheartedly!! I put my always-on HPF at the end of my chain and have an MXR comp at the beginning of my chain. These combine to give me the smoothest, most stable tone I can ask for. My recordings are insanely easy now....and as @CapnSev mentioned, its a great ear trainer to make you cognizant of how much bass you like in your tone.

 

The HPF is the more critical of the two for most bassists to have.

But if you’re just buying in, the combo HPF/LPF isn’t a bad idea either.

Pretty much comes down to whether you want to spend $165 now for the combo, or $95 now for the HPF (or $70 for the always on version) and possibly an additional $95 later if you decide you want the LPF as well.

But either way you’ll likely want at least a HPF if your amp or preamp doesn’t have one built in.

 

i like passive tone controls. not all my active basses have one. now, with the combo hpf/lpf, all my basses have it. my upright loves it too

 

Here's my little story L+HPF Story:
I play a 5 string passive bass at my Church. There is a revolving cast of volunteers managing sound. sometimes it's good, sometimes not so much. Almost always nobody knows what to do to make bass sound good....

My secret weapon has been my Sansamp Para DI. It has sweep-able mids, +bass/treble, you can even blend in some OD, which will defeat boomi-ness without sounding over-driven, if you do it right....
All that is good, but for sake of brevity, we'll reduce it to I needed something else to make it all work. I added a Keeley Bassist compressor. that's helped. It has a boost, which you can think of like a clean boost, but you can easily add just the right amount of compression via it's other two knobs... Even with all that, I was constantly chasing my brittle sounding high strings, or my boomy, muddy Low B string. Honestly, my tone can and has sounded pretty good with just those two pedals. Like I said, roving cast of volunteers at the mixing console. the Broughton L+HPF has been THE DEAL. It works well with the other two pedals. It can fix a fouled up mix pretty quick. I too was on the fence about whether to get the single knob version of the pedal, or to go with the 3-knob one. A good deal on the L+HPF came up on TB classifieds, and man am I glad it was't a good deal on the other. I would have bought it and not known the difference. What's great about the 3 knob pedal is that you can (obviously) dial out the non-usable low frequencies, but also, with the other knob, can dial out high freqs that you wouldn't otherwise know were a problem. What I do is dial out high frequencies just enough to get rid of any errant string noise. I use the boost or whatever they call it, knob to (actually) dial back a little on my signal. I have it right after my compressor. There is a whole thread on before-after the compressor if you search for it here on TB. Anyway, I don't think of my signal as cut, but more of a cleaned-up one. what I send to the sansamp para out of the broughton is just quality, usable, stabilized signal. Has all the character and tone you need, and doesn't have all the "garbage" frequencies you don't.
Hope this helps. - My apologies to the mods, if mentioning those other pedals was not solidly on topic. I felt like it was necessary to give some context to the OPOT.

 

I agree with "Stumbo",my Broughton HPF/LPF is always on .. My"Live" sound is tight and right because of it..

 

If you're playing live or recording anywhere with anyone worth their salt behind the board, they're already bandpassing your signal anyway. Doing it yourself before it gets to FOH just makes his job that much easier.

 

Somebody has to "bah humbug" this, right? Qualifiers are that I'm playing with capable PA (sometimes mixing myself) 99% of the time and most of the sound guys I hire know what they're doing. I absolutely prefer to leave the choice of hp/lp on any given source to the guy at FOH in order to tame the room, if necessary at all. My cabinet has enough of a natural roll-off for stage and I want the low/highs available to craft the overall mix. a little 30-50hz in the hands of a good sound guy is like getting a big hug from the mix, but you can EQ in what has been taken out (which is why some guys use them!!!). I get why so many people use these pedals, I'm just VERY happy NOT using them, so I guess I'm not attending the HP/LP party