Leaderboard

Yes, exactly what the entertainent industry needs is more people who keep quiet and don’t have an opinion on anything. That’s entertainment. The saddest part of this is the reaction of so many who are outraged by one man speaking his mind. Remember when having an opinion and talking about it was a regular thing? What an utter shambles the world has become where speaking openly and without fear draws the ire of those who’d rather live in a bubble with the precious fallacy they’ve cultivated around their sacred cows. Let the man speak. If you don’t like it, tough. Learn not to get offended by opinions other than your own. There’s a lot he said which was a little uncofortable to read but I’m guessing he got to where he is by being a straight-talker and not someone scared to upset a Beatle or two. Consider that maybe they tried harder and did better because of his directness. Being a producer is a lot more than just “Well done, boys, you’ve just recorded your first number one!”

Once it stops being fun, get out of there. Doing nothing is better than being miserable.

After seeing this Fender Custom Shop 1959 NOS come up on the GuitarGuitar website, and seeing that it was in stock at my local store, I had to try it! I headed over there on Wednesday and compared it to the new American Original 60s P in LPB. The American Originals really are pretty killer for the price is what I discovered! I love a thicker neck on a P, and the shape they've chosen for this series remains full in the hand all the way down to to the first fret. The tone of it was nice and thick with plenty of midrange punch, a tone that reminded me of slightly overwound pickups. If anyone's thinking of one, definitely check them out, I was really impressed! (I also played a Elite V Jazz whilst there to see what the fuss was about - it's certainly impressive too, and it would definitely give my Sadowsky decent competition! I really feel Fender have massively upped their game, even over the past 12 months.) However for me, it was always going to be this CS. The woods were visibly of a higher quality (fewer/no blemishes etc.) and the pickup, whilst not as hot, retained more detail and definition, particularly with the tone rolled all the way off. The neck is similarly as thick as the AO60 from the 3rd fret onwards, with a slightly slimmer profile under the first 3 frets, which makes a lot of sense to me. This bass is an absolute joy to play and having seen my MIM Classic 50s make its way into to position as my no. 1 in recent times, (despite competition from Fodera, Sadowsky, Warwick etc. in the collection!) I can see this being my go-to for many years to come. I threw it straight into the deep end, playing it every show over the past week on the Forever Dusty UK Tour. It really is a joy with killer tone! So there we have it, I finally have my dream combination on a Fender P, without the relic-ing and for a much better price than the CS Pino! One very happy bass player! I've attached a really super short simple video I did during the week to give an idea of the tones. Now back to practice, it's been out of my hands for long enough writing this!

Yup it's bad news that 20% VAT payable at the EU customs border on anything above £15 (i.e. pretty much everything) and then (broadly) a further 2.5% customs duty on top of that for gear above £135. This is unless you (or f&f) are bringing in this personally in which case you get a £390 VAT and Customs duty free allowance. Makes things seem very expensive compared to what our fellow bass players get gear for in the US. Having said that their health insurance doesn't come cheap! @krispn's very helpful suggestion I got in touch with both Josh Broughton and also Tom George at COG to see if they could come up with any 24dB cut variants. Josh is not currently taking any bespoke orders and suggested getting a couple of his pedals to the trick - well the ideal combination for me would actually be the Thumpinator and the Broughton LPF / HPF but you're looking at > £300 with transport and taxes thrown in for these two, which is getting a little spendy. The exciting news (for me anyway!) is that Tom, with some spec suggestions thrown in from me, seems to have come up with something that could fit the bill in a single 1590BS enclosure pedal. Hoping to be able to confirm the agreed specs with you all shortly...

A similar but slightly different solution to @dannybuoy, I use self adhesive cable clips like these: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F162515629911 I find them much less hassle than cable ties as you can just push/pull the cables into and out of them easily. They come in different sizes - the smallest size can grip a couple of power cables at a time, the larger ones can hold more. Here’s a photo of the bottom of my old main board. All the clips except one are the smallest size, with one large clip which I put on to hold the actual barrel jack end of one of the cables, which it did perfectly:

I have a guitar or two out on stands. On a couple of occasions I've managed to trade a couple of lessons with trades people (builder, gardener & chimney sweep) when they've come to do work. If they've spotted the guitars, I'll noodle on if they've showed interest, which has started a conversation like "ooh a guitar, always wanted to play...." "ooh I teach guitar, would you like a lession"...."ooh yes, but its quite expensive..." "yes so is your ridiculous hourly rate..hows about a trade?". A few "oohs" later, & no money has changed hands, but everybody's got what they want.....ooh!

He is certainly entitled to his opinions, as he may be right on some things, and overblown on others. On McCartney I would severely disagree with Q. I disagree with what his mental state as some have said here. I do think he has hit the grumpy old curmudgeon stage, however. Eddie Van Halen was quoted saying that "Robert Fripp (King Crimson) couldn't play 12 bars of good guitar music ." Mr. Fripp, when approached by the press, was asked what he thought about Eddie's comment. He politely said "I do not comment or make remarks about other artists." That's class. Learn, Quincy.

Probably best to avoid those people in future.

Well lookie what landed today! So... this is a Limelight Precision, with a '67 spec in a light-relic LPB finish. I ordered it last year, and had a good chat with the - extremely pleasant - Mark at Limelight to discuss the spec and the level of relic'ing. I wanted the finish to be a little more muted, so it glows a bit more, and he's obliged. It's a nice weight, less than 9lbs, helped by the Gotoh Res-o-Lites, which bumped the cost up a little more. I've just put proper strings on it (it came with fairly light rounds), and it sounds just like I'd hoped. A really nice P... and it cost significantly less than a Fender Roadworn MIM. I'm about to start a solid week of rehearsals, so lots of time to give it a run out. Happy days!

Scored a bargain today. Picked up this wee beauty from the old Fakebook marketplace equivalent of £200. Only a couple of little dings. Pretty tidy. Sounds fantastic. I think I might upgrade the pots so they are a little bit more responsive but it's a stunning instrument.

If you don't need the money, and it is making you feel ill playing, doing nothing is something better.

First rehearsal today - six hours' worth. It was loads of fun. The show's being shot for DVD, so everything has to be spot-on. We've got a week in the rehearsal hall, so we'll have the monitor mixes pretty much there by the weekend, so hopefully the check in the arena will mostly be tweaking stuff. The band is great.. the drummer's from Lindisfarne, the keyboard player's from Dire Straits, the other keyboard player and sax player are from The 1975's live band, the guitarist was a touring member of The Arctic Monkeys, and one of our vocalists sang on 'I Would Do Anything For Love' with Meat Loaf. And then there's me. I daren't pinch myself. Loads of pics here: https://www.sundayforsammy.org/sunday-for-sammy-2018-access-all-areas

Just had a six-hour rehearsal with it today. MY GOD... the notes are massive. Some of the tunes are old-school P-and-flats, others are rounds and growl, and it just responds beautifully. It's beautiful. Can't wait for tomorrow.

That must have made your eyes water a bit...?

RCF 745 ordered!!

I only play for people if they agree to dance for me.

People used to call them epiphany, but then they saw the light. Only Dion I know is a Canadian chap who lives down the road. Good bloke, plays drums. I'll have to ask him about Warwick. Come to think of it, war-wick does make sense, we used to have an air freshener called air-wick. We never called it airick. The there's the town of Alnwick....silent L and silent W.

Doesn't even begin to sound like Fender, even in Japanese.

This. Or alternatively I'll put on a track from my latest CD or vinyl release and then try and flog them a copy.

I tell them I don't play for free.

Obviously it’s scone

But is it pronounced as in scone or scone?

The funniest thing about the interview is watching all the Beatles die-hards blow their nut over his comments. At the grand old age of 84 Quincy Jones may have just become the best internet troll of our generation, he can add that to his CV. Ghetto Gump indeed!

I pronounce it correctly as 'Epiphone'

Be careful with that kind of gig, it's a slippery slope.

I agree that it is nice for someone to just let rip and say what they want in an interview, without some press agent or handler stepping in and stopping comments from being printed etc. He is a big hitter in his industry, has a vast fortune, he’s 85 and he doesn’t give a damn about whether his opinions offend anyone, and I can’t help but admire his Candour. He has probably seen and been exposed to a lot of things behind closed doors, and I would bet he knows a lot of secrets that aren’t his to tell the world. I think some individuals are getting a little too upset just because he says a few mean things about people they hold in high esteem. It’s only opinion, he’s not forcing you to believe the same against your will, just take the interview as a piece of entertainment, at the end of the day that’s basically what QJ is. I agree and disagree with a few things he says, but it’s sill funny and refreshing to me.

So the QSC K10.2 has arrived. Got it home and plugged the bass in via the FIshman Pro Platinum and the result was, well.... a bit wet. No low end at all and no amount of adjustment on the Fishman or the Sire eq could dial any in, set it to bass amp mode and the best I could get was a mid range honky bass sound - not good. Also the volume seemed way down from what I was expecting and was far less than my Markbass rig, tried it my Behringer BDDI and the result was the same, could get a little more volume by cranking the level but it was still in the realm of a budget practice amp. I was starting to think you lot gig exclusively in libraries and went to pick my daughter up from school a bit gutted that I'd blown £600 on a posh vocal monitor. Then I went into the settings and saw it had the crossover set to 125hz so everything below that was missing, it must have been reset to factory settings. Turned this off and it sounds absolutely fantastic, no shortage of low end at all and the volume is way more than I need. Amazing to hear such a big sound from a little 10" wedge like that, combined with the Fishman it sounds fat and very smooth so I now have a big smile on my face. So if you get the QSC remember to not be an idiot and check the crossover settings!

Me or the cab ?

Yet another monstrosity at another silly price. Ebay's never short of dreamers

10 string fretless?

Pitch to CV or MIDI for the bass guitar is just not feasible unless you have the world's cleanest and precise technique and are playing downtempo music. The laws of physics are always going to be against you. The theoretical minimum response time has going to be one complete wave cycle for the device to have a good guess at detecting the pitch. The open E on a bass is 41Hz, that means at the very, very best you are looking at 24ms between playing a note and the device working out what pitch it is. That's slap-back echo territory (i.e. noticeable), and in reality the actual response time is going to be closer to double that. Notice how in the demo in the OP you never get to hear the controlling signal in combination with the synth output except when it is making random glitching noises along with the drums. Also notice how the controlling signal is always something high-pitched like guitar or another keyboard. You can't blame the manufacturer for wanting to show their products in the best possible light, but I think a lot of purchasers are going to be very disappointed when they try and use these in a real world situation. There are various tricks that you can use to make the tracking quicker and more accurate but all of these take the expressiveness away from the controlling instrument, and IMO the whole point of using something like a guitar to control as synth is that you can make full use of that expressiveness. Otherwise you might as well use a keyboard and the standard synth performance controls. Also while in theory a monophonic device might be fine for bass parts, in practice one of things that makes the feel of a bass line played on bass guitar different from one played on a keyboard or other monophonic device is what happens when you play parts that swap between the strings. And once you've lost the feel of the bass part from that of playing on a bass guitar you might as well play it on a keyboard (or sequence it). There are players that can make pitch to CV or MIDI work for them. What you will find is that they are mostly guitarists and that they have spent years honing their technique and modifying their instruments to get around the inherent limitations of using pitch detection to control a synthetic waveform. I found very quickly that it was far easier for me to develop enough of a keyboard technique in a day or so that enabled me to play synth parts than it was to modify my guitar playing style to get the tracking to work well enough to satisfy my very basic requirements.

Andy what have you tried, I have a cupboard full of five sets i have taken off black tape and half rounds - think they were on a 3 over 2 headstock 34"

This thread is a perfect example of why all of basses (except the aforementioned episodic T bird) are Fenders. I've never heard anyone mispronounce Fender as 'Fender' or FenDer or feeeender. Not once.

Since before the internet I've always pronounced Ibanez as i ban ez I've since found out that company themselves pronounce it as eye ban ez. I think the company is wrong.

These are the newer siblings of the BB424/425s and as such their pedigree is proven. @Al Krow and I were in the Yamaha store in Central London a little while back and got to play some BBs. I don’t think either of us laid hands on the 435 but based on what we did try, the new series are every bit as well made as the oldies.

spoilsport!

Interesting........... Generally, I never tell people that I used to play bass professionally back in the day, as they'll usually say something dumb like "Well why weren't you famous then". And as for actually playing/performing to prove that this is really what I can do, I agree with Barking Spiders and Marc S - play something well known but not exactly technically demanding and they'll wet themselves with awe and wonder...................

Just interesting as I've read lots of people saying they immediately got on with fan frets no issue, yet I've always been sceptical. Maybe they're justifying the huge investment in a weird looking bass?? Seems your review is more realistic, it takes time, patience and some quiet around you to get to know it.

I know this thread's been running for a while but I want to start off by saying good bass tone is entirely subjective and as someone who has been playing for over 40 yrs and been listening consciously to bass on recordings probably for 50 yrs, I think I have a very good idea of what constitutes a good bass sound and what doesn't - does it matter - well yes it most certainly does - to me at least - the fact that most people I come across like the bass sounds I like and often achieve gives me some comfort that I might be getting it right or rightish - there is no right of course because everyone's life's musical experience and focus is different. Do I find myself at odds with some people's idea of a good bass sound - I think I do more now than ever - perhaps that's because my hearing has deteriorated - maybe but I don't think so (I do know that one or two other people's compromised hearing has resulted in argument about the volume of the bass in the mix as they have lost their 'treble' response - the problem has actually been dealt with effectively eventually) - and yes I do take exception to a lot of current commonly held misnomers which seem to be based on an overly 60s centric 'vintage' opinion of things. Of course, you'd have probably been hard pushed to even hear the bass either of the transistor radio of the time and more definitely in live settings. As a for instance, 18" speakers were quite normal in the 60s and 70s - 10" really appeared in the 80s and appealed to the more treble centric approach - eg Mark King. So why aren't people suggesting 18" speaker housing with vintage Precisions and valve amps? If you want that authentic woolly tone surely that would be correct? Bass tone and sound most certainly matter in most musical genres - that sound can take a variety of approaches though - there is no right and wrong - I favour a focussed sound. So Mark Bass and Musicman suits me absolutely fine.

I like Wal and Gibson (classic open book, and V) headstocks, and I'm fine with Fenders, too. The Stingray is also very elegant, and distinctive. Oh, and the old Aria Pro II SB headstocks, which unfortunately don't match very well with the body. I don't like 2+2 headstocks that are asymmetrical, as most are nowadays. I'm also of the opinion that most headstocks would be immediately improved with cloverleaf tuners. I'm not a fan of whatever you would call the more triangular tuners that have been so predominant over the last 30 years or so. My favourite guitar headstock belongs to the Hamer Sunburst.

Paying by PayPal gives you as much protection as paying with a credit card. PayPal always favours the buyer in disputes.

Well last night reinforced my opinion of Paul Gray. Him being back has lifted the whole band. He is just plain awesome! Apologies to the "camera at gigs" haters. but I was at the front and kept it at chest height. :-p

Get the gain as high as you can, the hotter the signal in the preamp the better. Much like a Ashdown funnily enough given their heritage

Big envelope filter fan here. I’ve updated my envelope filter reviews that I first put in a thread some time back on Talkbass. Being a bit of a hoarder, I’ve still own all the pedals mentioned below with the exception of the Proton V.1, EBS BassIQ, and the Mantra (which I only borrowed for a short time)… [b]Musitronics Mu-Tron III[/b] - The daddy of all envelope filters. Probably not the most extreme filter, and the always on slightly dirty gain may not be for everyone, but (to me at least) it is THE sound when you hear a 70’s funk record and that gritty dirty quack and squelch. It’s what Bootsy used on all those 70’s Parliament-Funkadelic, Bootsy’s Rubber Band records, what Stevie used on Clavinet for Higher Ground and of course Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead on guitar. IMO the Mu-Tron III is an awesome filter - 100% worth the hype, it’s the sound most other filters aspire to sound like yet still don’t quite manage. Easy to dial in: Low Pass, Gain around 4-5, Peak 8-maxed - and you can switch from low to high, up and down without changing the gain and peak controls. Downsides are primarily the large size and venerable age of the pedal. The likelihood is if you buy one it may need a service/calibration to bring it up to full spec. Another downside is the ‘unique’ power supply requirements (2x 9v batteries drain quickly and at different rates, whilst you can get costly dedicated power supplies from the likes of CAE Sound (which works great but have cost me a fortune) or Lingenburg sound). Lastly lack of true bypass is a big issue for some. I have two Mu-Tron’s - one is more ‘space-laser’ sounding than the other in high mode. Also playing them in tandem (one in up mode the other in down or one high the other low etc. makes for some fantastically stanky funk. [b]Mu-FX Mu-Tron 3x[/b] ([b]Tru-Tron 3x)[/b] –Full of character, the 3x is a [u]very[/u] fat, warm, expressive and powerful filter, with a dedicated external 12v AC power supply seemingly giving the 3x that extra ‘Oomph’ over other filters. IMO, this absolutely nails the vintage Mu-Tron III sound, but in a modern pedal, and with a wider assortment of controls. In the ‘Mu’ setting if you roll back on the ‘Peak’ (Q) and the ‘Mu (Gain)’ controls then the filter can get really nasty, with a really nice gnarly growl & quack. Set the controls at higher levels to get the 3x bubbly and squelchy. On the ‘Mu’ setting the 3x can do everything the original Mu-Tron can do, but then there’s a lot more: the Peak and Gain settings go-up to ‘11’ (making the effect more extreme than the original Mu-Tron); you can really over-saturate the filter, [i]without[/i] the effect sounding bad. The ‘Pre’-setting engages a powerful built in pre-amp, giving you separate controls for envelope drive sensitivity and preamp (great if playing through a passive bass with low output pick-ups for example– the switchable Mu/Pre settings means the 3x sounds great with either passive and active basses). The new Mu also has a Mix-setting to mix in the dry tone of your bass with the filter. It also has the strongest, most chewy down-sweep I’ve yet come across in a filter. There’s also a filter range high/low switch (high is good for funk solos). The 3x is pretty easy to get to grips with and dial-in (it can do subtle too ☺). The only downsides with the Mu-Tron 3x are that now it’s discontinued it has become very expensive, and, given its large size and external power supply, is not particularly pedal board friendly. In comparison to the original it is hard to differentiate between the 3x and the Mu-Tron III - the gain on both my vintage units is slightly dirtier (in a good way) whilst the Tru Tron (in Mu mode) is ever so slightly cleaner. In Pre-(amp)-mode of the 3X, the sub-filter sounds are enormous (which the original can’t do - at least without a boost to the signal) and cranking up the controls means the 3x can get wilder and VERY LOUD. The [b]Mu-FX Micro Tron III[/b] is likely to be the next filter to try on my shopping list but from the reviews that I’ve seen to date I can’t help thinking that being small form and 9v may mean the Micro-Tron may have sacrificed some of the ‘oomph’ that the originals and 3x have. [b]Emma DiscumBOBulator[/b] –I’ve really grown to love this pedal. IMO it’s a milder filter than the Mu-Tron, but more characterful than the [b]3Leaf Proton[/b] for example. Warm, quacky, not too wet, very organic and easy on the ear. Although there is no blend control, it retains the natural tone of your bass with the envelope effect. It’s definitely not as resonant nor peaky a filter as a Q-Tron or a Mu-Tron. I’d describe the ‘DiscoBob’ is more punchy than fat & is very simple to use & dial in. Roll back on the ‘Sensitivity’ knob and it can also sound quite gnarly. There’s no discernable volume boost either when engaged. I really like the DiscoBob, but, if you are looking for more squelchy funky extremes; then this is [u]not[/u] the filter you are looking for. Kind of Mu-Tron-lite, if you get what I mean. The down-sweep too is more subtle in comparison to the ‘Tron’s’ unless you max out all the settings. On a passive bass I find combining a boost pedal with it, makes the filter sound really filthy, adds more snap & crunch & really brings out the funky best in the DiscoBob. It sounds great with a bit of distortion in front of the DiscoBob too. Takes a standard 9v Boss style adapter or 9v batter to power it. Same small size enclosure as the Micro-Q-Tron. From the clips I’ve heard, the new [b]DiscumBOBulator V.2 [/b]sounds pretty much identical to the V.1 but is meant to have more sensitivity range and triple the headroom (as well as a boost [i]after[/i] the filter) which should make it better suited to cope with all types of basses. The V.2 is on my short list to try soon. [b]MXR M82 Bass Envelope Filter[/b] –Easy to dial in, having the separate ‘Dry’ and ‘FX’ knob’s is a really great idea. It gives you a lot of control & easily gives you as much (or as little) of your natural sounding bass, or filter effect, as you need. (You could effectively leave this as an ‘always on’ pedal if you dial in more of your dry sound for a more subtle effect). This is a band pass filter & so it sounds quite different to the Mu-Tron’s and Q-Tron’s of this world. As a result, the MXR is not as fat or peaky sounding as some other filters, but has a very analogue, liquid, percolating bubble gum pop sound to it & can get quite synthy. The Decay knob surprisingly seems to control the depth of the filter sweep (lower decay settings can make the filter sweep very low if you hold the note). The Q control adjusts the width of the frequency sweep, & sensitivity as expected determines the level that the filter is engaged. On subtler settings I think the MXR sounds very similar to the DiscoBob, but the MXR can get much more gooey & synthy if you want it to, sounding not dissimilar to a Chunk 00Funk. I think I prefer playing the MXR through a passive bass, however, you’ll likely need to crank up the sensitivity to really open up the filter. Given its tiny form factor, ease of use, & can be powered with a standard 9v power supply (or 9v battery), this is a fantastic choice for a small form mid-priced envelope filter, (oh and did I mention it has a purple sparkle finish! ☺ ). The only real caveat being the lack of a down sweep. Possibly also the best sounding filter for slap…not that I’m any good at slapping! [b]Chunk Systems Agent 00Funk [/b]– Still the synthiest, slurpiest, sloppiest, gloopiest filter I’ve tried. The 00Funk can definitely get Mu-Tron-a-like, (if you set all four dials to around the 12:00 mark), but the 00Funk is a lot more wet and synth orientated. It’s been said previously on Talkbass that the 00Funk is hard to dial in the sounds that you want, but I found the trick to controlling the 00Funk is to keep the “Sweep” around the 12:00 mark and then adjust the ‘”Pitch”, “Smoothness” and “Squelch” to your liking. Want ‘wacky 70’s space laser’ sounds? then the 00Funk is definitely for you.. The 00Funk even has a ‘mayhem’ setting on the squelch knob. If you partner the 00Funk with a [b][i]Chunk Systems Brown Dog[/i][/b] gated fuzz you get some incredibly funky, chunky, synth sounds. The 00Funk also sounds very funky indeed with an OC-2 or Octron, or the like. The 00Funk can be powered by a standard 9vdc Boss style power supply or has a handy slide out tray for 9v battery. The downsides of the 00Funk: the control knobs are [u]very[/u] sensitive, change a setting just slightly and you get a completely different sounding effect. Whilst powerful, I also found the down-sweep to be a bit noisy (the filter is wide open) and it’s not as simple to dial the down sweep compared to the Mu-Tron 3x or big box Q-Tron. Watch your speakers on the down-sweep setting too. Sadly, Chunk pedals are currently out of production. The [b]Iron Ether Xerograph Deluxe[/b] and [b]Moog MF-101 LPF[/b] are the most similar sounding to the 00Funk but I’ve yet to try either of these first hand…one day maybe. [b]Chunk Systems OS [/b]– ostensibly the same analogue filter circuit as the Agent 00Funk but throw in a mix of Octaver, Gated Fuzz (from the Brown Dog), LFO, ADSR, etc., and you have an incredible range of analogue synth and fuzz-filter & filter-fuzz effects and the like out of this little red funk-box. Throw in the ability to build your own patches from scratch with up to 50 savable presets, so you can create and save exactly the effect that you want and go straight to it time and time again. The default thirty firmware presets are generally out of this world too. The downside? the UI is not particularly user friendly to say the least – it’s a very complicated interface, with no save/upload error messages! The Chunk OS is a pedal you really need to invest a lot of time (and patience) with, but it’s well worth it: Once you get ‘that’ sound lock it in as a preset, or save it to the memory card, and funk away to your heart’s content. The OS can also be powered by a standard Boss style 9vdc supply or 9v (slide drawer entry) battery (although I found the OS drains batteries quite quickly). Also out of production currently. [b]EHX Q-Tron (original) [/b]– This is the old wood boxed trapezoid Q-Tron’s (I’ve not tried the newer XO series, or the Q-Tron+ which has an added effects loop and a fast/slow response switch). In comparison to the Mini or Micro Q-Tron, the original Q-Tron is a bit harder to dial-in, & needs some adjustment to trigger the filter across different basses; (to start with you need to set the gain (sensitivity) low, and the peak (Q) high and then slowly adjust the gain up & peak down). Once you get there though, it sounds absolutely fantastic. On low range, the big box Q-Tron can get [i]really[/i] very quacky, and on high range it can get pretty squelchy, (though not as wet as the 3x, Chunk, or as bubbly as the Enigma or MXR). A VERY Mu-tron III-esque filter: If you over-saturate the filter I think it adds a nice distortion too. Additionally, there’s a lovely staccato ‘bwap-bwap’ down-sweep that gets really chewy especially on Mix or BP settings. Sounds great too with a Boss OC-2 and/or a bit of dirt in front in it. Added features of the big box Q-Tron in comparison to the Mini/Micro Q are: down-sweep, bass boost, mix and range controls. It’s a ridiculously retro chunky-sized pedal however, can be overly peaky if you don’t set it right (ice pick like!), and needs its own dedicated 24v power supply, so is not at all pedal board friendly. [b]EHX Mini Q-Tron[/b] –The Mini Q-Tron is positively dripping with old school Bootsified funk: warm, deep sounding, very fat, greasy, & squelchy. I’m amazed that these don’t sell for a lot more second hand as they are as good as , if not [i]better[/i] than many other ‘higher-end’ filters (IMO fatter sounding than a [b]3Leaf Proton[/b], or [b]EBS BassIQ[/b] - both of which I owned and sold soon after as they sounded a bit “meh” and muddy sounding respectively to me in direct comparison). Easier to dial-in than the original Big Box Q-Tron. With the Mini it’s pretty much put it on ‘low pass’ set Q and Drive anywhere between 11-3 o’clock and funk away! The Mini-Q gets close to an original Mu-Tron but also has its own character. I can get it sounding like some of those old 70’s Parliament records. I managed to get one with the original wooden box (these wood boxes officially help keep the funk in when it’s not in use! ☺). Downsides are there’s a definite volume boost when you engage the pedal, the BP and HP settings lose all bottom end on bass, and the Mini really isn’t very ‘mini’ at all – it’s only slightly smaller than the original big box version! The Mini Q also needs a special 9vdc 1o0mA (thin pin) adaptor if you want to power this from the mains (or use a 9v battery). [b]EHX Micro Q-Tron[/b] – My first ever filter purchase. EHX swear that these are the same circuit as the Mini-Q-Tron just in a smaller enclosure, but I’ve A/B'ed the Mini and Micro Q side-by-side and to my ears the older Mini Q [i][u]is[/u][/i] more organic & juicier sounding than the Micro Q-Tron. The Micro Q-Tron can be just a bit abrasive in comparison to the other Q-Tron models, with harsher peaks. However, by adjusting the internal trimpot to around the 5 o’clock mark, then the Micro gets to sound real close to the Mini Q-Tron: fat, warm & squelchy, but not [i]quite[/i] with the same mojo as the Mini Q (which I do prefer). IMO, the Micro Q has this slightly "metallic" sounding edge in comparison to the Mini. The trimpot adjustment does tame that Q-Tron volume boost (slightly). Like the Mini Q, only the Low Pass setting is useable on bass. For the money though, the Micro Q –Tron is a good value budget filter, has plenty of quack and squelch, and [i]is[/i] pedal board friendly (smallish form factor and is powered by standard Boss style 9vdc supply or battery). [b]EHX Enigma Q-Balls[/b] –This is a very flexible filter, with a steeper initial learning curve than other filters, but don’t let that put you off. The Enigma has a kind of Mu-ton/Q-tron vibe; very Bootsy, (really bubbly, gurgly & quacky), but with more controls & therefore a lot more flexibility & range than most other filters, especially with the versatile downsweeps. I really like that ability to control the blend between the clean tone of your bass and the effect in a single control. This also makes the BP (and HP) settings far more useful than they are on a Mini or Micro Q-Tron. The start & stop frequency controls are intuitive with a wide range, and very interactive with the sensitivity, Q, attack and decay settings. The Enigma can be both subtle or can get pretty extreme, especially with the blend, Q and Sensitivity turned fully clockwise, whilst the reverse sweep at its most extreme can get very ‘whompy’. The switchable distortion is also very useful for making lovely thick old school analogue synth sounds, (but the distortion itself is not adjustable, unless you count the internal trimpot level control). The Enigma can get very loud with the Q and Sensitivity maxed out, and, when you engage the distortion, but have found this is controllable somewhat by using the Q and the Blend. It’s a knob twiddler’s delight of a filter, and really rewards spending lots of time understanding how the controls interact with each other.The Enigma can be powered with a standard Boss style 9vdc adapter (doesn’t take batteries though). I do really wish the Enigma had presets though, I find myself drawing diagrams to remember my favourite settings! All that can mean it is not an easy pedal to gig with. [b]EHX Sovtek Russian Bassballs[/b] – A vocal sounding dual band filter. Extremely simple to use; one knob, with a switchable on/off distortion. The Bassballs is a bit of a one-trick pony, (and definitely not Mu-Tron/ Q-Tron a-like at all – it doesn’t quack or squelch), but what it does it does very well. Mine’s an ancient pedal and the sputtery (almost dying out) distortion gives the Bassballs real depth and character. Without the distortion on, I prefer the ‘Sensitivity’ at quite a low setting to bring out the ‘burbling,’ ‘burping’ best in this filter. On higher settings you can really hear the sweep of the filter. Like a lot of the EHX filters, The Bassballs also has an internal trim-pot apparently, but I’ve never messed with it. No idea if the Russian version sounds any different from the NYC version though! The Sovtek version needs a special 9vdc 1o0mA (thin pin) adaptor if you want to power this from the mains (or use a 9v battery). The NYC version takes a standard 9v Boss style adapter or 9v battery, and the Nano is a lot smaller than the industrial looking Sovtek version. [b]EHX Stereo Talking Machine[/b] –The STM is a formant filter, shaping vowel type sounds replicating the human vocal system through (I think) multiple filters. The STM, therefore, sounds unlike any other filter I’ve come across. The STM speaks to you (almost literally): it’s the closest thing you can get to a talk-box on your bass. It comes with 9 editable/savable presets, and the default presets are really strong. The (+/-) sensitivity sweep gives you double the fun as you can control the direction of the sweep of each effect. The Blend, Attack and Decay controls really add to the STM’s flexibility. The STM also can be used with an expression pedal too, and has built in (& programmable) fuzz and LFO modulation. Downsides - to my ears, the Bassballs effect on the STM sounds more digital than the standalone Bassballs, (the STM [i]is[/i] digital not analogue). It’s a lot of fun though I don’t know if you’d use some of the more wacky effects in a live scenario (having said that I only noodle about at home). It’s also another pedal (much like the Enigma) where you need to spend some real time with it in order to get the most out of the range of effects available. You also need a spare pair of hands for adjusting the auxiliary fuzz and LFO functions, whilst trying to play & hear what they sound like ☺ Can be powered with a standard Boss style 9vdc adapter only (doesn’t take batteries). [b][u]My Disclaimer [/u][/b][b][u]☺[/u][/b][b][u]:[/u][/b] Envelope Filters are [i]the[/i] most subjective of effects. Filters react differently on your playing style, your tone & equaliser settings on both your bass & your amp. The strength of your signal to the filter is also very important, and also the type of bass you’re playing may make a big difference; a hot-active bass can be too much for some filters (& you may have to dial back on your volume or the Q and Drive/Sensitivity controls of the filter); whilst a passive bass with lower output pick-ups may benefit from a signal boost, which on a passive bass really helps to open-up and trigger the envelope and make the filter effect come alive. From my own experience I think I prefer analogue filters. The EHX Talking Machine and [b]Source Audio Manta[/b] sound digital to me (perhaps because they are ☺). The Manta that I tried out had some great synthy sounds in it, but I couldn’t get it quacking like an old school Mu-Tron. Maybe I needed to spend some more time with it.