Merlino

This is the best envelope I've ever tried

And I've tried almost everything, from Fwonkbeta to all the 3leaf envelopes 

GLWTS

I had a great deal with Phil

Super-fast payment, he is really a kind and patient guy (I have to prepare a lot of documents to ship the bass because of the brexit)

Really a man of his word. Deal in confidence 

The bass is a bit less than 4 kg

The Alleva behind it's not for sale 😉

Like new conditions 

Absolutely mint

Perfect in every detail

It sounds great and huge.

700 watt at 4 ohms; 350 watt at 8 ohms

1100 euro plus shipping from Italy 

Absolutely mint conditions

It's a 2015 NOS Custom Shop Postmodern 

Jazz bass neck on Precision body 

Compound radius

64 CS pickups 

Olympic white 

The bass is absolutely like new. Perfect in every detail 

It's a great sounding bass, but I'm definitely not a P guy.

All goodies in perfect, like new, never used conditions.

2200 euro plus shipping from Italy

Hi!

I have the Nemphasis VT Comp, and I agree with Lee it is a easy and hi-end pedal. 

I also have a lot of other compressors: Cali76 CB; Keeley Compressor Pro; 3Leaf Pwnzor; Trace Eliot Smx 

But the Nemphasis still my favourite and my "always on" pedal. The Keeley is also great, and it is in my pedal board as a limiter after the Nemphasis.

Sorry for my English, it''s not my first language 🙂

Hi Lee!

May I ask your opinion about e Nemphasis VT comp?

I have it and it is my "always on" pedal

I have to be clear. I really think it's a fair price for a Supreme, a new one will cost at least 8500 euros.

But I've noticed that the bass that Paul used in the video above and in most of Jamiroquai live performance has a stacked knob (the second one from the back of the bass) and a aged olympic white color.

Probably he had more than one LG5 in the last years

Maybe I'm wrong, but the Paul's LG has an Aguilar preamp... 

I've decided to keep it 

It''s too good to let it go 

Yes! It is :-)

Selling my Pwnzor, it's a really rare optical compressor.

It's in great shape, with only minor scratches on one side. It works perfectly and it sounds great as expected. 

No original box

I need a completely different kind of compressor, so I bought a Keeley Compressor Pro and the Pwnzor is now out of my board

Asking 160 GBP + shipping from Italy 

Here is a good example of this comp 😉

I recently bought a super rare 3leaf Pwonzor from Lee

He''s a really nice guy and one of the best seller I've ever met in many years of buying bass gear 

Really recommended!

I had a really great deal with Lee,

Smooth transaction and the compressor is in perfect condition.

He is a top seller, really trustworthy!

On 14/04/2019 at 01:21, Al Krow said:

I think you're going to be in for a treat! I spent a bit more time with this pedal after my earlier post and I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that the GR2 is a very versatile filter. 

The sensitivity, attack and tone settings in the pic above are broadly what I'm likely to have these set on. 

But there's then a LOT of 'quack' / 'squelch' variation from changing the decay from e.g. 11am to 3pm; further variety from the range switch hi / low and you can combine all of that with either an up or down sweep. 

So I think there's going to be plenty to keep you happy! I look forward to you seeing / hearing your favourite settings when you have had a chance to have a play with the GR2 and no doubt my own fav settings will be different to my first impressions post above as well 

The GR2 has arrived (great deal with GisserD, a really top guy)

I've just tried it 10 minutes to give it a check, the first impression is that it sounds amazing.

I've set the Res on (+) and I could find good sounds quite fast

Really impressive

I had a really great deal with Darren,

Smooth transaction and the Groove Regulator 2 is in perfect condition.

He is a top seller!

On 13/04/2019 at 17:34, bassfan said:

You need to sell the fwonk to me Mr Krow, you are being greedy with the 000’s of pedals you have, plus you need to spend time with the stomp, not making squelchy noises 😂

If you are searching for a Fwonkbeta, there's a used one on mercatinomusicale.com (the biggest italian website for used musical gear).

https://www.mercatinomusicale.com/mm/a_mr-black-pedals-fwonkbeta-envelope-filter-spedizione-compresa_id6064651.html

If you need any help for translation, you could ask me 😉

On 12/04/2019 at 11:06, Al Krow said:

Been waiting to get my hands on one of these for a little while...it's actually more compact than I had thought it would be, which is a bonus. 

Looking forward to A/B'ing it against the Fwonk and MXR BEF over the weekend

I've recently purchased a GR2 from a basschatter, I can't belive you have bought one too! :-)

I'm waiting for the pack, I hope It will arrive soon, can't wait to put my hands on this pedal

33 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

@Merlino

Are you currently playing in a band and using your filters in a band mix? (If you have any clips of you doing so, please do share with us!)

I'm currently playing in a funk-soul band, but at the moment I don't remember to have any clips where I play with filters. I'll search anyway, if I'll find something I will surely share 😉

7 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

@Merlino

We both know that we can get quite a range of sounds from the Fwonkbeta and MXR BEF depending on the settings we are using - but I would be interested in your thoughts someone who also has both: would you say those clips are a fair representation of their overall sound i.e. the Fwonkbeta delivers a more consistent and sweeter tone, whereas the MXR is more responsive to playing style?

Hi Al!

Thanks for your hard question

Your clips are great samples of the 2 pedals, and a great demonstration that they both sound really good if properly setted.

The biggest difference in my opinion is that the MXR is much easier to set to get a good sound. The BEF has a bit more edge, and works great in a band mix, but as you said it is less consistent.

Both pedals reacts very well to player's dynamics, but I have the impression that the BEF opens faster so it's easier to tame. 

The Fwonkbeta needs more patience to get the sweet spot that matches best with your bass and your touch, but once you get your setting you could feel it bigger, sweeter and juicer. I like the Fwonkbeta because is less "bubbling", and more "waving" (sorry if it's not good examples, but english it's not my first language) 

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

One thought: have you tried putting a compressor before your filters?

My signal chain is Thumpinator (i.e. HPF) to clean up low end crud --> TC Spectracomp --> Filters

I find that the my filters (particularly the MXR BEF) are significantly more responsive with the compressor before them in the chain.

I just wonder whether you would find your Fwonkbeta able to handle slap if you had your compressor at the start to feed it a tighter signal? Be interesting to see if this makes a difference or not.

I've used the compressor before the filters for a lot of time, but recently I realized that the comp is not only acting by limiting the peaks, but also it rises the volume of the softer notes. In other words the compressor produce a narrower range of dynamics, and my concern isn't for the peaks, but for all the soft nuances of the right hand.

Now if you use (like I do) lots of ghost notes the enhancement of the weaker notes is useful, but if you like to "play the filter" in my opinion the compressor is working against your right hand. So I decided to try the comp after the filter, and I like this solution very much!

Honestly the Fwonkbeta sounds very good in slap, but the wonderlove still my favorite for the percussive techniques. Of course these are my tastes :-)

5 hours ago, Al Krow said:

@Merlino - thanks for posting those, some cool clips! What dial settings did you use for each, and what bass are you playing through?

If the Wonderlove is the only one that sounds decent on funk/slap then for me that gives it an edge over the other two - that was definitely the most interesting and fun clip for me  

(I'm already glad I bothered to revive this thread!)

I've used a 5 string jazz bass with DR Lo Rider SS

At the end of the chain I always use a compressor, my actual "go to" comp is the Nemphasis VT Comp (a super easy optical compressor)

Here''s the pictures of the envelopes and Doom settings

Here we are guys!

I'm posting some clips

Please don't judge the bass player, but only the sound. It's all a first take record, so forgive the mistakes!

I'm uploading 2 Funk Lite clips because at my normal setting it sounded a bit dark, it's the main problem with the audio clips, all these pedals sound broader when amplificated

Funk Lite.mp3

Funk Lite 2.mp3

Fwonkbeta 2.mp3

Wonderlove.mp3

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Yes @GisserD did. But I can tell you now his all time favourite filter is the MXR BEF and that he didn't keep the Micro-Tron III (although he hasn't tried the Fwonkbeta yet - I'll need to lend him mine at some point  )

I had the MXR BEF in my board for about 2 years, and it's great. Probably the only filter I've tried that gave me a good finger and slap sound without changing any set.

After 2 years I've decided to put it out of the pedalboard to try something different, but the BEF is in its box and it will stay with me.

At the moment I'm a bit tired of its super-bubble sound, but honestly it works great in a really dense band mix.

Maybe I'm wrong but the Wonderlove can nail more different kind of envelope sounds (qwacky, bubbling, etc), but it has the defect that it still alway too polite, subtle in a kind of sense. Now that I have different filters and I can compare them, honestly I'm really impressed by the wonderlove. Surely it's not so versatile as the Enigma, but in future I'll surely try to compare them.