leroybasslines Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Hi there, Still about to dabble in the world of filter pedals. I see many Micro Q-Trons around the place and they look pretty reasonable price wise and therefore perhaps a good place to start. Does anyone have experience of using them with the bass? Are they worth a punt to start a filter journey or would it be a false economy and I'd be better off spending another 30 quid and getting something more focussed on bass and with more quality? Any opinions most gratefully received! Cheers, Liam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 They've got a cool sound-maybe not as versatile as some filters,but what they do,they do really well. The only problem for me,is they have a noticeable volume increase when activated.I've still got one though,and if you see one at the right money,go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leroybasslines Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Thanks Doddy - that's what I wanted to know! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Hi Liam, I've got a Qtron & a Boomstick Bottom Feeder. Give us a shout if you want to borrow them, try them out etc... Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Hughes Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 (edited) They do have a volume boost when engaged - BUT they can be modded to solve that. Bigwan here added a volume control on mine to turn down the output of the effect and it's so the dogs danglies now. So much so that I just sold my EBS BassIQ (even tho it's more versatile and half the size) and I'm debating about whether or not to get a 3 Leaf Audio Proton. Yes, the Mini Q-Tron is fairly limited in what it can do, but what it does it does damn well, IMO. The Micro Q-Tron is The Ramones of envelope filters. Edited February 8, 2011 by Gareth Hughes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leroybasslines Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 [quote name='Gareth Hughes' post='1120484' date='Feb 8 2011, 07:42 PM']They do have a volume boost when engaged - BUT they can be modded to solve that. Bigwan here added a volume control on mine to turn down the output of the effect and it's so the dogs danglies now. So much so that I just sold my EBS BassIQ (even tho it's more versatile and half the size) and I'm debating about whether or not to get a 3 Leaf Audio Proton. Yes, the Mini Q-Tron is fairly limited in what it can do, but what it does it does damn well, IMO. The Micro Q-Tron of it as The Ramones of envelope filters.[/quote] Thanks for that Gareth. Ironically, I've literally this second just bought a BassIQ for a nice price from warwickhunt on here! I guess that I'm well and truly enveloped in the world of filters now. I saw a Q-Tron on eBay for £36, which is why I was asking for thoughts on it. (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200573703241&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_796wt_1139 if you're interested. Seems a good deal. Don't know the seller though.) Nick - it'd be great to come round and play with your toys anyway sometime! I can show you my new Lakland too. Shall we make a date?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Hughes Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 You won't be dissappointed - the BassIQ is a good pedal indeed. I'm just gassing for a Proton - I think. Thanks for the link but I still have my Q-Tron - it might well be the oldest bit of kit I have, which is saying a lot for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Doddy' post='1119954' date='Feb 8 2011, 12:08 PM']They've got a cool sound-maybe not as versatile as some filters,but what they do,they do really well. The only problem for me,is they have a noticeable volume increase when activated.I've still got one though,and if you see one at the right money,go for it.[/quote] +1 I had one, and I sold it... and soon afterwards I bought another one. It's not ultra versatile, but it does sound very very good. The volume increase is annoying, so I've ended up playing in conjunction with a Boss LS-2 line selector, in one of its loops, so I can adjust the volume that way and turn it on/off from the Boss. This, additionally, allows you to blend the dry bass sound with the micro Q-Tron, which is a great thing. Edited February 9, 2011 by mcnach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 I moved onto a Micro Q-tron after being a bit disappointed with my DOD FX25, loved the sound, but wanted to tame the volume boost and have a blend control, so I sold it and bought an old 24v Q-tron+, had the option to blend, but still a noticeable volume boost when engaged. I did the master volume control mod, and now I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 [quote name='paul_5' post='1121805' date='Feb 9 2011, 07:39 PM']I moved onto a Micro Q-tron after being a bit disappointed with my DOD FX25, loved the sound, but wanted to tame the volume boost and have a blend control, so I sold it and bought an old 24v Q-tron+, had the option to blend, but still a noticeable volume boost when engaged. I did the master volume control mod, and now I love it.[/quote] +1 Despite being a really funky filter, I actually think its not that useable as an effect without the volume control mod, or at least with a limiter pedal after it. Well worth getting the mod done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddybass Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 can someone please give me details of the volume mod so I can do it on my micro qtron, cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 It's basically adding a volume control to the effected signal, after the circuit but before the footswitch. Haven't done it to mine yet but have carried out the mod on 2 mini Qtrons which have the same issue. Works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddybass Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 thanks Bigwan, any chance of a wiring diagram? cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 I'll throw something together tomorrow. It'll probably be on the back of a fag packet (or politically correct modern equivalent!!!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddybass Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 cheers bro! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 (edited) YOU CARRY OUT THIS MOD AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! It's a little more awkward modifying the micro q-tron than the mini, but still perfectly achievable. Have a look at the pic attached. First thing you have to do is cut the red track on the footswitch pcb (shown in the diagram) to break the connection between the ribbon cable and the footswitch. If it were me I'd cut it more than once to be sure! Next get a potentiometer. I'd go for a 1 megaohm audio taper although I've used other values (250k, 500k). The little diagram within the pic shows looking at the pot from the back. The red wire should be connected to the ribbon cable end of the red track. The green wire should connect to the top right of the 9 footswitch pins (the other end of the red track). The 3rd pot connection should be grounded. I'd connect it to the chassis of the pot (if it's a metal case) then to an available ground on the circuit - I'd connect to the sleeve lug on the output jack). Where you drill the hole for the pot is entirely up to you. I'd be tempted to mount it on the side of the pedal on the footswitch side of the output jack, about where the battery usually sits. There's the same room on the other side of the footswitch to put the battery. Edited March 7, 2013 by Bigwan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 That pic is maybe too compressed for you to read the text on the diagram, so: Red = output from circuit to footswitch Green = footswitch to output jack Blue = true bypass signal from input jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddybass Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 [b]Hi Bigwan, I did the mod today as you described and it works great, used a 500k pot I had lying around. Since taking the pic I have soldered the Black ground wire to the outer shell of the jack (the one nearest to the metal box) and it all works great and no noise. I have 2 Micro Qtrons at the moment so will do the other one as well and post it for sale shortly. Cheers. [/b] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorchedcortex Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 Hello folks. New to the forum. I know this is a very old thread, but can anyone provide the picture from Bigwan's post associated with this mod? I have a Micro Qtron and I would like to add a volume pot. I could use the picture to cut the traces correctly and install the volume pot. Or does anyone have new instructions/pictures on how to do this to a Micro Qtron? Thanks so much for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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