Low pass / envelope filter for thick subby synthy sound?

[mattyb]

I'm looking for a bit of advise here, I mainly play praise and worship music and I'm looking for something to couple with an octave and drive for a subby synthy sound. I'm pretty sure a moogerfooger mf101 would do the job but they're huge and apparently hissy?

I've got a budget of around £150, would the likes of an Aguilar twin filter or an MXR M82 do the job? Or a source audio BEF pro? I did have one of those briefly but flipped it pretty quick after it confusing the life out of me!

Any help would be good thanks!

[mattyb]

This is maybe a weird thing to add, but the whole dubstep wobble thing isn't what I'm looking for. More like, making my bass sound like a Synth. This jojo Mayer and nerve tone!

[lefrash]

I know nothing of electronics but I would have thought someone could knock up a fixed low pass filter pedal pretty easily and cheaply. I maybe wrong and there may be technical reasons why its not as easy as I'd think.


As an addition, I find that if I use my digitech bass synth wah as an octaver but have it heavily balanced towards the octave down it gives me a lovely synthy sounding bass. Almost all my 'octave' parts have turned into synthy parts recently beacue of this discovery! haha.

Edited July 8, 2014 by lefrash

[Roland Rock]

I'd check out the Iron Ether Xerograph deluxe

[happynoj]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1404860635' post='2496555']
I'd check out the Iron Ether Xerograph deluxe
[/quote]

+1

[Dudgeman]

Might be a bit off the wall but try an ehx octave multiplexer..hit the sub button and watch your driver doesnt implode...gets fun when you mess with the tone controls...also I paid about £25 for mine..so its a no lose purchase...

[xgsjx]

John Davis (of Nerve) uses a Moog MF-101 (along with a few other pedals. You'll want an OC 2 or similar to get the sound started & some dirt after that).
I know Shep's tried just about every LPF there is & was hoping to reduce the size of the pedals he uses, but hasn't found a replacement for the Moog.
The Moog is fussy regarding power. I have it on its own wart & in some places I'll get a very low background noise (some places nothing). You don't hear it when playing live though.

Yes it's not a cheap pedal & you then have to buy an expression pedal (or 2) to go with it, and it takes up a good bit of space, but there's nothing else that sounds like a model D filter.

[Roland Rock]

If it helps, I've had both the MF101 and the Xerograph. They are both great pedals.

To me the MF101 was a bit more natural/less synthy sounding, which can be great. It's also very easy to get nice useable sounds from. Noise was never an issue for me, like Luke says, it's fine live.

The Xerograph is a bit more unwieldy. The oscillating squeals and resonance boost can be absolutely brutal, so you need to be a bit more careful. With care though, you can get some lovely settings which are a bit more synthy than the MF101 IMO.

I now use a Xerograph because it's smaller, easy to power, and sounds great. If I was twiddling settings on the gig, and had no space constraints, I'd happily use the MF101, even if it is a bit more 'polite'.

[mattyb]

Thats for the info guys! I'm watching an MF101 on ebay so fingers crossed it stays reasonably priced! If, in the likely case, it is a bit out of my price range. How could a SA BEF Pro do at copping that vibe?

[matejj53]

boss oc 2 and moog mf1 are great combination. Sometimes you have to just sacrifice more space for good tone

[Prime_BASS]

Basically you'll want Octave - Dirt - moog LPF.

That moog pedal is by far the best at its job, I never found mind to be hissy at all.

[0175westwood29]

You could maybe look at the lateral sound "primer" its a very cool pedal, has the low pass filter nailed and sounds pretty snythy with a bit of dirt.

Andy

[dannybuoy]

John Davis also uses/used the WMD Fatman envelope filter. I used to have one and it's the best filter I've tried for really subby envelope 'womp!' noises.

[Doddy]

From what I've been told, the Nerve sound basically starts with a Boss OC2 with the direct level turned down low or off.

The Digitech Bass Synth Wah has a pretty good low pass filter,you just need to play around with it for a bit.For the price, you
can't knock it.I've also had success with the Ibanez SB7.

[mattyb]

I ended up grabbing a 3Leaf GR2 which sounds great but isn't exactly what I was looking for.... Would you guys rate the sound of the OC2 above an Octamizer? I have the latter but its definitely a different sound to the usual synth octave bass sound. Maybe I need to play with the filter knob a bit more to dial it in just right

[Bigwan]

[quote name='mattyb' timestamp='1406618392' post='2512968']
I ended up grabbing a 3Leaf GR2 which sounds great but isn't exactly what I was looking for.... Would you guys rate the sound of the OC2 above an Octamizer? I have the latter but its definitely a different sound to the usual synth octave bass sound. Maybe I need to play with the filter knob a bit more to dial it in just right
[/quote]

They're based on the same circuit (as are 90% of octavers out there) but the Aguilar has a few... refinements! The filter knob is where the magic seems to be in that pedal from the clips I've heard.

[Doddy]

I'd recommend an OC2 any day. I've got loads of fancy effects but there is nothing like the OC2. It's certainly my
most used pedal.

[Doddy]

I'd recommend an OC2 any day. I've got loads of fancy effects but there is nothing like the OC2. It's certainly my
most used pedal.

[bakerster135]

[quote name='mattyb' timestamp='1406618392' post='2512968']
I ended up grabbing a 3Leaf GR2 which sounds great but isn't exactly what I was looking for.... Would you guys rate the sound of the OC2 above an Octamizer? I have the latter but its definitely a different sound to the usual synth octave bass sound. Maybe I need to play with the filter knob a bit more to dial it in just right
[/quote]

Just get the Moog dude, it'll do exactly what you need. It is quite big, but not at all noisy.

[mattyb]

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1406634180' post='2513194']
Just get the Moog dude, it'll do exactly what you need. It is quite big, but not at all noisy.
[/quote]

Pretty sure thats where I'm going to end up... you might see a GR2 in the classifieds sooner or later!

[xgsjx]

My moogs are coming up for sale soon. Only because I don't play anymore.

[mattyb]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1406662235' post='2513562']
My moogs are coming up for sale soon. Only because I don't play anymore.
[/quote]

PM me a price! I've spotted some on ebay I'm watching too so it looks like this is happening!

[xgsjx]

[quote name='mattyb' timestamp='1406705006' post='2513823']
PM me a price! I've spotted some on ebay I'm watching too so it looks like this is happening!
[/quote]

As soon as I've paid to advertise, I'll PM you a price & post an ad with what I have (I'll try & get that done tonight if poss).

[thisnameistaken]

I went with the Xerograph as a treadle filter just because it's much smaller than the Moog. Works great. I also use a Chunk O.S. for envelope filter duties.

[Kev]

Would still love to try a Chunk, not made anymore so chances of having one are slim!