3leaf GR2 help

[Jakester]

I picked up a 3leaf GR2 fairly recently, but I've been having problems getting it to 'trigger' correctly. 

Basically when I play 'normally', even with sensitivity high, I struggle to get it to make any noticeable difference to the sound. 

If I run a fuzz beforehand then it's fine, quacky as anything. I've tried using the fuzz in and out of the effects loop with no discernible changes. The signal chain is bass>preamp pedal>octaver>fuzz>GR2.

I've adjusted the trimpot inside and it was better, but still not full on squelch. 

It sort of seems that the signal coming into it isn't hot enough, but that isn't right as I'm using an active bass, and there's also a preamp pedal at the beginning of the signal chain. It's the same whether in the effects chain or plugged directly into the pedal. 

It's really odd because the setup has been fine with other filter pedals I've used; I have an old Boss FT2 which works fine (albeit not as well sonically) as the GR2 should, and the SourceAudio filter I had before also worked with the same setup. 

Does anyone have any ideas? 

[paul_5]

the problem could be that you're running an active bass - they have a wildly different impedance than passive basses, and some pedals just don't play well with them - looking at you ZVEX Wooly Mammoth - have you tried running a buffer e.g. a Boss pedal in bypass mode in front of it, or trying it with a passive bass?

[Jakester]

I'd be surprised if that's the case - I have tried with both directly in and get the same issue, and I'd have thought the out from the preamp pedal would be at the appropriate output level.

It has an input sensitivity adjustment but that seems to make no difference either. 

[Al Krow]

I've dug out a couple of clips, both recorded without fuzz with the GR2

First by itself and second with OC2 added.

How close is that to what you are getting?

 

Filter 9 - 3Leaf GR2.mp3 Filter 14 - GR2 + OC2 (Ian).wav

[Jakester]

First one similar, but much less - it's sort of the like when the sweep switch is down it's doing nothing until driven by another pedal. It's a bit more responsible when up, so closer to your recording. V odd. 

[Al Krow]

Ah ok - I think I maybe know what is going on then:

I used quite different settings (I think attack and decay, in particular) for up and down sweep to get the best "squelch".

So if you have it on a really tasty setting for up-sweep, simply flicking the switch to down-sweep is going to sound like it's doing very little and vice versa.

Sensitivity and hi and lo range settings will also make a difference and I'm pretty sure that I had mine dialled to mostly "wet".

Annoyingly I had a cull of some old pedal pics a couple of weeks back, otherwise I could have shared my fav up and down sweep settings on the GR2 with you.

Edited March 10, 2021 by Al Krow

[Jakester]

Ah, so not 'fit and forget'. Ah well. I will keep playing then. Deffo set to 100% wet! When I can get it working it's great.

[Al Krow]

Yup it's a shame you can't simply flip from up and down sweep settings, but that is true for most analogue filters that have both up and down filter sweeps.

It definitely repays investment in careful tweaking - as you say when you get it working optimally it's great!

FWIW it's the best filter I've had, for me easily beating the MXR M82 and Aguilar Filter Twin and even the juicy Fwonkbeta; I only moved it on because the more recent 3 Leaf Proton Mk4 matches a lot (but certainly not all) of what the GR2 can do but in smaller form factor.

[dodge_bass]

22 hours ago, Jakester said:

Ah, so not 'fit and forget'. Ah well. I will keep playing then. Deffo set to 100% wet! When I can get it working it's great.

 

22 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Yup it's a shame you can't simply flip from up and down sweep settings, but that is true for most analogue filters that have both up and down filter sweeps.

It definitely repays investment in careful tweaking - as you say when you get it working optimally it's great!

FWIW it's the best filter I've had, for me easily beating the MXR M82 and Aguilar Filter Twin and even the juicy Fwonkbeta; I only moved it on because the more recent 3 Leaf Proton Mk4 matches a lot (but certainly not all) of what the GR2 can do but in smaller form factor.

Agreed - these take a while to really dial in the sound so lots of messing on and tweaking will really help here. I’m only use a passive P bass into mine and it triggers fine so it’s perhaps just your settings? I’ll try dig out a pic of my settings. 

[dannybuoy]

Setting the attack/decay knobs is crucial with these and others like it such as the Meatball. If attack is slow but decay is fast, it'll never sweep. If attack is fast but decay too slow, it'll stay wide open most of the time.

[paulo m]

Hello'  just how do you have the internal dip switch's set...? this could be the issue..? 

[Jakester]

1 minute ago, paulo m said:

Hello'  just how do you have the internal dip switch's set...? this could be the issue..? 

From memory, lowpass, res+, and gain about half-way, and buffered (not tru) bypass, though I'll have a check. 

[paulo m]

Try these settings... 

[paulo m]

These settings should work fine... 

[Jakester]

Thanks!