Can't miss Tuesday LR - September 4th

[KenC]

Doing a drive by just before bed...it turns into September 5th on the East Coast in a couple of minutes...throwing something up so the chain isn't broken...

Since it's not my week, I have nothing prepared for an LR. Lunch today was a sandwich and bag of chips from the cafeteria at work, eaten back at my desk. Tomorrow will probably be the same.

G&L topic: Front-loaded controls - are they dinosaurs, vintage bling, or not a big issue to you? 90% of my G&Ls have them, the only exceptions being a '00 L2K and the Superhawk. I think the control plates look right on the older instruments, but the current/recent G&L finishes I've seen are just too beautiful to cover with anything.

Non-G&L topic: Can anybody recommend a really nice envelope filter? I've been experimenting with an EBS BassIQ, which really responds nicely to the L-series bass humbuckers. I haven't tried it yet with a guitar, but I expect it will sound nice with the large MFDs on an ASAT.

Sprinter92 - I hope all is well, and that you don't mind the pinch-hit!

Ken

[yowhatsshakin]

Thanks for picking up the slack today Ken. After all, it is Open Mic this week.

I wouldn't be able to imagine most of the Tele and Strat models without front loaded controls. Most of mine are front loaded too, a total of 28 out of 42, an exact two thirds. But all but three of the 14 rear-loaded models are CCD build models, a connection that should not come as a surprise. My rare rear-loaded G-200 is one of the exceptions; my Deluxe and L-2500 being the other 2 but they both have figured maple tops, on which I certainly prefer rear-loaded. And as some of my Leo-era maple ASAT's demonstrate, front-loaded controls with a pickguard look great on 'plain' maple too.

Can't help you with the Envelope Filter, although I have heard and read some good things about some Electro-Harmonix stuff.

- Jos

[blargfromouterspace]

25% of my G&Ls have with rear mounted controls. I think a guitar without a pick guard looks better with rear mounted controls.

I can't help with the envelope filter either, I've never even used one!

[louis cyfer]

of sound are you looking for with the envelope filter? it's kind of a broad category.

[Sprinter 92]

G&L topic: Front-loaded controls - are they dinosaurs, vintage bling, or not a big issue to you? 90% of my G&Ls have them, the only exceptions being a '00 L2K and the Superhawk. I think the control plates look right on the older instruments, but the current/recent G&L finishes I've seen are just too beautiful to cover with anything.

Through the years I've seen a few rear loaded guitars that have taken a hit in the control area and fractured the wood around the controls or input jack. I've not seen this on a G&L, but I've seen a few Gibson's with that type of damage. The guitar can be pieced back together, but it's still damaged for life. With front mount controls you can easily replace the damaged plate or pickguard and the guitar is good as new.

Non-G&L topic: Can anybody recommend a really nice envelope filter? I've been experimenting with an EBS BassIQ, which really responds nicely to the L-series bass humbuckers. I haven't tried it yet with a guitar, but I expect it will sound nice with the large MFDs on an ASAT.

I don't use pedals very much. I've never tried an envelope filter and I don't know what it does. What does it do?

Sprinter92 - I hope all is well, and that you don't mind the pinch-hit!

Everything is well, Ken. I'm crazy busy this week. I work in a two man garage and my co-worker is on vacation this week. So I'm a one man show.

Sprinter 92

[darwinohm]

Ken, I have several rear loaded guitars. I even had a rear loaded Tele and it was cool looking. You need to be careful when tightening or changing controls. I prefer them on cap tops and am beginning to dislike pickguards in general. I like the naked look!

I do not have any filter experience, and seldom use pedals other than the Sonic Stomp which is a must.

Sprinter, it sounds like you are under the gun this week.-- Darwin

[huck]

I have a older DOD FX25B that has a nice blend to it! can get real funky..

[asphalt-abate]

Ken:

I've been passively looking for an envelope filter as well, for guitar. I had a DOD FX25B and I broke it (my fault not the peda'ls). They aren't bad for the price as you can find them used for cheap. It sounds like Louis has some ideas but needs more specifics. I'm not sure about the full size EH envelope filters but I've heard that you should stay clear of the EH micros. Let me know if you come up with anything.

[KenC]

Thanks for picking up the slack today Ken. After all, it is Open Mic this week.

I must have missed the memo about open mic week!

of sound are you looking for with the envelope filter? it's kind of a broad category.

I've been experimenting to see what's out there. I'm open to just about anything. I mainly use mine with bass, but I do sometimes run through one to funkify a guitar rhythm.

I've never tried an envelope filter and I don't know what it does. What does it d

I'm far from an expert on envelope filters, but they do really interest me. The idea is basically that the signal from the instrument opens a filter like you would find on a wah-wah pedal, and that the amount of response from the filter depends on how hot the signal is and how hard you hit the front end. Heavy picking (or aggressive right hand technique on a bass) will cause more of an effect than softer playing. The filter itself can sweep up or down - essentially an auto-wah - or remain at one center frequency, depending on the design of the pedal. I currently have four analog pedals that are variants on envelope filters:

1. The Boss AW-2 Auto Wah is a pretty limited pedal IMO, but contains a low-frequency oscillator (LFO) to sweep the filter. It can be OK sometimes on guitar, but I did not find any use for it on bass. All of the usual Boss limitations apply.

2. The DOD FX25B is a neat little pedal. I liked it so much that I bought a second. It works surprising well for the price, IMO. I've used it around the house and in jam sessions on both bass and guitar. It may be a touch on the thin side for bass, but then again it runs about a quarter of the price of a higher-end unit on the used market.

3. The Moogerfooger MF-101 Lowpass Filter isn't designed to be an envelope filter per se, but it contains an envelope module and a filter module and works like a fixed-frequency envelope filter. You can connect an external LFO (such as from another Moogerfooger) to make the center frequency move up and down, like rocking a wah-wah pedal. You can push the resonance knob up to the verge of self-oscillation or hook it to a Moogerfooger Ring Modulator to add all kinds of weird decay patterns to the sound. It's hard to get anywhere close to a realistic description without using sound clips. As a bonus you can use the lowpass filter as a lowpass filter, to remove unwanted high frequencies (for example, filtering string noise or using it as a PTB-style treble cut). I imagine it could also act somewhat like the OMG switch on an early L-1000.

4. The EBS BassIQ Triple Envelope Filter is my newest toy, and I'm only starting to scratch the surface with it. It gives three different filter sweep directions, and pulls out all kinds of vowel sounds over the notes. I've tried it with the Lynx and the L2KE so far. It sounds great with the Lynx, but the hot signal from the L2KE pickups takes it to another level.

I would love to hear any thoughts or experiences with other pedals of this general type.

Ken

[LeoFThe Champion]

Hey Ken , There are 2 I use with my 83 L 2000. DOD FX25 , very cool from the 90's. electro harmonic Bass Balls made in Russia in the 90' s. Or you could locate my all time Bass guitar favourite the one and only Deep Impact . It is unbelievable.

[KenC]

LeoFTC,

Thanks for the tip. I've seen Deep Impact pedals show up occasionally at my local shop. I'll be sure to check the next one out.

Ken