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Post new topic Auto Wah / Envelop Filter on Pedal Steel
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Author Topic:  Auto Wah / Envelop Filter on Pedal Steel
John Larson


From:
Pennsyltucky, USA
Post  Posted 29 Mar 2024 7:39 pm    
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I love Auto Wah on six string non steel guitar. Does anyone use it with pedal steel if so which units? (Mutron, DOD, Boss, etc ).
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David Gertschen

 

From:
Phoenix, Arizona
Post  Posted 29 Mar 2024 7:44 pm    
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I use one of the old green DOD 440 envelope filters but any of the major ones will get the job done. They work well with pedal steel and it's always fun coming up with different sounds.
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John Larson


From:
Pennsyltucky, USA
Post  Posted 30 Mar 2024 5:29 am    
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Ok I'll have to try the DOD style I built this clone a while ago and it's my go to when Im in the mood to jam some late 70s Grateful Dead.

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Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; praise is meet for the upright. Give praise to the Lord with the harp, chant unto Him with the ten-stringed psaltery. Sing unto Him a new song, chant well unto Him with jubilation. For the word of the Lord is true, and all His works are in faithfulness. The Lord loveth mercy and judgement; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.
- Psalm 33:1-5
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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 30 Mar 2024 8:11 am    
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In the '70s, I used an MXR Envelope Filter. Recently I bought a Sonicake Cry-Bot pedal.
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 30 Mar 2024 8:12 am    
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When Russ Pahl was still in the Twin Cities playing with the Sky Blue Water Boys back in the late '70s, he used an MXR unit on their showstopper Wood & Steel. I thought it sounded great.

ps -- I can't help but wonder whether or not that tune is still in Dan Lund's repertoire.
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Tim Marcus


From:
San Francisco, CA
Post  Posted 30 Mar 2024 8:37 am    
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all the time! I have a 3 Leaf Audio Proton which sounds awesome. Slow swells sound like a synthesizer filter sweep and if you pick fast you can get some nice disco action going

for me I find that it works better just ahead of the volume pedal
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Jon Light


From:
Saugerties, NY
Post  Posted 30 Mar 2024 8:52 am    
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Tim Marcus wrote:

for me I find that it works better just ahead of the volume pedal

This is the heart of my problem with A LOT of different envelope filters I've worked with. Input sensitivity is extremely hostile to volume pedal variation. OTOH some units don't take too well to the full output of a steel guitar pickup. But my bottom line is that I'm too lazy to add one more layer of complexity to my setup by including a pre-vp dimension.

But now that we're talking about it, it's got my thinking again. That's never a good thing.

Some good ones I've used: Line 6 OttoWah (surprising!), a couple of Source Audio boxes, MXR Bass Envelope Filter, cheap SoniCake
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John Larson


From:
Pennsyltucky, USA
Post  Posted 30 Mar 2024 10:40 am    
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Thinking of getting one of these. The Mutron has more control and it's got the whole legacy behind it but it's over double the money of the Q tron. Only thing the Q tron severely lacks is having down or up sweep options.



This could be a contender.


_________________
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; praise is meet for the upright. Give praise to the Lord with the harp, chant unto Him with the ten-stringed psaltery. Sing unto Him a new song, chant well unto Him with jubilation. For the word of the Lord is true, and all His works are in faithfulness. The Lord loveth mercy and judgement; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.
- Psalm 33:1-5
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Dan Kelly


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 30 Mar 2024 11:51 am    
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Here is forum member Josh Yenne noodling with an Envelope filter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ZbmPWjT80&ab_channel=JoshYenne

Carl Broemel does a nice job...

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vgadW6iqKvo
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Scott Swartz


From:
St. Louis, MO
Post  Posted 30 Mar 2024 6:53 pm    
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I have been using the Mutron for a couple years, and the super clean optical tone and sweep range on low on the Mutron is great for steel.

I have tried a couple others that worked OK also but the Mutron just sounds right.

Also the level control is crucial for live playing, an envelope filter without this is not workable for gigs IMO, due to the frequency peak.
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John Larson


From:
Pennsyltucky, USA
Post  Posted 30 Mar 2024 8:03 pm    
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Scott Swartz wrote:
I have been using the Mutron for a couple years, and the super clean optical tone and sweep range on low on the Mutron is great for steel.

I have tried a couple others that worked OK also but the Mutron just sounds right.

Also the level control is crucial for live playing, an envelope filter without this is not workable for gigs IMO, due to the frequency peak.


Agreed, my DIY clone of a Lovetone Meatball works great (as it does on every thing I've ever plugged into it). But the footprint is so dang big.



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Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; praise is meet for the upright. Give praise to the Lord with the harp, chant unto Him with the ten-stringed psaltery. Sing unto Him a new song, chant well unto Him with jubilation. For the word of the Lord is true, and all His works are in faithfulness. The Lord loveth mercy and judgement; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.
- Psalm 33:1-5
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Steve Lipsey


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 1 Apr 2024 10:17 am    
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Analogman seems to have the widest range of response up and down the fretboard, and handles input variation well...I set mine with sensitivity at 9 o'clock instead of the noon that is normal...I tried a bunch of them and settled on Analogman..
https://www.buyanalogman.com/Analog_Man_Block_Logo_Envelope_Filter_Pedal_p/am-blockenvelope.htm
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Jan Jonsson


From:
Gothenburg, Sweden
Post  Posted 1 Apr 2024 12:05 pm    
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Hi,

I have been using a Mad Professor Snow White auto-wah (early version) for my pedal steel with quite satisfying results. In the following video I use it in a rendition of Zappa's "Son of Mr Green Genes":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMnyYfY5lOw

Best regards,
/Jan
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Mike Neer


From:
NJ
Post  Posted 1 Apr 2024 2:36 pm    
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The best I have ever used is the Moogerfooger, but good luck finding one.
I’ve had many different ones including the original Mutron, which was also great. A real sleeper is the old MXR. I sold mine to Bill Elm years ago.
I also built the one in the craig Anderton Electronic Projects for Musicians book and it sounded great, but it was a speaker killer.
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Brett Lanier

 

From:
Madison, TN
Post  Posted 1 Apr 2024 3:07 pm    
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Another vote for the 3Leaf Proton! If you're set on having this effect after your volume pedal you're probably better off with a Line6 M5 or HX One. They're more forgiving with different input gains than an analog pedal.
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Gary Spaeth

 

From:
Wisconsin, USA
Post  Posted 1 Apr 2024 3:20 pm    
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in the 70's buddy did a killer solo with one while playing with john anderson on acl. just knocked it out of the armadillo world headquarters. i'd love to see that episode again.
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Jon Light


From:
Saugerties, NY
Post  Posted 1 Apr 2024 3:30 pm    
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Mike Neer wrote:

I also built the one in the craig Anderton Electronic Projects for Musicians book and it sounded great, but it was a speaker killer.

Ha. I built that. Must have been in the 80's. At that time my soldering chops were so pitiful, it was a total failure. I had such high hopes but magical thinking is no substitute for actual ability.
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Mike Neer


From:
NJ
Post  Posted 2 Apr 2024 8:34 am    
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Jon Light wrote:
Mike Neer wrote:

I also built the one in the craig Anderton Electronic Projects for Musicians book and it sounded great, but it was a speaker killer.

Ha. I built that. Must have been in the 80's. At that time my soldering chops were so pitiful, it was a total failure. I had such high hopes but magical thinking is no substitute for actual ability.


I remember sourcing all the parts from Mouser and I believe I even etched the PC board myself. Used to have a good electronics store nearby that carried lots of stuff that musicians could use, including quality connectors like Neutrik and Switchcraft and lots of good cable. I was tinkering too much.

Anyway, I housed it in some weird plastic box that made it look like a miniature 1980s pc, and I used a lot of plastic buttons and some switches from Radio Shack. I can’t remember why but eventually dismantled some of it where it just kicked around in my workshop until I just tossed. It did work pretty well though, but the range of it was pretty wide and speakers didn’t like it.

I also assembled the PAIA Fatman synth in one day! That was pretty intense.
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Brad Sarno


From:
St. Louis, MO USA
Post  Posted 2 Apr 2024 9:46 am    
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One of the COOLEST things a pedal steeler can do with an envelope filter is to put it just AFTER the volume pedal. You can use the volume pedal to control how closed or open the EF pedal is which basically makes your volume pedal a wah-wah of sorts, but kinda different. Add a little overdrive AFTER the EF pedal. It's really cool once you have the EF sensitivity set just right. Very vocal, talky.

Try it! Does a great JG/NRPS "Dirty Business" but so much more too.


Brad
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Mike Neer


From:
NJ
Post  Posted 2 Apr 2024 10:25 am    
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Here is a VERY old recording of Freedom Jazz Dance that I used a Moogerfooger on. I was always a huge fan of Pat Martino’s Joyous Lake album and Mwandishi was one of my favorite cuts (great envelope filter sound).
https://soundcloud.com/ionahoopii/freedom-jazz-dance2
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Dennis Detweiler


From:
Solon, Iowa, US
Post  Posted 2 Apr 2024 3:20 pm    
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I have and still use an original MXR Envelope Filter. I use it between the guitar and volume pedal to maintain the setting that was used on Witch's Brew, Live At The Convention LP. It's effective along with the proper setting on an overdrive pedal. I use it on some rock and funk tunes.
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Last edited by Dennis Detweiler on 12 Apr 2024 9:46 am; edited 1 time in total
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Andrew H. Brown


From:
Amarillo, TX
Post  Posted 12 Apr 2024 9:27 am    
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Another vote for the 3 Leaf Proton! Also, I like the Keeley Neutrino better with my pedal steel than I do for guitar. Like Brad said, I like them after the volume pedal too.
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Chris Willingham


From:
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Post  Posted 12 Apr 2024 5:36 pm    
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I’ve got the Earthquaker Devices Spatial Delivery right afree VP into my fuzz and an Earth Drive, just as Brad said. It sounds killer and I absolutely love being able to open up the filter. Feels more vocal like than wah to me. Here’s some of me with it on during an intro of Waymore’s (and at red rocks!! What a night that was)

https://youtu.be/ddhFSBNWEhQ?si=gzG3wmvFfeNNGV4v
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Buell Wisner

 

From:
Georgia, USA
Post  Posted 29 Apr 2024 11:05 am    
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Steve Lipsey wrote:
Analogman seems to have the widest range of response up and down the fretboard, and handles input variation well...I set mine with sensitivity at 9 o'clock instead of the noon that is normal...I tried a bunch of them and settled on Analogman..
https://www.buyanalogman.com/Analog_Man_Block_Logo_Envelope_Filter_Pedal_p/am-blockenvelope.htm


I have one of these (though it’s been on loan to a friend and is overdue). I’ve tried a number of others (Neutrino, Mu-Tron, Emma), and the Analogman is my favorite for guitar. All of the others were picky and hard to dial in, but the Analogman is chewy in virtually every setting and every frequency.

Maybe it’s not ideal for some applications (I.e., the deadheads who complain that Warren Haynes uses an Emma, for instance), but it gives me the chewy/bubbly sound I have in my head. It’s probably closest to the Emma in sound, but there aren’t any bad settings, and it has a significantly smaller footprint.

I haven’t tried in on pedal steel guitar yet, so I can’t speak to whether that easy-to-attain chewiness is readily overpowered by a PSG. That said . . .

Anybody know a tactful way to get my loaned-out equipment back? Wink

Seriously, how does one ask your buddies for your stuff back? Say you need it for recording, maybe?
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Buell Wisner

 

From:
Georgia, USA
Post  Posted 29 Apr 2024 11:12 am    
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Chris Willingham wrote:
I’ve got the Earthquaker Devices Spatial Delivery right afree VP into my fuzz and an Earth Drive, just as Brad said. It sounds killer and I absolutely love being able to open up the filter. Feels more vocal like than wah to me. Here’s some of me with it on during an intro of Waymore’s (and at red rocks!! What a night that was)

https://youtu.be/ddhFSBNWEhQ?si=gzG3wmvFfeNNGV4v


That sounds great!
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