Effects Bay

Today, I wanted to give another shout out to the bass players out there. So today we’re talking about the Electro-Harmonix Nano Bassballs Envelope Filter for bass.  This is another pedal in the new Nano configuration, and it has a pretty cool effected tone. Basically a envelope filter with a little fuzz (maybe not fuzz.. but harmonic distortion) mixed in. I could see this used for some great bass tones and craziness. I’m sure this would be quite crazy on guitar as well.

Here is the official product description:

The Electro Harmonix Nano Bassballs Twin Envelope Filter effects pedal has everything you loved about the original Bassballs in a pocket size. The human vocal-like sound of its two sweeping filters gives bass a strong presence under leads, or a commanding quality when out front. The resonant frequencies are engineered solidly into the full range of the bass guitar’s strongest harmonics. Bassballs will respond to every bass note. The sweep is widely variable, and harmonic enrichment is available with the distortion switch.

The Nano Bassballs comes in a small, die-cast case with rounded corners, saving valuable pedalboard space. The footswitch selects your original signal or the filtered signal as the Bassballs output. The range of the filters upward sweep in pitch is set by the interaction of instrument volume and the sensitivity control. Both stronger attacks and higher (clockwise) control settings increase the sweep range. Low volume and low sensitivity settings will create little or no sweep, and Bassballs will only provide a small boost in its lowest frequencies. In its upward position, the fuzz switch introduces additional harmonic enrichment that accentuates the filters action. The sensitivity pot also serves as a volume control for the fuzz, also increasing in the clockwise direction.

I found the official product demo video by EHX.

You can pick up the Electro Harmonix Nano Bassballs Envelop Filter for $82.50 on Musician’s Friend.

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This envelope filter is rad! I think that is the only way I can start with this. After talking about the Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, I got routed into Electro-Harmonix stuff, yet again. But I ended up at the Riddle: Q-Balls Envelop Filter. I’ve always been slightly intimidated of envelop filters, worried that I would succumb to the dark side of guitar craziness and becoming a noise machine, but holy cats, I came across this video that is AWESOME.

Here are the specifics about the pedal:

The Electro-Harmonix Riddle is a powerful and precise envelope filter fine-tuned for guitar frequency response. Riddle will deliver tight and smooth control over the complete 80 Hz to 5 kHz range, with a consistent and even sweetness. Need some edge? Engage Riddle’s analog distortion and dial in anything from subtle bite to dominating crush. You can even plug in an optional expression pedal to control the filter sweep with your foot. With the ability to adjust Q, sweep range, and filter type, you’ll also wind up with of the most versatile wahs available.

Envelope controlled filters are a unique type of sound modifier where the intensity of the effect is controlled by the user’s playing dynamics. The volume and dynamic of the incoming audio signal is used to control a swept filter. As the volume increases or decreases so does the frequency of the filter. With 3 selectable filter modes, along with START, STOP, ATTACK, DECAY, Q and SENSITIVITY controls, all of the classic Q sounds are available to the user.

Electro-Harmonix Riddle Envelope Filter Guitar Effects Pedal Features:

• 80 Hz to 5 kHz frequency response tailored for guitar
• Optional expression pedal control
• Fully-analog circuit
• Switch selectable analog distortion designed for guitar
• Start and Stop sweep control
• Low Pass, Band Pass, High Pass filter select
• Start and Stop for filter sweep and Q control
• Separate Dry and Effect outputs
• 9.6VDC 200mA power supply included

This pedal is available for $189.00 + shipping at Musician’s Friend. They’re offering ‘We Will Beat Any Price Guaranteed’  for this pedal, and that’s a good thing since it’s currently on sale at Amazon for $168.97 w/Free Shipping.

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Popularity: 5%