Flea's envelope filter in Spontaneous Jamming DVD

Ronnie Nine

Ronnie Nine

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Nov 29, 2014
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#1
Hello everyone.

I'm trying to inform myself as much as possible before spending some money on a fun pedal. This one's for my Flea board, and I have huge GAS for that particular envelope filter he uses on the Spontaneous Jamming DVD.

It has this awesome feature that it makes a fast low end wobble after each note hit. I had the Micro Q-Tron and I didn't like it at all, it wasn't versatile enough nor aggressive. I'm particularly looking for his tone, but I've heard that the pedal is a total mess. Would this pedal suit me? (I'm also open to alternatives that are super versatile)

Also, is the Kermit Green or the other Green (mint green I think) that he used?
 
#2
That's the DOD FX25/FX25B? Reading your post makes it seem like the make/model is shrouded in secrecy.

Filters are a very particular effect. Different playing techniques and basses will make them sound/feel different from one player to the next. You really need to try it for yourself to find out.

As for the pedal being a mess? I'm not sure what that means but DOD didn't exactly have the greatest reputation, hence their going under or whatever happened to them.

Back in the mid 90's it was basically Boss vs. DOD, and a lot of players went with Boss for the higher build quality (DOD had plastic foot switches) among other reasons.
 
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#3
I am talking about the FX 25 . The 25B loses volume when engaged so it's a no-no for band use. (At least so I've heard)

Some people reported that the FX 25 sometimes has this super low end that "shakes the room", and that is "not good" for the exact same reason.

There are two types of the FX 25 , there's a kermit green one and a mint green one (Im not talking about the FX 25B).

As I said, I had a Micro Q-Tron, but it wasn't good for me, maybe the bigger one is more versatile.
 
#4
Filters are like drives in that they are very personal.
I've spent many years and lots of cash trying to find the right filter and drives for me.

I also fell in love with the 25 when I heard that vhs (!!), but after buying a couple of different models - mint green and 25b, I realised that without a hot bass like the Ray he uses in the vid, and without actually being flea, I was never going to sound like that.

Eventually I settled on the bass envelope filter from mxr, and I can get as quacky as I want with that
 
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#5
Yep, I'm looking for something quacky.

There's a lot of deals for the FX 25 now, that's why I started this thread. I don't know if he used the Kermit Green one or the Mint Green one.

As for THE envelope filter.. I guess I have to try some more out!
 
#8
Ronnie Nine said:
I am talking about the FX 25 . The 25B loses volume when engaged so it's a no-no for band use. (At least so I've heard)

Some people reported that the FX 25 sometimes has this super low end that "shakes the room", and that is "not good" for the exact same reason.

There are two types of the FX 25 , there's a kermit green one and a mint green one (Im not talking about the FX 25B).

As I said, I had a Micro Q-Tron, but it wasn't good for me, maybe the bigger one is more versatile.
Click to expand...
I’ve owned all 3 DODs. The mint green one sucked, the fx25b was a volume and tone suck. The Kermit green one with the big knobs..*sigh* I LOVED the tone. Unfortunately it also sucked volume and had cheap construction and a cruddy switch. If I recall that flea video(the one with river Phoenix?) he used the fx25b...that video probably had tons of post recording audio work done and made it sound how they needed it to. For a live setting, I wouldn’t recommend ANY of these pedals. If you want that quack and rubbery sound without the wet/watery filter sound, buy a fwonkbeta.
 
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#9
It was indeed the FX25B, if you pause the video you can tell.... I never experienced volume loss and actually much prefered it to the "Kermit" green one which seemed to sound different everytime I played through it? Both were pretty similar but the "B" version has a sorta clean blend knob.

The only thing to keep in mind is that the sweep is dangerously loud so you wanna run a limiter afterwards. But I've yet to hear a better envelope filter and I'm sure others would agree with me.
 
#11
For a long time I ran an FX25 in the loop of a blender and with a limiter downstream.

One of my absolute favorite filter tones. And rolling the filter sensitivity back allowed for the Bill Laswell dub trick. BL apparently used the DOD Performer series filter but the FX25 is great for it too.

Eventually I moved on to filters that didn't require a separate blend pedal but I still miss that sound at times.

From a technical standpoint the FX25 is an upsweep only bandpass filter with a huge sweep range. This is why it both pumps out huge lows AND gets super thin during it's sweep and why a blend and compressor/limiter downstream are a good idea. The built-in blend of later models was crappy and poorly implemented .

The closest current mass produced filter is probably the MXR which has a very good blend, but the filter itself is much more polite and a lot less greasy IMO.

The Fwonkbeta is in the same ballpark but didn't quite have as much character to my ears.
 
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#16
Awesome infos, thanks a lot.

It's a truly funky sound, but for me it must be usable in live settings.. such a turn-off because I really like that quacky sound. I need to check out that Fwonkbeta! I don't think I've heard of it before.

So he uses the darker one not the Kermit green one.

Also, looks like I could only get one from ebay and that would cost me around 110 with shipping since I live in Europe. Will probably get another filter, but I still want one of these just for fun.
 
#17
So I listened to a few Fwonkbeta videos.
I quickly fell in love with it, and started looking for one in my area.

Then .. by "accident".. a video reviewing the FX 25 came up .. why is it so awesome?!
Anyways, I do have a limiter, but I guess I would need an LS-2 as well for it.

Anyone else uses them? Or perhaps used the fwonkbeta as well as having the FX 25?
I would get one, try it, sell it if I wouldn't like it. The problem is, I can't find ANY of them here, so I have to pay a lot for shipping.
 
#20
Musicman1901 said:
I’ve owned all 3 DODs. The mint green one sucked, the fx25b was a volume and tone suck. The Kermit green one with the big knobs..*sigh* I LOVED the tone. Unfortunately it also sucked volume and had cheap construction and a cruddy switch. If I recall that flea video(the one with river Phoenix?) he used the fx25b...that video probably had tons of post recording audio work done and made it sound how they needed it to. For a live setting, I wouldn’t recommend ANY of these pedals. If you want that quack and rubbery sound without the wet/watery filter sound, buy a fwonkbeta.
Click to expand...

How would you compare the kermit green one to the mint green fx 25?
 
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