Electro Harmonix Q-Tron vs Mu-Tron III Envelope

Way back in the early Seventies, a company called MuTron made waves in the guitarworld with the introduction of the Mu-Tron III, the world’s first envelope follower pedal. This ingenious device provides automatic wah effects, using the dynamics of the input signal to control frequency and resonance so the tone varies in relation to how hoard the strings are struck. Although the Mu-Tron III can emulate a wah-wah pedal quite convincingly, its real strength is its synth-like swells, drippy clicks and duck-like quacks.

Funk players like Parliament bassist Bootsy Collins flocked to this pedal in droves as they no longer had to worry about balancing their stacked platform soles on a rickety wah-wah pedal to get expressive, vocal-like tones. The Mu-Tron III also was a crucial element of Jerry Garcia’s and Frank Zappa’s sounds, and it even found flavor with keyboardists such as Stevie Wonder, who used a Mu-Tron III on his hit “Higher Ground.”

Unfortunetly, the Mu-Tron company folded as the Seventies came to a close. Engineer Mike Beigel, who designed the original Mu-Tron III, dropped out of the musical instrument business for years, but in the late 90’s joined forces with Electro-Harmonix’s Mike Matthews to resurrect a new and improved version of this desired effect.

The Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron offers many of the same features and functions as the Mu-Tron III, plus a few improvements. Like the original, the Q-Tron has a drive switch with up and down settings, a hi/lo range switch and variable gain and peak controls. The Q-Tron differs from its predecessor in that it includes a boost switch, an overload indicator and the addition of a mix setting to the mod selector, which also offers band-pass, low-pass and high-pass filter settings. The effect is housed in a sturdy stainless steel case similar to those used for E-H’s Deluxe Electric Mistress and Deluxe Memory Man.

But the biggest differences in the Q-Tron’s vastly improved sound and responsiveness. We compared the Q-Tron side-by-side with an original late Seventies Mu-Tron III, and it only took a few minutes to determine that the Q-Tron is superior. The Q-Tron can accurately duplicate the Mu-Tron’s most desirable sounds, but it can be tweaked even further to provide fatter bass, more cutting highs and ominous, floor-shaking swells. The pedal is especially responsive to picking dynamics, making it easy to generate expressive effects. Within minutes, even the most mild-mannered players were transformed into fire-breathing funk monsters.

The End Line

George Clinton once said, “You can’t fake the funk,” but thanks to the Q-Tron it’s easier than ever to get nasty, booty-shakin’ tones. Exceptionally responsive and dripping with attitude, this pedal provides some of the juiciest envelope follower sounds in existence.

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Strange Guitar Effect Pedals - DigiTech Talker

Guitarists have an insatiable desire to make our instruments sound like they’re talking, maybe because so many of us are such lousy singers. Over the years, this has led to the development of some rather unusual effects, like Kustom Electronics’ The Bag, a strange bagpipe-like device shaped like a wine bota and covered in psychedelic material that would even make Austin Powers blush, and the Heil Talk Box, which requires users to gag themselves with a plastic tube to make their guitar sound like someone vomiting through a Big Muff.

One of the most sophisticated and effective “talking instrument” effects is the vocoder, but most of these devise are either geared exclusively towards keyboardists or are complicated rack-mounted units that are difficult to use in live performance. But DigiTech’s Talker pedal is an easy-to-use product geared towards guitarists, providing outstanding vocoder and talk box sounds as well as some unique effects of its own.

The unit is surprisingly simple, with instrument (1/4-inch) and microphone (XLR) outputs, a push-button +4/-10dB input pad, a three-position switch for routing the effected signal to an amp, P.A. or both, a P.A. level control. Other features include a bypass footswitch (which is hardwired to provide true bypass), indicators for mic and instrument clipping and bypass and a footswitch that allows you scroll through the Talker’s six preset effects.

To use the Talker, you simply plug a microphone and instrument into the inputs, set the effects routing switch depending on your setup and adjust the input and output levels. The six presets make the Talker extremely easy to use. Instead of forcing you to mess around with a bunch of complicated controls, the presets are already tweaked for optimum performance. The NuVo (a robot-like vocoder sound, Talk Box (which simulates classic talk box tones) and Alien (a pitch-shifted vocoder) effects can only be heard when you are speaking or singing into the microphone and playing the guitar at the same time. NuWah (an auto wah effect ) works with the guitar alone; TazMania (a wild, distorted vocal effect) works with either mic alone or with both the mic and instrument; and AutoTalk preset senses when no signal is coming through the mic to automatically switch from vocoder effect to a straight guitar tone.

The Talker offers immense creative possibilities. It’s pefect for giving guitar solos some extra personality and expressiveness, and it can greatly beef up the sound of your band’s backup vocals. Unlike other talk boxes and vocoders on the market, the Talker is easy to incorporate into any setup, and it even sounds great when plugged directly into a guitar amp.

The End Line

The Talker is one of the most unique effects pedals to come and go in a long time. It’s surprisingly useful for on stage and recording applications, and it provides endless hours of creative and experimental fun. If you’ve ever wanted to make your guitar talk, the Talker is the next best thing to transplanting vocal cords into your axe.

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Marshall ED-1 “Edward” Compressor Pedal

Producing a smooth, even sustain that faintly recalls the tone of a certain Dutch-born shredder, the “Edward” is a valuable tool for tone-conscious players who need to vary the sustain and attack of their guitar’s sound. The ED-1 is capable of creating everything from smooth legato leads to funky clean chords to choppy chicken pickin’.

Kudos for the nifty emphasis control, which allows the compression effect to be assigned to particular frequencies. Although its effect is imperceptible through the first half of its sweep, the control can be used to give bass notes a much-needed squash while leaving the treble register virtually unaffected.

The End Line

For the money, the Marshall ED-1 Edward Compressor Pedal is one of the superior sustainer’s out there. Very easy to use, with somewhat noticeable but subtle tonal differences, the Marshall ED-1 has great features and gets the job done.

The Marshall ED-1 Edward Compressor can be had at a very reasonable price at MusiciansFriend.com.

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Leo Fender and Marshall Amplifiers - Beginning of the Guitar Amp

Continued on from “Gibson Firebird Guitar Born 1963”

Of course the electric guitar wouldn’t have developed at all had it not been for amps. And the guitar amplifier would never have come into being had it not been for Mr. Lee De Forest, who invented the vacuum tube Read more

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Free BOSS DS-1 Distortion Guitar Pedal

JUST ANNOUNCED: There is a free BOSS-DS 1 Distortion pedal giveaway competition on the website of Gear-Monkey, which will continue from July 17, 2008 through August 31, 2008. This is really a considerable amount of time to get you all ready and geared up for this jamming contest. The contest consists of points system which members earn 1 point for each post. Pretty simple huh? Now members can receive 100 points for getting friends to join the site. The only requirement is that the new member makes at least 20 posts. Whoever reaches the most points within the time frame stated gets to take home the FREE BOSS DS-1 Distortion Guitar pedal.

So you all you guitar gurus who want totally free guitar gear sign up and/or start posting, share this amazing news with friends.

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