Building on its success with the Funkzilla and Funk-lite pedals, SolidGoldFX has unveiled a dual-band envelope filter that promises to comprehensively funkify your pedalboard.
The Supa Funk Envelope Bi-Filter pedal is a veritable feast of funk. It offers the services of two low pass filters and allows us to blend them, making the Supa Funk, err, supa versatile. Indeed, SolidGoldFX promises old-school “classic bom-chicka-wow-wow funk” and “rich, throaty and vocal filter sweeps” with one twist of a dial.
This first class ticket to Planet Funk is not just for the electric guitar; SolidGoldFX says it’ll happily process the signal from your synthesizer, electronic keyboard, bass guitar, and other electronic signals. All this arrives in a compact format, with top-mounted jacks to help keep your stompbox mise en scene neat and tidy.
The Supa Funk has five control knobs for Depth, Freq, Sens (aka attack), Color and Volume, with a two-way toggle switch for selecting a traditional forward sweep or a little more of a sci-fi, weird feel with the reverse sweep.
Depth is self-explanatory, allowing you to dial in a shallow filter sweep or a full-on oceanic sweep. Freq sets the centre frequency of the filter sweep. Fully counterclockwise, the sound is deep and bass-heavy, but as you turn it clockwise it brightens up for sharper sounds.
Sens sets the decay time and sensitivity; the further clockwise the setting, the faster the envelope is triggered and the longer it stays open. Set it below noon for “shorter and snappier” filter decay, or all the way counterclockwise to turn off the envelope and use the pedal as a fixed filter for cocked-wah Michael Schenker sounds or lo-fi textures. Very cool.
So, too, is Color. This is where things can get very interesting, as the second low-pass filter interacts with the first. Perhaps we’ll leave it to SolidGoldFX to explain: “Going counter-clockwise will give you brighter and sharper filter tones, while turning that bad boy clockwise will bring out all the chewy growl and girth you could ever want.”
Neat. Finally, Volume adjusts just that, setting the output level. While the Supa Funk is named for funk, designed for funk, it will be interesting to see how non-funk players might use it. The cocked wah, fixed filter setting is ripe with musical possibilities, and besides – envelope filters and auto-wah pedals are not just for funk.
The Supa Funk is handmade in Montreal, takes a 9V DC power supply, and draws under 20 mA. Priced £175 / $189, it is available now. See SolidGoldFX for more details.
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