Alembic Superfilter question.

[Picure]

I was just wondering, was the Superfilter designed to be used on basses without a filter based pre? Because wouldnt it be redundant to have a filtered pre going into the Superfilter only to be filtered again?

Im considering getting one to couple with my F1X. I think this would be great for my non Alembic basses.

[adriaan]

I've been intrigued with the Superfilter myself, nearly bought one but let it slip. The onboard filters on the instruments are low-pass only, whereas the SF-2 can be switched to low/high/band-pass and you have two of them that you can combine or assign. You can also mix in as much or as little as you want with the original signal. Reading material

[jazzyvee]

I have an SF-2 and I use it rarely and when I do it's only for manipulating the frequencies below where the filter on my bass operates and for the genres of music I do it works well. I never use it in excess unless the guys in the band want more bottom end on stage.

[gtrguy]

I have used an SF-2, a FX-1 and the F2B and they are all unique, with the SF-2 being by far the most unique. Mica calls it "the Swiss Army Knife of Tone" and with good reason. There are so many possible combinations of sounds possible when using this unit.
It will change and add to the tones your bass is capable of. Will it make a P Bass or any other bass sound like a Series bass? Well, I don't think so, but it will give you so many possible tones from your setup that it would take days or weeks to find them all!

[rv_bass]

I use an F-1X and SF-2 with my non-Series Alembic fretless and Guild Starfire basses. The combo of F-1X and SF-2 really makes the basses come alive. The depth of tone is fantastic.

[edwardofhuncote]

I use an F-1X and SF-2 with my non-Series Alembic fretless and Guild Starfire basses. The combo of F-1X and SF-2 really makes the basses come alive. The depth of tone is fantastic.

This is the next logical step in my brainwashing experience here...   


The only thing that's stopped me from already doing it is I don't use the F-1X > Power-amp > Speakers rig for gigs. It's just too much stuff to carry and set up. It does however fill my house, and the surrounding acreage with some unbelievably beautiful bass sounds. As an added bonus, there hasn't been a mouse in my house since I started accurately reproducing those low frequencies. Neighbors a good 300 yards away give me the stink-eye instead of a friendly wave. An SF-2 Superfilter at this point in my life might be the proverbial last straw. 

[StephenR]

Gregory, you can also use the Superfilter to cut lows... make your neighbors happy and give your amp a little more headroom in the process!

The Superfilter is really is a versatile tool but IMO it is most useful applied in small doses. While you can dial in weird and extreme tones it shines if used sparingly in a corrective fashion. I find the band-pass filter to be a good way to hone in on the exact frequency I need to boost a bit to make it easier to hear myself at times when the guitars are distorted or the keyboard player is muddying up the low end and the effect is totally different than trying to do the same thing with EQ. I have yet to play any of my basses that don't have Alembic electronics through mine onstage but can't see why an SF-2 would be a bad match with any bass. It certainly is not redundant to use it with a Series bass or any of the other Alembic instruments with low-pass filters.

[gtrguy]

Please, please tell me what Superfilter settings you can use to annoy and alienate your neighbors. I got a few on one side of my house that are soooo bad.

[jazzyvee]

Set it around 100hz or below and with careless use of the q knob and any heavy reggae bassline (Bad Card by Bob Marley has appropriate bass line and lyrics), you should be able to start selectively removing items from their kitchen cabinets and shelves onto the floor. If they have an ikea cd rack or a tropy cabinet you should be able to empty those too without any problems. Don’t ask me how i know this  🤫🤪

[edwardofhuncote]

Please, please tell me what Superfilter settings you can use to annoy and alienate your neighbors. I got a few on one side of my house that are soooo bad.

I would think with that ultra-cool Flying V Gibby of yours, you would have no trouble once you get some pickups in there. 

Set it around 100hz or below and with careless use of the q knob and any heavy reggae bassline... <snip> ...Don’t ask me how i know this... 

I hear feel ya' Jazzy. I keep the crossover on my F-1X set at just about 100 hz, and have also shaken things off shelves and one picture frame completely off the wall. I would have considered it a reasonable volume...


In all seriousness, Stephen is right though, I do need to spend some time learning about how to surgically scupt out what's coming through the speakers, and I know the SF-2 is exactly the tool to do it. It'll happen... matter of time and circumstances. 

[hammer]

When I first purchased a SF-2 I had great ideas about all of the sounds I could get out of it. It was great to play around with for about a month. Now I primarily find its value in balancing out my sound in rooms that have poor acoustics ( I.e. 90% of the venues in which we play).  The key is to use it in a subtle manner.

[jazzyvee]

I'm with you both Hammer & StephenR in finding the subtle use of the superfilter the most useful. To expand my previous message, there are times when I have done medium sized outdoor festival venues where the on stage monitors aren't carrying the feel of the bottom end too well for the rest of the band I have whacked the low end up more than usual with the SF-2. However that is not always as easy as it sounds as there are not many cabs I've come across that can take the level of bottom end you can deliver via the SF-2 at any significant volume without having excursion problems.
A Markbass 8x10 that was provided on a few gigs did really well and also my new Barefaced Dubster 2 speaker.
The SF-2 is a great tone shaping tool but I would suggest it is a tool that can easily kill a speaker if used unwisely.