malamusic

hey everybody...

i have an Electro Harmonix Micro Q-Tron that i love. but when i turn it on, there is a considerable level boost. i've used a Boss LM-2 Limiter to keep the volume under control but my tone really suffers. recently i've tried to bring the drive level down and increase the gain level of my overdrive pedal (Maxon OD-9, which is directly before the Q-Tron in the signal chain) and that helped - a little. but there is still a noticeable volume boost even with this set up. any ideas?

thx all

darkhorse

I always keep these more to the front of the chain for proper triggered effect running it into an OD or dirt pedal should absorb the output, the amp itself should absorb it are you using a tube amp? I have the Q Tron Plus but it has a level control. If you dampen the pickup signal before the envelope filter I cannot see how it would work properly, as these things are dependent upon dynamics and touch sensitivity.

malamusic

so if i'm understanding you correctly, i should keep the pedal in the front of the chain, and run it into an OD pedal? ok i'll try that. i am using a tube amp. a VHT Pitbull. but i just bought it, so i havent tried the Q thru it yet. thanks for input!

darkhorse

Yep, that's the deal. I am pretty up on pedal chains these days as I have been messing with them for eons. A Qtron is an envelope filter trigger, which is usually a band pass filter like a wah (mine has low, band and high pass) the filter is triggered by the strength of the guitar signal and its dynamic. It needs a clean close to the guitar signal as possible.

Trying to insert a pic of my newest board I made. Cost me next to nothing and has tons of room for expansion. Lower board is tilted, as I prefer that and the upper shelf is for the amp loop. Board is so strong you can stand on it.

I recently increased the space between the pedals especially on the loop chain, I was getting a weird ground loop hum noise floor which took me a awhile to correct. Eric Johnson stated he thinks effects too close can make noise, others say no, but my noise is gone. I love the look of those dense pack boards but I need mine more in a chain line to be able to use them better. I cannot "toe" in between things trying to hit switches.

I make my own cables, I prefer soldered connections. A BBE brick powers the amp loop chain and a power strip of special warts powers the amp-in chain, I found you cannot mix power feed sources or you get noise.

Switches on top row are amp channels, loop and 2 amp clean boosts

My amp-in chain is:
-Radial PB-1 boost/high end buffer pedal drops impedance down to low removing all load from signal chain
-Electro Harmonix Qtron Plus
-MXR CAE dual inductor wah w boost
-Wampler Ecstasy Overdrive my fav of all time
-Ibanez TK999HT Tube King real tube dist
-Fulltone DejaVibe

Separate chain on amp loop;
-Hardwire PH-7 Phaser
-TC Electronic Toneprint series Corona Chorus
-TC Electronic Toneprint series Flashback Delay
-Hardwire RV-7 Lexicon Reverbs
-BBE Sonic Maximizer

Bill

I believe if you open the pedal up and look on the board, there will be a trimmer. Turn it a little!! It adjusts it's volume.

It should be up by the DC jack if I remember correctly.

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Griffin Effects

malamusic

hey Bill

thanks for the suggestion. was at a loss! i'll def try that!

R

Bill

Did you find a trimmer in there?

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Griffin Effects

malamusic

i think so. little tiny thing? i'm pretty sure that was it. turned it - maybe more than i should have! havent had a chance to play through it yet. will report progress soon... thx again!

darkhorse

Be careful w internal pots. You never know the in depth issues of where it is set or why. Use a slight turn. Sometimes the gain of the circuit is set via bench level for optimum performance.

I learned my lesson on the Love Pedal Pickle Vibe I had, the internal "adjustment" for "intensity" had like 1/4 of its range as an active element. Ever so slightly or thinking you are increasing the intensity and it just stopped entirely. At first I thought I blew the pedal, finally found that a very slight place existed on the pot where the effect worked or didn't and it was like 1/10 of the pot range, really small, you could tweak the tone a little but man it was hardly a noticeable movement.

The same thing happened on my MXR CAE wah, internal "gain" adjust. Thought I was cranking the pedal output, powered it up and a tremendous howl feedback ensued. Just did not work, turned it back where they had it and it was fine. The pot had been tuned to the circuit for the sweet spot. I discovered that was why they did not mention it in the manual or specs as it was not made to mess with.

Not saying the EH is the same, but go for a small change just to be sure.
One sure way to increase the vol is put a clean boost after it, the same works in reverse to reduce the level, as well as using a properly adjusted compressor AFTER the filter. The object of a compressor is to compress or hold down peak loud signals and increase faint or slight signals. It would limit the loud wack of the pedal and help increase the lower volume of its signal.

You can get simple one knob nice quality transparent clean boost pedals pretty cheap these days. Just thinking at the moment, the EP booster from Xiotic is like $100 and a really superb pedal that you will probably want on all the time. I have seen some put them under the board and just leave them on all the time. In your case you could engage it just with the filter to hold down the filter vol. Envelope filters in general produce a louder wah wack to the signal it just may be the micro unit is set too high and that pot may be the answer. Just advising caution as you never know about the internals. Never hurts to call EH and as them about the level issue. Most of the time ones OD or amp absorbs the effect level.

malamusic

so i played with the trimmer and put the pedal at the front of my chain (each of your suggestions) but w/o my OD pedal in the chain. it works great! there is still a minor volume boost so i'm gonna give the trim knob another go. if that doesnt work i'll put my OD pedal after it in the chain and see how that sounds.

right now it sounds soooo good. the envelope is triggering properly. the effect sounds full. mmmmmm... just gotta get that volume just right.

thx for the input!

i'll keep you both posted!