Winston Psmith Posted April 19, 2021 Share Posted April 19, 2021 I'll get right to the point, for the impatient among us - this is my favorite Envelope Filter pedal, ever, and I've had a bunch of them, over time. If you want to really see & hear what it can do, I'll post Dave Koltai's Deep Dive video right after this. It's an excellent demonstration of what the pedal does, with some good background on Filter effects, and what inspired him to make the Resotron to begin with. Okay, more long-winded review forthcoming . . . One thing I'd been missing from my pedal array was a good Envelope Filter, and last week, I got the first full-color GC flyer I'd seen in quite a while. Inside, it showed the Resotron and the Mothership 2, both reduced to $129.99 from $250!?!? That was enough to get my attention; prior to that, the Resotron wasn't even on my "maybe" list, because of the price. It's VERY responsive, which is both a plus and a minus. It can get very weird, and even unruly, at extreme settings, but there are also some cool tones that you wouldn't normally get from an Envelope Filter pedal. Using any of the Filter settings (HP/BP/LP), I was able to get useful, musical sounds, and some more offbeat, Synth-like tones. The Up & Down modes are very much like what you'll find on any Envelope Filter, but the Pitch Mode is more like the Keyboard Tracking on an Analog Synth. I got some surprisingly cool sounds using Pitch Mode with the High-Pass Filter. The Cutoff knob controls the Cutoff Frequency of the Filter, and the Peak knob acts like a Resonance control; be careful with settings much past Noon or 1 O'clock on the Peak knob, unless you want sirens and whistles coming out of your Amp. The Glide control is somewhat like the Attack portion of a Synth's ADSR Envelope Generator; in plain English, it determines how long it takes for the Filter to open. Long Glide settings make for some very cool sounds, if you play slowly and let the notes sustain. Short Glide settings produce quicker response times, but if you dial the Glide knob all the way back to 0, you risk getting some very choppy accidental trigger sounds. The Blend knob does add Gain, as the video points out, but as always with Compression, Less Is More, or Probably Enough. At higher Blend settings, with the Cutoff and Peak around Noon, I got a very distinct, and very audible "bacon sizzling" tone; if you've ever heard it, nothing else describes it. Lower Cutoff & Peak settings, combined with the different Filters will produce different tones, down to low rumbles. In fairness, I didn't need to dial the Blend that high in order to get a decent sound level, I just wanted to hear what would happen. For my purposes, I don't need the Blend knob much beyond 9 O'clock, if at all. I haven't found the Resotron to be a noisy pedal, overall, unless I dial in some extreme settings, in which regard it behaves very much like the Filter on an Analog Synth. Still, YEMV, as always. IMHO, if you want that Grateful Dead "Fire On The Mountain/Estimated Prophet" sound, the Resotron will do it. That Funk sound with the barre 9th chord, you've got it. If you want a very versatile alternative to a standard BP Filter-based Wah-Wah pedal, plug an Expression pedal into the Resotron, and you'll have access to a whole range of sounds you can't get from a Crybaby. Overall, it gives me even more variety of sounds than I expected from it, as well as the sounds I knew I wanted, always a good thing. I expect I'll find even more sounds in it, as I have more time to experiment with it. One thing the Resotron doesn't have is an LFO, so you can't get Stepped Filter/S&H sounds, or more subtle faux-Phaser effects out of it. If you want that sound, check out the EQD Spatial Delivery ($200+/-) or the Subdecay Prometheus Deluxe ($325?), or, if you're crazy like me, consider getting the EHX 8 Step ($144) to drive any of your pedals that have an EXP In jack. Quote "Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King http://www.novparolo.com https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Psmith Posted April 19, 2021 Author Share Posted April 19, 2021 Well, I've tried to post the Resotron Deep Dive video, but of course, the Forum engine won't let me . . . Let's see what happens if I just post the link. Quote "Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King http://www.novparolo.com https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werewolf by Night Posted April 19, 2021 Share Posted April 19, 2021 Well, I've tried to post the Resotron Deep Dive video, but of course, the Forum engine won't let me . . . Let's see what happens if I just post the link. The link works, but, just curious- did you intend for the video to open at approximately 7:55? Carry on! I'll read your initial post above and check out that Resotron Deep Dive video now... Quote Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Psmith Posted April 20, 2021 Author Share Posted April 20, 2021 Well, I've tried to post the Resotron Deep Dive video, but of course, the Forum engine won't let me . . . Let's see what happens if I just post the link. The link works, but, just curious- did you intend for the video to open at approximately 7:55? Carry on! I'll read your initial post above and check out that Resotron Deep Dive video now... @Caevan - Not sure what happened there with the timing on the video? Should be good now . . . Quote "Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King http://www.novparolo.com https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyalcatraz Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 [video:youtube] I saw this; I bought one. Thanks, WPS! For more fun: [video:youtube] [video:youtube] Quote Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: âNinety percent of everything is crapâ My FLMS- Murphy's Music in Irving, Tx http://murphysmusictx.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p90jr Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 I picked up a Mothership II and then a Resotron about a year later as Stupid Deal of The Day specials... I think they were $99. And like you, they were on my "interesting list" but too expensive. I love them... I like to pretend I'm Bernie Worrell with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werewolf by Night Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 I picked up a Mothership II and then a Resotron... I love them... I like to pretend I'm Bernie Worrell with them. Quote Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Psmith Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 I downloaded the Manual for the Resotron, with it sitting on my Mac desktop, the icon says . . . "RTF_Manual" Someone thought about that . . . Quote "Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King http://www.novparolo.com https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danzilla Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 I picked up a Mothership II and then a Resotron about a year later as Stupid Deal of The Day specials... I think they were $99. And like you, they were on my "interesting list" but too expensive. I love them... I like to pretend I'm Bernie Worrell with them. I also bought Mothership II a couple of years ago as the Stupid Deal. I just haven't really bonded with it. Nor taken the time to really explore it either, so that's on me. one of these days... Quote "Am I enough of a freak to be worth paying to see?"- Separated Out (Marillion) NEW band Old band Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werewolf by Night Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 I picked up a Mothership II and then a Resotron about a year later as Stupid Deal of The Day specials... I think they were $99. And like you, they were on my "interesting list" but too expensive. I love them... I like to pretend I'm Bernie Worrell with them. I rrreeeaallly want one of these, but- fat chance... It's the same as the EP2 Envelope Phaser, but if I could score the Bernie Worrell "signature" model, I'd love to... Quote Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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