Maxon AF-9 Auto Filter

With the exception of the DOD 440 (and possibly the Emma DiscumBOBulator), Mutron Clones are a host of switches, dials / faders that can be quite an enigma to the first-time user. The manual is somewhat helpful, but I never found a sound that I was happy with. You can spend hours on the efect options alone. Also take into account the volume that comes from your guitar / pickups. You'll find yourself tinkering with volume knobs and the height of humbuckers to get a balanced tone. There is pick attack to consider. Then you'll get caught up in getting a good boost before and thinking of combo effects. You have to work the effect to get a good tone out of it. Once you do, the result will be pure satisfaction!

A prior review gave the "filter[hp] drive[up] range[lo] sensitivity[6] peak[10]" sugestion and I was able to dial in a good tone. I play fingerstyle electric guitar (trying to learn chickin pickin); my volume level is less than with a pick, and at times uneven. I had my best results with a compressor before the effect (which goes against the recomendation of wah before compressor). The comp gave a slight to trigger the effect, and slight compression gave me much more control over the closing of the filter. This gives me a quick, snappy attack and slow release. It made the world of difference, and took the effect out of my eBay pile back into the chain.

The auto-filter is definetly a niche sound. Think Jerry Garcia, Bobby Weir, Ween, Radiohead, Badly Drawn Boy, moe. That sound is in there. It's all about imitating that Mutron vintage tone.

There are certain contenders in the ring: EH Q-tron, Emma DiscumBOBulator, and this pedal. I was able to playtest them, side-by-side, over several occasions. My decision to purchase the AF9 came down to personal choice.

Q-Tron, and especially, Q-Tron+, have the most options and tweak-ability of these three. I also found this unit the more muddy sounding, and difficult to get that "sound". Then again, perhaps I didn't have it configured correctly. The fact that it took up so much room and required a 24V power source put this one out of consideration.

The Emma has the least amount of features, but is easiest to dial in a good tone. It was the most responsive of all three, and had a much slower attack. The main difference is that this effect sounds more like a traditional, organic wah (which may, or may not be to your liking). Both the Emma and AF9 are within a similar price range, which makes it a major contender. In the end, I selected the AF9 based on tone alone; however, buyers remorse has me wondering if the Emma would better suit my fingerstyle and attack.

Like the Emma, the AF9 take up much less pedal space than the Q-Tron and can be pwered through my Godlyke daisy chain. Like other reviews, the AF9 has a quick attack and can warble as the effect shuts. The main selling point is the chewy, synth-like voicing. The tone sounds closer to the abovementioned artists. This is what sold me. Though, after the honeymoon period I found these faults a major detraction. It took me a great deal of tinkering to get an attack and release that I was pleased with.

Read the reviews. AF9 users place this unit above the Q-Tron, & Emma users rate that above the AF9. I guess it all comes down to some personal preference. I had to raise the bridge pickup / volume and lower the neck pickup / volume to get a good balanced tone. Result? I switch pickups to move from lead to rhythm voicings. Placing the effect after a compressor helped me even it out.

For reference, my gear is: Ibnez Artcore > AnalogMan BicompROSSor > Maxon AF9 > Ibanez AnalogMan (silver modded) TS9 > HomeBrew Electronics Dos Mos booster > Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere MK II > Hughes & Kettner Puretone 25w class A amp (no effects loop). I'm thinking of adding a Line 6 DL4 to the mix, and replacing my Ibanez with a Nashville Telecaster. The new guitar purchase will be the deal make-or-break in deciding to keep the unit in my chain.

In my experience, Boss and Maxon / Ibanez effects are built like a tank. I'm a weekend warrior that jams with other bands, plays the occasional gig and coffeehouse, but get most usage in my livingroom. The switches, faders, and stomp all seem very reliable in my limited experience.

I have no experience.

Well, I'm not certain what to say. It is definetly a niche tone that matches certain jam band and alternative music. It is an over-the-top effect that you will use on limited songs. But that is auto-filters in general, and NOT the AF9 in particular. It delivers what's promised, given thats what you were looking for the first place.

If anything, I wish it had a slower response. Or, like the Q-Tron+, an attack option that would allow you to switch between quick and slower filter speeds. Auto-filters are expensive to begin with, and the $160 will get you in at ground-level botique / analog. I'm wondering how the Line 6 FM4 rates. All in all, this is the cost efective solution to the Lovetone Meatball.

All in all, it is what it is, and without shame. Either you will love or hate auto-filters, and have your own preference about Q-Tron, Emma, or AF9.

The controls are fairly simple if you know something about emvelope filters.

I tried this effect with a Gibson 335 through a Carr Rambler; no other effects in-line. It was not noisy at all, whether it was on or off. The effects from this pedal, in my experience were good, but the attack is set way too fast. I couldn't get any sustain at all, even with the sens. and peak controls maxed. The attack is set at the factory way too fast. I like a filter that is subtle and controllable and this one did not fill the bill.

Lately I've realized that the general opinion when it comes to pedals, it's either bullet-proof or it's crap. I really don't agree with that, but this pedal appears to be built tough, especially considering my experience with other Maxon pedals.

I've never dealt with the company, but I have 3 of their other pedals (2 AD-900's and 1 AD-999) and haven't had any problems.

For this kind of effect, it really depends on what you're going for. The tone on the AF-9 is superb. The problem (to me, at least) is that it shuts off way too quickly. I like a subtle filter effect for single note lines and this one doesn't do it for me. I think that for chords/funky stuff this would be a good way to go, but for mellow lines it just didn't work for me. If it had an attack control it would be perfect for me, but since it doesn't it will not be much use to me. It is not a subtle effect and I don't think that it was designed to be.

I have an Emma filter that (to me) is perfect for what I'm playing. It has an attack control and is easy to operate. I like the simple approach (Z Carmen Ghia) and found the Maxon too complicated. The EMMA (also distributed by Godlyke) is much easier to get a good sound out of and is about the same price, and it has an attack control.

The AF-9 may be your pedal, but if you can relate to what I've said, it may not.

as has been pointed out by another reviewer, three switches w/twelve possible combinations plus two sliding faders. that's a lotta options. so this thing isn't just plug & play. it took me a little bit of time to figure out how everything interacted, but once i did it was like elementary school math. easy, ya know?

set-up: gibson s-1 w/lindy fralin p-90s > maxon af-9 > voodoo labs superfuzz > dan armstrong orange crusher > custom-built 3-watt tube amp. all hooked up w/george l's cables. i have plenty of other pedals, but as i am a home recording guitarist (as opposed to gigging player), i have the luxury of taking un-necessary pedals outta the chain. out of all the fuzz/od/dist pedals i own, i think the superfuzz works best w/the af-9. anyway, the af-9 kicks ass. i mainly use it set at filter[hp] drive[up] range[lo] sensitivity[6] peak[10], but i have found use-able sounds w/the switches at every setting in conjunction w/the adjusting the sensitivity fader. i tend to keep the peak fader on 10 all the time.

this pedal is heavy! not like "yo dude, heavy". i mean you'd better have a good grip on it when you go to pick it up. if weight=sturdiness, then the af-9 is runnin neck-n-neck w/my danelectro backtalk (which is much larger than the af-9) for most studly stompbox in my collection.

maxon is distributed by godlyke. check out their webpage. maxon, guyatone, jacques, bixonic. this is cool stuff. if you have a problem w/anything, kevin at godlyke is awesome. enthusiastic, knowledgeable, & helpful. it doesn't get any better than that.

without resorting to the type of snobbery so prevelant on this website [e.g."i've been playing for 80 years","don't buy this piece of gear unless your guitar & amp cost a combined $10.000","i'm great, you suck", etc.], let's be honest--this is definitely a "niche" piece of kit. does every player need an envelope filter? no. are electric guitar "dabblers" going to spend almost 200 clams on an esoteric pedal? no. that said, if you DO WISH to add the "womp womp" sound to your arsenal & AREN'T AFRAID of the pricetag, you can't go wrong w/the maxon af-9.

1 3-way switch, 2 2 way switches, and 2 knobs. For the most part it's pretty easy to get good tone out of this thing (if you read the manual). A little tricky to really get it exactly what you want, but not too terribly complicated. If you know what all the switches do, you can usually get them where you want them without even having to play. It just takes a bit of time of playing with the "peak" and "sensativity" to get it where you want it.

my rig: 79 strat/78 es-335 into teese rmc 3 wah, sweet sound booster, diaz square face fuzz, hao rust booster, vox valve-tone w/analogman silver mod, analogman king of tone, maxon af9, analogman mini-bi comp, line 6 dl4, maxon phase tone, ernie ball stereo volume, and a custom analogman switcher into a carr rambler and a carr hammerhead. i'm not a super professional tone machine, but I know my tone. i think it's killer on guitar or bass. I use it all the time and it always brings a smile to my face. :-) great quacking. super funky. i find myself always wanting to leave it on.

super solid.

I recommend it to anyone needing an envelope filter. It sounds great, has great controls and will take up way less room than a q-tron or mu-tron. can't go wrong!

Features sliders for Sensitivity and Peak, and switches for Filter (high pass, band pass, low pass), Drive (up and down), and Range (high and low). It reacts to your touch and your instrument's output level, so it takes a bit of tweaking to find the sweet spot(s).

I have good gear (Anderson, Mesa, George L's cable, boutique pedals etc).

I set my AF-9 with the Sensitivity a little below halfway, Peak most of the way up, Band Pass, Up and High Range. Sometimes I use Low Range if I want a subtler effect. For me, if the Sensitivity is up high (as the manual suggests) I end up playing in the treble range constantly. Setting it lower works for my light touch. I like the unit to 'wah' only when I hit the strings hard.

I love the sound of this box. I had a Mini Q-tron for a while and I find the Maxon sounds nicer (subjective), is easier to control, has better build quality (fact) and takes up 1/3 the space on my pedal board. It is true bypass (as is the latest Q-tron).

Built like a BOSS pedal so I assume it will last a long time. I would (and do) gig without a backup.

Two minor nitpicks - the status LED is difficult to see from certain angles (maybe they should use the blinding ones Keeley uses), and the footswitch needs a firm press to latch properly. If you're used to giving a BOSS pedal a quick, light tap to activate it, the Maxon will simply turn on and off with the same pressure.

Don't need it.

I've been playing for nearly 20 years. Mostly blues/jazz/funk these days.

I love the sound of this pedal. I mainly use it for funk rhythm playing. Apparently the circuit is very similar to the classic Mu-tron III, so if you can't spring for one of those, the AF-9 is a great choice.

If you are familiar with this type of effect it is no problem to get a good sound. Manual was usless as it's in english for the other Maxon "9" series effects, but in Japanese for the AF-9 (c'mon guys).
Don't know anything about the "firmware" revision...???

Used with a Gibson SG 61 re-issue. Fender Blues Jr. amp.

Sound quality is excellent. This is the closest I have heard in being able to mimic the original Mutron lll (including the re-issue "Mutron lll +").

I originally was using a Boss T-wah whcih I found to be the best sounding and most responsive "auto wah" to date. This blows it away. Yes, they are different effects, but still. The AF-9 has much more low end and fatness than any "Auto Wah" I have tried. The Boss T-Wah is the best Auto Wah I have ever heard, and this is 5 times as good. I really shouldn't be comparing the two different types of effects, but.....it BEGS the comparasin. This envelope filter is what all "auto wahs" WANT to be. It has much more control and is much more expensive. For a reason. Very worth it.

If you are looking for a straight "wah" sound, the T-wah is the way to go. If you are looking for a more authentic Mutron lll "synth" type effect, this is the real deal.

And then there is the "true bypass" that the original Ibanez pedals (and Mutron) didn't have. This pedal sounds great.

Fat, musical, awesome. Jerry, Stevie Wonder, this is it.

The 9 series Ibanez effects have a good reputation with the exception of the foot switch. It is built like a tank like the original Ibanez effects. Maxon uses a "true bypass" footswich (there is some discrepancy about this), and there is no telling how reliable it is going to be.

Never used it. Hopefully I'll never have to.

Considering the cost of a vintage Mutron lll, or even a vintage Boss T-wah, this is a deal that can't be beat. If you want this effect, don't wait until they stop making these. Get one. You won't be sorry.

Fairly easy to use, basically the exact same controls as what's on a Q-Tron. It's pretty tricky to use with single coils though, you have to crank the "sensitivity" to get a full sound, and even then it's a little weak.

First of all, I've used a few envelope filters, reissue Mutron, DOD, Qtron, etc... This isn't a bad one, but it's lacking some features. It's almost heartbreaking, because if they would fix just a couple of little things, I think this would be one of the best ones on the market...

Issue #1 - Sensitivity. You have to crank the level to get a full effect sound, and even then it's a bit light, again, I tried this using single coils, albeit "hot" ones.

Issue #2 - Decay rate. The decay rate is tied to the input level like most others... But, The problem is when playing higher strings, the decay is almost instant, try a quick bend and the envelope closes before you can get it off, let alone sustain. Lower strings stay "open" for quite a while.

Issue #3 - The decay sound "warbles" as it closes. This isn't too bad, but pretty annoying compared to a smoother unit like the Qtron.

These issues are especially noticeable in the lower pass settings (ala Jerry Garcia). If you use the higher pass settings, they're not as noticeable.

The little fucker is hard core. Probably much more reliable as my Qtron. I can see the switch going out after several years of heavy use, but that's easy enough to fix.

Never dealt with them.

Overall, it's not bad. But, if you're going for the Garcia sound, this may not be your bag. I'm sure humbuckers would help a bit, but I'm not sure... I like the fact that it's a boss size pedal, as opposed to some of the other mammoth ones out there now. I also like the fact that it doesn't overdrive and boost your signal level as much as the Qtron does. I just wish they could do something about the decay rate, the warbling, and the sensitivity issues.

I'll probably keep it anyway though. I'll probably send it off to Robert Keeley and see if he can tweak it out for me.

For the money, I'd probably look at a FunkaDuck, Qtron, or a used Mutron III.

Two sliders for sensitivity and peak, three switches for filter (high pass, band pass, low pass), drive (up and down), and range (high and low). It's so simple my father could get it quacking and burbling in no time. Plus I previously owned an original Ibanez AF-9, so I knew my way around.

I'm a bassist, and I generally go for big fat tones. My gear fluxuates constantly as I weed out what I love from what I don't love. My current basses are a '93 Warwick Fortress One, converted to fretless and modded with passive Bartolini PJ pickups and a DeArmond Jet Star. I've got a bunch of effects, including Fulltone BassDrive, a Maxon AD-80 delay, Electro Harmonix Octave Multiplexer, BassBalls, and Frequency Analyzer (all US reissues), Line 6 Filter Modeler, Ibanez PH-999 phaser, and a few secret weapons. I run them all between my bass and amp, no effects loops at all.
The AF-9 interacts beautifully with all of them. Hell, it could be the only thing in my signal chain and I'd be happy as the first pig in line for the slop bucket. I just tried a new Mu-Tron the other day, and the AF-9 wins hands down. Plus, there are a few subtles differences that I think make it more valuable (and at about $20 more retail, that's what counts). For one thing, I think the AF-9's envelope is more sensitive, resulting in an interesting flutter when playing chords. Also, and this was what I found most striking, the AF-9 has a wider tonal variety across the three filter settings. The Mu-Tron I demoed swallowed my tone as it decayed in the BP and HP settings, and that's with the range on low! In low range, the AF-9 gets a fat "bwaap" in LP, a throaty wah in BP, and a nasal twang in HP. Setting the range on high and selecting the LP filter nails that watery Bootsy Collins sound.
My only complaint, and this is a complaint I have of most filters, there's no clean blend. To maintain a full bottom when using the more trebly sounds, you'd need to run a clean signal or put the pedal in your effects loop (but the only way to get a quality filter sound is to put it in front of your amp, as far as I'm concerned), so I'm deducting one point.

Just like the original 9s, this mama jamma is built to last. I gave my original AF-9 to my guitar player friend (I was sick of his DOD filter), and it's still going strong. The biggest improvement Maxon made with these reissues is a heavier duty true-bypass footswitch. I'd use it without a back up for sure.

Never dealt with Maxon or Godlyke (Maxon's US distributor), but I hear they're good.

If you like envelope filters, even if you have a Mu-Tron, buy this pedal. Especially if you're a bass player. The only two filters I've used (and I've used a few) it can't nail are the BassBalls (another favorite of mine) and Guyatone Bottom Wah Rocker. Put an octave divider in front and an overdrive after and you'll be in synth-bass heaven.

It didn't take me long to get a great sound out of this unit. I just got it last week and it's what I've been looking my whole life! There are a bunch of synth-like sounds you can mess around with but if you want that Garcia sound, it's there baby!

I haven't played this through any other amps but I would think you need a nice, clean tube amp. Here's my setup: Guitar(Les Paul Custom) - Maxon CP-101 Compressor - Boss OC-2(Octave) - Maxon AF-9 - Maxon OD 808 - Guyatone Flanger - Danelectro PB&J(solid for digital) -Boss Tuner into my Fender Blues Junior.
This pedal is pristine and with the Boss Octave I'm in heaven. A lot of people don't like the Boss but if you use it right, it's sweet. I only use the 1st Oct below and ONLY on single notes. With the AF-9 it sounds PHAT and delicious. As far as the AF-9 goes, I have the sensitivity at 5 and the peak almost all the way up. The other 3 switches I have Down, Up, Up. It sounds beautiful with my clean sound a some reverb. It also sounds great with the Overdrive kicked in. Throw in the Octave effect and holy shit! It really reacts to your picking dynamics and sounds so wet and organic. I've been playing for over 15 years and this just makes you want to play more. It sounds that good.

I just got it but it feels heavy and well built. If you take care of your gear and send in the warranty card, no worries.

I've never actually dealt with Maxon so I don't know. I have 3 of their pedals and they make top-quality effects. I also highly recommend the OD-808 Reissue. It's smooth and transparent and with the CP-101 Compressor I sound like Trey, Santana, Jerry, Jimi...the list goes on and on.

If you're looking for a Mutron-III and want to sound like Jerry or play some crazy funk, this is what you've been looking for. I have a Crybaby Wah pedal that is off my pedalboard and is being used as a paper weight right now. Get yours before they discontinue it start charging $300+ like the Maxon Analog delay pedals. I LOVE PHISH, DEAD, Allman Bros, etc. If you know how to play guitar and use dynamics and nuances in your playing, this will only enhance your style. If you suck and buy this, guess what? You'll still suck!! Seriously, this is by far my favorite pedal and effect ever. The only problem is I want to keep it on all the time like it's my compressor. It takes a little tweaking but once you find the sound you want you'll be like a pig in shit. GO BUY ONE NOW BEFORE YOU REGRET IT. Just make sure you have a good guitar and tube amp to compliment the pedal.

You have to fiddle with it to get a specific sound.Not as basic like most pedals.

THANK YOU,MAXON!!I've been looking for a back up for my AF-9...dreams do come true.
I have reveiw for the IBANEZ AF-9.Read it...you'll know it's me.

I A/B'd it wth the Mutron III(like the other guy).My particular(70's) Mutron sounds almost identical,but the "9" does sound little tighter.
However,the Mutron is more tweakable,more powerful and can get overdrive! NOTE:not all Mutrons can do this!
AF-9...YEAH,baby,YEAH!!

With Ibanez pedals you have to keep them CLEAN or you'll have problems with the switch.

???

Well,don't just sit there...GO GET ONE!!