Musitronics/Mu-Tron Mu-Tron III

It takes a little bit of tweaking to get the "right" sound and it does help tremendously if you've got a basic grasp on signal modulation and envelope filtering. Still, it's a lot of fun playing around with it just to hear all of the cool sounds this device makes. The results are worth it.

I'm running a Carvin BB5 Signature through a Carvin PB200-15. I also have a BOSS Chorus and BOSS Sustain that I use in the mix as well sometimes. To me, The Mu-tron III sounds best alone. People are always asking me what is that or how am I making those cool sounds. I don't try to imitate other artists sounds, I like to create my own. I do recommend keeping a small notepad with the Mu-Tron to record the settings of your favorite sounds because it doesn't sound exactly the same when I play my Fender Precision bass. I've never liked the use of effects to the point where they totally overwhelm the true bass sound. Of all the many I've tried, the Mu-Tron III stands head-and-shoulders above the rest. It has a warm feel that I haven't found anywhere else.

I know any product can fail but this thing is tough as an Abrams M1 tank. I first heard AND saw one in Germany at a jazz club in Frankfurt. After the show, the bassist let me check it out. I spent the next two years traveling all over Germany looking for one with no luck. I had given up completely when I walked into a music store in Columbia, SC to buy some new strings and found one. Some guy had sold it two weeks ago because he didn't like it. I jumped on it. That was it 1986 and other than a loose knob that I fixed with a little glue, it's still hanging tough. It has traveled around the world with me twice, all over the USA and considering how old this thing, it'll go out one day. That's inevitable. And no, I wouldn't use any device without a backup on a gig.

I've found some independent electronics repair shops in various places around the world that I've traveled that said they have repaired a few but one thing they all agreed on. The Mu-Tron was easy to work on. When I move to a new city, that's one of the first things I check for. Just in case.

I play reggae, jazz and blues. The Mu-tron compliments my style nicely. I've been playing for 20 years. If it were lost, I'd post a reward. If stolen and I catch you, I'll give you a chance to give it back undamaged, otherwise, you get a serious beatdown with 20+ yrs of martial arts experience behind it. The only thing that I don't like is that my paint was beginning to wear a little before I got the idea to clearcoat it. Granted, there are some awesome effects on the market but none of them sound quite like the Mu-Tron which makes it unique and really special to those lucky enough to have one. I wish I had an AC adapter for it and I wish it had a smaller footprint. I've seen some of the originals going for US$750.00 to $1500.00 at one website. I don't recommend paying that much for one but if you want one and your pockets are deep like that, go for it.

Fairly easy to use. Just start turning knobs until you hear something you like.

:-)

For your classic filter sound, start with the "mode" set to "LP" (low pass), set your peak and gain to 4 o'clock, range to low, and drive to up. tweak from there

This will get you the classic sound. When I say "classic", I'm thinking of Jerry Garcia. This is the real deal and what he used. He *never* used a Boss or the crappy III+ reissue.

Here's something to check out though... Mine is a later version, one of the last ever made. It has a power LED instead of an On/Off switch, and also uses an attached power cable instead of batteries or a power supply. I talked to a fellow that was referred to me by the actual inventor and creator of the Mutron III. He said these later models sounded a bit different than the original. The lows weren't low enough and the highs were too high.

He will take your original Mutron III and rebuild it to spec and calibrate it for you for 45 bucks and hour plus parts. A fantastic deal!

The company is called Lingenberg Sound Repair and the website is http://www.lsound.com

So, for about a hundred bucks, you can take your old, tired mutron and refurb it to new condition (electonically) *and* get it calibrated so it sounds its best. He'll even do a true bypass switch for it.

Well, mine is around 25 years old and it's pretty solid. I wouldn't worry about it. If it ever does crap out, Lsound or CAE sound can rebuild it for ya.

Musitronics is long gone, but http://www.mu-tron.org/ is still there. Obviously, I think the warranty has ran out, but the original inventor/creator has posted on his site a couple links to people who can repair them or get you parts.

Considering he's doing this for a company that's been out of business for about 20 years, I'd say that's pretty damn good customer service.

You can usually get these for around 200-250 off of ebay, which is a lot of money. But, considering I've been through:

Qtron, Maxon AF9, Boss Twah, DOD Filter

And none of them did it for me. I could have bought two Mutrons for the money I've spent on all of these copies! If you're considering getting one, just do it. worst case scenario, you'll find one for 200 and have to drop another 100 or so into it to refurb. But, at least you *know* you've got the lord king god of all filters.

What else is close to it? Probably the Qtron or the Maxon AF9. I really dig the AF9. It's really close to the Mutron, maybe a bit gnarlier. But, then again, why pay 200 bucks for a Maxon copy of a Mutron when you can get the real deal for the same price.

I dig it.

It takes a bit of tweaking but you can really get a thick vowelly sound with this device. I bought mine in Vienna, Austria sometime around 1989 and had it tweeked by a famous (not to be named) amp tech in Northern California. He made it usable for a cost larger than what I paid for this unit - but the thing still chowed batteries like a hog eats slop so I stopped using it and began to use my old Ibanez Auto-Filter which is suspiciously similar to the Mutron circuit. The tones of the Ibanez are close but lack the creamy, overwhelming embrace of the Mutron. Eventually I found myself a neighborhood electronic genius who was able to devise a handbuilt power supply so I am once again warping minds with the Mutron. I acutally use it in the same loop as the Auto Filter so I have two options. The weird thing is, though the Mutron takes 2 9 volt batteries, yet it is not an 18 volt device. Oddly, it takes positive juice from one battery and negative from the other so you need a very hard to find positive/negative 9 volt transformer to craft usable DC power supply. Other than this you'll be shelling out big coin for batteries if you can't find an original PS-2 power supply with it's funky 3 pin adapter...

I use either an early 70s hot rodded silver face twin or my 90's era red knob evil twin and the mutron just sings through either. It can be a little noisy but with a chain of about 10 pedals I can't expect it to be noiseless. I generally play either a Custom Tele with Lace Sensors or my wonderful Modulus Genesis 2 with 3 single coil hotrails. My rig is typically guitar > Proco Rat2> TC Electronics Sustainer/EQ > Morley Wah > Digitech Whammy 4 > TC Electronics Chorus (+Ring modulator, Flanger)> Dan Electro Pepperoni Phaser > Dan Electro Grilled Cheese Octave Divider> Mutron III > Ibanez Autofilter> Alesis Nanoverb set to Hall 2 reverb> Amp.
Easily renders the Garcia thing and it sounds greatest with some octave or whammy 2 thrown in the mix.

Once I had it fully tweaked and set up with an external power supply it has worked wonderfully and is indispensible. It could benefit from a true bypass footswitch but I generally turn my volume pot down before kicking this in.
I have and use simultaneously my back-up: the very good Ibanez Autofilter.

OUT a luck here... The company that reissued this device changed the arcane power supply circuit to AC and doesn't support the old 9v+/9v- problem of the vintage unit.
I have a Viet Nam Era Radio engineer in my neighborhood who can fix anything and he's done wonders with this unit.

I play psychedelic era blues, jamband, hippy music + country, funk, reggae, that Dead/Phish/Floyd/Neil Young/ Dylan / The Band / Hot Tuna / kinda stuff plus many derivative originals and this unit is the bomb. I've been playing more than 25 years and my collection of outboard effects has gotten larger than I can use. It would suck to lose this after all I've put into it - but the Electro Harmonics and Lovetone filters seem worthy of investigation. I like this unit when it's tweaked just right and provides that perfectly smooth, creamy vowel like tonality to my sound. It can however sound too derivative and hackneyed if employed too often.

The gain needs to be set correctly, and there's reaaly only 2 distinct tones you can get out of this unit, and since its a "touch" controlled effect (harder you pluck, the more effect you get), I'ld say that it is difficult to use correctly.

The sound of this unit is un-equalled by any other manufacturer. I've tried many Envelope Filters. This unit is warm and rich and very responsive to touch. There is none like it. It needs to be coupled with the Mutron Octave Divider if you want to get the most out of what Mutron had in mind here. Octave-->Envelope.

A+

None.

A major contributor to Jerry Garica's sound. "Shakedown Street" and "Estimated Prophet" and "Reuben and Cherise" are a few of the songs he uses it on. If you can dial this unit in, the fun level is tremendous. The gain setting is the most important, and depends on where you put the unit in the chain, and what you have for an amp/preamp. My setting are: gain is at 2.5, Peak at 2.75, and the Mode is "LP". For the "Wah" sound, the switches are Low & Up. For the "Aow" sound the settings are High & Down. With these settings, I find you can play with the attack of your pick, and bring out the true characteristic tone of the unit.

Let me start by saying this is a very interactive organic envelope filter, so you have to tweak the controls for the sounds that you like and the type of instrument that you play. The filter is touch sensitive to your playing dynamics, this is what makes it the ultimate FUNK Machine.

First let me tell you that this pedal is almost 30 years old and this the blueprint of funky envelope filters. I also have an original Mutron lll+ reissue and the vintage pedal is more complex, wet , greasy , funky etc. Some reviewers say that the original is a bit noisier than the original, Not mine. I guess it depends on what the vintage pedal has been through.I play various Fender basses thru a Eden Highwayman rig. It sounds great in the guitar input but you can also run the effect wet/dry thru the effects loop. either way you still have great bottom end.

Like I said it is 30 years old and still funky working!

IF you want to have a great funky tone and alot of fun do yourself a favour and find yourself a vintage Mutron.

Not as easy to use as the Mutron2 Phasor,but with a little tweaking it'll knock your drawers down!

Very quiet.When set properly it gets a wild amount of gain,almost fuzz-like.Careful if using distortion,Mutron 3's are quiet over-bearing.They have much balls.You can go from"spankyerbooty" rythym guitar to "butt bouncing" funk mechine.It's the king of enevople filters,only the AF-9 comes close.Larry Graham ,Bootsy, the Brother's Johnson and Funkadelic used these things alot.

Built like a truck, kinda heavy though.It has no back up.

Sadly,Musitronics is gone.Who'll repair them???

If lost I'd need a shrink.If stolen, you'll see me in the mourning news paper...in handcuffs.

It is OK you just have to really know what you are doing. It's a little tricky but if you are a good pedal tweaker you can get a good sound. I'm an experimental guy so it took me a hour or so to find about 10 good sounds I like. Even though it has a lot of knobs and switches and shit like that it's still a bad ass pedal.

No noise! This is a silent pedal. Works good with other pedals and sounds pretty phat with a Big Muff! I use a heavy guitar though so it's kinda bassy. I use a Ibanez RG7620 with 60.-10. gauge. It's really bassy on the low strings and pretty sonic on high. I also use heavy set amps. Like a Marshall practice ( HEAVY! ) and Marshall 4X12 Cabs with a Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier. I really like it, it can morph my guitar into a bass sound or a keyboard. Kick ass envolope filter!

It's reliable. It's not built like others though like damn BOSS or something but it's nothing you could break in a couple months. I've seen used ones though and they tend to be really scratched up. It doesn't eat up batteries either even though now I have an adapter for it. So I would give a gig reliability a 10 ( plus a lot of people including me couldn't afford a backup ). Sound reliability is a 10 because look at it the damn thing is almost 30 years old

Mu-Tron way out of business

For my style a crossover of aggro metal and screaming rhyming like lyrics it is bad ass. I love this pedal it is my favorite. I compared it to a lot of envelope filters like a Lovetone Meatball which I have now a Q-Tron and a DOD E. Filter FX25. Which I have all now. I'm not a real big envelope filter freak actually I really don't like a lot of them like the Ibanez T-Wah and ect. I'm more of a whacked out pedal fan like the DOD Buzz Box and stuff like that. I give this pedal a 10 I just love it. But like I said I'm not much of a e. filter fan but the 4 I have are the best and probably the only I will ever have. Too damn bad that they went out of business. 10!!!

It might take you a bit to get the sound you want, you know, a little tweaking, and you'll have to figure out how to play each note to get the sound you want, but it sounds awesome at just about any setting! I'm not sure what could make it easier, unless it were simpler, that is, had less features, but I got it for the different things it can do. Most "auto-wah"s only do the "wah" sound, but this puppy also goes "ow". It's old, so no manual, but I found out what I needed from some other web pages. It's pretty simple.

No Noise! I'm serious. This unit's from the 70's, and it sounds AWESOME. It sounds just like I wanted it to. The sounds are totally vowel like, and you can tweak them to get a bunch of truly unique sounds. I'm using it with my Les Paul, so I don't know how sensitive it would be with single coils. It really does sweeten distortion nicely. I've heard you don't want to put a distortion pedal before it, 'cause that can ruin the envelope effect, but I think you might get some unique sounds that way (311?)

It's made it this far. It's built like a tank. I'm not worried about it. It really has weathered the years well. If it breaks, I'm out of luck since Musictronics went out of business a while ago.

Musictronics is gone. I think New York City Electronics makes the Mu-Tron II+, the reissue, but I doubt they'd help with an old one. Who knows?

I got it for a great price and it works perfectly. Don't buy one, though. I want to be unique! If you think you play funk - hurry - catch the bandwagon! I don't play funk at all. I got it cause you can do a ton of stuff with it and it makes your whole sound so rich. I mean, uh, it sucks, I'll buy your old ones for $5.00 'cause I'm so generous!

I plugged in and found exactly what I had been searching for since I first heard the Mu-tron. The Hard part isn't finding a sound you like, it's picking which one to use.

Damn! That's all I can say. I use the Mu-tron III with my GK head and it sounds great! The one thing is that it cuts through better if you boost the highs a bit. This is good if you are using the Mu-tron through the whole song, but if you go back and forth, the boosted highs can be a bit much without the Mu-tron.

I've only had it a short while, but no problems so far.

I have been searching for what made Bootsy's sound so Bootsy. Once I found out it was a Mu-tron, I worked hard to find one. I found this reissue and am not the least bit dissapointed. The only danger is using it on every song!

Since I bought this used, there was no manual- but it was pretty simple to figure out. There are three different "pass modes", range, drive, gain and peak controls. You can do envelope sweeps of all sorts- up, down, whatever.

This is the sweetest and most earthy sounding effect ever made my mankind. It is a vintage analog sound which is very warm and irreplicable with solid state electronics. The unit produces a dynamic wah effect which can completely be controlled by the pick strength and various other parameters. There is no better envelope filter. There is really no noise either, which one might expect from an effect from the 70's.

These things are absolutely bulletproof. Even after twenty years those mutrons that have been treated kindly sound and look like new.

Musictronics, or something, is the company that produced the mutronware- but they dumped the bed long ago. Why the hell- I'll never know.

Everyone should scarf up mutronIII's like gold. You can't go wrong. I'm sure you've heard the mutron used by either Jerry Garcia, Boost Collins, or many others. It works with any instrument(almost- maybe not a kazoo). The other options in terms of envelope filters are the boss aw2 auto wah, df2 dynamic filter, or tw1 touch wah- all produce a stong effect but it is to trebely for me and they are all loud as hell. The DODfx25 envelope filter requires a really hot output signal to produce any effect, but the wah is really drastic- it's kind of a novelty thing but not too useful. The ibanex soundtank aw5 auto wah is pretty decent and sounds most mutron like- but it's no mutron when it comes down to it. The ibanez envelope filter is less complex sounding than the mutron- but beats the other stompboxes. All auto wahs on the multieffects units I've heard are weak- even the ibanez which supposedly uses similar design as in its pedal which to me sounds better. The mutron also sweetens distortion- whereas some of these other effects get in the way.

A little tricky to get the sounds you want, but worth the sound. Besides, even the sounds you don't want kick ass on this unit.

Best Envelope follower in the universe. Bootsy says so, and so do I. LOTS of vowel sound to the wah.

Built like a sherman tank. VERY rugged.

None whatsoever. But if you break one, you should be ashamed.

Best thing I own next to my bass itself. Get one if you find one. You won't regret it.

You must be patient to find the right sound, but results when dialed in are simply the best

After you know a bit about it you won't want to play a gig without it.

good luck!

I wish I owned three or four of these things. They are for all instruments, not just guitar and bass.