A pretty decent portion of my teenage years and beyond have been spent listening to the Grateful Dead, and the one and only Mr. Jerry Garcia. He had a signature sound unlike any other guitarists’, instantly recognizable and full of emotion and power, but one effect in particular produced what many call the “Jerry Sound”: a Mu-Tron III™ Envelope Filter from Musitronics, a classic effect used by numerous musicians, but none possibly more tied to its sound than Jerry. Today’s pedal, the Tru-Tron 3X™ Envelope Filter, is a new version of that classic, made by the original inventor/designer, but with a few modern updates and those same killer tones.
There are a bunch of controls on the Tru-Tron 3X™, for sure, and we’ll try our best to explain them to you (check out the video below for an in-depth look at this incredible pedal and how it sounds). Mu controls the filter and envelop audio drive, while Pre controls the preamp drive. A small MU/PRE toggle lets you select between the 2 modes, with MU emulating the original design, while PRE lets the Mu knob control the envelope drive ONLY, and the Pre knob control only the filter audio drive. The Envelope Drive toggle selects between an auto-wah mode (Up) and a “down-swoop” mode (Down), while the Filter Range toggle adjusts range of your filter sweep, either in the lower end for rhythm work, or higher end for lead tones.
Peak, or Q, controls the filter’s audio response from very weak to very strong, with the Tru-Tron 3X™ boasting a larger maximum output peak, for more control and tonal variation (the red numbers indicate the newer range). The Mode selection knob lets you choose between the following: Low Pass Filter (passes all the signals below the peak and attenuates signals above the peak), Band Pass Filter (passes signals only near the peak and attenuates signals below and above the peak) or High Pass Filter (passes all signals above the peak and attenuates signals below the peak). Mike has also included a 4th mode, MIX, which is an optimized mixture of the dry (unfiltered) signal and the filtered signal, for quick and easy setups.
Heard on such signature Dead tunes as “Shakedown Street“, “Estimated Prophet” and “Fire On The Mountain“, the Mu-Tron III™ left its mark on not only Jerry Garcia’s sound, but on music throughout the 70’s, from such artists as Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa and many more. The Tru-Tron 3X™ harnesses the same magical tones as the original, but with a smaller footprint, updated insides and a few more options. These new models were in just as much demand as the older ones, and are now sold out once again, so if you happen to come across one and are looking to bring the funk, you should be sure to snatch it while you can. Check out the Mu-FX website for more info, and to see Mike’s other genius creations as well.
Specs:
1/4″ Input and Output Jacks
True Bypass/Convertible to Active
Signal to Noise Ratio: 85dB or better
Input Impedance: 390K Ohms
Nominal Input Level: -10dBu
Output Impedance: 150 Ohms
Nominal Output Level: -10dBu
Maximum Output Level: +16dBu
Case: 2mm aluminum
Weight: 16.3oz/462g (unit only)
Dimensions: 7” x 4 15/16” x 2 1/4”
Includes 12VAC 200MA adapter
1 year limited warranty
Made in USA to ISO 9001 standard
*Side note: Some of you may wonder why this model says “Mu-Tron”, while the website labels them as “Tru-Tron”, and here’s the answer: Mu-FX owns a Mu-Tron trademark in Europe but not in the USA. A small number of units printed with “Mu” instead of “Tru” were recently unearthed and released, but inside, both products are EXACTLY THE SAME, we just happened upon one of the collector’s models.*
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