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Musitronics Mutron III
It's the early 70's and musically the world is a wonderful place. The 60's led us free of our inhibitions and we are reaping the rewards as musicians reach new heights of creativity. The best news though is that the guys making the gear we've all dreamed about owning are out of the garage and into the factories making it possible for us to afford it. Enter the two funkiest men on the planet. Bootsy Collins and Stevie Wonder. To this day so much of what they've done still has no equal. And a large part of their sound can be defined by one pedal….the Mu-tron III |  |
| Musitronics came into being in a converted chicken shed in 1972. It's founders Aaron Newman and Mike Beigel were making breakthrough designs in synthesisers but decided to focus on quality accessories. Their first product was the opto-electronic envelope filter they called the Mu-tron III. Their attention to detail and commitment to quality was always their first priority. These guys really knew what they were doing and as a company they weren't afraid to take risks. One of those risks, the Gizmatron would see the company fold by 1978.
'Coblers', I hear you say. 'I aint never erd of em'. The Mu-tron III does seem to be somewhat of a gear geeks secret. The reason for this is it's not just for guitars. It was made for any dynamic instrument.
A higher ground
At its most basic the Mu-tron III is an auto-wah. The effect is triggered by the dynamics of your playing. The harder you hit the strings the more pronounced the effect. What separates this unit from any other is its flexibility. With a bit of manipulation you can make a guitar sound like an old analog synth, or create some amazing vowel like sounds. Take one note and produce glass shattering frequencies, and instantly send it to a bass players dream all with a subtle change in pick attack.
Let's start with a (anything but) typical auto-wah setting. Set the mode on low pass, peak between 6-7
Set range to low, drive to up and make sure the power is on. The last thing to do is set the input gain level. This is THE key to this effect as it governs all of the Mu-trons dynamic potential. This is a great place to start as it's a sound that your ears are familiar with and by experimenting with the controls it's a short step to understanding what all the what their functions are. The thing to remember is the controls are super sensitive and all have a dramatic effect on the sound. It is also important to make sure that this is the first thing in your signal chain to ensure the input levels don't change if you kick in an overdrive for example.
Other effects after this can really enhance the sound your creating. Throw some overdrive and delay after the Mu-tron and you have the guitar sound from Mysterious Ways by U2.
So what are the drawbacks? The power supply is +-9V (18V centre tap). You can't use a normal 18V supply or you'll destroy the unit, and the manufacturer made sure you couldn't by using a customer supply input jack on the back. And an original supply is as rare as rocking horse poo. The answer to this is rechargeable batteries. They sound fine and you don't need to mod the pedal.
It's not true bypass either, and it's big and quite weighty.
How much should I pay?
Brace yourselves. The Mu-tron III is sought after by collectors and players alike. A flawless example with box and supply can go for $1500 U.S. For one in good condition you can get them for £200 - £250 and if you keep an eye out, they are certainly out there. If you can't find one of these, look out for an Electro-Harmonix Q Tron. It's as close as you'll get to the real thing. It should be. The same guy designed it.
It's a pedal that you're certainly not going to have on all the time and you do need to overcome some practical power supply issues. So is it worth it? I believe it's all about your level of commitment and I know I'm not alone. Many of us will gladly drag around our behemoth pedal boards and struggle with quad boxes in the back of minis because of one underlying principle…..It sounds wicked!
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