Behringer Meatball

The Behringer Meatball is an envelope filter pedal, a design that opens and closes a filter according to how hard you play, producing the auto-wah and funk sounds that filter pedals are known for. Behringer describes its range of sounds as "from subtle vowel-like shifts to sharp, expressive peaks"¹. gearnews reported in January 2026 that the pedal "is based on the Lovetone Meatball Envelope Filter", a '90s classic, and that it is aimed at "funk sounds, auto-wah, and experimental effects"².

What it does and how it is controlled

An envelope filter tracks the dynamics of your playing and sweeps a filter in response, so picking harder moves the effect further. The Meatball's front panel carries three knobs: Behringer says you "Dial in Sensitivity, Attack and Decay to match your dynamics"¹. Sensitivity sets how strongly the filter responds to your input, while attack and decay shape how the sweep rises and falls.

The filter can be set to low-pass, band-pass or high-pass, the same three filter types found on the Mu-Tron III, where a mode switch selects "Lowpass, Bandpass, Highpass"⁴. An expression pedal input allows manual sweeps, so you can drive the filter by foot rather than by picking dynamics alone¹.

Where it came from: the Lovetone Meatball

The pedal it is modeled on has a history of its own. The Lovetone Meatball, "initially released in 1995" according to Aion FX, was "the first of Lovetone's legendary big-box modulation effects"³. Aion FX describes it as "a heavily tweaked version of the very first commercial envelope filter pedal, the Mu-tron III"³. On top of that core circuit, "the Meatball adds several new features including a clean blend, attack/decay controls, two extra range modes in between" the Hi and Lo settings, two expression controls, and an effects loop³.

GuitarPlayer, listing the original among its top 50 stompboxes, described it as featuring "four frequency ranges, multiple filter types (with depth and resonance controls), attack and decay knobs, a trigger section, and an effects loop"⁵. JHS Pedals notes that its effects loops "let you put other effects into it, so they're triggered into the envelope", alongside expression control⁶.

Bass, and where it sits in Behringer's filter range

Behringer markets the Meatball to bass players directly, saying it can "give your bass lines a synth-like growl with every note"¹. Because envelope filters respond to playing dynamics, the sensitivity control matters more on bass, where attack strength varies note to note.

The Meatball sits alongside Behringer's other recent filter releases, and it follows the same approach the company has taken with its reissues: bring back a well-known design at its own price point. On paper, at least, these look good, and if they offer the same ballpark tones as the originals, then they will sell like the originals did, as Guitar World's reviewer put it when assessing the range². For players, the pitch is straightforward: Sensitivity, Attack and Decay controls to match your dynamics, and a range Behringer describes as running "from subtle vowel-like shifts to sharp, expressive peaks"¹.

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