Agent 00Funk Mark II

frequently asked questions

Here are some of the more common questions we get asked about the Agent 00Funk Mark II and our answers.

Q1: How do I tune the Agent 00Funk Mark II for my instrument?

Different instruments put out different volume levels and you'll need to tune the controls of the Agent 00Funk Mark II to get the best results with your instrument. You may also find there is some tuning required if your power source is not exactly 9V (eg. your battery is a little flat). Therefore, we recommend you follow this simple tuning procedure to ensure you always get the best results with your Agent 00Funk Mark II:

Start with pitch set to minimum, smoothness set to halfway, sweep set to minimum, squelch set to halfway, the up/down switch set to up and the Agent 00Funk Mark II switched on. Ensure your instrument is set up for your normal playing volume.
Slowly increase the pitch control, making small adjustments and playing a little after each adjustment, until you hear the filter just beginning to "open". Once you find the point at which the filter starts to respond to the pitch control, reduce the pitch control to just a little below that point, which you'll probably find is slightly below halfway. Now you have established the optimal starting point for a punchy, funky filter sweep.
Slowly increase the sweep control, making small adjustments and playing a little after each adjustment, until you hear the filter sweep over your sound. If your instrument puts out a very hot signal, you'll probably find you can get the sound you're listening for with quite a low setting of the sweep control.
Adjust the smoothness control to get the response you are looking for. Set it low for a fast, tight, "squidgy" response. Set it high for a long, smooth response.
Changing the smoothness control may have also changed how far the filter sweeps, so you might now want to go back and fine-tune the sweep control.
Adjust the squelch control to get the amount of grit and punch you are after.

Use this simple procedure as your starting point and, with a little practice, you'll quickly be able to dial in the sound you're looking for.

Q2: How do I adjust the sensitivity of my Agent 00Funk mark II?

The sweep control determines how much the filter sweeps in response to the level coming from the instrument, so you can think of it as a sensitivity control. Use the procedure given in Q1 to tune Agent 00Funk Mark II for your instrument.

Q3: My Agent 00Funk mark II doesn't seem to do very much with my active bass. How do I fix that?

Turn down the sweep control - the filter is probably "open" all the time because your instrument puts out a very hot signal. The settings documented on this website and in the instruction manual are suitable for a classic passive bass guitar, such as a Fender Jazz Bass. However, if you play a modern bass with an active pickup system (you can tell it's an active bass if it has a battery inside it) it probably puts out a much hotter signal and you'll generally need to turn the sweep control much lower to get good results. See Q1 for full details on how to tune Agent 00Funk Mark II for your instrument.

Q4: I have to set the pitch control quite high to get good results. What's the deal?

You probably have a flat battery - replace it. If you are using an external DC power supply it probably puts out less than the 9V required.

Q5: My Agent 00Funk Mark II hums when I switch it on. How do I fix that?

You're probably using a noisy external DC power supply which does not have appropriate voltage regulation. We recommend you use a regulated power supply such as the Powerall PA-9 from Godlyke Inc.

Q6: Does the Agent 00Funk Mark II work with power supply X?

Your Agent 00Funk Mark II has a standard 2.1mm DC input jack and requires a 9V DC power supply with the tip (centre pin) negative and the sleeve (outside of the barrel) positive. It needs to be a well-regulated supply capable of delivering at least 50mA. It's no problem if your supply is able to delivery more current than 50mA, but it must deliver exactly 9V DC. For example, your supply may have 9VDC, 500mA printed on it and that would be fine. However, if it says, for example, 12VDC, 500mA (voltage too high), 9VAC, 500mA (AC instead of DC) or 9VDC, 20mA (insufficient current supplied) you need to look for another supply.

Almost all effects pedals made since about 1985, including, for example, those from Boss, have an identical power requirement. So chances are, the supply you use with your other pedals will probably work with the Agent 00Funk Mark II. However, you need to double-check the specifications printed on the supply or in its documentation or packaging to ensure it has the correct polarity and voltage. Almost all supplies are capable of deliverying the 50mA required by the Agent 00Funk Mark II, but you need to double-check this too. You will also want to ensure that your supply says it is "regulated" or "switch-mode" or it may cause the Agent 00Funk Mark II to hum.

Chunk Systems recommends the Powerall PA-9 from Godlyke Inc.

Q7: What exactly does the envelope connector do?

The envelope socket is an audio input. When no plug is present in the envelope socket, the envelope detector circuit uses the input signal to control the cutoff frequency of the filter. However, when you plug a different signal into the envelope socket, that envelope signal is used by the envelope detector circuit instead of the input signal. The filter itself, however, continues to operate on the input signal.

So what's the point of that? Well, the raw signal from your instrument contains lots of dynamic range. That is, there is a large volume difference between playing loudly and playing softly. Effects such as fuzz and distortion add lots of nice juicy harmonics which sound good and squelchy when you filter them, but they tend to make everything equally loud. By changing how loud you play you control how the filter sweeps, so adding a fuzz effect before the Agent 00Funk Mark II in the signal chain tends to limit your ability to control the filter sweep. Therefore, for maximum squelchiness with a fuzz effect you want to filter the output of the fuzz effect, but use the raw instrument signal (before the fuzz) to control the filter sweep.

You can do this with the Agent 00Funk Mark II by plugging the fuzz output into the input jack and plugging the raw instrument signal into the envelope socket, as well as the input to your fuzz effect. If your fuzz effect is a Chunk Systems Brown Dog, this is easy, since the Brown Dog's envelope output is a mirror image of it's input signal with 12dB of gain. You therefore simply connect the Brown Dog's output to the Agent 00Funk Mark II's input and connect the envelope connectors together using a patch cable. You can use the Agent 00Funk's Mark II's envelope input with another fuzz effect if you have a splitter cable to send your raw instrument signal to the fuzz's input and to the envelope connector. See the Agent 00Funk Mark II user manual for connection diagrams.