Ashdown Original VALVE PRE-DI valve pre amp User guide

ASHDOWN ORIGIN

AL

VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL

USER GUIDE

The OriginAL beautifully shapes the bass player’s clean signal whilst offering a foot-switchable

valve powered overdrive in a single compact unit. Crystal clear cleans and powerful overdriven growl, The OriginAL encompasses it all.

Setting the Level

The -3db Pad switch is used in conjunction with the input level control to suit the instrument in use,

Low output basses will not require the use of the Pad but Higher Output basses may overload the pedal and require use of the Pad. Overloading the Input will simply create unwanted distortion and sound unpleasant, with experimentation the correct settings will be found for the Instruments you have.

Real Valve Overdrive

The Valve overdrive circuit fitted into the Original pre amplifier duplicates the kind of overdrive you would get from Valve Amplifier and works in exactly the same way as follows,The DRIVE GAIN controls the magnification of the signal from the instrument, at higher settings the Valve will be overdriven clipping and compressing the sound from the instrument, Higher harmonics and higher frequencies will be accentuated whilst the lower frequencies will be compressed. Just as in a valve amplifier this will be accompanied by a drastic increase in volume dependant entirely on the setting of the gain control.

To enable you to match the Overdriven signal level to the clean level a Drive level control is also provided. In this way it is therefore possible to change from a crystal clean sound to an overdriven sound of similar level. The Input Level control also has some bearing on this as it sets the starting point from which the overdrive circuit works so some experimentation with this in conjunction with

Drive Gain and Drive Level will be required to get exactly the results you are looking for.

The OVERDRIVE is foot switchable and the pedal lights up blue when the overdrive is engaged.

When using the footswitch it is advisable and desirable to avoid large increases in volume as sudden level changes may produce switching noise further down the line.

ASHDOWN ORIGIN

AL

VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL

USER GUIDE

Shape

The shape Button when engaged provides a broadband mid scoop and is applied to the signal

Before the Drive circuit or EQ.

EQ

The Equalisation circuit has 5 bands with the control frequencies centred around 100Hz , 340Hz,

680Hz, 1.6KHz and 7KhZ. The associated filters are of a low Q type and therefore there is considerable overlap between frequencies, which ensures a smooth response. Since the pedal has been designed to be used with other equipment such as mixers and amplifiers etc. which will invariably have more on board Equalisation the control range has been tailored accordingly.

Output

The output control controls the signal from the pedal to the connected equipment via the ¼”

JACK socket. When this output is in use the Phones output is unavailable. This jack socket has a

PERMANENT ground. Adjust the output level to suit the connected equipment. NOTE that this control does NOT adjust the DI output This control also functions as the VOLUME control for the inbuilt headphone amplifier. Headphones can be connected on the rear panel via the 3.5 mm 3 pole MINI Jack.

Line Mix

The Line Input is located on the rear panel below the PHONES out, this is again a 3.5mm MINI Jack the level control is used to mix the line signal with that from the instrument. Various signal sources can be connected here by the use of suitable leads which are commercially available 3.5mm Mini

Jack to RCA phono will enable you to connect to CD and Video players and the recording out of many small mixing desks 3.5 mm mono Mini Jack to ¼” Jack will enable you to connect into the fold back of most mixing desks. 3.5MM to phone Jack will enable you to connect to most phones and players for music.

It’s Showtime!

Showtime is basically the overall Mute button the pedal lights up RED when unmuted and ready to play Note That the LINK socket on the rear panel remains Active whilst in mute mode. This output is at instrument level and can be used to drive a tuner for example .It is therefore possible to tune up without any signal to the PA or other connected equipment.

ASHDOWN ORIGIN

AL

VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL

USER GUIDE

Power Supply

The ORIGINal Pre-amplifier requires a Linear Isolated High quality Regulated power supply that can supply a current 300mA at a voltage of 15-18V DC Centre Pin NEGATIVE for the fitted 2.1mm connector socket. Since most Professional pedal board power supplies have outputs at 9V and

18V the pedal is marked at 18V. The pedal reduces the incoming power supply down to 12v suitable to drive the Valve and internal circuits, for the internal stabilisation to be fully effective the connected power supply should be between 15-18V DC as stated…

In extreme cases the pedal will operate on 9v but this will be accompanied by an increase in noise and the Valve drive will not be as effective. For those of you that do not own a Pedal Board and power supply unit a suitable Linear Isolated supply has been included - this is 15V DC Centre Pin

NEGATIVE and for use ONLY with the Original Pedal. The use of switching type adaptors is not recommended as these invariably generate unwanted noise and are sometimes NOT completely

ISOLATED from the mains supply.

General Points

The DI output of this pedal is set to a standard nominal level of 0dB (0.775mV) , dependant of course on the setting of the Input control .This output is Transformer Isolated and is true balanced line, it may be used with mixing desks with Phantom power without ill effect.

Depending on what other Equipment is also connected to the pre-amplifier the Ground lift may have to be used. For instance when connected to an additional amplifier which is itself connected to ground the ground lift will have to be used to avoid the loop that would exist between the two pieces of equipment. If the pedal is being used to drive only a mixing desk then the ground lift should not be used thereby grounding the pedal and avoiding induced mains Hum.

Noise sources

Guitars in general make fantastic Aerials and are able to pick up all sorts of interference which can find its way through any connected equipment, such sources include, Mobile Phones, Bluetooth devices, Wi-Fi Transmitters and Computers, Led lighting and switch mode power supplies.

Interference in the home can come from additional sources such as refrigerators and Central heating turning on and off, these produce unwanted clicks and pops which the guitar will pick up with monotonous regularity, If you are working or recording in such an environment it is a good idea to switch off as much as possible and position yourself and the instrument for least interference.

ASHDOWN ORIGIN

AL

VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL

NOTES:

USER GUIDE

ASHDOWN ORIGIN

AL

VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL

Front Panel:

1-

OUTPUT - Rotary Control - Controls the overall output of the device.

2-

5-BAND EQ - Rotary Controls - A comprehensive 5 Band EQ tailored to Bass Guitar.

3-

DRIVE LEVEL - Rotary Control - Controls the overall Valve drive output.

4-

VALVE DRIVE - Latching footswitch - A simple in and out latching footswitch.

5-

DRIVE GAIN - Rotary Control - Set the amount of gain for your drive tone.

6-

SHAPE - Push Button - Enables a pre shape scoop to the tone before the EQ.

7-

SHOWTIME - Latching Footswitch - Your either in or your out... Mute/On...

USER GUIDE

8-

LINE MIX - Rotary Control - Set the level of your line input.

9-

PAD -3dB - Push Button - Passive/Active input pad +/- 3dB.

10-

INPUT - Rotary Control - Adjust the input level depending on your choice of instrument.

11-

GND LIFT - Push Button - Di Out ground lift.

1.

2.

3.

ASHDOWN ORIGIN

AL

VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL

Front Panel:

11.

USER GUIDE

10.

9.

8.

4.

5.

6.

7.

ASHDOWN ORIGIN

AL

VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL

Rear Panel:

12-

INPUT - Jack Instrument Input

13-

LINK OUT - Jack Link Output

14-

LINE IN - 3.5mm Stereo Jack Input.

15-

OUT - Jack Instrument Output

16-

PHONES - Headphone 3.5mm Jack Output

17-

DI OUT - Balanced XLR powered transformer isolated, studio quality DI

USER GUIDE

ASHDOWN ORIGIN

AL

VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL

Rear Panel:

16.

17.

USER GUIDE

12.

13.

14.

15.