Pigtronix tm Philosopher King User’s Guide All contents © Absara Audio LLC 2010
Index: Welcome……………………………………………………..… Anatomy of the Philosopher King….……………….……… Getting Started…..……..….………………………………….. Guided Tour…………..………………………………………… Notes………..……….…………………………………………… Limited Warranty….……………………………………….…… Safety Precautions………….…………..………………….…..
Welcome! Thank you for entering the realm of Pigtronix. Your Philosopher King pedal is a compressor, distortion and envelope generator. Big brother to the Philosopher’s Tone and descendant of our Attack Sustain pedal, the Philosopher King was designed to give your guitar a HUGE sound and then change the shape of that sound’s amplitude over time. In other words, this is an ADSR for guitar coupled to an incredible sustainer.
Anatomy of the Philosopher King: The Interface: Jacks: 1. IN – Plug in your instrument here. 2. TRIGGER – This is a side-chain input for the envelope detector within the Philosopher King. The trigger feature allows you to connect an external source to control the timing of the SWELL and/or FADE cycle. 3. OUTPUT – Effect output – Plug in your amp, mixer, DI box, etc. here. 4. DC POWER 18-VOLTS – Use only the 18-Volt, 300mA, negative tip power supply that came with your Pigtronix Philosopher King.
Footswitches: 9. SWELL – This footswitch turns the SWELL function on and off. When the SWELL feature is in use, notes will have a slow attack, becoming louder at the rate set by the SWELL dial. 10. ENGAGE – This footswitch turns the entire effect on and off. When only the Engage light is turned on, the pedal acts as a compressor / sustainer / distortion. When the engage light is turned off, the Philosopher King is bypassed. 11. FADE – This footswitch turns the FADE function on and off.
20. RELEASE – This LED tells the musician when the pedal is armed and ready to begin the SWELL and/or FADE cycle. When a note is played, the Release light will turn off and the SWELL and/or FADE cycle will begin. 21. SENSITIVITY – This dial determines how much input signal is needed to reset the SWELL and/or FADE cycle. Use this knob to set the cutoff point below which the pedal needs additional signal to re-trigger the cycle. Leave the SENSITIVITY dial clockwise most of the time. Toggles: 22.
Guided Tour: The following steps guide you through the sonic palette of Philosopher King and show you how to get at the range of tones that it has to offer. Compression Controls 1. Set all of the controls fully counter-clockwise and set the toggles to the right. The Release light should be lit, but the other LEDs should be off. The Philosopher King is in bypass mode. Play your instrument and make sure a clean sound is passing through the pedal. 2. Turn up the SENSITIVITY to 3:00. 3.
10. Turn up the HOLD to 12:00, notice how the decay does not go fully to silent now. Explore the range of the HOLD control. The Decay function in this pedal is equipped with an automatic reset feature that re-arms the pedal each time the decay cycle is finished. Be sure to check out the shortest Decay settings for square wave tremolo and rapid stutter sounds. 11. Turn on the ATTACK footswitch. Now all three footswitch lights should be lit up.
Limited Warranty: Your Pigtronix effect pedal comes with a 1 year limited warranty on parts and workmanship. During the warranty period we will repair or replace, at our option, defective parts or pedals free of charge, and return them to the owner. Warranty service does not include damaged, modified, or misused pedals and such pedals will be subject to a standard repair charge. Contact us directly via email and describe the problem to us.
Safety Precautions: Please be sure to observe these precautions. The safety precautions listed below are intended to ensure your safety whenever you use the equipment. NEVER OPEN THE CASE – Never try to separate the two pieces of the chassis from one another and/or modify the equipment. Opening this device will effectively void the warranty. STOP USE IN CASE OF PROBLEM – Stop using the equipment if ever you should notice smoke or a strange odor coming from it.
