Alexander Sugarcube User manual

GREAT TONES. DOING GOOD.
USER MANUAL

About AlexAnder PedAls
Alexander Pedals builds hand-crafted eects pedals in Garner, North Carolina. Each Alexander
Pedal is meticulously voiced and tweaked by our sonic scientists to achieve sounds that are
both instantly familiar yet completely unique.
Alexander Pedals are designed by Matthew Farrow and a group of trusted players, builders,
and friends. Matthew has been building guitar pedals since the late 1990s, rst with Pharaoh
Ampliers, and now with Disaster Area Designs. Matthew has designed some of the most
innovative eects units on the market, including some big names he’s not allowed to tell you
about.
Alexander Pedals was started for two reasons - to make great tones, and to do good. The
great tones part you probably have some idea about. As for doing good, Alexander Pedals
donates a portion of the prots from every pedal sold to charity, whether you buy from us
or our dealers. Matthew’s younger brother Alex passed away in 1987 of a form of cancer
called neuroblastoma. Alexander Pedals honors his memory by helping in the ght to end
childhood cancer.
alexanderpedals.com
GREAT TONES. DOING GOOD.
Contents
IntroductIon ..........................................1
GettInG Started .....................................1
SoundS and controlS ...........................2
loadInG and SavInG PreSetS .................4
Stereo .................................................5
ramP FootSwItch ...................................5
SettInG uPYour Pedal .........................6
exPreSSIon Pedal....................................7
neo FootSwItch .....................................8
mIdI conFIGuratIon ..............................9
mIdI commandS ................................. 10
SPecIFIcatIonS....................................... 10

1
Sugarcube is pretty much like any other pedal. Plug in on the right side, then plug the lower
jack on the left side to your amp or next pedal. Power it up, hit the footswitch and see what
happens!
Want to hear some sounds that we like? Hold down the BYPASS footswitch to load in the
factory presets. We put four cool tones in the pedal for you to tweak.
Experiment. Turn the knobs. Push the buttons. We think you’ll nd something you like.
GettinG stArted
introduCtion
Chorus is one of those eects that folks either love or hate. We’re squarely in the“love it”
camp, and since you bought this thing then that means you are too! To that end, we’ve done
everything in our power to create the most whirly, swirly eect we possibly can.
We took our favourite 1980s style chorus pedals and tried to capture their unique essence,
added in a dash of rotary speaker swirl, and added in a few icy pitch-shifted crystal tones.
Then we wrapped it all up in a pedalboard-friendly package with MIDI, presets, and expression
pedal support. If this pedal were any sweeter you’d need to go visit your dentist
GUITAR /
INSTRUMENT
INPUT (MONO)
STEREO / MONO
EFFECT OUTPUT
MULTIJACK
RAMP
FOOTSWITCH
BYPASS
FOOTSWITCH
SELECT
BUTTON
MODE LEDS
MAIN LED
USB PORT 9V DC POWER
RAMP LED BYPASS LED
Messing with the knobs will get you a long way, but there is a lot to this pedal just under the
surface. When you’re ready to dive in to the advanced features of your new pedal, read on.

2
sounds And Controls
Sugarcube does a lot of stu, but that doesn’t mean that it’s hard to use! Generally you can
just turn the knobs on the pedal and explore new sounds, but we put a few extra controls on
the pedal that we think you can use.
Sugarcube has four distinct Eect Modes. Each one has its own set of controls, and while they
do relate to each other, it’s worth taking a few minutes to learn what everything does.
Tap the center Select button to move to the next Eect Mode. You’ll notice that the small
LEDs in the center of the pedal change to show the current Eect Mode.
If you hold the center Select button, you can access the“Alt Functions” for the pedal knobs.
Here’s a run-down on what all of the knobs do in each Eect Mode of the pedal.
CHORUS (upper blue) This is probably what most folks think of when someone says“cho-
rus!” This mode features rate and depth controls for the chorus, as well as a mix control to go
from dry to chorus to vibrato. The Tweak control adds in an additional chorus voice to thicken
and widen the eect.
DIMENSION (lower blue) “Motionless”chorus eect - the Dimension mode features two
opposing delay lines that combine to create wide soundscapes without the “wavering”sound
of traditional chorus. If you’re trying to replicate the tones of the four-button vintage unit,
keep the Depth control at noon or below. We’ve expanded the control range and even added
a Feedback control for ange-like chorus tones. Milk and Kisses, here we come!
MAIN FUNCTIONS ALT FUNCTIONS
LFO
RATE
MIX
LFO
DEPTH
EXTRA
VOICE
STEREO
MODE
LEVEL
RAMP
RATE
HOLD DOWN TO ADJUST
MAIN FUNCTIONS ALT FUNCTIONS
LFO
RATE
MIX
LFO
DEPTH
FEED
BACK
HOLD DOWN TO ADJUST
CLOCK
STEREO
MODE
LEVEL
RAMP
RATE
CLOCK

3
sounds And Controls (Continued)
ROTARY (upper red) This is a bit of a stretch, since a real rotary speaker is an insanely com-
plex amalgam of amp, motion, room, wood, glass, and re. Trying to replicate it in a stompbox
is always going to be disappointing, but we’ve grabbed the important stu and tried to make
it sound as cool as possible! Rate controls the speed of the horn and drum, while the Tweak
control balances between them. Pro tip: a real rotary speaker doesn’t have a blend knob, so
try setting Mix to fully wet for the most realistic eect
ICE (lower red) Chorus with a crystalline pitch-shift added. Ice mode features a two-voice
chorus eect that’s mixed with a selectable pitch shift. Turn the Tweak knob to select Octave
Down, Unison Detune, Perfect Fifth, or Octave Up.
MAIN FUNCTIONS ALT FUNCTIONS
MIX PITCH
SHIFT
HOLD DOWN TO ADJUST
MAIN FUNCTIONS ALT FUNCTIONS
ROTARY
SPEED
MIX
MIC
DISTANCE
HORN
BALANCE
HOLD DOWN TO ADJUST
LFO
RATE
DEPTH
STEREO
MODE
LEVEL
RAMP
RATE
CLOCK
STEREO
MODE
LEVEL
RAMP
RATE
CLOCK

4
loAdinG And sAvinG Presets
Have you ever spent a lot of time tweaking your gear to get the sounds you really love, only to
nd that your pedal knobs moved between your practice space and the gig? Or maybe you
need a lot of sounds but don’t have a ton of room on your board for multiple pedals?
Presets to the rescue!
Sugarcube and all of our other Neo Series pedals have built-in preset capability. That means
you can save and recall four sounds from a single pedal with no extra hardware or funny
business. If you do have a MIDI controller, the preset capability expands to 16!
1
2
3
4
To load a preset, simply hold down the BYPASS
footswitch for 1 second.
The upper LED will blink one, two, three, or
four times to indicate the current preset and
you’re all set!
ALL of the pedal settings are recalled as part
of the preset - knob positions, expression
settings, and eect modes.
HOLD
To save the current preset, press and hold the
center Select button, then hold the BYPASS
footswitch down.
The upper LED will blink to indicate the preset that
was saved.
1
2
HOLD
HOLD
1
2
3
4
If you’re using a MIDI controller to access presets
on your Neo Series pedal, just send a program
change (PC) message to load a preset.
You can access an additional 12 presets using MIDI
for a total of 16.
To save presets 5-16, load in the preset by sending
a MIDI program change then edit its settings.
Once satised, save as normal. The current
settings will save in the current preset.
SAVE
LOAD

5
rAmP FootswitCh
Sugarcube features an advanced expression functionality
using the secondary footswitch on the pedal. This allows you to
seamlessly morph between two dierent pedal settings with a
single tap of your toe.
Tap the left footswitch on the pedal to begin the RAMP eect - you
will see the RAMP LED light up and the main LED will fade from
white to blue if the pedal is engaged. You will then hear the pedal
slide from its current settings to the RAMP settings.
If you want to engage RAMP for a short time, for example to
accentuate a phrase, you can hold the left footswitch to engage
then release to go back to normal.
To set the normal and RAMP sounds on Sugarcube, rst tap the
left footswitch until the RAMP LED is o.
Next, turn the knobs to set the sound you want for the normal
setting. Please note that the alternate knob functions may also be
set at this time!
Finally, tap the left footswitch until the RAMP LED is on and set the
knob positions as desired for your RAMP sound!
TAP TO TOGGLE
RAMP!
HOLD FOR
MOMENTARY
OFF
SET NORMAL
POSITIONS
ON
SET RAMP
POSITIONS
TAP
You can set the RAMP to activate instantly or slowly - hold the Select button and
turn the RAMP RATE (upper right) knob to set.
(((stereo )))
Sugarcube is our rst pedal with true stereo outputs! Each eect
mode has both mono and stereo modes, and you can use either
mode with one or two outputs to get dierent sounds.
To switch between stereo and mono modes, hold the center
Select button and turn the Rate knob. The upper
large LED will light Pink for Mono and Blue for
Stereo.
Connect a TRS Y-Cable (also called an Insert Cable)
to the Sugarcube’s output jack.
In Mono mode, the Tip carries the wet mix of the signal, and the
Ring carries the dry signal. You can also use a standard mono
cable in mono mode, so don’t worry about getting fancy if
you’re using a single amp.
In Stereo mode, the Tip and Ring carry left and right signals.
Sugarcube has a standard Mono input.
WET
LEFT
DRY
RIGHT
TIP
RING
STEREO
MONO

6
settinG uPYour PedAl
Your Neo Series pedal has a few user settings
stored in memory. These settings include the
function of the MultiJack on the left side of the
pedal, LED brightness, and others.
To enter setup, power on the pedal and then
hold down the center Select button. Release
the button when you see the center LED turn
violet.
TAP TO SELECT MULTIJACK FUNCTION
UPPER PROGRAM LED WILL SHOW
TURN TO SET
FOOTSWITCH
FUNCTION
GREEN = RAMP
CYAN = PRESET
HOLD
TAP
Tap the center Select button to assign the
MultiJack function. The upper small LED will
change to show this function.
Green: Expression Pedal Input
Orange: Footswitch Input
Red: MIDI Input
Turn the upper left knob to set the function
of the external footswitch, if congured. The
upper large LED will change to show this
function.
Green: Trigger Ramp
Cyan: Advance One Preset
Turn the lower right knob to set the brightness
of the main and lower LEDs.
The lower left knob sets the dry signal routing
in eect mode.
Green: Analog dry signal, clean signal at all
times.
Red: DSP dry signal, better phase response
but the dry signal gets darker at lower clock
rates.
Hold the center Select button to save and exit
setup.
If you have changed the function of the
MultiJack, we recommend you power the Neo
Series pedal o and back on in order to ensure
the jack is congured properly.
LED
BRIGHT
DRY SIGNAL
SELECT
GREEN =
ANALOG
RED = DSP
GREEN = EXPRESSION PEDAL
ORANGE = FOOT SWITCH
RED = MIDI
HOLD HOLD TO SAVE
AND EXIT
HOLD TO
ENTER SETUP

7
exPression PedAl
Sugarcube supports most types of expression pedals for performance control.
We recommend the Roland EV-5 and Moog EP-3, but just about any expression pedal that
uses a TRS cable should work. The supported expression wiring is SLEEVE = 0V, RING = 3.3V,
TIP = 0-3.3V.
Before connecting your expression pedal, make sure that you have set up the MultiJack to
read expression! The instructions are covered in the Setting Up Your Pedal section on page
6.
The expression pedal can control all of the pedal knobs, just like the RAMP footswitch. The big
dierence is that the RAMP footswitch always ramps between settings at the rate you set with
the RAMP knob, and the expression pedal ramps as you move the pedal.
You can use the RAMP footswitch to set the expression pedal values, and vice versa. This
allows you to connect an expression pedal when you have room on your board or use the
RAMP footswitch when you don’t!
SET HEEL DOWN
POSITIONS
SET TOE DOWN
POSITIONS
Connect your expression pedal to the MultiJack with a TRS cable. Engage the pedal and
sweep the pedal - you should see the upper LED change colors and the sound should change.
Set the expression pedal to its
HEEL DOWN position.
Turn the pedal knobs to set the
sound you want for the HEEL
DOWN position.
Next, set the expression pedal to
its TOE DOWN position.
Move the knobs to the desired
settings for TOE DOWN.
That’s it!
Just like with the RAMP footswitch, all of the knobs on the pedal can be controlled with the
expression pedal except RAMP RATE, PITCH LOCK, and the mode selection.
Once you have set the sounds you like, don’t forget to save your preset! Changes you make to
a preset are lost if you power o the pedal or load another preset without saving!

8
neo FootswitCh
Sugarcube also supports our Neo Footswitch for preset Select or Ramp functions.
To use the Neo Footswitch, you’ll need to congure Sugarcube to use its MultiJack for
footswitch input. Consult the instructions on page 6, Setting Up Your Pedal.
Connect the Neo Footswitch to your Sugarcube using the provided TRS cable.
If you have congured the pedal correctly, you should see the LED on the Neo Footswitch
light up and change as you tap the footswitch.
SERIES
1
2
3
4
LOAD
LOAD
1 2 3 4
SERIES
NORMAL RAMP
NORMAL RAMP
PRESET:
Tap the Neo Footswitch to advance
one preset. The presets will load in
sequence, 1, 2, 3, 4.
The LED on the Neo Footswitch
will change to indicate the current
preset:
RED = 1, GREEN = 2, BLUE = 3,
YELLOW = 4.
Hold the Neo Footswitch to go back
one preset.
RAMP:
Tap the Neo Footswitch to trigger
the RAMP eect.
The LED on the Neo Footswitch
will change to indicate the current
RAMP state.
You can also re the ramp for
a moment, by holding the Neo
Footswitch down. The ramp will
fade back down when you release
the Neo Footswitch.
You can also use any momentary normally-open (NO) footswitch in place of the Neo
Footswitch, but you won’t get the super-cool LED stu.

9
midi ConFiGurAtion
All Neo Series pedals support full control using MIDI. In order to use your Sugarcube with a
MIDI controller, you’ll need to follow these instructions to congure its MultiJack and set up the
MIDI channel.
First, you’ll need a way to connect your MIDI controller to the MultiJack.
If you’re using a Disaster Area Designs controller, you should be able to use one of its MultiJacks
to send MIDI. We recommend the qCONNECT controller, since it’s made to interface with
multiple 1/4” MIDI devices. Consult your MIDI controller’s manual for details on how to
congure its output.
If you are using another type of MIDI controller, you’ll need an interface box or adapter cable.
We support the following interfaces and cables:
Alexander Neo Link Alexander Neo MIDI Cable
Disaster Area Designs MIDI Box (any) Chase Bliss Audio MIDI Box
Empress MIDI Box (1 or 2)
Next, connect your Neo Series pedal to your MIDI controller or interface box using a standard
1/4” cable or adapter cable. Make sure that your controller is powered on.
Power on the Neo Series pedal while holding its center Select button.
Release the button when the main LED turns violet.
Tap the center Select button until the upper small LED is red, then hold
Select to save.
C 05
Power the Neo Series pedal o and back on, again holding the center Select button until the
upper LED turns violet.
Send a program change message from your controller on the MIDI channel you would like to
use. When you see the upper small LED ash, hold the Select button to save and exit.
Your Neo Series pedal is now congured!
C 03

10
midi CommAnds
All of the functions of your Neo Series pedal may be controlled with MIDI messages.
The following commands are accepted by Sugarcube:
MIDI Program Change: Load Presets 0-15
0-3 are the Red bank, also accessible by holding the Bypass / Preset footswitch
4-7 are the Green bank
8-11 are the Blue bank
12-15 are the White bank
MIDI Continuous Controller 97: Ramp
Send any value to trigger the ramp
MIDI Continuous Controller 100: Expression Pedal
Value 0 = Heel down, Value 127 = Toe down
MIDI Continuous Controller 102: Bypass
Value 0-63 = Bypass, Value 64-127 = Engage
MIDI Continuous Controller 50-57: Pedal Knobs
Value 0 = CCW, Value 127 = CW
CC 50 = Tweak CC 54 = Clock
CC 51 = Rate CC 55 = Stereo Mode (0-63 Mono, 64-127 Stereo)
CC 52 = Depth CC 56 = Ramp Rate
CC 53 = Mix CC 57 = Level
MIDI Continuous Controller 59: Mode Select
0: CHO Chorus 2: ROT Rotary
1: DIM Dimension 3: ICE Ice
Sugarcube does not respond to MIDI Beat Clock and does not have tap tempo capability.
sPeCiFiCAtions
Input Impedance: 1M ohm
Output Impedance: 560 ohm
Power Supply: 9V DC, 80mA or greater, center negative
Bypass: Buered analog bypass
Dry Signal 24-bit DSP
DSP: 24-bit + 32-bit controller
Sampling Frequency: 36kHz -> 8kHz
We recommend the use of an isolated power supply with your Neo Series pedal.