Ashdown ORIGINal VALVE PRE User manual

ASHDOWN ORIGINAL 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 tted into the Original pre amplier duplicates the kind of overdrive
you would get from Valve Amplier and works in exactly the same way as follows,The DRIVE GAIN
controls the magnication 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 amplier 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.

USER GUIDE
ASHDOWN ORIGINAL VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL
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 lters are of a low Q type and therefore there is consid-
erable overlap between frequencies, which ensures a smooth response. Since the pedal has been
designed to be used with other equipment such as mixers and ampliers 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 amplier. 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 ORIGINAL VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL USER GUIDE
Power Supply
The ORIGINal Pre-amplier 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 tted 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-amplier the Ground lift may
have to be used. For instance when connected to an additional amplier 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
nd 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 heat-
ing 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.

USER GUIDE
ASHDOWN ORIGINAL VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL
NOTES:

USER GUIDE
Front Panel:
1-
OUTPUT - Rotary Control - Controls the over-
all output of the device.
2-
5-BAND EQ - Rotary Controls - A comprehen-
sive 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...
ASHDOWN ORIGINAL VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL
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.
4. 5. 6. 7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Front Panel:
USER GUIDE
ASHDOWN ORIGINAL VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL

USER GUIDE
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
ASHDOWN ORIGINAL VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL

USER GUIDE
ASHDOWN ORIGINAL VALVE PRE AMP PEDAL
12. 13. 14. 15.
16. 17.
Rear Panel: