ChaseBliss SPECTRE User manual

SPECTRE
INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
Through-zero and back again. Many decades ago, it is rumored
that a certain, infamous “Spectre” created the effect we’ve all
come to know as ange by putting a nger on a set of identical
tape recorders, slightly altering the speed of one of the recorders.
Through-zero anging is an incredibly rare and inspiring effect,
especially in the analog domain. By using two delay lines (as
opposed to just one), Spectre can cross over the elusive “zero
point.” This through-zero anger pedal features an all-analog signal
path that can be dialed in to create any amount of subtle and wacky
ange tones. Spectre also boasts an impressive array of chorus and
vibrato tones. Further, every knob and switch is connected to a little
digital brain while your guitar signal stays 100% analog the entire
time and never gets digitally processed. Since the control of the
effect is digital, it opens up unprecedented effects and features that
have never been heard or offered in analog stompboxes.
RATE
This controls the rate of the ange effect. This control can
be over-ridden by the tap tempo switch.
1/2/4 (3/6/8) TOGGLE
This controls the tap division for tap tempo. A dip switch
in the back of the pedal lets you access the “3 – 6 – 8”
divisions if you so desire. You can also select tap divisions
for the RPM or for ramping parameters dependent on
where the “tap control” dip switch is set. Note that
divisions are 2x slower for ramping.
WIDTH
This controls how wide the ange can go. Crank it
clockwise for crazy, deep ange tones.
SHIFT
This controls the center point of the modulation. Crank it
to counterclockwise, the wave is going to ramp up quickly
and ramp down gradually. If you crank it clockwise, the
wave will ramp up gradually and ramp down quickly. If
this knob is straight up and down at 12:00 it will give a
perfectly symmetric wave.
LEFT WAVE SHAPE TOGGLE
This controls the shape of the rst half of the wave
modulation. Left for sine, middle for triangle, and right
for square.
RIGHT WAVE SHAPE TOGGLE
This controls the shape of the second half of the wave
MIX (RAMP)
Simply put, this is a magical knob. When you don’t
have any dip switches assigned for ramping, this knob
functions as wet/dry mix knob for the anging effect.
All the way clockwise is full-ange, and all the way
counter-clockwise is “clean” but has a tube-like preamp
character to the tone. Due to the digital control of this
pedal, you can set this knob to control any of the ve
parameters individually or simultaneously (zero, regen,
rate, width, shift) and have it either modulate or ramp-
and-hold (rise or fall) via dip switches in the back of the
pedal. Essentially, this knob controls the ramp time in
which this takes place.
ZERO
Sets the manual delay time on the ange effect. The
“zero point” is somewhere between 1 o’clock and 3
o’clock on your pedal. You can nd it by setting the
“width” control all the way counterclockwise and then
sweeping the zero knob between 1 o’clock and 3 o’clock
in negative polarity mode. You will know you are there
when the signal disappears almost entirely. All the way
clockwise gets your modulation past the zero point,
so you can pass through zero when you turn the width
knob up. All the way counter-clockwise increases the
delay time between the two delay lines (no through zero
effect), for more traditional ange tones.
REGEN
All the way clockwise increases the intensity of the ange
effect, even to the point of self-oscillation & whale-
like noises. All the way counterclockwise creates more
subtle, chorus tones.
This device complies with part 15 of the FCC rules.
Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
(1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received,
including interference that may cause undesired operation.

modulation. Left for square, middle for triangle, and
right for sine.
The depth, sway, and wave shape toggles comprise
the ModuShape™ engine, which give unprecedented
control over the shape of your modulation.
BYPASS STOMP
Activates or bypasses the effect. This can be changed to
a momentary bypass via a dip switch in the back of the
pedal if it is desired. This pedal is “True Bypass” via a
relay, and is extremely quiet.
TAP STOMP
Sets tap tempo, always honors the last two stomps. If
you hold this switch for 1 second (while ramping) it will
reset the ramp.
LOWER TOGGLE
This switch recalls presets. The right position recalls one
preset, the left position recalls a different preset. The
middle position will always reect wherever the knob
positions, toggle positions, and dip switch positions are
currently at. In order to save to the right preset slot, you
hold down the right stomp (bypass) for 3 seconds and
then hold down both stomp switches simultaneously for
another 3 seconds. The LED blinks and your setting is
saved. For the left slot, you do the same thing but hold
the left stomp (tap) rst. If you recall a preset, and move
a knob, you will notice that the LED above the toggle
goes dim. This is to signify that something has changed
on the preset. If you want to save this change in the
preset, you will have to save it again.
IN / OUT
¼” mono input jack.
EXP / CV
¼” TRS jack for expression pedal (parameter selectable
via dip switch in the back of the pedal. Tip goes to
wiper, and we recommend Mission expression pedals
(EP-1 or EP-25k). Can also be used to for 0-5V Control
Voltage (CV) on tip – the ring should be left oating in
this case. There are many expression pedals that work
with Chase Bliss Audio products, the Mission stuff just
happens to be what we have here.
TAP / MIDI
¼” TRS jack. This can be used as a tap input or output
with a regular ¼” instrument cable. In addition, it can
be used to interface the pedal with an Empress Effects
Midibox. Much more information on this in the MIDI
section of this manual (at the end).
POWER & OTHER INFO
This pedal consumes ~50mA and should be operated
with a standard 2.1mm 9V DC center negative adapter.
Input impedance of this device is 1M, and output
impedance is less than 1k.
EXP / CV CONTROL
& DIP SWITCHES
The Zero, Regen, Rate, Width, and Shift dip switches in
the left bank allow you to control parameters via ramping
or an Expression Pedal / CV. Whenever you plug a ¼” in
to the EXP / CV jack, the pedal automatically knows that
you will be controlling parameters via expression or CV,
not ramping.
DIRECT CONTROL OF
WAVEFORM WITH EXP / CV
If you have something plugged in to the EXP / CV jack,
but do not have any parameters selected via dip switch,
you are allowed to control the ange delay manually. The
range of this effect can be limited by the position of the
Width knob. For a maximum sweep, set the width knob to
its full clockwise position.
SETTING EXP / CV RANGE
The range of the expression / CV is controlled by the
parameter knob position and the “sweep” dip switch. For
example, if you wanted an expression pedal to control
the regen parameter from no regeneration to the edge
of self-oscillation, you would make sure the “sweep” dip
switch is in the bottom position and set the regen knob at
the setting just before the pedal starts to generate sounds
on its own. If you need more regeneration you simply turn
the regen knob up slightly. This will increase the maximum
range of the expression pedal. This allows you to control
multiple parameters with an expression pedal, but you can
ne tune the range that you want for each parameter.
UNDERSTANDING THE DIP SWITCHES
Continued on next page
When you save a preset, all of this information gets
saved. The parameters in blue below correspond to
the ramp function *or* an expression pedal (if one
is plugged in).
A very important thing to remember is that ramping
always gets reset when bypassing. The parameters’
current knob position control where the parameters
ultimately will either start or stop ramping.

The Zero, Regen, Rate, Width, and Shift dip
switches on the left side simply turn that parameter on
or off for ramping or expression / CV capability.
The Zero, Regen, Rate, Width, and Shift dip
switches on the right side control whether or not the
parameters will rise (go clockwise in ramp mode) or fall
(go counterclockwise in ramp mode). It also controls
how the parameters will behave with an expression
pedal plugged in.
Bounce: When on (and no expression pedal),
parameters will go back and forth (i.e. modulate), if it’s
off, parameters will ramp and hold.
Polarity: This is a very powerful switch (and probably
the most important dip switch on this pedal) - it
changes between positive and negative anging.
Negative position is when the dip switch is towards
the knobs (default position as shown in the picture).
Positive position is the other side. Positive anging has
a more “musical” sweep, and has a deep tone with
plenty of low end. Negative anging is seen as having
a more “hollow” and intense sound. This is the sound
that can cancel out when it reaches the zero point –
both modes sounds incredible on its journey to and
through zero!
MoToByp: Momentary-to-bypass. If on, the pedal is
only activated when the bypass stomp is pressed in.
Tap Control: “R” stands for ramp, “P” for parameter
(RPM in this case). In the P position, tapping in a
tempo will dictate the RPM rate. In the R position,
tapping in the tempo will dictate the Ramp rate. This
is great for modulating parameters. Remember, the
“Bounce” dip switch needs to be on if you want to
ramp parameters back and forth, rather than just
ramping and holding.
Tap Division: In position “3” allows for 3, 6, 8 tap
divisions. This is also important for selecting MIDI
note divisions.
Sweep: this controls where ramp sweeps. In “T” (top)
the ramping (or expression control) will occur between
the current knob position and the max position (fully
clockwise). In “B” (bottom) the ramping (or expression
control) will occur between the current knob position
and the minimum position (fully counterclockwise).
NOTE: It may seem overwhelming and difcult
for users to take all this in at rst. My suggestion is always to
forget about the dip switches for a while when you get the
pedal. Get to know the basic functionality of it, and then if/when
you want to experiment with ramping or expression,
it will likely be easier.
Some of these concepts are much easier to explain and
demonstrate on video, and I have many tutorials available on my
youtube channel at: www.youtube.com/c/ChaseBlissAudio.
We also love to hear from customers and answer questions so
feel free to write us anytime at: chaseblissaudio.com/contact.
Thank you so much for purchasing this product and ENJOY! Example presets continued on next page
All presets created by Mason Stoops.
Hear them at soundcloud.com/chaseblissaudio
NOONER
JUZZ

Example presets continued on next page
SWINGS IT AIN’T EASY BEIN’ GREASY
STITCHES SEASICK LESLIE

STEPPIN’ THROUGH
THE DOOR DIRTY DAN
APOLLO DIANE