Effectrode phaseOmatic Deluxe PM-3A User manual

Specifications
• Input impedance: greater than 1M
• Outputimpedance: less than 1K
• Controls: Shape,Width, Speed and Blend
• Features: Vacuum tube phase-shifter circuitry
• Expression pedal: RolandEV-5 or EV-7.
• Peach LEDs: pulsate with modulation
speed for visual song tempo matching.
• Continuously variable twin LFOs: Three banks
containingdozens of different waveforms.
• Power requirements: 12VDC@ 1Amp
• Dimensions: width 7.5" depth 4.8" height 1.3"
• Weight: 2lb (on Earth); 0.3lb (Titan)
• Construction:solid die-castaluminum box
• Finish:Pastel-blue powder coat
Serial #
Copyright © 2020 Effectrode®Thermionic
Owner’s Manual
12 Broughton Crescent, Barlaston,
Staffs,England. ST129DB
www.effectrode.com
PM-3A

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Introduction
Backin themid-1990s Effectrode began afocused
ten-year research &development project toperfect
thermionicvacuumtube circuitry withtheaim of
creatingatrulyuniqueandexceptional phaser
pedal–gentlemen,our mission was asuccess!
The Phaseomatic Deluxe™ generatesstunningly
rich,dimensional phasing effects, but it’s not just a
studio quality phaser.Thismodulationmachine can
also sculpt awide rangeof other effects, including
true vibrato,swept-wah,meta-chorus, ‘Leslie’
rotating speaker sim,self-oscillation andahost of
vintage,spacioussoundsheard onB-rated 1950's
sci-fi movie soundtracks–Altair IV here we come!
High-quality audiophile componentscoupled witha
triode tube signal pathyield the ultimate innatural
and transparent sound,ensuringthetone of your
guitar,bassor keyboard remainspristineand intact.
The Phaseomatic also features auniquetwin LFO.
capable of creatingawealthof exotic waveform
shapesand lush,organic phasingsounds–an
experimental musician’s dream machine!
Wewish youmanyyearsof musical enjoyment from
this very special,hand-crafted,all-tube pedal–it’s
engineered to become aclassic of the future!
Phil Taylor –Designer
Tubes
The 12AU7 tubein the Phaseomatic can be
swapped withother 9-pin double triodetubessuch
as the 12AX7, 12AY7, etc. Thesesubstitutionsyield
higher gain and mild overdrive for a‘Leslie’ style
growl aswellastonal differencesdependingonthe
tube type,manufacturer,etc. Sylvania Mil-Spec
N.O.S. tubesare highly recommended.
Pots
This pedal is fitted withcustomBritish made Omeg
potentiometers.Theseare sealed units toprevent
drying out or dust enteringthem,which meansthey
never require periodiccleaningor lubrication.
Additionally,aunique pot bushingsystemprotects
the pot frommechanical damage (i.e.being stepped
on!)

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With theinternal jumper Link in place the twin LFOs
are phase-locked,i.e.their‘Shape’, ‘Width’ and
‘Speed’ are the same,yielding maximumnotch
depth.Further,when the ‘Tap/Sync’ footswitchis
pressedand held down,the‘Shape’, ‘Depth’ and
‘Speed’ knobs become ‘Wow’ (speedvariation),
‘Dither’ (wave shapedithering)and‘Phase’ (variable
from 0º-180º) controlsfor the second LFO.
CV1 and CV2 (Control Voltage) inputsallow the
speed andwidthto be controlled with an expression
pedal,suchastheRoland EV-5or EV-7.Other
expression pedals maybeusedif their
potentiometer has aresistancein the rangeof 10K
to 250K and arewired asshown below.
Tip: wiper (pin2)
Ring:+5V (pin 3)
Shield:GND (pin 1)
Phasingspeed and sweeprange canalsobe
controlled using an external V.C.O.(voltage
controlled oscillator). Voltagerange must bein the
range of 0to 5 volts.
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Controls
Shape knob adjuststheprofile ofthephase sweep
by altering theLFOwaveshape.Waveshapesare
continuously variable,morphingseamlessly from
one intoanother asthe knob is rotated.More
shapescanbeaccessed via the3-way
‘Normal/Skewed/Scattered’ toggle switchontherear
panel.
Width knob setsthe phasingsweeprange.Counter-
clockwise positions yield subtle phasing effectsand
minimise pitch detuningfor natural,useable vibrato
tones–vibratowith fullsweepproduces the
‘sloshing’ soundof seasickness! Width hasabig
effect onstepped,rising andfalling waveforms,
creating some deliciously chewy sounds.
Speed knob sets the rate ofnotchsweep(phasing)
acrosstheaudio spectrum.Incounter-clockwise
positions the sweeprate isat it's slowest. When fully
counter-clockwiseastationarynotchis created,
introducing deepmid-scoop,which cangreatly
enhance 'nasal', out of phase ‘Strat’ tones.
In‘tap tempo’ mode the ‘Speed’ knobfunctionsasa
tap divide/multiply control whenthe‘Tap/Sync’
footswitchis pressedand held down.Rotatethe
knob clockwise for ¼(16th ), ⅓(eighth triplet), ½
(eighth ), 1/1(quarter ), 3/2 (dottedquarter ), 2/1
(half ), 3/1 (dotted half ), 4/1 (whole )modulation
speed divisors.

Blend knobadjuststhe mixof 'dry'andphase-
shiftedsignals–fully counter-clockwise is 100% 'dry'
signal andfully clockwiseis 100% phase-shifted
signal (i.e. true vibrato). Whenthe‘Blend’ knob is set
centrally at 12 o'clockthe mixof 'dry'andphase-
shiftedsignalsis equal,producingadeep,rich
phasing effect. The notch-depthand thusthe
intensity ofthephasing canbefine-tunedby
adjustment around the centreposition.
Note:‘Shape’, ‘Width’ and‘Speed’ knobsaffect LFO
#1.Toalter theseparameters for LFO #2 pressand
hold downthe‘Tap/Sync’ footswitchwhilst adjusting
the knobs (with jumper Link removed).
Colour toggle switchintroducestwo different types
of resonance (feedback). With theswitchset ‘down’
feedbackis routed from the 4
th phase-shift stage.
This works wellwith acousticguitar at slower sweep
rates adding movement andtexture.When the
switchset ‘up’ feedbackis routedfrom the 2
nd
phase-shift stage,whichis subtler.Note:because of
how the feedbackis injectedbackintothephase-
shift stagestheaction of the‘Blend’ knobis
reversed.When the switch set in the ‘centre’ position
no feedbackis introduced.
Bypass footswitchallowsselection between
‘effectified’ (tube buffered phasing)and‘non-
effectified’ (true bypassed ‘dry’) signal.
pace
Normal/Skewed/Scattered toggle switch selects
betweenthreebanks of different LFO waveforms.
The ‘Normal’ bankcontains symmetrical linear
sweep waveforms; the ‘Skewed’ bank contains a
range of lopsided waveforms; and the ‘Scattered’
bankcontainsharder transition,stepped andpulse
waveforms.
Tap/Sync footswitchsetstherate of sweep.Twoor
more successivepresses(taps)of the footswitch set
the rateaccording to the foot tap rateputting the
pedal into ‘taptempo’ mode.Movingthe‘Speed’
knob slightly willput the pedal backinto ‘standard’
mode.One press just resetsthe phasesweepto the
beginning of its cycle allowing resynchronisationwith
the beat when playing in a livesituation.
Note:Phase sweep speedcan also be set
accurately usinganexternal tap tempo controller
such as the TimeTraveler™ pedal or anycontroller
pedal that featuresanormally open momentary
footswitch.Connection is made via theRCAjack
socket on the rear panel of the Phaseomatic.
Internal Feedback trim-pot sets the amountof signal
fed back fromthephase-shift stagesto create
resonanceandself-oscillation effects–beware of
high output levels! Toaccessthe ‘Feedback’ trim-
pot, first disconnect the power to thepedal,unscrew
the six screws underneaththepedal and remove the
base-plate.Awatchmaker’s screwdriver or trimming
tool will be required to adjust the trim-pot.