Fishman Fission Bass Powerchord FX User manual

USER GUIDE
FISSION BASS™

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Welcome
Thank you for making Fishman a part of your music-making experience. We are
proud to offer you the finest tone-shaping products available; high-quality
professional-grade tools to empower you to sound your very best. We are
confident Fission Bass will both enhance and inspire your music making.
Quick Start
Power – Install a fresh 9V battery (not included) or connect a Fishman power
adaptor.
Set the controls – set effect level at minimum and all other controls as
shown.
Plug in – Use standard ¼-inch shielded instrument cables.
Set trim – Play hard and adjust the input trim (on the right side) so the
clip|batt LED flashes only occasionally.
Effect On – Stomp the effect on foot switch and raise the effect level.

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fission
POWERCHORD FX
noise gate overdrive tone effect level
4th below 5th aboveupper octave
signal
clip | batt
effect on
octave up
Quick Start Settings

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Making Connections
Input
Plug in your bass guitar here with a standard ¼-inch instrument cable.
Insert a plug into the input jack, and Fission Bass powers up. To conserve the
battery, remove the plug from the input when not in use.
Trim
Raise or lower the trim to optimize the input level for your pickup. Play hard and
adjust trim so clip|batt flashes occasionally. Some passive pickups may not cause
the light to flash at all and other pickups with active preamps may require you to
turn their output down to achieve an optimum level.

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Right Side

6
Making Connections
Mix Output
The mix output can provide a blend of two signals:
• the original uneffected bass signal
• an effected signal generated by the Powerchord FX
When the effect output is connected, the mix output provides only the
uneffected bass signal. Use a standard ¼-inch instrument cable to connect the
mix output to a bass amplifier.
Effect Output
This output provides only the effected signal. Use a standard ¼-inch instrument
cable to connect the effect output to a separate bass or electric guitar amplifier.
9VDC
Power may be supplied by either a 9V battery (battery compartment
underneath the pedal)or the Fishman 910-R AC adapter. When the clip|batt LED
comes on you have approximately one hour of remaining battery life

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Left Side

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Foot Switches
Effect On / Octave Up
Press to engage effect, adding an octave above the played note.
When disengaged, any enabled foot switch lights are dimmed.
4th Below
Press to add an interval of one 4th below the octave effect.
5th Above
Press to add an interval of one 5th above the octave effect.
Upper Octave
Pressing both the 4th Below and 5th Above foot switches creates a stacked
powerchord one octave above the played note.

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Foot Switch Intervals
Effect On/
Octave Up
4th Below
+
Octave Up
5th Above
+
Octave Up
Upper Octave
+ 5th
+ Octave Up

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Controls
Noise Gate
The noise gate can reduce the amount of unwanted noise between the decay
of one note and the attack of the next. Turning the control counter-clockwise
reduces the decaying noise more quickly.
Overdrive
Use this to control the amount of overdrive applied to the pitch shift effect. When
set fully counter-clockwise, there is no overdrive. Turn the control clockwise to
increase the amount of overdrive.
Tone
The tone control reduces treble to darken the sound of the effect.
Effect Level
When using only the mix output, this control blends the amount of effected
output into the dry signal. When also using the effect output, this control sets
the overall effect level at the effect output jack.

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Specifications
Input impedance: 1.1M Ohm
Input trim gain range: -6dB to +11dB
Max. input level: +8dBV, mix output / +5dBV, effect output
Max. output level (onset of clipping): +8dBV, mix output / +0dBV, effect output
Nominal output impedance: <1k Ohm (both channels)
Digital signal path:
A/D, D/A conversion: 24-bit
Signal processing: 32-bit
Dynamic range (A-weighted): 113dB, mix output / 98dB, effect output
Power supply: 9V battery or 9VDC adapter
Typical in-use current consumption: 24mA
Typical 9V battery life: 20hours (alkaline) / 40hours (lithium)
9V adapter: Fishman 910-R (for 110V)
or suitable filtered and regulated,
200mA type, center pin=negative
All specifications subject to change without notice.

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Fishman, Fishman Transducers and Fission Bass are all trademarks, registered trademarks or trade names of Fishman Transducers, Inc.
513-100-182 Rev B 6-11