Fryette Pittbull Ultra-Lead G-100-UL User manual

ULTRA-LEAD
VACUUM TUBE GUITAR AMPLIFIER
MODEL G-100-UL
OWNERS MANUAL

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY
Congratulations and thank you for choosing the PITTBULL ULTRA-LEAD Guitar Amplifier!
At Fryette Amplification, we know you are constantly searching for new sounds and new ways to improve your
existing sound. We understand the constantly evolving nature of artistic creativity and the search for the perfect
sound to complement your ever-widening musical vision. Providing the tools to help you to create your own
sonic signature is our primary mission.
The Pittbull Ultra-Lead is a powerful, yet extremely versatile amplifier well suited for players of any style who
are unafraid to own center stage. Uncompromising personality has made this amplifier the top choice of world
class players from all genres of music. The Ultra-Lead's KT88 power section provides stunning clarity and
definition whether playing clean or at maximum gain. The low and medium gain sounds are balanced and
spacious, while the clean tones can be pristine, chunky, crisp or edgy. The wide range of sounds is limited
only by your imagination.
Specially designed, precision wound power and output transformers produce optimum performance, reliability
and stability, delivering excellent power tube response and just the right amount of natural output transformer
saturation and compression.
Getting familiar with the Ultra-Lead amplifier is easy, so don’t be terribly surprised when you find yourself up
and running in no time. First hand experience and real world application will yield the ultimate satisfaction of
finding your own path of comprehension and self-expression.

FRONT PANEL FUNCTIONS
FRONT PANEL, LEFT TO RIGHT
1. INPUT HI - High sensitivity input (also has a brighter tone)
2. INPUT LOW
- Low sensitivity input (also has a slightly darker tone)
LEAD CHANNEL CONTROLS
3. LEAD EDGE SWITCH - Frequency dependent gain boost; gain increases as you play up the neck (it’s subtle)
4. LEAD GAIN - Amount of overdrive
5. LEAD CHANNEL SWITCH - Activates Lead Gain, Volume and Edge. Overrides Rhythm and Clean channels. Must
be OFF for Rhythm and Clean channel to operate.
6. HI GAIN SWITCH – Gain Stacking Switch. Activates additional tube overdrive gain stage.
7. LEAD VOLUME - Activated by LEAD (5) Pre FX loop
RHYTHM CHANNEL CONTROLS
8. RHYTHM BOOST SWITCH - Switches from low (clean to slightly dirty) to medium gain (crunch to medium overdrive)
9. RHYTHM GAIN
- Activated by Rhythm (10)
10. RHYTHM CHANNEL SWITCH - Toggles between rhythm and Clean channel
11. RHYTHM VOLUME
- Activated by Rhythm (10) Pre FX loop
12. RHYTHM EDGE SWITCH - Same function as Lead Edge for Rhythm channel
SHARED LEAD/RHYTHM CHANNEL CONTROLS
13. TREBLE
- Active for both Rhythm and Lead channel
14. SHIFT SWITCH
- Active for both Rhythm and Lead channel. Shifts Treble, Middle and Bass shelving down.
15. MIDDLE
- Active for both Rhythm and Lead channel
16. BASS - Active for both Rhythm and Lead channel
CLEAN CHANNEL CONTROLS
17. CLEAN VOLUME
- Gain and volume for Clean channel, pre FX loop. For initial set-up, set to approximately 2 O’clock
with Master Volume at approximately 2 O’clock and match Rhythm Volume and Lead Volume to desired setting
18. CLEAN BOOST SWITCH - Gain boost for Clean channel
19. TREBLE
20. BRIGHT - High frequency boost (becomes less active as Volume increases)
21. MIDDLE
22. SHIFT SWITCH- Low midrange boost between Middle and Bass frequencies
23. BASS
GLOBAL CONTROLS
24. GRAPHIC EQ – 100Hz, 250 Hz, 630 Hz, 1.2KHz, 2.3KHz, 5KHz ±12 dB cut or boost per band. Activated by
rear panel pushbutton or footswitch.
25. MASTER VOLUME
– Global power amp volume control, post FX loop. Controls volume of all 3 channels.
26. STANDBY - Turns on high voltage to output section and selects between full-power or half-power
operation. Standby switch settings: II= Full Power (4 power tubes) ; 0= Standby, I= Half Power (2 power tubes).
27. MAINS – Switches main AC power on or off.

REAR PANEL FUNCTIONS
REAR PANEL, LEFT TO RIGHT
1. GROUND SWITCH – Select position which yields quietest operation. With a properly wired AC outlet and
factory supplied AC cord, this switch will not produce a noticeable difference.
2. AC MAINS INPUT – Connect to a grounded outlet in accordance with the voltage and frequency
specified on the rear panel of your amplifier.
Use only the factory supplied cord set or a UL approved equivalent type.
3. MAINS FUSE – Protects the amplifier from electrical faults. Replace only with type and rating specified
on the rear panel of your amplifier.
4. DC FUSE – Protects the power supply and output transformer from electrical faults. Replace only with
type and rating specified on the rear panel of your amplifier.
Warning! Replace only with same fuse type and rating.
5. POWER AMP MODE: MUTE - Deactivates power amp while leaving preamp active.
6. IMPEDANCE SELECT - 4, 8 or 16 ohms. Example: Two 8 Ohm cabs = 4 Ohms, two 16 Ohm cabs = 8
Ohms.
7. SPEAKER OUTPUT – Parallel wired jacks. Impedance switch setting should equal total of all cabinet
impedances plugged into both jacks. “Use First” jack must be plugged in for output to operate.
8. LINE LEVEL - Power amp line level control.
9. LINE OUT - Power amp line out jack.
10. FOOTSWITCH – Connector for footswitch controller.
11. EQ IN/OUT SWITCH – Manual Bypass switch for Graphic EQ. Must be in OUT position for footswitch
function to operate.
12. EFFECTS - Activates F/X Loop. Also activated by footswitch jack.
13. EFFECTS RETURN - Overall level adjusted by Hi/Low switch, then feeds to EFFECTS LEVEL. Also
serves as power amp input.
14. SERIES/PARALLELSWITCH – Sets loop for Series or Parallel operation. See FAQs at www.vhtamp.com
foe a complete explanation about Series and Parallel loop operation.
15. EFFECTS LEVELSWITCH - Sets overall send and return level (LOW = -10dB, HI = 0dB).
16. EFFECTS SEND - Send level set by preamp volumes. Also serves as preamp output for recording and
slaving.
17. EFFECTS LEVEL/MIX - Sets return level for effects loop in Series Mode. Determines effects blend in
Parallel Mode
18. PRESENCE
- Active, all three channels
19. DEPTH
- Variable damping.
NOTE: When switching to half power mode (standby switch in Position I) impedance selector value can be
divided by two to compensate for the impedance mismatch caused by Half Power Mode.
EXAMPLE: Impedance setting “8” for 16 ohm speaker, Impedance setting “4” for 8 ohm speaker, etc. While
not necessary, it may help extend tube life and maintain low-end punch. Experiment with it both ways.

TUBE FUNCTION AND LOCATION CHART
Preamp tube locations are indicated by tube type on the rear panel of the chassis. Tube types are factory
selected for superior performance, consistent tone quality and reliability. While substituting other brands may
not cause damage to the amplifier this may affect amplifier performance in unpredictable ways. For best
performance, replace only with factory recommended tubes. Warning! Substituting other tube types is not
recommended.
Each 12AX7 has two sections/functions. Section A is shown first, Section B is second. Factory recommended
tubes are listed under each location. Numbering sequence is right to left looking at back of amp starting with
the row closest to front panel of amp.
V1 (shielded tube) Input Gain Stage 1 (Parallel Triodes).
12AX7WB Sovtek
12AX7A Tung-Sol Use in place of WB for more aggressive top end and increased mid gain.
12AX7 China Selected Use in place of WB if more overall gain is required.
V2 Gain Stage 2 for Lead channel.
12AX7 China Gain Stage 3 for Lead and Rhythm channels. Active when either Gain Switch is set
to HI.
V3 Gain Stage 4 for Lead and Rhythm channels.
12AX7 China Tone Control Driver for Lead and Rhythm channels.
V4 Gain Stage 2 for Clean channel.
12AX7 China Gain Stage 2 for Rhythm channel.
V5 Phase Inverter
12AX7 China
V6 Power stage buffer/driver. USE ONLY 12AT7.
12AT7 China NOT INTERCHANGEABLE WITH ANY OTHER TUBE TYPES!
V7 – V10 Power Tubes MUST USE ONLY KT88 or 6550.
KT88 Sovtek NOT INTERCHANGEABLE WITH ANY OTHER TUBE TYPES!
KT88 EH
KT88 Svetlana
6550 Sovtek
6550 Svetlana