Laney Black Country Customs THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE User manual

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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................3
THREE INTO ONE ......................................................................................................................................... 4
ANALOGUE TAPE ERA ............................................................................................................................ 4
DIGITAL ERA ............................................................................................................................................. 4
DYNAMIC DELAY ERA............................................................................................................................. 4
COMBINED POWER ................................................................................................................................ 4
FEATURES ...................................................................................................................................................... 5
WHATS IN THE BOX ..................................................................................................................................... 5
PEDAL OVERVIEW .........................................................................................................................6
CONTROLS .................................................................................................................................................... 6
CONNECTIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 8
GETTING STARTED........................................................................................................................9
HOW TO CONNECT TO THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE ............................................................................... 9
IN FRONT OF THE GUITAR AMP............................................................................................................ 9
IN THE FX LOOP....................................................................................................................................... 9
DIRECT.....................................................................................................................................................10
USING KEYBOARDS...............................................................................................................................10
STEREO CONNECTIONS ......................................................................................................................10
WHATS ON THE SCREEN?.........................................................................................................................12
PRESET & LIVE MODE.................................................................................................................................13
PRESET MODE........................................................................................................................................13
LIVE MODE..............................................................................................................................................13
SCROLLING THROUGH PRESETS ............................................................................................. 14
RECALLING A PRESET ................................................................................................................................14
EDITING A PRESET......................................................................................................................................14
QUICK EDITING......................................................................................................................................14
DEEP EDITING ........................................................................................................................................15
STORING A PRESET ....................................................................................................................................15
COPYING A PRESET ...................................................................................................................................15
CHANGING A PRESET NAME....................................................................................................................15
ROUTING 101.............................................................................................................................. 16
ROUTING......................................................................................................................................................16
STEREO....................................................................................................................................................16
XFB...........................................................................................................................................................16
PING PONG ............................................................................................................................................16
MONO .....................................................................................................................................................17
WET/DRY.................................................................................................................................................17
MENUS ......................................................................................................................................... 18
NAVIGATION OF THE MENUS ..................................................................................................................18
EXPRESS YOURSELF................................................................................................................... 19
CONNECTING THE EXPRESSION PEDAL...........................................................................................19
EXPRESSION PEDAL MENU..................................................................................................................19
CALIBRATION.........................................................................................................................................19
EXPRESSION MODES ............................................................................................................................20
INVERT.....................................................................................................................................................20
THE EDIT MENU .......................................................................................................................... 21
MODE...........................................................................................................................................................21
TIME..............................................................................................................................................................21
ANALOGUE ............................................................................................................................................21
DIGITAL ...................................................................................................................................................21

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DYNAMIC................................................................................................................................................22
MODE SPECIFIC SETTINGS .......................................................................................................................22
TAPE.........................................................................................................................................................22
MULTIHEAD ............................................................................................................................................22
DYNAMICS..............................................................................................................................................22
MIX................................................................................................................................................................23
REPEATS.......................................................................................................................................................23
COLOUR.......................................................................................................................................................23
TONE ............................................................................................................................................................23
ROUTING......................................................................................................................................................23
MODULATION.............................................................................................................................................24
COMPRESSOR.............................................................................................................................................24
SETTINGS MENU......................................................................................................................... 25
GLOBAL........................................................................................................................................................25
DISPLAY........................................................................................................................................................25
EXPRESSION PEDAL...................................................................................................................................25
TAP TEMPO..................................................................................................................................................26
VERSION.......................................................................................................................................................26
RESET SETTINGS.........................................................................................................................................26
MIDI .............................................................................................................................................. 27
MIDI CONNECTIONS .................................................................................................................................27
MIDI MENU ..................................................................................................................................................27
PROGRAM CHANGES ................................................................................................................................28
CONTROLLING PARAMETERS ..................................................................................................................28
MIDI CC CHARTS ........................................................................................................................................28
PRESET SELECT AND OTHERS.............................................................................................................28
SURFACE CONTROLS ...........................................................................................................................28
ANALOGUE CONTROLS.......................................................................................................................29
Table for HEAD enable CC 49..............................................................................................................29
TAPE SETTINGS......................................................................................................................................29
DIGITAL AND DYNAMIC TIME CONTROL..........................................................................................29
MULTIHEAD ............................................................................................................................................29
DYNAMICS CONTROL ..........................................................................................................................30
ROUTING.................................................................................................................................................30
MODULATION........................................................................................................................................30
COMPRESSOR........................................................................................................................................30
MSB & LSB PARAMETERS ..........................................................................................................................31
USB TO MIDI ADAPTOR............................................................................................................. 32
DOWNLOADING NEW PRESETS .............................................................................................. 32
UPDATING YOUR FIRMWARE................................................................................................... 32
SPECIFICATIONS ........................................................................................................................ 33
SAFETY AND WARNINGS.......................................................................................................... 34

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INTRODUCTION
THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE is the ultimate in delay pedals. Handcrafted in the UK, by
Laney’s own Black Country Customs team, deep in the depths of the Black Country.
The Pedal combines 3 distinctly different, superbly crafted eras of delay into a compact
box. Careful consideration has been taken to ensure the highest sonic quality that
would rival any top end studio gear.
The BCC-TDE is ideal for instruments and line level equipment, making it at home in
any set up, whether on a pedal board, in a rack, or in the studio.

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THREE INTO ONE
Three eras of delay built in to one powerful machine. The Difference Engine emulates three classic
eras of delay. Each preset is built from one of these eras.
ANALOGUE TAPE ERA
Modelled around classic vintage tape echo units, such as the RE501 space
echo, featuring all the warmth and analogue nuances of tape.
•Warm sounding analogue tone.
•Delay times up to 1250ms.
•Straight delay from a single tape head.
•Or select multiple tape heads –for that classic overlaid delay effect.
•Add tape artifacts with WOW & FLUTTER controls.
DIGITAL ERA
The digital era –based on the crisp sounding digital delays of the 80’s, such
as the KORG SDD3000 –with the modern benefits such as Tap Tempo,
Freeze and BPM display.
•Up to 2500ms of crystal clean delay.
•Multi Tap delay enables complex delay patterns.
•Ability to freeze repeats using the freeze function.
•Advanced routing options for stereo, wet/dry and mono options.
•Modulation on repeats to add colour.
DYNAMIC DELAY ERA
And thirdly the Dynamic Digital era –based on the huge sounding pumping
delays of the 80s and 90s.
•Up to 2500ms of delay time
•Settable boost and ducking ratio to dial in the severity of compression.
•0.1ms to 120ms attack times gives subtle to extreme ducking.
•15ms to 6secs of release time.
•Threshold control allows fine control of ducking with dynamic inputs.
COMBINED POWER
•Combine features from each era to create unique delays

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FEATURES
•3 distinct and superb delay modes.
•An ultra-sharp stunning 2.42” OLED screen.
•Compact pedal board friendly format.
•100 user recallable and customisable presets.
•Stereo In and Out via ¼” Jacks.
•External expression pedal configurable control.
•MIDI IN and OUT via 5 pin DIN for presets and parameter control.
WHATS IN THE BOX
•BCC-TDE delay pedal
•Black country customs presentation tin
•BCC-TDE quick start guide
•USB to MIDI adaptor

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PEDAL OVERVIEW
CONTROLS
•COLOUR
oSets the level of modulation present in the delay repeats. The type of modulation is
controlled by the mode and the modulation settings of the preset. See the MODULATION
section for more details.
•MIX
oTurn to adjust the overall level of the delayed signal in the overall mix.
•TONE
oSets the overall tonality of the delayed signal. At 50% the tone has no effect, values above
50% will increase the level of brightness, below 50% will darken the tone of the repeats.
•REPEATS
oSets the number of repeats of the delayed signal. At minimum settings you’ll get a single
repeat and at maximum you’ll get runaway feedback that goes into self-oscillation.
•DISPLAY SCREEN
oThe OLED display will show the current mode and preset details to you.
Note: You can set the contrast and auto dim options in the SETTINGS MENU
•MENU
oPress the MENU button to display the inbuilt menu on the Screen. Whilst the menus are
displayed pressing the MENU button will enter the current selection.
•MODE
oPress the MODE button to swap between PRESET and LIVE modes. When viewing the
menu, MODE will act as an exit / back button. The two modes are described in detail in the
oPRESET & LIVE MODE section.

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•EDIT
oThe EDIT control is a multifunctional endless encoder with a tactile button press. Turning
the EDIT control left or right will scroll or change parameter values and pressing the EDIT
control has different functions depending on what you’re doing at that time.
▪In PRESET and LIVE modes, the EDIT control will change the current delay time,
pressing the EDIT control will change which digit of the delay time you want to
change. Great for dialling in those exact delay times.
▪When browsing the menu system, the EDIT control allows you to scroll up and
down and select/enter with a press of the EDIT control.
▪When editing a parameter, turning the EDIT control will change the value of the
parameter and pressing the EDIT control will scroll through the digits.
•LEFT FOOTSWITCH
oThis footswitch has two functions, in PRESET mode it is used to scroll down the current
preset. In LIVE mode it is used to enable/disable the BCC TDE Effect.
•RIGHT FOOTSWITCH
oLike the LEFT footswitch, in PRESET mode it is used to scroll up the current preset. In LIVE
mode the RIGHT FOOTSWITCH handles both TAP TEMPO and the FREEZE FUNCTION.
Note. Check out the PRESET & LIVE MODE for more information about the two main operation modes.

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CONNECTIONS
•EXPRESSION
oConnect a TRS ¼” Expression Pedal here to control a wide selection of parameters.
Checkout the EXPRESS YOURSELF section for more details.
•INPUT
oUnbalanced ¼” Jack Connections for your guitar, bass, mono pedals, keyboard etc. If
you’re using only one input use the LEFT input, for stereo devices connect both LEFT and
RIGHT inputs.
•OUTPUT
oConnect these ¼” unbalanced outputs to other pedals, directly to your guitar amp input of
FX loop or into an audio interface etc. When running in mono use only the LEFT ¼” output.
•MIDI
oConnect your MIDI gear here, the BCC-TDE supports a variety of different MIDI messages.
See the MIDI section for more details.
•DC IN
oThe BCC-TDE requires a 9V DC power supply (not included) and supports most standard
9V DC pedal supplies such as the type you may already have on your pedal board.
oPSU plug type should be centre negative, 2.1 x 5.5 x 10mm plug type.
Note. Make sure your PSU can supply at least 150mA

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GETTING STARTED
HOW TO CONNECT TO THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE
IN FRONT OF THE GUITAR AMP
This is the simplest and quickest way to get started. Plug your guitar directly into the
BCC-TDE left input and take the left output of the pedal into the amplifier input.
Figure 1
Note The BCC-TDE fits nicely on a pedal board and can be connected to other pedals in series.
Figure 2
IN THE FX LOOP
If your amp includes an FX loop, it’s common to connect delay effects into the loop. Using the FX loop
can provide a cleaner delay tone especially when using distortion. The BCC-TDE is happy to run full
line level or -10. Be sure to check and set the mix level accordingly
Figure 3