Little Labs STD Mercenary Edition User manual
LITTLE LABS
6711 Whitley Terrace
HOLLYWOOD CA 90068
E-MAIL:
WEB:
www.littlelabs.com
SALES, SERVICE
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
& FAX:
323-851-6860
Manual Printing & pdf formatting 01/2005
Operators Manual
manual printing & pdf formatting 02/2007.
using this manual or any part of it without
permission is a violation of copyright laws.
ibp is a registered trademark of little labs.
base unit together... What do I need to remove them?
A. Use a standard 7/64" allan head driver. No it's not metric!
Q. My STD sounds bad compared to a straight cable and my guitar
volume now sounds all scratchy when using the STD.
A. The STD special purpose cables plug internal transistor has blown
(a very rare occurence and typically caused by plugging into some-
thing like a lite socket) causing a small amount of DC on the input.
You must send it back to us for repair. (Keep your base unit it will
remain unaffected).
More to come!
Q.The STD to my ears sounds a cleaner and a bit brighter than
when I use my guitar cable, I like it better through my cable.
A. Use a barrel type connector or a pedal with a true bypass be-
tween your... guitar > the cable you like > barrel connector or true
bypass pedal > Std cable > xlr cable > base unit > guitar amp.
Voila, the sound you liked with your old cable preserved!
Dear Audio Professional,
Congratulations on your purchase of the Mercenary Edition STD instrument
cable extender. As you probably know, since you bought the STD, long
instrument cable runs have a detrimental effect on the tone of your
instrument and are much more susceptible to extraneous noise. The STD is
the best sounding and most cost effective way of extending your musical
instruments cable. Utilizing extensive listening tests with the STD running
at 60 foot lengths the STD will match or outperform some of the nest
boutique ten foot guitar cables. The STD is built solid in California and
with a little care should give you a lifetime of trouble free performance.
We are very proud that the STD was chosen by Mercenary Audio to
become part of a select group of products with the Mercenary Edition
seal of quality. Thanks Fletcher and the whole Mercenary team!
Yours truly,
Jonathan Little
std faqs
Q. My STD has low sound level and sounds kind of crappy.
A. Maybe you left the XLR plugged in and the batteries are low?
Maybe the dealer you bought it from demoed it to someone who
left the XLR plugged in and the batteries are low? I get at least one
e-mail a week from someone asking me this question. Why people
don't check the batteries rst is beyond me! I have been blamed
even for ruining a session because the batteries were on there last
leg and the guitar sound was crap. Why they didn't stop and check
the batteries is crazy. The batteries will last a very long time if you
just remember to unplug the xlr when done. It's not my fault!
Q. I have a pedal board (or pedal), where do I plug the STD cable
in before or after the pedal board (or pedal)?
A. The STD is designed to be plugged directly in to a passive in-
struments 1/4" jack (it should be noted active instruments typically
can run very long cables without an STD). This buffers the signal
before it even hits the cable and is the reason the STD works so
well. However the degradation by plugging in after a pedal board
is, after much listening, pretty minor, just be sure to use a good
cable between your guitar and the pedal board!
Q. I plugged my STD 1/4" plug into my speaker output. Now my
STD doesn't work.
A. You blew up the transistor in the STD special purpose cable.
You must send the cable back to Little Labs for repair. (Keep your
base unit it will remain unaffected).
Q. These funny looking allan head screws used to hold the STD
before using your std read this
what is an std?
The STD consists of two parts' the base unit and a special purpose
cable with a male xlr on one end and a 1/4" phone plug on the other.
The 1/4" phone plug contains components critical to the operation
of the STD and has no user serviceable parts inside (we're not kid-
ding here). The Base unit has an xlr input, two 1/4" jack outputs
and a ground lift for the second output. Internal to this unit are
two nine-volt batteries, which are included and already installed.
The current requirements of these batteries are very low but the xlr
input should be disconnected when not in use in order to extend the
life of the batteries. We recommend replacing the batteries yearly
as an exhausted battery will increase the distortion of the STD and
should be avoided.
proper hookup
The STD's special purpose cable 1/4" plug end inserts directly into
your instrument's jack, the xlr end plugs into an external mic cable
which can be as long as 100 feet (this mic cable is not supplied with
the STD). The other end of the mic cable plugs into the STD base
units female xlr input. You may use a mic tie line as well as a mic
cable in between the STD special purpose cable and the base unit,
such as in a studio situation. Plug a guitar cable into one of the two
output 1/4" jacks on the base unit and plug the other end into your
instrument amplier or direct box. You may plug two devices in at
the same time to split off to two instrument amps or split between
an instrument amp and a direct box. If a hum occurs in your amp
or direct box feed when two devices are plugged into the STD (but
not with just one device plugged in) try pushing the earth lift button.
This should eliminate what is called a ground loop, which would
be the most likely cause of the hum. If you need to feed a head in
the control room and a combo style amp in the studio you can feed
one 1/4" out to the head and the other through a long guitar cable
to the combo amp located in the studio. This set up can however
be more susceptible to hum caused by a ground loop that cannot
always be solved by the earth lift button because of the two ampli-
ers plugged into different AC sockets which could have different
ground potentials.
warranty
The STD is warranted against defects in materials and workman-
ship for one year (this warranty does not include the batteries). If
you experience a failure during the warranty period, please call or
e-mail Little Labs with details of the failure then return the STD
to us. We will repair or replace the unit at our option and return it
to you. Remember to include your name, address (no P.O. boxes)
and phone number, along with a copy of your original sales in-
voice showing store name and date of sale. If your STD is past the
warranty date, it is in our interest for all Little Labs products to be
functioning properly so please follow the same instructions as the
warranty repair. We will contact you with the cost of the repair (our
repair costs are always reasonable).
