Tefi Vintage Lab GOLDEN ERA User manual
Te Vintage Lab is pleased to welcome you to our family. We hope you
enjoy using our new Golden Era real time lo- machine. Feel free to
get in touch for any suggestions or clarications as to how you might
best use the eect. Play music and enjoy using our products!
Golden Era - Real-time Lo-Fi Machine
1876: Thomas Alva Edison presents the rst phonograph on wax
cylinder. 1887: Emile Berliner presents the gramophone on shellac
disk. 1963: Philips introduces the Compact Cassette which, together
with the 1969 MicroCassette, made it universally easy to capture
sound events with a miniaturized, lightweight device. It took deca-
des of research before every analog medium achieved excellent au-
dio performance. Before then, audio recorders had some peculiari-
ties that marked an era: from the “mechanical” noise and scratch of
the rst phonographs, to the low delity and nasal characteristics of
Compact Cassettes, especially if recorded / listened by cheap or worn
devices. Golden Era was created to faithfully reproduce the “non de-
lity” of these audio recorders at the time of their introduction, taking
you to other eras of analog audio recording: the Golden Eras. Golden
Era was born from an idea of James Edward Bagshaw, of the band
Temples. Transformed into reality by TEFI vintage lab. James always
loved the character of vintage recordings and dreamt of a pedal that
could create this in real time. The Golden Era pedal morphs sound
into a bygone era; an era of analogue recording, where unintentional
peculiarities and imperfect machines created mesmerising, unique
sound palettes. The Golden Era will turn any sound coming from a
guitar, synthesizer or modern recording into a analog-voiced sound.
Press the footswitch and enjoy your journey through the ages.
GOLDEN ERA Operating Manualwww.tevintagelab.it
Dimensions
Output impedance
Lo cut
Filter Range
Signal switching
Supply voltage/Current absorption
Power connection/ground type
External pedal for “Warped
Sound” SPEED control
Any expression pedal with 50-
100 kOhm potentiometer
Chassis
Weight
Input impedance
120x95x35 mm
150 Ohm
100 Hz
1.5-3.5 kHz
True-bypass
9VDC/20mA
Negative tip/negative ground
Hammond, aluminium die-cast
380gr.
400 kohm
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
CONNECTION AND USE
Connect the output jack on the pedal’s left side to an amplier (or to the next
eects in your chain) with a 6.3mm Jack instrument cable.
In addition to the signal input and output jacks, there is one 6.3mm isolated
jack dedicated to the following function:
• External Warped Sound speed control: this act as remote control for
the warp speed of the virtual-analog supports; it must be plugged to an
expression pedal connected to a potentiometer with a recommended
internal value between 50 kOhm and 100 kOhm, for the best ease of
adjustment. The insertion of the Jack excludes the relative “Speed” con-
trol knob of the pedal.
• Power supply: connect a 9V stabilized external power supply adapter to
the pedal’s power connector located on the right side (5.5mm connector
with 2.1mm pole type). Do not reverse polarity! (external positive, inter-
nal negative). In presence of reversed polarity the pedal will not power
up; no damage will be caused below 25V reversed polarity.
CONTROLS AND FUNCTIONS
• WOB. dpt: Adjusts the depth of the “wobble” eect, typical from an audio
cassette played on a poor quality tape recorder, uctuating in pitch. This
eect, due to wear and construction of the recorder, was even more evi-
dent in the low speed microcassettes, used in dictaphones and answering
machines.
• WRP. dpt: adjusts the depth of the periodic out-of-tune eect, typical of a
warped or o-center vinyl record.
• Speed: adjusts the modulation speed of the WOB and WRP sections.
• Noise: Adjusts the level of noise. Introduce character, the rustle of the top
cylinders, audio cassettes and worn vinyls.
• Filter: Adjusts the cut-o frequency of a resonant lter. It cuts the response
on the treble frequencies simulating the “nasal” eect that can be heard
when listening to the sound from a small speaker of a dictaphone with mi-
crocassettes, or the characteristics of the rst phonographs sound horns.
• Level: adjusts the output level.
TOGGLE SWITCHES
• Waveform With this switch you can choose the waveform assigned to the
WRP modulator, sweet (sine) or jerky (square).
• Low Cut This switch introduces an early cut in the low frequencies reprodu-
cing, together with the Filter control, the limited band eect that could be
obtained from the speaker of a dictaphone or an answering machine.
TEFI Vintage Lab invites you to activate the warranty within 10 days of the purchase of the product. It is necessary to
connect to our website www.tevintagelab.it and, on the page describing your product, ll in the required form in the “re-
gister product” section. TEFI Vintage Lab products are covered by a 5-year warranty. If the user nds an anomaly due to
component defects and erroneous assembly, please contact us by sending an e-mail to info@tevintagelab.it, describing the
problem encountered in detail and the circumstances in which it was veried.
In compliance with the regulations dened in the following clauses, TEFI Vintage Lab undertakes to repair the instrument
with no additional costs.
1. Warrantly is valid for 5 years. Does not include parts subject to wear such as jacks, switches, potentiometers, dip-
switches, 9V battery clip or 9V battery holder, nor does it include aesthetic parts such as knobs.
2. Warrantly does not extend to damage caused by inexperience or negligence in the use of the eects pedal, or bad/ne-
glected maintenance.
3. TEFI Vintage Lab undertakes to replace at its own discretion the malfunctioning or incorrect manufacturing parts, only
after a careful check and verication of bad construction.
4. In the presence of incorrect use of the warranty, shipping costs will be charged to the user.
5. During the warranty period, the replaced parts/products become the property of the manufacturer.
6. This warranty is only valid for the original purchaser who has followed the normal maintenance instructions described
in this manual. Our warranty liability expires at the moment the original owner surrenders ownership of the product,
or modications are made to it.
7. Warranty does not include damage caused by excessive stress, such as the use of the product after the detection of an
anomaly, the use of inappropriate methods of operation, as well as the failure to observe use and maintenance instruc-
tions.
8. The manufacturer assumes no responsibility for any diculties that may arise in resale or use abroad due to the provi-
sions in force in the country where the product was sold.
9. The product part of the defective unit must be delivered to TEFI Vintage Lab for replacement, otherwise the replaced
part will be charged to the buyer.
10. Any product repair or modication by the user or by companies not authorized by TEFI Vintage Lab will invalidate the
warranty
EU DIRECTIVE AND DISPOSAL
TEFI Vintage Lab products are designed to comply with the standards laid down by EU directives regarding safety and the environment. Pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 49 of March 14, 2004 “Implementation of Directive 2012/19/EU on
waste electrical and electronic equipment (RAEE)”.
The crossed-bin symbol indicates that the product, at the end of its useful life, must be separately collected from other waste.
The user must therefore confer the equipment with the essential components at the end of their life to the appropriate collection centers for electrical and electronic waste.
