User manual LEXICON SIGNATURE 284

[. . . ] User Guide All Tube Class "A" Stereo Recording Amplifier and Direct Source Unpacking and Inspection After unpacking the Signature 284, save all packing materials in case you ever need to ship the unit. Thoroughly inspect the unit and packing materials for signs of damage. Report any shipment damage to the carrier at once; report equipment malfunction to your dealer. Acknowledgement The Signature 284 All Tube Class "A" Stereo Recording Amplifier and Direct Source was designed by John McIntyre, and is custommanufactured for Lexicon by Actodyne General Inc. Copyright ©1998 Lexicon Inc. , All Rights Reserved. Lexicon Inc. [. . . ] Because of the fixed relationship of the preamp and power amp levels in vintage amps, the input control has to be turned up pretty high to reach the "sweet zone" where the power amp circuitry begins to sing. Also, the amount of preamp/power amp distortion at the sweet zone differs in many classic amps -- giving each a distinct sonic signature. The Signature 284's independent gain and left and right volume controls make it possible to dial-in a wide variety of classic and modern amp tones from a single guitar amplifier. On a typical tube amp the sweet zone where this sonic magic happens doesn't come in to play until the amp is cranked past 7 or so. Because the Signature 284 is designed with an extended sweet zone, you'll find that even with clean preamp settings, the power amp begins to add it's own character to the tone as the Volume controls are turned up past 5. It is important to realize that the Volume controls of the Signature 284 should be used to dial in tone, not loudness. The low power design is one of the main features that makes this a superb recording amp and direct source. When connected to a recording or PA mixer, loudness is determined at the console (fader settings, monitor send levels). When connected to guitar cabinets, the loudness is, of course, determined by the Left and Right Volume controls -- but remember that, in the Signature 284, these are also powerful tone controls. Turning up to get louder, will also change the sonic character of the amp's tone. When connected to guitar cabinets, you'll find that the Signature 284 has plenty of volume for home practice and recording overdubs. In fact, the essence of its design is to deliver the great tone of an big amp cranked up, without the bone crushing volume. This also means that, by itself, the Signature 284 cannot cover live drums or most club situations. For more volume, you have several options: · Mike the cabs connected to the Signature 284. · Use the slave outs to drive a separate power amp/guitar cab rig. · Use the recording to provide a direct feed to the PA. Examples of each of these options are detailed in the Applications section of this manual. 4 Signature 284 User Guide Front Panel Controls Getting the Tone You Want The sonic signatures of many different guitar sounds are based on power amp behavior as much as preamp gain and tone settings. For modern high gain tones, use Gain Boost (pull out the Gain knob) to get lots of preamp distortion, but keep the power amps clean by setting the knob no higher than 4 or so. This will deliver a smooth, tight distortion with lots of definition. For vintage blues tones, keep the Gain in Normal mode (pushed in), but crank it up to 7 or so to push the power amps harder. You'll notice that the amount of "sag" (power amp compression) increases as you turn the Volume controls beyond 5. When set up this way, the Signature 284 is most responsive to nuances of touch and style -- the tone is totally authentic, the voice is yours alone. For tones that emphasize the Class "A" characteristics of the power amps, keep the Gain in Normal mode (pushed in) and set it below 5. Dial in some power amp distortion by setting the Volume controls above 5. [. . . ] Different results will be obtained from the Slave and Recording outputs be sure to compare. Re-Amping Re-amping a guitar track means to take a previously recorded guitar track and process it through a guitar amp. This is not often done, but sometimes it's nice (or necessary) to go back and change the settings on the amp after the track has been laid down. The best way to do this is to record a separate track of direct (unamplified) guitar along with the amplified track. To do this, use a good quality, active direct box to split the guitar signal before it gets to the amp. [. . . ]