ALEXANDER Leap Series Luminous Beta Phase Shifter Owner’s Manual
- June 9, 2024
- ALEXANDER
Table of Contents
ALEXANDER Leap Series Luminous Beta Phase Shifter Owner's Manual
BASIC OPERATION
We sent a team of sonic scientists deep into the arctic circle on a secret mission: to capture bits of the Aurora Borealis so we could transmute them into a pedal. What emerged was Luminous, equal parts phaseshifter and swirly glowing haze machine. It dances and hovers with the utmost mystery, occasionally imperceptible while frequently vivid. And it glows in the dark, because of course it does.
Using the pedal is pretty simple: plug your instrument into the INPUT jack and your amplifier or other effect into the L jack, power up the pedal with 9V 250mA or more, and turn some knobs. As soon as you touch a knob, the display will change to show what is happening. You can also tell the pedal to stay in the knobs display mode in the Setup menu.
The lower-right knob has a pushbutton switch, tap that to access extra parameters on the back pages of the user interface. We’ve put the most common controls up front, tweaking stuff on page 2, and utility items on page 3. Three small boxes at the bottom of the display indicate the currently selected page.https://www.alexanderpedals.com/support
This guide covers the basics of the pedal including its connections, controls, and features. For more detailed information you can scan the code in this section to be taken to our website for access to the full manual, MIDI information, firmware updates, and more.
A NOTE ABOUT POWER: Leap Series pedals are digital and require a lot of power. They also don’t like sharing power supply grounds with other pedals, so please don’t use a “daisy chain” type power supply Use name-brand isolated supplies for the best possible performance.
PRESETS
How do you make quick changes on a pedal that has 12+ knobs? PRESETS. Every Leap Series pedal allows you to save up to 32 presets that contain the entire state of the pedal.
Loading a preset recalls all knob positions and expression pedal mappings.
To load a preset, hold the BYPASS / PRESET footswitch. You can set the number of available presets in the Setup Menu, from 1 to 8. You can also access the other preset banks 9-16, 17-24, and 25-32.
To save a preset, first use the pedal knobs to tweak the sound, then hold the PAGE knob. Press and hold the BYPASS / PRESET footswitch to enter the save menu.
To save to the current preset, just hold down the BYPASS / PRESET footswitch again.
To rename the preset, turn the lower-left knob to select a character in the name and then turn the PAGE knob to edit that character. Use the lower-left knob to select the preset number and edit to change the save location.
GLOBAL SETUP MENU
To enter the global setup menu, first hold down the PAGE / MENU knob (lower right,) then hold the left footswitch. Turn the lower left knob to select the parameter you want to change, then turn the lower right knob to set its value. Hold the PAGE / MENU knob (lower right) to save your settings and exit the menu.
SOUND MODES
Luminous has ten selectable sound modes, each based on a different phaser effect type. You can tweak these modes to your taste, and you can save any sound to any preset. To change sound modes, turn the lower right knob on page
- Tap the lower right knob to advance to the next page. Knobs marked * do not
respond to expression or ramp controls.
NOTE: selecting a sound mode with the knob doesn’t change any of the other knob parameters, so you may need to tweak the controls after changing sound modes.
The following controls are common to all modes on page 3: DIV* – tap division for modulation or delay, not available in DYNAMIC mode LEVL – overall volume for the pedal (wet + dry)
FILT – Low-cut filter, higher settings reduce mud or low-end rumble. RAMP – Ramp rate and trigger mode, please see EXPRESSION AND RAMPING below.
CLASSIC
Versatile and powerful studio phaser, configurable between 2 and 24 phase
stages. Try a 4-stage phaser with low resonance for stomp box-type phasing, or
a 12-stage phaser set to slow sweep for studio style phasing.
RATE – phase speed from 10-0.1s
DEPT – phase LFO intensity
MIX – mix of wet and dry signals
STAG – phase stages from 2-24
RESO – phase feedback
WAVE – LFO wave shape
CENT – LFO wave center point
INFINITE
This one will spin you right round! Combines a Bode-inspired frequency shifter
with phaser bank to produce infinitely rising or falling phase using the DIR
control on page 2. The Rate and Depth controls affect the phaser bank to add
motion.
RATE – phase speed from 10-0.1s
DEPT – phase LFO intensity
MIX – mix of wet and dry signals
DIR – infinite direction and speed
RESO – feedback
WAVE* – phase LFO wave shape
CENT – phase LFO center point
DUAL PHASE
Two independent phase shifters, configurable as SERIES (A into B,) PARALLEL (A
and B summed together,) STEREO (A on left, B on right,) or SPLIT (stereo
inputs to each phaser.) Phaser B may be LOCKED or INVERTED to the LFO for
Phase A.
RAT1 – phaser A rate
DEP1 – phaser A intensity
MIX – mix of wet and dry signals
RAT2 – phaser B rate or
LOCK / INV DEP2 – phaser B intensity
WAVE – sine or square for
A/B ROUT – phaser A and B routing
FLYING PAN
Classic `70s style panned phaser. Warning – this one only works to its full
potential in stereo, but it’s still a cool tremolo phaser in mono. The phase
signal may be placed anywhere in the stereo spectrum before it hits the
panning engine.
RATE – phase speed from 10-0.1s
DEPT – phase LFO intensity
MIX – mix of wet and dry signals
PRAT – panning rate
PDEP – panning intensity
PWAV* – panning LFO wave shape
PAN – phaser panning location
PHASE DELAY
Clean digital delay (up to 800ms) with an 8-stage phaser on the delay trails.
The delay is controlled by the tap tempo in this mode instead of the phaser.
TIME – delay time from 0-800ms
REPT – delay repeat level
MIX – mix of wet and dry signals
RATE – phaser rate
DEPT – phaser intensity
WAVE* – LFO wave shape
CENT – LFO center point
PATTERN
Rhythmic step-sequenced phaser with 8 selectable patterns.
RATE – pattern step speed
STEP – number of pattern steps
MIX – mix of wet and dry signals
STAG – phase stages from 2-24
RESO – phase feedback
PATT – pattern selection
DIR* – DOWN, UP, or UP&DOWN
K-TREM
Inspired by vintage tuck-and-roll amps, this is phase vibrato combined with
tremolo. Try 2 stages with low Image settings for amp-type effects, or 3
stages for more of a vibro thang. Sync sets tremolo to mute during high or low
phase sweep.
RATE – modulation speed
VIB – phase / vibrato intensity
TREM – tremolo intensity
STAG – phaser stages from 2-5
IMAG – phaser resonance
WAVE – LFO wave shape
SYNC* – trem mutes high or low phase
DYNAMIC
8-stage phaser controlled by your playing dynamics. Dynamic engine may control
phaser RATE, DEPTH, or set to MANUAL mode to control the phaser directly like
an auto-filter.
RATE – phaser speed
DEPT – phaser depth
MIX – mix of wet and dry signals
SENS – gain for volume sensing
RISE – time for volume sensing
SOFT – control value at low volume
LOUD – control value at high vol MODE* (pg3) RATE, DEPTH, MANUAL
UNIQUE
Special mode inspired by an incandescent-powered Japanese effect from the
1960s. The second page has controls to go way beyond the original effect, set
these at their minimum position to start at the vintage sound. Set the Mix
control to 50% for “chorus” or 100% for “vibrato.”
RATE – phase speed from 10-0.1s
DEPT – phase LFO intensity
MIX – mix of wet and dry signals
STAG – normal (4) or double (8)
RESO – phase feedback
BEAT – amount of “throb”
SYNC – sets “throb” polarity
PHLANGER
Takes inspiration from a classic DIY kit. While the original was just a funny
spelling of “flanger,” our version combines phaser and flanger in a single
mode. Use the Time control to mix and swirl between the two effects.
RATE – LFO speed from 10-0.1s
DEPT – LFO intensity
MIX – mix of wet and dry signals
TIME – phase at min, flange at max
RESO – feedback
WAVE* – LFO wave shape
CENT – LFO wave center point
EXPRESSION AND RAMPING
Every Leap Series pedal allows you to get as expressive as you want, any time you want. Any of the pedal knobs may be controlled with an external expression pedal, a MIDI controller, or even automatically using the Ramp function.
RAMP sets how fast the built-in expression ramp function will run, with clockwise settings ramping more slowly. The range of this knob is divided into three sections that also select the ramp trigger type.
Connect a TRS expression pedal to the Multipacks input on your pedal, then
enter the setup mode and make sure that M.JACK is set to EXPRESSN. Save and
exit setup.
Sweep the expression pedal to its fully heel-back position, then turn any or
all of the pedal knobs. Sweep the pedal to the opposite toe-down position and
turn the knobs again. That’s it! Note: some knobs don’t respond to expression,
they’re indicated by with an * in the Sound Modes section
If you don’t have an expression pedal or would prefer not to use one, you can hold the TAP / CTRL switch to trigger the automatic expression ramp function. The ramp controls are on page 3 of the pedal interface.
(T)OGGLE: Ramp will trigger when the Tap / Ctrl switch is held, then remain at
the “toe” position until Tap / Ramp is held again.
(M)OMENTARY: Ramp will trigger while the Tap / Ctrl switch is held, then
return when the switch is released CLR*: Ramp / EXP reset. Hold the Tap / Ctrl
switch to set the “toe” values of each knob to match the “heel” values.
Ramping and expression use the same “heel” and “toe” values. You can set these values in ramp mode by firing the ramp in T mode, then turning the knobs while the ramp is at full / “toe” position. Fire the ramp again to return to minimum / “heel” position to set the other values.