ALEXANDER Sky 5000 Guitar Effect User Manual
- June 17, 2024
- ALEXANDER
Table of Contents
ALEXANDER Sky 5000 Guitar Effect
Important Information
Building a great delay pedal was foremost in our minds when we designed the original Sky Fi. Development began with a crystal-clear digital delay engine combined with a tone filter to allow tailoring of the response to your liking. We then added a reverb engine that draws inspiration from certain digital rack units of the ‘80s and ‘90s. These units were designed to be as affordable as possible, and had some unique hardware quirks that caused their reverb effects to build in intensity over time. This “slow-building” artifact is one of the things that made these units so special.
The sonic scientists at Alexander Pedals have been working overtime to cram
the most pedal into the smallest box, and we now present the Neo Series!
Each Neo Series pedal incorporates an advanced 32-bit microcontroller adding
presets, expression, and MIDI capability.
The Sky 5000 adds some useful features to the original Sky Fi, including tap tempo with subdivisions, AutoTrails, and three delay tone voicings.
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR NEO
CONTROLS
Controls in parentheses ( ) are accessed by holding down the Select button and turning the indicated knob.
Reverb: Adjusts the size and decay of the reverb effect.
(Ramp Rate): Controls the speed of the ramp hold effect. Ranges from
instant to ~10 seconds. This controls both the rise and fall time for the
ramp.
Delay: Controls the delay time, from 0 to ~700 milliseconds
(Division): Sets the tap tempo subdivision for the delay. The main pedal
LED changes to indicate the subdivision. Blue = quarter note, green = dotted
8th, red = 8th note.
Mix: Controls the blend between the dry and delay signal. Equal mix is at
approximately 3 o’clock, higher mix levels function as a “kill dry” with only
wet signal.
(Level): Controls the overall output level of the pedal, from -20dB to
+10dB. Unity gain is near 1 o’clock.
Repeat: Adjusts the feedback / repeats of the delay effect.
(Delay Level): Sets the mix level of the delay effect. If you want only
reverb, set this control to minimum.
EFFECT MODES
The Sky 5000 has three available Reverb effects, and three available Delay effects. You can mix and match any Reverb effect with any Delay effect, go wild.
Reverb Modes:
RVB: The original Sky Fi ‘90s style rack reverb effect. Utilizing a
unique slow-building reverb algorithm with a charming diffuse character.
+1 : This mode adds a prominent octave up to the reverb signal. The
strength of the octave effect is adjusted with the Reverb knob.
-1: Yep, you guessed it – this mode adds a low octave to the reverb
signal. It’s kind of an“anti-shimmer,” and sounds kind of like a bunch of
cellos playing along with you. Turn the Reverb knob to adjust the lower
octave.
Delay Modes:
DIG: Bright and present digital delay. Combine this with RVB and get the
full ‘90s experience.
BBD: Warm and wonderful analog-style delay. It’s still mostly clean but
the repeats get darker as they go along.
OIL: Vintage-style “oil can” echo. This one is very dark and very dirty,
and was modeled from our fave oil can delay unit.
CONFIGURING YOUR NEO PEDAL
Power on the pedal while holding the Select button to enter configuration mode. Release the button when the main LED turns violet.
Tap the Select button to choose the MultiJack function. The upper program LED will change colors to indicate the function.
Blue = Expression Pedal, Violet = Foot Switch, Red = MIDI Connect a MIDI controller to the EXP port and send a program change to set the Neo Pedal’s MIDI channel.
Turn the upper left knob to select the Neo Footswitch configuration. Counter- clockwise = Ramp, Mid = Preset Advance, Clockwise = Tap Tempo.
Turn the upper right knob to set the AutoTrails configuration. Lower settings disable trails, higher settings enable trails and increase the trails time.
Turn the lower right knob to set the main LED brightness.
Hold the Select button to save the configuration and exit.
BYPASS AND PRESETS
Tap the foot switch to toggle the pedal between bypass and active. Both the dry signal and the bypass signal are buffered and 100% analog. The pedal features our exclusive AutoTrails feature that allows the wet signal to continue after the pedal is bypassed, with a timer that smoothly turns the wet volume down over time to eliminate noise.
Hold the bypass footswitch to move to the next preset. The Neo Series pedals have 16 presets, four of which are accessible on the pedal itself. The main LED will blink one, two, three, or four times to indicate the current preset.
Hold the select button down, then hold the footswitch down to save. The pedal will save the current settings to the active preset. The main LED will blink to indicate the preset has been saved.
If you choose to connect a Neo Footswitch or a standard footswitch to the MultiJack, you can configure it to change presets on the pedal. Tapping the footswitch will advance one preset, holding will move back one preset. If you connect a Neo Footswitch, its LED will show the current preset: Red = 1, Green = 2, Blue = 3, Yellow = 4.
TAP TEMPO
Tap the left footswitch a few times and the pedal will set its tempo to match your tapped rhythm. The lower left LED will light to show the tempo.
If you choose to connect a Neo Footswitch or a standard footswitch to the MultiJack, you can configure it to send tap tempo to the pedal. Tapping the footswitch will set the tempo. If you connect a Neo Footswitch, its LED will blink to show the tempo.
You can also use MIDI to control the tempo of the pedal. Send a MIDI CC93 with any value to tap the tempo for the pedal. You’ll need to send at least two MIDI taps to set the tempo. You can also use MIDI Clock (sometimes called MIDI Beat Clock) to set the delay time and tempo.
RAMP MORPH
The Sky 5000 features a very useful Ramp Morph function, which allows you to seamlessly crossfade between two different pedal settings on the fly. To activate the ramp, just hold down the left (tap) footswitch for a second. The ramp will activate and the Sky 5000 will move to the other setting, while the upper LED changes from red to blue or vice-versa.
You can set your own ramp parameters simply by turning the knobs on the pedal while in the base (blue) position, then toggling the ramp and turning the knobs while in the ramped (red) position. You can set the speed of the ramp by holding the center Select button and turning the Depth knob. When you get a setup you like, save your work by holding the Select button and the Bypass footswitch!
To configure the Ramp function to latching or momentary, hold the center Select button and the Tap / Ramp footswitch at the same time. The upper small LED will blink once for latch, twice for momentary. The setting is saved per- preset.
If you choose to connect a Neo Footswitch or a standard footswitch to the MultiJack, you can configure it to activate the Ramp function with a single tap, rather than with a hold.
EXPRESSION PEDAL
If you prefer to use an expression pedal to control the ramp effect, just connect it to the MultiJack on the side of your Sky 5000. Once connected, the expression pedal will crossfade between the two ramp settings as you move the pedal. The ramp speed control and latch / momentary settings will have no effect on the expression pedal action.
If you prefer to use MIDI commands to control your pedal, both Expression and Ramp are accessible using MIDI continuous controller (CC) messages. Please consult the MIDI Control section for more details.
MIDI CONTROL
Connect a compatible MIDI controller to the Neo pedal to access its full feature set!
The Neo pedal can accept MIDI over USB from a computer or mobile device, or from a MIDI controller using a 1/4” cable. The Neo pedals are compatible with interface converters made by Disaster Area Designs and Empress.
The following commands are accepted by the Neo pedal:
MIDI Program Change: Load Presets 0-15
0-3 are the four Red presets on the pedal itself.
4-7 are the Green bank
8-11 are the Blue bank
12-15 are the White bank
MIDI Continuous Controller 93: Tap Tempo
MIDI Continuous Controller 97: Ramp
Send any value to trigger the ramp
MIDI Continuous Controller 100: Expression Pedal
Value 0 = Heel down, Value 127 = toe down
MIDI Continuous Controller 102: Bypass
Value 0-63 = Bypass, Value 64-127 = Engage
MIDI Continuous Controller 50-57: Pedal Knobs
Value 0 = CCW, Value 127 = CW
CC 50 = Repeat CC 54 = Delay Level
CC 51 = Reverb CC 55 = Ramp Rate
CC 52 = Delay CC 56 = Division (0-42 1/4, 43-85 dot, 86-127 1/8)
CC 53 = Mix CC 57 = Level
MIDI Continuous Controller 59: Mode Select
0: RVB + DIG 3: RVB + BBD 6: RVB + OIL
1: +1 + DIG 4: +1 + BBD 7: +1 + OIL
2: -1 + DIG 5: -1 + BBD 8: -1 + OIL
MIDI Channel Assignment:
Set the Neo pedal to Config mode by holding Select at boot, then send a MIDI program change on your desired MIDI channel to set the Neo pedal’s MIDI channel. Hold the Select button to save the MIDI channel assignment.
GREAT TONES. DOING GOOD.
2018 Garner Station Rd, Raleigh NC 27603
919-977-6665
alexanderpedals.com
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
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