Tube Drive Control
This feature controls the amount of tube overdrive, or saturation, in your signal. The tube overdrive is
powered by the 12AX7A Dual Triode preamp tube and is engaged by the Tube Drive mode switch.
Pushing in the Tube Drive button either from the front panel or with the optional footswitch will activate it.
The green LED, above the Tube Drive Switch, will illuminate indicating the Tube Drive mode is active. To
obtain even higher levels of overdrive, increase the Tube Gain Control at the tube preamp stage. If you
want your overdrive level to go beyond the usual threshold into absolute meltdown, increase the Tube
Drive control fully clockwise. Instead of stopping at 10 we made the Tube Drive control go beyond into
uncharted territories of overdrive. Nudge the knob just a little bit into the extreme of MAX and listen to
the gain level take off. Naturally, there will be a little extra noise coming out of the amplifier at this high a
setting, this is normal, and is a perfectly acceptable tradeoff when achieving so much overdrive.
Tip: Many unique sounds can be obtained by changing some controls in conjunction with the Tube
Drive control. Some bassists prefer minimal distortion with a lot of Scoop, while others may prefer
massive overdrive and lots of midrange growl. Others may go for deep dry bass. These sounds can be
achieved by adjusting the Scoop, the Tube Drive control and the Tube Drive's channel Mix control.
Drive Mix Control
The Mix control is active in the Tube Drive mode. This blend control adds an additional clean tone
underneath the overdriven tone. In the Dry (counter-clockwise) setting, the clean signal is allowed
to dominate with no overdrive. If you begin to rotate it clockwise into the Wet region you will begin
to hear the Drive sound become dialed-in. The Drive will continue to increase as you rotate the mix
control until it is the dominant sound in the mix (fully overdriven position). This helps you achieve
the perfect Wet/Dry blend between a completely clean and a completely saturated overdrive tone.
This is a unique and handy feature that allows you unheard of levels of tonal control.
Drive Switch
The Drive switch is located on the front panel and is used to activate the Drive (overdrive/distortion)
circuit. The Drive circuit can also be activated by an optional footswitch (TFS-2). When the drive
circuit is activated a green LED, located directly above the Drive switch, will illuminate.
Note: Tweeter Auto-Mute. When the Drive feature is activated an internal circuit disables the output to
the tweeter (XS400 combo only). For those who want the tweeter on while in the Drive mode, push in the
bypass switch, located on the rear panel. This will activate the tweeter so that it is active in both the clean
and Drive mode. If you do not want the tweeter active in the clean mode, simply switch to the Drive mode,
turn the Drive mix control all the way to dry and activate the bypass switch at the rear of the unit.
Compressor
To increase the consistency of your tone and further the performance of the power amplifier, we have
included an adjustable compressor. This compressor is fairly simple to use, with only a simple Threshold
control. The ratio is preset at 2:1, and the attack and release time are also preset for optimum flexibility.
Tip: To use the Compressor, rotate the control Clockwise until the desired threshold is reached. It will
be audibly apparent to you as well as visually. A red LED, located to the right of the control, will turn
on and off as the compressor limits the signal to the level the threshold has been set to. The LED will
also indicate the how much compression is being applied by its intensity and duration.
Tone Controls
Each tone control permits a wide range of sonic adjustment. The five overlapping controls cover
the entire audio band. The center setting on all the tone controls is neutral, with an available boost
and/or cut of 15 db.
Tip: When starting out, it's a good idea to center all tone controls. While you play, adjust them until
you achieve the desired sound. Remember, if the Midrange level control is set at 0, rotating the
Frequency control will have no effect.
The Bass control adjusts the level of the lowest note frequencies, Low Mid the next range up from
that, Mid controls the mid frequencies (variable between 150 - 1500 Hz, more on this below), Hi
