aion POLYPHEMUS Manual - Page 2
Browse online or download pdf Manual for Music Pedal aion POLYPHEMUS. aion POLYPHEMUS 11 pages.
Print PageTABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Project Overview
2 Introduction & Usage
INTRODUCTION
The Polyphemus Optical Compressor is based on the Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone, a vactrol-based
compressor & overdrive first released in 2009. It's known for its incredibly long sustain, and has a
unique diode-clipping overdrive that can be blended in with the clean compressed signal.
The Philosopher's Tone was designed by Howard Davis, the legendary inventor of the Memory Man and
Electric Mistress when he worked for Electro-Harmonix in the late 1970s. Since that time, he's designed
several effects on a contract basis, and this is one of a few he did for Pigtronix.
After the original release, the Philosopher's Tone underwent several revisions and new editions. The
first was the "Germanium Gold" edition, which was in a gold enclosure and featured a single germanium
diode in place of one of the silicon diodes in the clipping section (in other words, a marketing gimmick).
Later, the circuit was reworked into two new and slightly simplified pedals: the Philosopher's Rock,
which emphasized the overdrive component, and the Philosopher's Bass, which was tuned for bass
frequencies. These replaced the original Philosopher's Tone.
Most recently, it was redesigned as a miniature pedal, once again using the original Philosopher's Tone
name. This version included an onboard charge pump voltage doubler, so it no longer needed its own
15V or 18V adapter. This is the only one currently manufactured as of this project's release.
The Polyphemus is an amalgamation of all of these, primarily based on the original Philosopher's Tone
(which had more features than any subsequent versions) but incorporating various modifications
and tweaks from some of the later versions, including the charge pump, germanium diode, and
improvements to the sustain control.
USAGE
The Polyphemus has five controls:
• Sustain controls the amount of compression applied to the signal.
• Grit is the amount of overdrive or clipping applied to the compressed signal. Note that this is closer
to a blend than a gain control, and the clipping level is more or less fixed.
• Treble cuts or boosts the highs at around 2kHz by up to 6dB in either direction, with flat response at
12:00. This comes after the blend, so it's applied to the dry signal as well as the effect signal.
• Blend sets the ratio between dry and effect signals.
• Volume is the overall output level. Be aware that even at maximum volume, it doesn't go much
higher than unity gain, so it's not suitable for use as a booster.
POLYPHEMUS OPTICAL COMPRESSOR
11 Licensing
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