The Switchblade Tsc's Channels; Clean Channel; Crunch Channel; Lead Channel - Hughes & Kettner Switchblade TSC Head 100 Manual

4
1
The Fundamentals of Handling
SWITCHBLADE TSC is a tube amp and, as such, works as a tube amp.
Nevertheless, the handling concept is rather advanced, so time spent familiarizing
yourself with it is time well spent.
At first glance, the knobs look and feel like standard-issue gear: Control range
300 degrees; 0-10 clockwise; left and right stops. At second glance, though, you'll
discover that there is just a single set of knobs to serve all four Channels. One
GAIN, one Channel VOLUME, one three-band EQ – that's it. The selected
Channel determines if the GAIN knob addresses the CLEAN, CRUNCH or

LEAD Channel.

The great advantage of this concept is that Channels are independent and do not
share the Gain, VOLUME or voicing knobs; even Presence is separately adjustable
for every Channel and every setting can be programmed individually to each of
the 128 Presets!
Apart from the MASTER knob (and of course MAINS and STANDBY), this
applies to all of SWITCHBLADE TSC's control features, that is:
• the Channels: CLEAN, CRUNCH, LEAD, ULTRA
• the Channel settings: GAIN+BOOST, BASS, MID, TREBLE, PRESENCE,
VOLUME
• the effect parameters: MOD FX, TIME, FEEDBACK, VOLUME, REVERB
VOLUME
• the effect routing options for external devices: FX ON/OFF, SERIAL/PARALLEL
You won't find any control features for managing the 128 Presets on
SWITCHBLADE TSC. The included FSM 432 MIDI board or another MIDI-
enabled controller serves to select Presets and assign memory slots. More on this
in chapter 7.
Note: A knob setting programmed in a Preset and the knob's actual setting
are not necessarily the same. They are independent: When you switch from
one Preset to another, the knob's actual position may not reflect the setting
programmed in the Preset. This means you may well hear something other
than what you're seeing would suggest. As soon as you touch the knob, it will
S w i t c h b l a d e T S C
respond like any other conventional knob. The ORIGINAL VALUE LED in
the MASTER section tells you the Preset setting. It lights up as soon as the
position of the knob corresponds to the Preset setting. More on this in chapter 4.3.
Note: You may hear a soft background sound when you twist the knobs. This is
a switching noise made the programmable resistor matrix located behind each
knob.
2

The SWITCHBLADE TSC's Channels

SWITCHBLADE TSC offers four Channels with markedly different sonic
characters. Courtesy of SWITCHBLADE TSC's programmability, you enjoy more
and more powerful sound-shaping options: The knobs are not hardwired to the
internal circuits, so we were able to tweak their control ranges and performance
to make the most of each Channel's characteristic sound. A chickenhead knob
is sited at the far right of the CHANNEL section– that's the Channel Selector.
Use it to switch among the four Channels along with their GAIN, BASS, MID,
TREBLE, PRESENCE and VOLUME settings.
Note: When you first power up your amp and change Channels, you will dial
up factory settings (see chapter 7.3.2 to learn more). As soon as you begin
dialing in sounds to your taste, it will adopt your Channels settings. And it
recalls your most recently configured sound for each Channel. You'll find this
to be a tremendous help when programming. More on this in chapter 7.

2.1 Clean Channel

Tuned to rival classic Californian tone, SWITCHBLADE TSC's Clean Channel
delivers a spectrum of sweet sounds ranging from crystal-clear to remarkably
responsive Crunch tones. The programmable Presence control adds silken warmth
as well as sparkling shimmer to the sonic equation.

2.2 CRUNCH Channel

Classic British overdrive à la carte! The CRUNCH Channel covers the diverse
tonal spectrum from Clean to mean, and all points in between. The Gain control's
integrated Boost function transforms tight rhythm tone into a throaty growl
perfect for rockin' riffs.