Electronic Audio Experiments Longsword V4 Technical Manual

Longsword V4 Technical Manual

Introduction

Thank you for your purchase of the Electronic Audio Experiments Longsword!

This manual is an in-depth guide for properly using and enjoying your pedal.

But first, a little bit on the origins of the Longsword: I conceived this circuit to be a general-

purpose distortion with character – in other words, you can coax a wide variety of tones out of it

while never compromising its sonic signature. There are many distortion pedals I love, but this

one was designed to meet specific needs I had which, as it turns out, are not as unique as I

thought (and probably why you bought this pedal). When playing distorted guitar in a band

setting, my preferred style is to set a single channel amplifier on the verge of breakup and push

it a bit harder with a mix of pure clean gain and some saturation inherent to whatever pedal(s)

I'm using. The Longsword with its EQ, adjustable clipping settings, and high output volume on

tap is well suited to this purpose – but also manu others.

At its core, the Longsword is an op-amp drive with diode shunt clipping. An integrated circuit

called an operational amplifier (aka op-amp) increases the signal amplitude (loudness), and a

pair of diodes limits the peaks. Cutting the peaks off of a signal generates a bevy of extra

harmonics, producing the distorted tones we all know and love. This circuit block is found in

hundreds of pedals (including the Distortion+, Rat, OCD, even the venerable Klon Centaur/KTR)

and is, in itself, not special.

The Longsword is made special because of the way the clipping amplifier is nested in a series

of other amplifiers and filters. Many op-amp-centric overdrive pedals sound good with one

particular kind of guitar or amp, or they have only one sound that they do well. Oftentimes, ones

that sound good on their own can drop out of the mix in a band setting. By taking advantage of

the Longsword's dynamic range and powerful equalization, the player may easily defeat these

shortcomings.

-John Snyder, EAE

Table of Contents

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Page 1 Longsword V4 Technical Manual Introduction Thank you for your purchase of the Electronic Audio Experiments Longsword! This manual is an in-depth guide for properly using and enjoying your pedal. But first, a little bit on the origins of the Longsword: I conceived this circuit to be a general- purpose distortion with character –...
Page 2 Operation Only use a standard reliable 9-volt center-negative DC power supply with this pedal! (e.g. OneSpot, Voodoo Labs, Pedaltrain, etc.) Also, the Longsword does not operate on batteries. The Longsword contains a charge pump which converts a 9V supply to 18 volts internally for extra headroom.
Page 3 The DIODE toggle switch will affect the dynamic response of the pedal, with settings as follows: ● Switch up is medium compression via LEDs, which have high headroom but a smooth transition into clipping. Gets fairly aggressive at higher gain settings. ●...