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Summary of Contents for Lightwave Atlantis
- Page 1 L I G H T W A V E A T L A N T I S E l E c t r o A c o u s t i c G u i t A r F e a t u r i n g t h e o p t i c a l P i c k u p s y s t e m u s E r m A n u A l...
- Page 2 Your Atlantis couples decades of master luthiery and in- strument design with the cutting-edge of modern pickup technology—the LightWave Optical Pickup System— LightWave’s exclusive, patented infrared pickup technolo- gy. Featuring extraordinary playability and exquisite tone, your Atlantis is a fine musical instrument that will provide many years of enjoyment and musical performance. En- gineered for the rigors of the road, the demands of the modern recording studio, and long, comfortable hours of playing, your Atlantis is designed to become a direct ex- tension of your creativity.
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Page 3: Table Of Contents
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 1. D E S I G N C O N C E P T S ....2 LightWave Optical Pickup System ... . . 2 The Voice of the String..... . . 2 Natural Acoustic Guitar Sounds ....3... -
Page 4: D E S I G N C O N C E P T S
1 . D E S I G N C O N C E P T S LightWave Optical Pickup System Atlantis is the first guitar ever offered with LightWave’s exclusive pickup technology, the LightWave Optical Pick- up System, that uses infrared light technology to sense string vibration for a rich, natural, amplified acoustic guitar sound without the feedback of mics or the harshness of piezos. -
Page 5: Natural Acoustic Guitar Sounds
Constructed of premium tonewoods with a chambered body and soundhole, the excellent natural acoustic res- onance of Atlantis makes it ideal for unamplified casual playing or serious practicing and composition. Simple, elegant, groundbreaking. Designed for all guitar players, regardless of musical style, Atlantis is the next generation ‘go-to’ guitar and the guitar industry’s most... -
Page 6: Q U I C K S T A R T
EQ controls in a neutral, flat position. This will allow you to hear the actual sound of the instrument prior to making any tonal adjustments. The Atlantis is compat- ible with all typical guitar preamp, amplifier, and signal processing gear. • The Atlantis electronics are powered by a recharge- able12-volt NiMH Battery Pack. (Please read section... - Page 7 4.3, the Battery Pack Advisory). The battery pack must have at least a partial charge to begin playing. This bat- tery pack is specifically designed for the Atlantis, and cannot be substituted. Spare or replacement battery packs may be obtained from your Authorized LightWave Dealer, or directly from LightWave Systems.
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Page 8: S E T U P
3 . S E T U P 3.1 Neck Adjustment Atlantis is equipped with a truss rod for neck relief adjust- ments. Always perform this adjustment before proceeding to set up the playing action and the LightWave Pickup System. It is not recommended that you adjust the truss rod if you do not have prior experience adjusting truss rods on other instruments. Improper adjustment of the truss rod can make the instrument difficult to play or cause the strings to buzz. Improper adjustment, or overtightening,... -
Page 9: Saddle Adjustment
3.2 Action Adjustment Atlantis comes from the factory with the action set at an average height that is typical and comfortable for most players. Lowering, or raising the action height requires careful shaping of the saddle. It is not recommended that you perform this work unless you are completely familiar with this kind of procedure. Please consult a reputable guitar tech. Re-adjusting the saddle height, or changing string gaug- es, will require realigning the optics (see section 3.3, Op- tics Alignment). Merely exchanging a fresh set of identi- cal strings (the same gauge and brand) usually will not require realigning the optics. - Page 10 strings. This will provide maximum output, as well as accommodate string bending and related playing tech- niques. This operation can be done by ear, or electroni- cally. In either case, remove the bridge cover, turn on the guitar, and adjust the position of the optics by turning the 9/64” hex adjustment screw on the two ends of the pickup baseplate. It is a three-step process: First, adjust the highest string; then the lowest; and then go back and re-trim the highest string. This can be done by ear, or using the visual indication of the centering LED on the Motherboard in the electronics cavity. Adjusting by ear: with the instrument plugged into an amplifier, raise and lower the pickup baseplate, listening for the “sweet spot”, where the sound output is loudest.
- Page 11 screw). At the optimum adjustment point, the LED will go out, indicating that the optics are centered. Adjust slowly, so as not to turn the adjustment screw too far in either direction, which will result in moving out of the adjust- ment range. Do this three times, in the order mentioned above (string 1; then string 6; then string 1 again). After the strings have been set up, turn the rotary switch back to its zero position, so the alignment LED will not light dur- ing normal play. String Setup Selector (Rotary Switch 0 and 1-6) String Level Trimpots (SL1 through SL6) Optics Setup L.E.D. (Red/ Out/Green) Closeup of motherboard Showing Optics Alignment Volume/Tone Control Knob High String...
- Page 12 3.4 Individual String Volume Adjustment After proper optics setup, the output of each string can be adjusted for overall string-to-string balance using the corresponding trimpots on the Motherboard. These are the six miniature trimpots in a row, across the center of the Motherboard, labeled ‘SL1’ through ‘SL6’. ‘SL1’ des- ignates the highest-pitch string. Full output is at the end of clockwise rotation of the trimpot, and is recommended for optimum performance. To adjust: Plug the guitar into an amplifier, to be able to listen while playing. Start with all six string trimpots at the full up position, and balance the string levels by turning down the louder strings until the string outputs sound...
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Page 13: Controls And Jacks
• Pull-up Tone Switch: Pulling up on the Volume Control knob affects the overall bass / treble balance, to provide a choice of richer tone with more bass, or a leaner tone. This switched tone choice is independent of the position of the Volume Control. • Output Jack: Plugging in a standard 1/4” cable pow- ers the LightWave Optical Pickup System. This turns the pickup system on: for normal playing, for optical setup, or for use of the 13-pin HexFX output. The cable should be unplugged when the instrument is not in use, to avoid unnecessary battery drain. • Charger Jack: Insert the LightWave wall charger into this 2.5mm jack to recharge the internal battery pack, or to play using AC power. The rapid-charge system will fully recharge a drained battery pack in about 1.5 hours,... -
Page 14: Power And Charging
Control Knob Power ‘On’ Battery Status L.E.D. Bridge with Transducer Cover 4.2 Power and Charging The Atlantis electronics are powered by an internal re- chargeable12-volt NiMH Battery Pack. (Please read this entire Battery Pack Advisory, below.) This battery pack is specifically designed for the Atlantis, with internal pro- tection , and cannot be substituted. Spare or replacement battery packs may be obtained directly from LightWave... -
Page 15: Battery Pack Advisory
LightWave battery system is protected against this, and would safely shut down the battery supply if some fault occurs. 4.3 Battery Pack Advisory The Atlantis is delivered with the NiMH battery pack al- ready installed, and will likely have only a partial charge when you receive it. The guitar may be immediately played, if the Status LED lights when the output cable is plugged in, but the full battery pack capacity will likely not be realized. - Page 16 The battery pack should last for hundreds of charge cycles, but then may need to be replaced. This is a custom pack, designed specifically for the LightWave Optical Pickup System, and includes internal protection to prevent thermal or electrical overload. Use only...
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Page 17: Instrument Maintenance
5 . H e x F X E D I T I O N LightWave guitars equipped with the HexFX option have a 13-pin DIN output jack and the deck controls to enable playing through and controlling MIDI converters, hex DSP processing devices, and string fanout boxes. The Light- Wave output signals and deck controls on these instru- ments are fully compatible with the ‘GK’ standards for ex-... - Page 18 In the ‘up’ position, only the instrument output will be heard. In the ‘down’ position, only the out- put of the connected device will be heard. • S1 / S2 Switch: This three-position switch (with spring return-to-center action) functions as the Up / Down pushbuttons seen on ‘GK’-style devices, and its func- tions may differ depending on the device connected at the far end. LightWave guitars omit the ‘hex power on’ LED seen on some other ‘GK’-style hex pickups, since the LightWave 13-pin output does not rely on getting power from the de- vice connected at the far end. Rather, the LightWave...
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Page 19: Appendix
13-pin output is powered by the same internal battery pack that runs the rest of the pickup system. This Light- Wave design enables, for example, simple individual string fanout without needing to connect to an active 13- pin device at the far end. 6 . A P P E N D I X 6.1 HexFX Daughterboard DIP Switch Settings On the underside of the HexFX Daughterboard, there is a six-position DIP switch. The six slide switches on the unit are labeled ‘1’ through ‘6’; their ‘ON’ position is toward the center of the HexFX Daughterboard. This switch comes set correctly from the factory for MIDI converters and hex DSP devices, and normally does not require any chang- es. However, if the settings are accidentally changed, or if the 13-pin output is to be used without a MIDI or DSP... -
Page 20: T I P S A N D T R O U B L E S H O O T I N G
7 . T I P S A N D T R O U B L E S H O O T I N G 7.1 Tips Atlantis is a guitar with an active pickup system, so the output can be plugged into a wide range of device loads without affecting tonal response. The minimum recom- mended load is 10K Ohm, typical of a mixing board Line input. The Atlantis is not designed to be directly connected... -
Page 21: Troubleshooting
The LightWave optical pickup system is a very neutral and high- fidelity transducer of the guitar’s acoustic sound. For your initial experiences with the Atlantis, we can recom- mend less extreme tone control/EQ settings than you may be used to. In fact, if the guitar is being played through a P.A. system, or an amp rig with an inherently wide and smooth response, you may want to try leaving the EQ flat. The Atlantis is sensitive to bright light entering the pickup from the direction of the neck. Try to avoid pointing the headstock of the guitar directly at bright light sources. The LightWave optical pickup system is very revealing of the choice of strings. If you have preferences here, be sure to try several; as small sonic changes due to the... - Page 22 (You can continue to play with the charger unit plugged in, and the battery pack will still charge). Problem: One or more strings sound softer than the others. Cause: Optics out of alignment, or string trimpots need adjusting. Solution 1: Did you just adjust the action, or change string gauges? If so, the optical setup may have to be re-done. Check the condition of the optical setup (see 3.3: Optics Alignment). If it is out of alignment, perform the optical setup procedure. Solution 2: If not, check the sound of the guitar while it is unplugged, and notice whether a suspect string also has low output acoustically. If it does, change that string, or compensate by adjusting the individual string loudness trimpots. (See Motherboard illustration, section 3.4).
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Page 23: W A R R A N T Y
LightWave Systems di- rectly. (See contact information in this manual). 8 . W A R R A N T Y If you purchased your Atlantis guitar in the USA, your LightWave Atlantis and Optical Pickup Electronics are covered by the LightWave Systems Limited Warranty. - Page 24 LightWave Systems, Inc. P.O. Box 691 Santa Barbara, CA 93102 Tel: 805.684.3216 Fax: 805.684.6696 www.lightwave-systems.com Atlantis User Manual V1 / Copyright 2008...
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