IEIron EtherDivaricator

Owner’s Manual

The Divaricator is a versatile “tonetoolbox” for bassists using effects. Usingits 4th-order variable crossover, the pedalsplits a signal into high and low frequencybands, and processes the high frequencyband with any combination of three“exciters” - each enhancing a differentaspect of the sound – before sending thisenhanced harmonic content through anexternal effects loop. To tame the potentialfor enhancing high frequency noise alongwith the signal, a noise gate is applied tothe excited signal path. The lowfrequencies are passed through directly, topreserve the bass frequencies withoutintroducing muddiness, booming, orcancellation.

Depending on how you connect it to yourother equipment, the Divaricator can beused as an inline effect to enhance thesignal; to split a signal to a bass amp and aguitar amp; or to insert other effects intoyour chain that cut bass or otherwise alteryour tone.

Exciters

The exciters can be switched onindependently, by toggling their respectiveswitches up. Setting all switches downturns off all three, allowing the pedal tofunction as a pure crossover/splitter.

Growl: A distortion-like exciter whichgenerates extra harmonics. Unlikeconventional distortion, this effectpreserves your playing dynamics exactly,rather than adding compression.

This effect is great for addingharmonics before filters and phasers. Ifyour standard clean bass tone is dark andround, many effects pedals will givelackluster results when switched on, as thesignal is lacking harmonic content to workwith. The Growl exciter is perfect foradding that high end bite only whendriving your swirly effects, while allowingyour dry tone to stay thumpy and deep.

Harm: Generates octave-up harmonies.This can be used as an effect on its own,but subtler and more interesting results

come when turning the X-Over frequencyup above center. You'll be generatingoctaves only from the higher harmonics inyour sound, which creates unique,exaggerated pick attack sounds andshimmer.

Density: A “multi-layer” enhancementeffect which thickens the sound. This issimilar to a reverb, but maintains therhythmic tightness of your playing.

The placement of the Densityenhancer before the Growl section allowsfor sounds that can't be obtained withtypical distortion and reverb. With bothDensity and Growl activated, try bending anote as it rings out. The harmonicsgenerated will shift over time, as your noteintermodulates with a version of itselffrom the immediate past. Similarly, playingtechniques involving double-stops, chords,and open strings ringing out will have aninteresting time-varying effect while bothof these exciters are active.

Controls

Threshold: Sets the level of the incomingsignal at which the noise gate is engaged.Adjust so that soft or sustained notes don’tcut off, but muted strings do.

For overt gating effects, set theThreshold lower on the dial. You can usethis to punctuate a bassline or melodicphrase by only turning on the high band,effects loop, and/or exciters when you playlouder. Threshold can also be used tosculpt the decay time when Density isactive.

Excite: Controls the amount or strengthof excitation, from none to extreme. Allthree exciters are controlled by this singleknob. With all exciters turned off, thisknob changes the sound of the crossoverfilter in a subtle but musical way.

X-Over: Controls the crossover frequencyof the band-split filter, separating the lowand high signal paths.

Clean: Controls the volume of the clean

signal, which remains analog throughoutthe signal path.

Low: Controls the level of the lowfrequencies, which are passed to theoutput without further processing.

Hi/Loop: Controls the level of the highfrequencies, which are processed by theexciter and optionally routed through theexternal effects loop.

A Tour of Sounds

Start with all knobs all the way down, andswitches down. Turn the Low knob to itscenter position, and play. You'll hear onlythe lowest frequencies of your sound. Nowturn the Hi/Loop and Thresh knobs upand you'll begin to hear the high bandadded back in.

Turn Hi/Loop all the way down andbegin turning X-Over up, stopping at a fewpoints in the knob's travel to play. In thissetting, the Divaricator functions as a non-resonant 4-pole lowpass filter. This can beuseful for getting a very pure, deep bass

tone, even with new strings and a brightbass.

Now turn Hi/Loop back up andturn on Growl. Increase the Excite amountand experiment with the X-Over control. Alarge variety of unique distortion/fuzztones can be found here. With the X-Overset lower, you'll tend to get more thick andobvious distortion. At high X-Oversettings, you'll be adding brightness andplucky attack rather than overt distortion.

Now add Density, while keepingGrowl active. Again, try the whole range ofthe Excite knob to hear what controllingboth exciters together can do. Densityadds thickness and layering to the sound.Together with Growl, it can createdistortion/harmonic enhancements thatvary over time.

Try lower and higher settings ofThresh and notice how it sculpts the decayof notes in the high band, from very quickto longer. With Thresh all the way down,the high band will only be heard whenplaying the loudest notes.

Finally, activate Harm and try thefull range of the Excite knob. With low X-Over settings, the Harm exciter can createorgan-like octave tones, but setting X-Overhigher allows for more subtlety ingenerating high frequencies that enhanceyour tone without overpowering it.

Connections

The Divaricator can be used in differentconfigurations depending on how theExp/Loop jack is connected to otherequipment.

A – Inline effect. When nothing is insertedinto the Exp/Loop jack, the loop send isconnected to the loop return, and thepedal can be used as an inline effect –typically best placed earlier in an effectschain, before filters, phasers, but after anypitch-tracking effects.

B – Effects Loop. Using an “insert” cable,connect the TRS stereo end of the cable tothe Exp/Loop jack. Connect the mono TSplug labeled “send” or “ring” to the inputof an external effect or chain of effects.

Then connect the mono TS plug labeled“return” or “tip” to the output of theexternal effect or effects chain.

In this configuration, you'resending the high frequency band –including any exciters that are activated –through the external effect, and thenbringing that signal back into theDivaricator and mixing it with theunprocessed low frequency band, as wellas the full-range clean signal.

C – Bi-amping. Using an “insert” cable,connect the TRS stereo end of the cable tothe Exp/Loop jack. Connect the “send” or“ring” plug to a chain of guitar effects anda guitar amp. Then connect the normaloutput jack to the rest of your bass effectschain and bass amp.

By sending the high frequencyband through the exciters and then on to adistorted guitar amp, you can create a bigsound, perfect for filling out a 3-pieceband when the guitarist solos, while stillholding down the low end through yourbass amp.

In this configuration, the effectsloop return is unused. You can connectthe output of a keyboard or drum machineto this plug to mix it in with your basssignal – the Hi/Loop knob will control thevolume of the external sound source.

D – Expression control. Inserting anexpression pedal into the Exp/Loop jackallows you to control the volume level ofthe high frequency band with your foot,fading in the highs and exciter effects overthe course of a bassline, or to accentcertain notes in a phrase.

In this configuration, the Hi/Loopknob will act as a limiter on the maximumvolume the expression pedal can go to.

Power supply

The Divaricator is powered by theindustry-standard 9 volt DC center-negative power supply (2.1mm jack). Itdraws 85 mA of current. Use a powersupply that can source at least this much.

Warranty

Your Divaricator is warranted for materialsand manufacturing for one year from thedate of purchase. The warranty is void ifyou use the wrong type of power supply,take the pedal apart, attempt to modify it,or use it in a way not intended.

Bypass

The Divaricator features a relay-based truebypass system. When the pedal isbypassed, the signal is connected directlyfrom the input jack to the output jack viaa mechanical switch, and does not passthrough any buffers, electronic (FET)switching, or other circuitry that couldhave an effect on sound fidelity. It'sdifferent from the more common truebypass in that instead of a 3PDT stompswitch, this uses a mechanical relaydesigned specifically for low-voltagesignals like audio. This makes for a quieterswitch, greater reliability, and the bonus ofautomatically going into bypass if power tothe pedal is lost.