Mains/Standby Switch & Control Lamp
Pressing the Mains switch turns on the amp; the Mains control lamp lights up;
The Stby control lamp is off; the amp is now in Stby mode which means that all operating voltages - except the tube's high voltage - of the amp circuit are on.
Now wait at least 30 - 45 seconds!
Press down the Stby switch and the BrownArtist is ready to go.
Tight/Mild Switch
Position Tight parallels the normal operating status which is a full 100 watts (provided that Full/Half Power is in position 'Full'). In this position the BrownArtist gains a maximum of extremely fast and attack laden response while reproducing complex chords absolutely clean.
Mild makes for a smoother and warmer tone, so in 'Mild' position the BrownArtist sounds even more 'Brown'.
Master Section w/ Rise, RhyVol & SoloVol Controls
The Rise control is related to the Tight/Mild switch and shows a similar effect. The more you turn it up, the brighter, bassier and muscular the tone gets. Moreover this control (in combination with the Output Power control) is a profound tool in order to get the impression of a cranked up amp at low volume.
With RhyVol and SoloVol the BrownArtist provides two recallable (via Director floorboard or external switching) volume settings for all 3 channels.
When SoloVol is activated the corresponding LED is lit. Different volume settings have a drastic effect on the amp's compression characteristics. The overall amp volume is adjusted with the Output Power control located on the rear panel.
Clean Channel
The Clean Channel is completely independent from the Crunch and High Gain channels. Its Gain control defines how clean or already a little crunchy the amp will react to your personal touch. There are controls for Bass, Middle, Treble and Volume...
The Define switch cleans up dull sounding neck pickups, especially with semi acoustic or arch top guitars.
The Shift switch shifts the mid-fidelity of the channel (up = 'London', down = 'Los Angeles').
Shine accents the hi-mid and treble range.
Channel Switch
This is for switching the 3 channels (Clean, Crunch and High Gain) manually at the amplifier. The switching status is indicated by the channel LEDs CL, CR and HG. When using the Director floorboard or the external switching jacks, the Channel Switch has to be in the middle (Crunch) position.
Crunch & High Gain Channels
Since both of them channels are pretty similar in basic sound they share Bass-, Middle- and Treble- controls, yet also offer independent Gain controls for adjusting the amount of overdrive.
The Crunch channel's Pre-Bass control has a drastic effect on the amount of bass within the pre-amp and differs from the normal Bass (tone-) control. Since the pre-amp's amount of bass highly depends on the position of the gain control, Pre-Bass produces the right balance. When using little distortion turn up the Pre-Bass control! With plenty of distortion it's recommended to turn Pre-Bass down! Pre-Bass is actually not a bass control but rather some kind of a 'Definition' control!
With its Volume control you can adjust the High Gain channel to the Crunch channel's volume. For more fine-tuning in bass and gain character there is a 3-way Drive switch. Middle position = normal; Down position lowers the amount of pre-amp bass; Up position increases the gain slightly which makes for more midrange and sustain.
Silence
When pressing the Silence switch the Silence LED lights up and the BrownArtist is in silent mode! At the same time the Tuner Out jack located on the rear panel is activated. Good for silent tuning and changing guitars and cables without noise...
Guitar
That's the input jack, for sure ... :-)
Tuner Out Jack
You can connect any tuner here (see 'Silence')
External Switching Jacks
With these switching jacks you can use a MIDI switcher in order to control Rhythm and Solo Volume, the Clean, Crunch and High Gain channels as well as the amp's FX loop. This feature allows the BrownArtist to be part of a big, MIDI-controlled (multi-amp) rig.
Pre-Amp Out
Adjustable pre-amp signal (no speaker simulation) which isn't affected by volume control or FX loop. It is used best for driving other (power-) amps, effect devices, etc... You can also connect a speaker simulator with the pre-amp out jack for silent recording without speakers.
Caution: If you run the amp without any speakers connected, you must turn the Output Power control as well as RhyVol and SoloVol controls to position 0!
(Back-)Loop
This is the insert loop between pre-amp and power-amp, and it works both in parallel and in series (switch able). Loop is controllable via Director floorboard or External Switching jacks... Enjoy the 'Spill over' function! There are adjustable Send and Return levels, for matching 19'' rack gear levels (+4dB) and FX pedal levels (-10dB).
This FX loop is a true parallel loop. The pre-amp audio signal flows thru the loop circuit only if the loop is in serial mode and activated (or in case Director isn't connected). A disengaged loop always means parallel direct operation even if the Series/Parallel switch is in Series position!
Output Power Section
The Output Power knob controls the amp's overall volume (see Master Section - RhyVol and SoloVol).
When turning the Half/Full Power switch to Half position the 2 inside tubes are disengaged and the amp runs on half power. Thereby the Impedance switch should be turned to half the impedance of the connected speakers.
Impedance Switch & Speaker Jacks
The position of the Impedance switch must match the total impedance at the parallel wired speaker jacks when running in full power (half power = half the impedance of the speakers). Caution: Use speaker cables only! Instrument cables may cause serious damage to the amp!
Tube Fuses
This fuses ensure high reliability in stage operation. In case of output-tube failure either the fuse of the middle or outside tube pair will blow which will be indicated by the related LED. That's not a total breakdown of the amp but the BrownArtist will still run on half power with the other pair of tubes. As a result only the overall amp volume will be a little lower...
AC Jack, Mains Fuse & HT Fuse
The HT Fuse secures the amp's high-voltage power supply against current overflow and therefore against major damage.
Whatever voltage is selected the Voltage Selector located above the AC jack automatically switches to the matching (mains) fuse value. At 100V and 120V the 4 ampere fuse is active, at 230V and 240V the 2 ampere fuse is active.
Caution: Only use fuses with the specified value (shown at the fuse mount)!
Director Floorboard
The Director sports individual Rhythm- and Solo-buttons for the channels CL-Clean, CR-Crunch and HG-High Gain, which means you can directly switch from Rhythm- volume to a preset Solo-volume in every channel.
The Fill In switches located in the lower row engage the (amp's) Solo Volume temporarily, only as long as you keep your foot on the button.
AC-Active Channel increases the volume with the currently used Rhythm channel while HG only works on the High Gain channel, no matter which Rhythm channel is currently used.
When the Back Loop Solo Link LED is lit (pre-selected by the BL-Solo Link switch on the Director's front panel), the amp's FX loop is simultaneously engaged every time you hit any of those Solo buttons or one of the Fill In switches. In addition the FX loop can be turned on/off manually with the BL switch located in the upper row.
FL-Front Loop operates the Director's True Hardware Bypass Loop. This is great for using FX pedals between guitar and amp. Plug your guitar cable into the Guitar jack and connect the Amp (output) jack with the other 'Guitar' (input) jack located on the amp's front panel... Effect units are looped via Send and Return.
Connect the 7-pin DIN-jack labelled BrownArtist with the Director jack located on the amp's rear panel. Given that this is no MIDI connection all switching commands sent are exclusively for the BrownArtist. Located on the bottom side, the holes w/ M4 screw threads are used to secure the Director to a pedal board.
Check it out - You'll be amazed...