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OWNER’S MANUAL
A Harman International Company The Sound of Your Imagination
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The symbols shown above are internationally accepted symbols that warn of potential haz- ards with electrical products. The lightning flash with arrowpoint in an equilateral triangle means that there are dangerous voltages pre- sent within the unit. The exclamation point in an equilateral triangle indicates that it is nec- essary for the user to refer to the owner’s manual. These symbols warn that there are no user serviceable parts inside the unit. Do not open the unit. Do not attempt to se
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Table of Contents Safety Information................I Declaration of Conformity....I Table of Contents.................II Introduction Congratulations................... 1 Included Items................... 1 Features.............................. 1 Section One A Guided Tour..................... 2 Front Panel....................... 2 Rear Panel........................ 4 Getting Started.................... 5 Making Connections........... 5 Section Two About the VGS50..................6 Performance
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Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of the best sound available in a package this size. The VGS50 is an extremely powerful tool capable of producing virtually any sound that you can imagine. It offers real tube distortions, the popular Grunge distortion, and a host of great sounding digital effects...18 effects in all to choose from. Effects include: Compression, Distortion, Equalization, Noise Gate, Chorus, Flange, Phaser, Tremolo, Pitch Shifter, Detuner, Ring Modulator, Pixellator, En
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Section One A Guided Tour of the VGS50 Front Panel 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 F 4 3 2 1 12 1. Program and Bank Selector Footswitches - These switches provide access to the VGS50 user presets and the 10 user banks. They are also used to bypass the VGS50, access the tuner, and perform various functions for the Learn-a-Lick feature. 2. Effect Select Buttons - This row of buttons is used to se
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5. Display - The LED display serves three functions. In performance mode, the display will indicate the bank and preset numbers that are currently active. In edit mode, the display will show the value of the effect or effect group being edited. In tuner mode, the display will show the input note you are closest to. 6. Tuner/Parameter LEDs - This row of LEDs serves a dual function. While editing parameters, an LED will light to indicate the parameter being edited. In tuner mode, these LEDs will
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Rear Panel A B C D E F A. Input Jack - Connect your instrument to this jack. B. Left Output - Connect from this jack to the input of your amplifier for mono applications. C. Right Output - Connect from this jack to a second amplifier for stereo applications. D. Headphone - This jack is used for connecting a pair of stereo headphones to the VGS50. The output level knob (10) will control the volume level in the headphones. E. Jam-a-long/Learn-a-Lick - Connect from the headp
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Getting Started The VGS50 is ready for you to plug in and play. It already has a variety of sounds programmed into both the 30 factory and 30 user presets. You will find that the user presets are exact duplicates of the factory presets. This was done so that you can experiment with the user presets and not be at risk of losing any of the sounds that the VGS50 came with. Making Connections The VGS50 can be run in mono or stereo. The following connections outline the set up for both applications.
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SECTION TWO About the VGS50 Performance Mode The Performance Mode of the VGS50 is the mode of operation where you are performing. While in the performance mode, you can use the numbered footswitches or Data Wheel to change from one preset to another. You can use the Bank Footswitch to advance banks and the Expression Pedal to vary the amount of the effect that it has been assigned to for the individual presets. From the performance mode you may also bypass the effects by pressing the currently s
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Note: The footswitches will only activate the user presets and banks. To access the factory presets and banks, you will need to use the Data Wheel and scroll above the last user bank/preset. When you have selected a particular bank and preset, the number of the preset and bank will be shown in the display. Each effect that is active in that preset will be indicated by the lit LEDs above the effect select buttons. Accessing the Tuner The VGS50 includes a chromatic tuner to quickly get your instru
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1. Connect the 1/8” stereo jack to the Learn-a-Lick jack (E) on the back panel of the VGS50. 2. Connect the other end of the cable to your tape or CD player’s headphone output. 3. Cue up the recording to the solo that you want to learn. 4. Press and hold the Bank switch down until the display shows “LAL.” The display will then change to show “STP” (an abbreviation for “stop”). 5. Press the number 1 footswitch as you start your tape or CD player. The display will show “rec” indicating that it is
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SECTION THREE Editing a Preset The VGS50 allows you to edit the user presets to your liking. You can change the effects that are stored in the preset, alter the amount of the effects, bypass an effect, or vary several other aspects of the way the preset sounds. This is a very simple process and gives you the ability to create custom sounds to suit your application or taste. There are basically two levels of editing a preset. The first level is selecting the effect type that you want. The second
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1. Press the effect select button under the Compression group. The display will show the current status of the compressor. If the compressor is bypassed (indicated by two dashes “--”), press the Compression button again, or rotate the Data Wheel to activate the compressor. Since we want a medium compression setting, roll the Data Wheel until the number 2 shows in the display. You have now set the compressor to a medium threshold setting. 2. The next step is to select the Grunge distortion. Press
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5. We also wanted to have the Chorus as an effect in our example preset. Press the Effect button. If the effects in this group are bypassed (indicated by two dashes “-- ” in the display), press the Effect button again, or rotate the Data Wheel to activate this group. Chorus is listed as the first effect in this group so, roll the Data Wheel until the number “1” is shown in the display. You will notice that when you select Chorus as your effect type, the parameter LEDs next to Speed, Depth, and
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Now the only edit that we have left to do in our example is to assign the expression pedal to control the reverb level. Piece of cake! Just press the Pedal button (12), and rotate the Data Wheel until the number 9 is shown in the display. Since number 9 is Reverb Level, the expression pedal will now bring the amount of the reverb up and down as you rock it back and forth. With all of this accomplished, we will now need to store our new preset, otherwise the VGS50 will forget the changes that we
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SECTION FOUR About the Effects The effects included with the VGS50 may require an explanation as to what they do and what the different parameter adjustments mean. For this reason we have included this section detailing the different effects and their parameters. Effects Definitions Compression - A compressor is a tool used to limit the dynamic range of an instrument. In other words, it sets a boundary for how loud the instrument will be able to get. The nature of limiting the dynamics of an ins
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Flanger - A Flanger is similar to a chorus as far as what it is technically doing, but it sounds very different. It adds a “whooshing up, and down” sound to your guitar. Phaser - A Phaser is an effect that splits the incoming signal, and then changes the phase of half of the signal. This phase is changed at an even pace, and mixed back in with the original sound. The changing phase causes different frequencies to be canceled, resulting in a warm, twisting sound in your guitar. Tremolo - Tremolo
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Delay - Delay is often referred to as an echo. This is because it will record a short passage of your playing, and then repeat it a moment later. You can have it repeat the passage several times just like an echo would do. The VGS50 offers three different types of delay, they are Tape delay, Mono delay, and Pong delay. The Tape delay is typical of older delays that were actually using a tape to record, and repeat. Tape delay settings are not as crystal clear as digital delays. The Mono delay is
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Resetting the VGS50 This function erases all of the user presets and restores the VGS50 to the original factory presets. Caution! This procedure will destroy and reset ALL user presets in the VGS50 memory. Be sure you want to erase the memory and start fresh before continuing with this procedure. 1. Disconnect the power from the rear panel of the VGS50. 2. Press and hold the Low EQ Select button, and the Parameter Select button while reconnecting the power. The display will briefly show “rS” to
