GAMECHANGER AUDIO Third Man Records PLASMA COIL Distortion FX Pedal

How It Works

Instead of traditional LED circuits, transistors, or vacuum tubes, the PLASMA COIL pedal produces distortion by converting your instrument's signal into a series of electrical impulses (via pulse-amplitude modulation) that are sent to a step-up fly-back transformer. The transformer amplifies these bursts to the order of thousands of volts and then discharges the current into a special xenon gas-filled glass tube (viewable on pedal itself).

The xenon gas is ionized and acts as a conductor, carrying the bright discharges from one electrode to the other, while a special antenna acts as a rectifier, picking up the electromagnetic waves of the discharge and reforming them back into audio signals. This process ultimately modulates and alters the audio signal in a unique and distinctive manner, with a signature sound character unlike any other distortion method.

A Distinctive, Singular Analog Distortion Sound

The harmonic artifacts, created as a byproduct of the high-voltage discharge are uncommon in traditional signal amplification, and therefore plasma distortion is unlike anything you have heard before. The PLASMA COIL produces a large amount of nonlinear harmonic saturation that causes extremely rich and responsive attacks and brings out screeching sharp overtones and harmonics.

The way the plasma tube reacts with different instruments and sound sources is quite unique. The scope of distortion intensity goes from sputtery broken sounds, to full saturation and sustain, all the way to totally oversaturated tones. The level of distortion is controlled with the Blend and Voltage knobs.

Unusual Harmonic Saturation

When an audio signal is driven by a step-up transformer, all the harmonics and overtones that are present in the original signal become very pronounced. There is also a certain amount of noise pollution that is created by the transformer and gas-tube system. This sound can be described as a crackling or buzzing sound, and it adds an electric quality to the distortion tone.

Knobs and Controls

• Voltage: lets you adjust the amount of current sent to the xenon tube, increasing or decreasing the theshold necessary for achieving a discharge in the tube
• Volume: standard master volume control with 12 o'clock offering unity gain, though it may vary depending on EQ settings
• Blend: balance between the wet and dry signals, with fully clockwise providing a wet only signal, and fully counterclockwise providing an entirely dry signal
• Low Freq: controls low frequency content, offering ±9 dB of adjustment at 600 Hz
• High Freq: adjusts ±10 dB of high-frequency content at 1.5 kHz

Natural Noise Gate and Clean Gate

As soon as you stop playing, the electrical discharge within the gas-filled tube is interrupted, and the pedal will not produce any output signal at all. This feature allows you to achieve extreme contrasts between individual notes, by eliminating all of the inbetween noises created by the instrument's pick-ups or by humming strings. The gating effect can also be used to significantly alter how the instrument responds to various picking and strumming techniques and how the instrument sustains notes.

FX Knob

The FX knob let's you select between six different octaver-inspired FX, including:

• Voltage Booster
• Subharmonic Mode 1
• Subharmonic Mode 2
• Upper Harmonic Mode
• Mixed Harmonic Mode 1
• Mixed Harmonic Mode 2

Subharmonics and Upper Harmonics

The PLASMA COIL's subharmonics are produced by modulating the Xenon tube's voltage with multiple divisions of the instruments fundamental frequency. The result is a glitchy, distorted octave-down sound that is somewhere between a ring mod and a bit-crush effect.

The PLASMA COIL's upper harmonics are produced by using a wave rectifier and band-pass filter. The result is an octa-fuzz type sound with a distinct 2nd harmonic enhancement, which is perceived as an octave up effect.

Extremely Wide EQ

The PLASMA COIL pedal loses the original dry input signal and creates a new signal from fluctuations in the electromagnetic field surrounding the gas-discharge tube. This allows for a very wide range of frequencies.

GAMECHANGER AUDIO GCAPCO Specs

Frequency Response	20 Hz to 22 kHz
Input Impedance	1 Megohm
Maximum Input Level	+10 dBu
Maximum Output Level	+10 dBu
Output Impedance	100 Ohms
Audio Circuit Type	Analog
Controls	5 x Potentiometer (Voltage, Volume, Low Freq, High Freq, FX) 1 x 2-Way Switch (Momentary or Latching FX Footswitch Mode) 2 x Footswitch (On/Bypass)

Audio I/O

1x 1/4" TS Hi-Z/Instrument Input 1x 1/4" TS Line Output

Power Source	AC Adapter with Power Brick (Not Included)
DC Input Power	9 VDC at 300 mA
Power Consumption	2.7 W (Maximum) 1 W (Typical) 0.025 W (Standby)
Operating Current	300 mA (Typical)

Color	Black / Yellow
Material of Construction	Metal
Dimensions	5.8 x 3.8 x 2.8" / 14.8 x 9.6 x 7 cm
Weight	1.8 lb / 0.8 kg

Package Weight	2.275 lb
Box Dimensions (LxWxH)	6.6 x 4.4 x 4.1"