Duncan MAMA BEAR User Manual
MAMA BEAR
User Manual for MAMA BEAR
Digital Acoustic Guitar Preamp
TM
For years, acoustic guitars have relied on pickups for
amplification. One problem: Even the best acoustic
guitars deliver an oversimplification of true acoustic
tone complexity when amplified. Using
something called AGE™ tecnology,
D-TAR’s Mama Bear takes your guitar
into the digital realm and restores the
natural body resonance. The result:
now the finest acoustic guitars can
sound like, well… themselves.
Only louder.
“WITH RESPECT TO ACOUSTIC TONE”
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MAMA BEAR
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FCC INFORMATION (U.S.A.)
1. IMPORTANT NOTICE: DO NOT MODIFY THIS UNIT!
This product, when installed as indicated in t he
instructio ns contai ned in this manual, meets FCC
requiremen ts. Modif ications not e xpressly approved
by D-TAR may void you r autho rity, gran ted by the FCC,
to use this pr oduct.
2. IMPORTANT:
accessorie s and/or another produc t, use only high
quality shielded cables. Follow all in stallation
instructio ns. Failure to follow instructions could void
your FCC authorization to use this pr oduct in the USA.
3. NOTE :
to comply with the limi ts for a Class B d igital de vice,
pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are
designed to provide reasonable protection against
harmful interferenc e in a residential installatio n. This
equipment generates , uses and can radiate radio
frequency energy and, if not i nstalled and use d in
accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful
interferen ce to radio communicati ons. Ho wever, there
is no g uarantee that in terference will not occ ur in a
particular installation. If this equipment does cause
harmful interferenc e to radio or television reception,
which can be de termined by turn ing the equipmen t
off and on, the user is enco uraged to try to correc t
the interference by one or mor e of the following
measures:
This equipment has be en test ed and found
When connecting this product to
Table of Contents
QUICK START pg. 1
INTRODUCTION pg. 3
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AGE
PANEL DRAWINGS pg. 6
CONTROLS EXPLAINED pg. 8
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS pg. 17
LIMITED WARRANTY pg. 17
INPUT SOURCES AND TARGET INSTRUMENTS pg. 18
pg. 5
—Reorient or re locate the recei ving antenna.
—Increase the separation between the equipment and
receiver.
—Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit
different from th at to which the receive r is connected.
—Consult the dealer or an expe rienced radio/ TV
technician for help.
If these correcti ve measures do not pro duce
satisfacto ry result s, plea se cont act the local retailer
authorized to d istribute this p roduct. If you cannot
locate the appropriate retailer, please contact
D-TAR Custo mer Service at:
5427 Hollister Ave.
Santa Ba rbara, CA 93111-2345
USA.
The above sta tements apply ON LY t o those products
distribute d by D-TAR or its subsidiaries.
Fill in the following for your reference:
Date of Purchase:
Purchased From:
Serial Number:
MAMA BEAR
TM
Quick Start: Get Up And Running Fast
You’re anxious to start using Mama Bear,
but you don’t want to read a manual yet.
Fair enough. However, read these next two
pages so that you get on the right track
immediately. Play around and then read the
rest of the manual. It covers important details
about Mama Bear, and tells you how to get
the most out of it and to get the best sound
ever from your acoustic guitar.
1. Plug the AC adapter’s cord into the back of
Mama Bear, and plug the AC adapter into a
live outlet.
2. Plug Mama Bear into a mixing console,
preamp, or acoustic guitar amp in one of
these ways:
A. Use a cable with XLR (3-pin) plugs to
connect to a mixing console.
B. Use a shielded cord with 1/4” plugs to
connect to an amp or preamp.
4. Set all the controls like this (pay careful
attention to the switch settings):
5. Turn on Mama Bear by pressing the Power
switch.
6. Turn on your amp, preamp, or mixing console.
7. Strum your guitar and slowly bring up Mama
Bear’s Input Level control until you see the
Overload LED barely light up when you hit the
strings hard.
Note: If your guitar has a volume control,
make sure it’s turned up at least 50% or
higher. Also check its battery (if it uses one)
and replace it if it’s dead or weak.
For best results, connect your Mama Bear to a
high-quality sound system (P.A. system, highquality powered speakers, etc.).
Note: If you connect Mama Bear to
high-quality powered speakers, you will
need cables with the appropriate connectors.
3. Plug your acoustic guitar’s cord into Mama
Bear’s input jack.
8. With your amp, preamp, or mixing console
volumes set to normal levels, bring up Mama
Bear’s Output level. Be careful not to make it
too loud, and adjust your other equipment’s
input levels if necessary to maintain good
levels without distortion.
9. Check the Phase switch setting. If you are
encountering feedback or if your guitar sounds
extra-hollow, try pushing the Phase switch.
This inverts the signal’s phase and can thwart
feedback or bring more “body” into your tone.
(If your amp is on the floor, try raising it up.
The “bass coupling” effect that comes from
a speaker close to the floor causes extra bass
heaviness and can cause feedback.)
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10. Here’s the fun part. Try different settings on
the Input Source and Target Instrument selectors
and listen to how your guitar sounds. Adjust
the Blend knob to change the mix between
your straight guitar sound and Mama Bear’s
enhanced sound.
11. Experiment with the Blend control.
Turning the knob to the Dry end of the
dial gives just the sound of your guitar
without any of Mama Bear’s processing. The
Wet end of the dial is the processed sound only.
Every setting between these two extremes is
a blend of your original guitar tone and the
enhanced tone from Mama Bear.
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MAMA BEAR
Important! Feedback is possible at some
settings, so always monitor your volume levels.
You’re now ready to experiment with Mama
Bear’s expressive qualities. After you play for
a while and become familiar with the controls
and how they affect your tone, read the rest of
this manual. It provides in-depth information
about getting the most out of Mama Bear and
the best sound ever from your guitar.
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MAMA BEAR
TM
Introduction
For years, acoustic guitars have relied on
pickups for amplification, but even the best
acoustic guitar tone is reduced to an oversimplification of its true complexity when amplified.
Mama Bear takes your acoustic guitar’s tone
into the digital realm through its 32-bit digital
signal processor. Then it restores the natural
body resonance and provides you with a broad
range of sonic enhancements that make your
guitar sound its absolute best when amplified or
recorded. Because of its input source matching
capabilities and its tonal shaping that emulates
the complexities of 16 classic acoustic guitars,
Mama Bear will take your guitar into previously
uncharted sonic territories.
Mama Bear is a unique digital signal processor
preamp/effects unit featuring AGETM (Acoustic
Guitar Emulation) technology that improves
the character of amplified acoustic guitars by
adding the spatial dimension that no pickup
system or analog effects can produce alone.
It is designed to work with all acoustic guitars
outfitted with magnetic pickups, under-saddle
acoustic transducers and electric guitars with
piezo bridge saddles. It is not designed to work
with microphones, soundboard transducers or
accelerometers. Mama Bear provides you with
the means to give your acoustic guitar the sonic
qualities of a broad range of great-sounding
acoustic guitars, both vintage and modern.
More Important Stuff
Mama Bear can be used as a stand-alone
preamp or placed in the channel insert loop of
a mixing console. In addition, Mama Bear has
a balanced direct output to interface with
recording consoles or PA systems. Therefore,
it’s not only perfect for the solo guitarist or
player in a group, but it’s also a great tool
for anyone running a sound system in which
acoustic instruments are being amplified. You
can quickly bypass the AGE
hear what your guitar sounds like unprocessed,
plus you can blend the straight sound of your
guitar with the processed signal, allowing an
incredible range of new acoustic tones. With
Mama Bear, it’s possible to make a fine-quality
acoustic guitar sounds its best; plus, it smooths
out and improves the tone of lower-quality
guitars or those with lower-quality pickup
systems. Mama Bear works equally well with
steel-string and nylon-string acoustic guitars,
providing a wide range of tone-shaping options.
The sonic qualities of hybrid instruments that
employ magnetic and under-saddle transducers
can also be improved, smoothed, or altered.
Despite giving you unprecedented control in
sonic shaping of your acoustic tone, Mama Bear
is simple to use. With just two controls—Input
Source and Target Instrument—you can:
1. Alter or smooth out the response of your
guitar’s pickup. Surprisingly, even the best
acoustic guitars with the best pickups often
need fine-tuning due to the sonic inconsistencies of amplifiers or speakers, or the way
pickups and speakers interact with your instrument. Rather than spend hours experimenting
with graphic and parametric equalizers (or
replacing a low-quality pickup), you can put
Mama Bear’s advanced signal processing
to work balancing the tonal range from low
to high. You’ll find that placing Mama Bear
between even the best pickup/guitar combination and amplifier will improve the tone.
2. Overlay 16 “sonic signatures,” the sound that
comes from the interaction of wood and air in a
guitar, onto the sound produced by your strings,
fingers, and guitar. These “sonic signatures” are
based on some of the greatest guitars ever built.
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sonic shaping to
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We call this aspect of the AGETM technology 3-D
EQTM.
An added bonus is that you don’t need to alter
your instrument, and can use virtually any
magnetic pickup or under-saddle transducer
(“UST”)
guitar’s straight sound with the enhanced tone
to give you an infinite range of “custom blends.”
What won’t Mama Bear do? While Mama Bear
can make a mediocre guitar sound pretty darned
good, nothing can make a bad-sounding
guitar or a bad-sounding amplifier sound great.
A bad-sounding guitar or poorly designed
pickup starts you out with a deficient tone, and
no amount of electronic wizardry can completely compensate for such a problem. And, amplifiers designed for electric guitars are voiced to
sound best with an electric guitar, with exaggerated bass response and a natural tendency
to distort. While this sounds good for electric
guitar, it’s the opposite of what you want for an
acoustic: namely clean, evenly balanced tone
over a wide range. As mentioned above, it’s
not compatible with soundboard transducers
or microphones. Its capabilities are maximized
with USTs, magnetic soundhole pickups or solid
body electric guitars with piezo bridge saddles.
. Plus, Mama Bear lets you mix your
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MAMA BEAR
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MAMA BEAR
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The Secret of Mama Bear’s Success:
Acoustic Guitar Emulation (AGETM)
Our research has shown that the true sound of
an acoustic instrument consists not only of
variations in frequency response, but also of
changes in that response over time. As different
areas of a guitar’s top are excited into motion
when you play, some of these areas move
in and out of phase, certain frequencies are
delayed as they’re turned into acoustical energy,
and the air resonance of the body takes some
time to store and release its energy contribution
to the overall tone of the instrument. It is the
sum and difference of all these complex
vibrations that become the tone we seek.
The signature sound doesn’t happen on any
particular spot of the instrument, but rather
coalesces at a distance from it, where all the
complexity comes together in a form we
recognize as its characteristic sound.
Unfortunately, this phenomenon of sonic
buildup, shaping, and blooming in the air
means that the best place to hear—and to
amplify—the sound of an acoustic guitar is
several feet away from the top. It’s the sound
you love when playing with others in a circle
in your living room or at a festival, but it’s also
the sound you can never quite get onstage, no
matter how complex a pickup system you use or
how much conventional EQ you employ while
trying to achieve that combination of clarity and
warmth you know your guitar has.
A variety of magnetic pickups, transducers (UST
or otherwise attached to the top), and small
microphones are employed in many guitars,
often with uneven results. Possible mismatches
between the pickups and amplifiers, speakers
that aren’t suited to the task of amplifying an
acoustic guitar, and bad room acoustics can
erode the sound of even the best pickups. Using
EQ can often tame some of the problems like
feedback and boominess, and remedy some
weaknesses; but still, there can still be a
gulf between what your guitar sounds like
unamplified, and what it sounds like through
an amp or PA system. With Mama Bear’s
sophisticated Acoustic Guitar Emulation (AGE)
technology, it’s possible to bring your amplified
sound more in sync with the tone that naturally
comes from your guitar, even if you don’t have
an elaborate or expensive pickup system.
The 3-D EQ in Mama Bear not only corrects
frequency imbalances and the sometimes
ever-present harshness of some pickups,
but it also adds in the critical time and
phase adjustments that make up the sonic
“fingerprint” of your instrument. This results in
restoring its tone and integrity, making it sound
truer. Mama Bear also provides the flexibility to
blend in the characteristics of some of the
greatest acoustic guitars of all time, bringing
out new dimensions in your guitar’s sonic
personality.
Of course, placing a microphone several feet
away from your guitar isn’t practical in onstage
settings or anywhere amplification is involved.
Feedback, stray room resonances, and other
noises conspire to make a guitar sound inferior,
or at least “off.”
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