Electro-Harmonix Ring Thing Instruction Manual

WARNING: The Ring Thing comes equipped with an Electro-Harmonix 9.6DC-200BI

power supply (same as used by Boss™ & Ibanez™: 9.6 Volts DC 200mA). The Ring

Thing requires 190mA at 9VDC with a plug that is center negative. Using the wrong AC adapter, even those made by Electro-Harmonix, could cause harm to the unit, the adapter or you. The Ring Thing does not use batteries.

RING THING

Single Sideband Modulator

Congratulations on your purchase of the Electro-Harmonix Ring Thing. The Ring Thing has four selectable modes that utilize either frequency or pitch shift modulation: Ring Modulation, Single Sideband – Upper Band, Single Sideband – Lower Band and Pitch Shift. The Ring Modulator section builds upon the original EHX Frequency Analyzer adding to it selectable carrier waveforms, a sweepable filter, presets and expression pedal control. Single-sideband modulation is a new effect based on Ring Modulation but where only one band is present, making it a more harmonious effect. Finally, we have a powerful modulatable pitch shifter that can do detune effects, vibrato, chorus, transpose or even whammy when you use an external expression pedal.

Special Features of the Ring Thing:



Four selectable modes: Ring Modulation (RM), Upper Band Modulation (UB),

Lower Band Modulation (LB), Pitch Shift (PS).



Single Sideband frequency shifter with separate simultaneous upper

and lower sideband outputs.



Automatically tune the Ring Modulator to any incoming signal by

pressing and holding the PRESET FSW.



The Ring and SSB Modulators can automatically tune to a note you play on your

instrument



Pitch shifter with range of +/- 2 octaves.



Five modulation waveforms: Square, Sine, Ramp up/down, Triangle.



Expression Pedal control over carrier frequency or pitch shift amount.



Optional external oscillator/modulation input.



Mono Input / Stereo Output in all modes.



Save and load up to 9 presets.

- Quick Start Guide -

BASIC AMPLIFIER CONNECTION SETUP

1. Using an unbalanced instrument cable, plug the output of your instrument into

the INST Input Jack on the right side of the Ring Thing.

2. Connect an unbalanced instrument cable from the MONO L output jack on the

left side of the Ring Thing. Connect the other end of the instrument cable to the input of a guitar, bass, or keyboard amplifier.

3. Plug the AC Adapter into a wall outlet.

4. Plug the barrel connector of the AC Adapter into the 9V power jack at the top of

the Ring Thing.

5. Apply power to the amplifier.

BASIC SETTINGS FOR RING MODULATOR MODE

sounds of the Frequency Analyzer, with a few extras.

1. Connect the Ring Thing as described in Basic Amplifier Connection Setup.

2. Press the BYPASS footswitch so the STATUS LED is on

3. Press the MODE knob so that the Left LED is lit: RM.

4. Turn the following knobs to 50% or 12 o’clock: BLEND, WAVE, FINE/DEPTH, and

COARSE.

5. Turn the FILTER/RATE knob fully clockwise.

6. If an expression pedal is plugged in set it to the toe down position.

7. To change the modulation frequency, turn the FINE and/or COARSE knobs.

Automatically Tune the Ring Modulator –

instrument and then press and hold the PRESET/TUNE footswitch for 1 second. The Ring Thing will automatically tune its internal modulator to the note you are playing. This function is monophonic, it is designed to search for the fundamental pitch rather than figure out what chord is being played. The PRESET/TUNE footswitch can be held down to continuously tune the ring modulator to the input signal.

The WAVE Function –

in RM and PS modes. Starting from full counter-clockwise, the choices are: SQUARE, SINE, RAMP DOWN, RAMP UP, and TRIANGLE. Try turning the knob as you play, you will notice some waveforms produce more harmonics than others. Additionally you can crossfade from SQUARE to SINE to RAMP DOWN, then it switches to RAMP UP and TRIANGLE.

Using an External Oscillator -

plug the output of another instrument, recording or mic pre into the MOD input jack and turn the WAVE knob fully counter-clockwise. The signal at the MOD input jack will override the Ring Thing’s internal modulator. In RM, UB and LB modes, the

Polarity is center negative

the WAVE knob sets the waveform of the Ring Modulator

To use an external oscillator, as the RM’s carrier,

–

This mode brings back all the

Play a single note on your

external oscillator will become the effect’s carrier signal. In PS mode, the external oscillator will modulate the effect’s pitch shift amount.

Using an Expression Pedal –

and set the FINE knob to full counter-clockwise to control the Modulation Frequency. The COARSE knob sets the range at the toe-down position.

Using the Filter –

frequency of the low pass filter, allowing you to adjust the tone or harmonic richness of the ring mod effect. As you turn the knob clockwise, the tone becomes brighter.

In RM mode, the FILTER/RATE knob control the cutoff

Using Ring Modulation as Tremolo –

knob to the full clockwise position, and turn the COARSE knob down below 9 o’clock, the Ring Thing will act like a tremolo effect. Use the WAVE knob to change the shape of the tremolo. Use the FINE knob to fine tune the rate.

Troubleshooting –

Check to make sure that the BLEND knob is 50% or higher and that the FILTER/RATE knob is not turned to full counter-clockwise.

BASIC SETTINGS FOR LOWER/UPPER SIDEBAND MODE

up the ring modulator signal into its respective sideband components. Each sideband is sent to either the MONO/L or R output jacks, where the selected mode is always sent to the Left/Mono output. For example, in UB mode, the upper band is output from the MONO/L output and the lower band is sent out the R output.

1. Connect the Ring Thing as described in Basic Amplifier Connection Setup.

2. Press the BYPASS footswitch so the STATUS LED is on

3. Press the MODE knob so that the Center LED is lit for UB or the Right LED for LB.

4. Turn the following knobs to 50% or 12 o’clock: BLEND, WAVE , FINE/DEPTH, and

COARSE.

5. Turn the FILTER/RATE knob fully clockwise.

6. If an expression pedal is plugged in set it to the toe down position.

7. To change the modulation frequency, turn the FINE and/or COARSE knobs.

Not hearing the Ring Modulator or just something unexpected?

Plug an expression pedal into the EXP ¼” Jack

In RM mode, if you turn up the BLEND

Automatically tune the Single Sideband Modulators –

on your instrument and then press and hold the PRESET/TUNE footswitch for 1 second. The Ring Thing will automatically tune its internal modulator to the note you are playing. This function is monophonic, it is designed to search for the fundamental pitch rather than figure out what chord is being played. The PRESET/TUNE footswitch can be held down to continuously tune the ring modulator to the input signal.

–

UB and LB modes split

Play a single note

The WAVE Function –

Modulators in UB/LB mode. At the center position (12 o’ clock) the modulator is a sine wave. Turning WAVE counter-clockwise adds a 2nd harmonic to the sine wave, turning the WAVE knob clockwise adds a 3rd harmonic to the sine wave.

Using an External Oscillator -

instrument, recording or mic pre output) as the carrier signal for UB and LB modes, turn the WAVE knob fully counter-clockwise and plug the output of the oscillator into the MOD Input jack.

Using an Expression Pedal –

control the Modulation Frequency. Turn the FINE knob fully counter-clockwise to enable the expression pedal. The COARSE knob sets the range at the toe-down position.

Troubleshooting –

unexpected? Check to make sure that the BLEND knob is 50% or higher and that the FILTER/RATE knob is not turned to full counter-clockwise.

BASIC SETTINGS FOR PITCH SHIFT MODE

same factor in Pitch Shift mode.

1. Connect the Ring Thing as described in Basic Amplifier Connection Setup.

2. Press the BYPASS footswitch so the STATUS LED is on

3. Press the MODE knob so that ALL LEDs are lit: Pitch-Shift.

4. Turn the following knobs to 50% or 12 o’clock: WAVE and FINE/DEPTH.

5. Turn the BLEND and COARSE knobs fully clockwise.

6. Turn the FILTER/RATE knob fully counter-clockwise, internal modulation will be

off.

7. If an expression pedal is plugged in set it to the toe down position.

8. To change the Pitch Shift frequency, turn the FINE and/or COARSE knobs. The

COARSE knob has a range of +/- 2 octaves set in discrete steps. Use the FINE knob to access tunings in between these discrete steps.

Using Internal Modulation on Pitch Shift –

waveform of the internal modulator in Pitch Shift mode. To enable modulation in this mode, the FILTER/RATE knob must be turned up from full counter-clockwise. Once the FILTER/RATE knob is turned up from zero, the FINE/DEPTH knob changes its function from FINE to modulation DEPTH. The FILTER/RATE knob sets the RATE of the modulation and the FINE/DEPTH knob becomes modulation DEPTH. Starting from full counter-clockwise, the modulation waveforms are: SQUARE, SINE, RAMP DOWN, RAMP UP, and TRIANGLE.

the WAVE knob sets the waveform of the Single Sideband

To use an external oscillator (such as another

Plug an expression pedal into the EXP ¼” Jack to

Not hearing the Single Sideband Modulators or just something

–

All incoming notes are shifted by the

the WAVE knob sets the

Using an External Oscillator -

shift, turn the WAVE knob to full counter-clockwise and plug the external oscillator into the MOD input. The FINE/DEPTH knob controls the depth of the external modulation. Note: turning FILTER/RATE to full counter-clockwise will disable external modulation.

Using an Expression Pedal –

control the Pitch Shift amount. The expression pedal’s pitch shift range is set by the COARSE knob. The toe down position will be the current setting of the COARSE knob,

the toe up position is no pitch shift, though you will still hear the pitch shift’s

modulation.

Troubleshooting –

Check to make sure that the BLEND knob is 50% or higher. If the modulation is making it hard for you to hear what is going on, turn modulation off by turning the FILTER/RATE knob down to full counter-clockwise and then set FINE to 12 o’clock.

SUGGESTED SETTINGS –

the Ring Thing.

DETUNE

Not hearing the Pitch Shift or just something unexpected?

Below are some suggested settings for getting started with

To use an external oscillator to modulate pitch

Plug an expression pedal into the EXP ¼” Jack to

RING MOD

RING VIBE

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