Fryette Valvulator GP3 User Manual

VALVULATOR™ GP3

VERY LOW POWER

VACUUM TUBE GUITAR AMPLIFIER

OWNERS MANUAL

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations and thank you for choosing the Fryette Valvulator™ GP3 Very Low Power
Guitar Amplifier. As a player, I know you are constantly searching for new sounds and new

ways to improve your existing sound. At Fryette Amplification we understand the constantly
evolving nature of artistic creativity and the search for the perfect sound to complement your
ever-widening musical vision. Providing the tools to help you to create your own sonic signature
is our primary mission.

The Valvulator™ GP3 is an advanced musical instrument amplifier, professional caliber
recording tool, and universal rack system control center that will stimulate your creative juices,
bring out subtleties in your playing technique that you never even knew existed and help you
define your style with unprecedented simplicity. With the advent of the Valvulator™ GP3, the
ability of a rack system to offer the player a wide palate of sounds with genuine amplifier feel and
dynamics will now be fully realized.

Like the Valvulator™ GP3, this guide departs from conventional form and function because I
believe it is the only way to adequately assist you in realizing the full potential of this unique
piece of musical equipment. I sincerely apologize in advance for the depth of detail you are about
to encounter. Having devoted countless hours, culminating in decades to the creation of the GP3,
I would not wish to deprive you of the opportunity to fully comprehend its many capabilities. On
the other hand, if I were you, I would probably be one of the first to roll this manual into a small
tube and use it for a fly swatter, preferring instead to dive in uninitiated and try to intuitively
work my way towards understanding the essence of the equipment being described here, most
likely in the parking lot of a club, 30 minutes before show time.

For those of you who wish to forge ahead without the benefit of the following reams of verbiage,
I applaud your decision. First hand experience and real world application will yield the ultimate
satisfaction of finding your own path of comprehension and self-expression.

If you’ve got a gig in two hours, or like most of us, you just don’t have the patience for all that
mind numbing technical mumbo-jumbo; I invite you to proceed directly to the Quick Start
section. Don’t be terribly surprised when you find yourself up and running in no time. All of the
ensuing gory details recorded herein will be waiting patiently whenever your curiosity gets the
better of you.

Now it’s time to plug in and Turn It On.

Steven M Fryette
President

This manual is arranged into the following sections:

1) GETTING ACQUAINTED

2) QUICK START – A GENERAL OVERVIEW

3) WARM-UP SEQUENCE

4) A WORD ABOUT CLASSIC AMPLIFIER SOUNDS

5) THE BIG PICTURE

6) INPUT STAGE

7) CHANNELS

8) TONE CONTROLS

9) GRAPHIC EQUALIZER

10) DYNAMICS CONTROL

11) OUTPUT STAGE/MASTER VOLUME

12) GLOBAL FUNCTIONS

13) MIDI/MIDI LEARN

14) MIDI CONTROLLER NUMBERS

15) REAR PANEL FEATURES

16) APPENDIX
i. MIDI PROGRAM MAP

ii. MIDI CONTROLLER MAP AND TUBE CHART

17) WARRANTY

GETTING ACQUAINTED

The Valvulator™ GP3 is truly a leap forward in guitar amplifier technology. It breathes and
dynamically responds to your playing technique exactly the way a great guitar amp should. Over
twenty years of intense research, experimentation and design development have gone into every
aspect of the creation of this unique sound-sculpting tool, from the stacked grained aluminum
front panels with custom machined knobs to the proprietary output circuitry which precisely
emulates the behavior of a cranked low power amplifier. The GP3 is incredibly easy to
understand and operate. All of the essential controls, features and functions are conveniently and
logically laid out on the front panel for easy access. No special adapters or accessories are
required to get up and running. The best way to get acquainted with the GP3 is to think of it as a
complete guitar amplifier and approach tone settings, gain settings and output volume the same
way you would on a normal guitar amp. Once you’ve established your basic settings, you can
then begin to explore the endless possibilities you create using the Dynamics Control, Global
Tone Shaping, Graphic Equalizer, Valvulator Loop, Remote Switching, and extensive MIDI
capabilities.

QUICK START - A GENERAL OVERVIEW

The Valvulator™ GP3 controls are logically arranged for quick access and intuitive operation. To
get started, simply connect the supplied AC cable from the rear panel of your GP3 to any
convenient wall outlet or power strip.

Connect one end of a shielded guitar cable to the AMP OUT jack on the rear panel of your GP3.
Plug the other end of this cable to your power amp, effects processor, or switching system INPUT
jack. NOTE: If you are using the power section of an amplifier head or combo, connect this

cable to the EFFECTS RETURN jack of the amplifier you are using to power your speakers
(make sure he EFFECTS LOOP of this amplifier is TURNED ON if it is capable of being
switched on and off, and that you have the LOOP LEVEL turned up if it has this feature).

LEAVE YOUR POWER AMP ON STANDBY UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE
SET-UP PROCEDURE BELOW.

Connect a shielded guitar cable from your guitar to the front panel INPUT jack.

Set the CLEAN channel GAIN control to 10 o’clock, VOLUME to 2 o’clock, TREBLE to 2
o’clock, MIDDLE to 10 o’clock and BASS to 2 o’clock.

Set the RHYTHM channel GAIN control to 10 o’clock, BOOST GAIN to 2 o’clock, VOLUME
to 10 o’clock, TREBLE to 2 o’clock, MIDDLE to 10 o’clock and BASS to 2 o’clock. The DEEP
and HI GAIN toggle switches are discussed in detail later in this manual.

Set the LEAD channel GAIN control to 10 o’clock, BOOST GAIN to 2 o’clock, VOLUME to 10
o’clock, TREBLE to 2 o’clock, MIDDLE to 10 o’clock and BASS to 2 o’clock. The DEEP and
HI GAIN toggle switches are discussed in detail later in this manual.

Set the GP3 MASTER VOLUME to 2 o’clock and the DYNAMICS to 8 o’clock.

Power up the GP3 by switching the POWER switch on the rear panel up (ON). At this time
confirm that the GROUND switch is in the GROUNDED position.

Once the power is engaged, the three CHANNEL LED INDICATORS on the front panel will
begin flashing. This indicates that the GP3s TUBE WARM-UP SEQUENCE has begun. After 15
seconds have elapsed, the tubes will have adequately warmed up, the microprocessor-controlled
high voltage tube supply will automatically engage and the CLEAN Channel LED will light.

Having completed setting up the front panel controls, you are now ready to activate the
STANDBY switch on your power amp and adjust the power amp VOLUME as desired.

IT’S SHOWTIME!

Select a channel using the global CHANNEL key on the far right. Pressing this key will allow
you to step sequentially through the channels, CLEAN, RHYTHM and LEAD. The DEEP and HI
GAIN toggle switches are discussed in detail later in this manual; however feel free to experiment
with them at this time.

The GLOBAL functions are activated independently for each channel. These settings will be
stored for each channel and will return to the last activated state when you recall the previously
selected channel. These settings will remain in memory even when you power down and restart
the GP3. Experiment with the BRITE, FAT, BOOST and EQ settings. F/X and REMOTE are
discussed later in this manual.

Once you’ve become familiar with these basic operating procedures, you will have no difficulty
comprehending the more detailed operating principals of the Valvulator GP3.

A WORD ABOUT CLASSIC AMPLIFIER SOUNDS

With the ever increasing proliferation of modeling hype and exaggerated claims about the role of
the “Tone Stack” in creating an amplifier sound, it is difficult to avoid the temptation of including
a setting chart here for the purpose of demonstrating how adept the GP3 would be at recreating
classic amplifier sounds. We feel that this is an unproductive exercise, often based on sleight of
hand and the power of suggestion.

It is our belief that each player experiences an amplifier differently depending on thousands of
variables that simply cannot all be accounted for in one sitting or even one hundred. Think about
it. Different model years and conditions of a given amplifier example can sound entirely
differently from another. Different musical styles associated with a specific amplifier tonality,
different guitars, guitar cables, microphones, recording studios, producers, engineers, line voltage,
and oh yes, need it be pointed out, different players all serve to influence our take or memory of a
given sonic signature. In that context the question must be raised, what is the quintessential
Fender Bassman sound, the perfect AC30 rendition, the ultimate Marshall? And what about all of
those unsung offerings that for whatever reasons have been overlooked by historians, yet may be
the cornerstone of one of your all time favorite guitar passages?

Certainly there are elements of the GP3 that harkens back to time honored amplifier design, and
in this context, you most assuredly will find something familiar in its tonal recipe. But in reality,
these are just stepping stones in a greater journey. We believe that the Fryette player is attempting
to develop something inside themselves, which is unique and seeks definition. Once you become
intimately familiar with the capabilities of the GP3 you will of course eventually be able to call
up a desired classic amplifier signature at will. We leave it to you then to decide whether to
recreate the past or attempt to break down the musical boundaries that frame our collective and
individual musical landscape.

WARM-UP SEQUENCE

As with all tube amplifiers, gradual warm-up greatly extends tube life and tone quality. There are
two major wear factors which can noticeably impact the performance of preamp tubes. The first is

Filament Stress. The second is called Cathode Stripping.

Filament Stress occurs when a cold tube is allowed to heat up too quickly. If this stress is

allowed to occur too often, it is possible to destroy the filament, in which case the tube will cease
to function. This is not a big problem in vintage amplifiers with AC powered heaters, which
normally exhibit an inherently slow warm-up characteristic. However, AC filament generated
hum can become intolerably loud in amplifiers with very high-gain capability. A regulated DC
filament supply like that used in the GP3 totally eliminates the hum. As low maintenance is a top
priority in the GP3, great care has been taken in the design of the filament supply in order to
prevent Filament Stress. To insure low noise and long tube life, the Regulated DC Filament
Supply in the GP3 has a “Ramp” feature, which upon power-up slowly raises the heater voltage
up to the optimum voltage required by the tubes.

Cathode Stripping occurs when high voltage is supplied to the tube before the tube filament or
heater is adequately warmed up and fully stabilized. Cathode Stripping eventually causes the tube
to lose gain prematurely, resulting in dull tone and loss of sustain. To prevent Cathode Stripping,
we’ve incorporated another exclusive feature into the GP3, the High Voltage Auto-Standby
Timer.

During power-up, the channels automatically MUTE and the three channel LED indicators begin
to flash, indicating that the warm-up sequence has begun. After 15 seconds, the time it takes for
the tube filaments to reach operating temperature, a timer function in the GP3s microprocessor
sends a “Turn On” command to the high voltage supply and the Clean channel LED turns on.

Note: If you have previously powered down your GP3 in a different channel, that channel
and its global settings will activate after the warm-up sequence is complete. Once the high

voltage supply has been activated and stabilized, the output mute relay deactivates and the GP3 is
ready to play. The entire Warm-Up Sequence takes 18 seconds to complete.

Of course, there may be times when it is not convenient to wait 18 seconds for the GP3 to begin
operating. If you are mid-solo at a gig or recording session for example and there is a momentary
interruption in AC power, the GP3 may still be warm enough to begin operating immediately. In
this case, simply press the global CHANNEL key right after power has been restored to the GP3.
This will initiate a modified 3-second turn-on sequence, which will then automatically return you
to your previous settings.

THE BIG PICTURE

The Valvulator™ GP3 is a complete, self-contained Very Low Power amplifier. Utilizing its
groundbreaking Dynamic Sensing Technology™ incorporating a unique output power circuit;
the GP3 reacts to playing dynamics the same way a conventional guitar amplifier does. With user
control over this dynamic “expression”, you can dial in the ideal dynamic response of the GP3 to
suit your style.

A typical tube guitar amplifier is made up of a preamp stage, which consists of preamp tubes,
gain stages and a tone control system, and a power amp stage, which consists of power tubes and
an output transformer. A great guitar amplifier is born when the preamp and power amp
complement and interact with each other such that the whole becomes greater than the sum of its