Seymour Duncan Shapeshifter User Manual

-SHAPE SHIFTER-

STEREO TREMOLO

USER’S GUIDE

Congratulations on your purchase of the Seymour Duncan ShapeShifter Stereo Tremolo Pedal.

The ShapeShifter Stereo Tremolo Pedal has a true analog signal path but incorporates a digital
processor for tempo control and adjustable wave and shape options. We feel this combination
provides the widest pallete of tremolo effects ever offered in a pedal while retaining all of the
tonal benefits that high quality analog circuitry can bring. True stereo inputs and outputs
allow the ShapeShifter to be used in a wide variety of live and studio applications. While primarily
intended for electric guitar, the ShapeShifter can produce excellent results when used with
keyboards, acoustic guitar and many other musical instruments.

In addition to a great variety of tone options, the Seymour Duncan ShapeShifter Stereo Tremolo
Pedal has been outfitted with a versatile tap tempo system that combines a footswitch and a
special Rate/Ratio toggle switch. You will also find a Phase control that allows you to set the
timing between the pulsing of the two stereo channels and a lighted, flashing speed knob which
indicates the tempo.

HOW IT WORKS

1

Depth – Sets the blend between your dry signal and the wet tremolo signal. This control

allows you to set the mix from fully dry to fully wet, varying the effect from subtle shimmers
to rhythmic pulses to complete freak out sounds.

2

Shape – Adjusts the rise and fall time of the tremolo

resulting in subtle changes where the volume
increases and decreases in the tremolo signal.
It is possible to continuously blend between
three distinct shapes, as shown:

3

Wave – This variable control allows you to continuously

blend between three different types of tremolo, from a
smooth sine wave found in vintage amps, to a choppier
triangle wave, to an abrupt on/off pulsing square wave.

4

Speed – There are two ways to control the rate

of the tremolo effect.

• The first is by directly rotating the Speed control.
In this mode, the Rate/Ratio switch

5

(see

on next page) should be set to “Rate” mode.

• The second is by using the Tap Tempo footswitch
to tap in a tempo. When using the tap footswitch,
the Rate/Ratio switch can be set in either position.

5

on next page, for a description of what this

See
switch does.

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5

Rate/Ratio Toggle Switch – This mini-toggle switch selects between two modes of

operation for the Speed control.

• When in “Rate” mode, the control continuously varies the tempo from 0.5 pulses-per-second
to over 15 pulses-per-second. When tapping in this mode, the tempo is entered directly in
time with your tapping.

• When in “Ratio” mode, by rotating the Speed control, you are able to select between
four multiplication factors: 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 and 4:1 This mode is for use only when tapping
in a tempo using the Tap Footswitch and is used to multiply the rate off your tapping
to a faster tempo.

6

Channel Phase - Continuously adjusts the phase between left and right output channels

from 0 degrees to 180 degrees. This will only be noticeable when using stereo output.
Three examples of phase relationships are shown here:

7

Status LED – Indicates when the ShapeShifter is active. LED is on when the unit is engaged,

off when in true bypass mode.

8

True Bypass Footswitch - Removes the circuit from your guitar’s signal via a hardwired

connection from the input jack to the output jack.

9

Tap Tempo Footswitch - Controls the timing of the tremolo, and can be used in conjunction

with the Rate / Ratio switch (see

5

above).