Lexicon MPX G2 manual

The Effects and Parameters

As a general guideline, set InLvl to approximately -15dB when working on clean or crunch sounds. Use higher values when you’re going for more over-the-top distortion.

Be aware that this preamp can produce well over 120dB of analog gain.

Depending on the settings of InLvl and Drive, the three tone controls will behave like EQs or distortion controls. Unlike many preamps, these controls are active

—meaning that they can boost the signal (add gain) as well as cut it. Each control can add up to 25dB of gain boost. Pay attention to the total amount of boost — in most cases, a little goes a long way.

The LoCut control is used to roll-off low end before hitting the drive section of the preamp. The higher the value, the fewer low frequencies in the distortion. This control can be helpful in removing “mud” from high gain sounds, allowing them to stand out in a mix.

The Feel parameter is a unique feature of Lexicon’s Dynamic Gain analog alogrithms. In the Preamp effect, Feel is used to model the subtle changes in distortion dynamics caused by different types of power-amp rectifier circuits. When set to zero, the amount of compression/distortion produced during the attack of notes is relatively constant. As this value is increased, you’ll notice a difference in the feel of the attack of notes and chords when using overdrive and moderate amounts of distortion. The first attack of a phrase of rapid picking is a bit cleaner and has more bite than those that follow. This mimics the different “power sag” envelopes that are characteristic of different power amp rectifier circuits. A setting of 0 corresponds to the uniform response of a tight, solid state rectifier cricuit. Values between 1 and 32 produce increasingly dynamic responses - but are generally within the realm of those produced by power amps with solid-state rectifiiers. Values above 32 are more in keeping with the dynamic feel produced by tube -rectified power amps.

Drive sets the amount of overall gain in the preamp. The cleanest sounds are produced with Drive set to 0. Distortion increases as the value of Drive is increased.

Tone is a post-distortion high frequency rolloff control. Use it to control the high frequency harmonics generated by the distortion. As Bass and Treble are also post-distortion, they can further shape the sound by cutting or boosting top and bottom without affecting the distortion.

Level is the master volume for the entire preamp. Use it to compensate for gain cut or boost added by the combination of InLvl, the Tone controls and Drive. When going for high gain sounds, lower the Level control to compensate for increases in InLvl and Drive. A good way to set the Level control is to press the Gain button to bypass the preamp so you can match the Preamp level with the bypass level.

Split Preamp is the same analog effect as Preamp, except that it has a built-in parallel path that feeds the direct, clean guitar to the MPX G2’s post-gain section. This allows you to create programs that have preamp and right channel direct guitar sounds simultaneously.

As with any preamp, a little time taken to learn how the controls interact with one an- other will pay off when you’re searching for "the sound".

One of thefundamental dis- tinctions between different types of preamps is how clean or dirty it is. This distinction is generally determined by the preamp’s input sensitivity — which roughly translates to “How hard do I have to hit this thing to make it break up?” In most preamps this attribute is fixed for each channel. (The clean channel is less sensitive than the lead channel.)

The tone controls of a preamp’s clean channel gen- erally behave like EQ controls on a mixer. They make changes in what we hear as bright, dark and warm without adding distortion. It’s a differ- ent story when you adjust the tonecontrols of many preamps’ lead channel. On these, the tone controls interact with the gain section and changing the tone settings will often make significant changes to the dis- tortion characteristics of the sound. In the lead channel of many preamps, the Mid con- trol can be used as a distortion control. Turn it up to add more distortion — down to make the sound cleaner.

The analog Preamp effect in the MPX G2 has all of these attributes. Because it is com- pletely programmable, it is not limited to clean or lead chan- nels with fixed input sensitivity. Careful adjustment of its pa- rameters can yield many tonal variations from clean and slinky, to blues overdrive and beyond, to a high gain roar.

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