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F.A.Q.

Don't see an aswer to your question? Contact us...

Q. Are you open on the weekends?
A. We try to work 50 or 60 hours during the week so we can avoid working on the weekends – if it’s the weekend, call us, you might get lucky!

Q. I’m going to be in the Nashville area… can I stop in and demo your stuff?
A. Absolutely!

Q. Do you think the Redeemer would be compatible with a Custom Shop Eric Clapton Strat with the active mid boost and TBX thingy???
A. This guitar is pretty good to begin with, the Redeemer will still help things; it is even more dramatic in a passive guitar. We have diagrams for installing a Redeemer here: http://www.creationaudiolabs.com/redeemer

Q. I've ordered the Redeemer and want to put it in my Fender Jaguar bass. If you didn't know, the jag has quite a few switches. Two pickup switches, parallel / in-series switch, and then there is a passive/ active switch. Since the bass is both passive and active, is there a certain way to wire it to have the Redeemer in both circuits?
A. We have diagrams for installing a Redeemer here: http://www.creationaudiolabs.com/redeemer

Q. Do you ship international? Your web-store won’t let me place an order…
A. Yes we ship internationally – since the rules for shipping are different for every country, we handle each international order personally. You should email us at sales@CreationAudioLabs.com or call us in Nashville at 615-884-7520 to make arrangements.

Q. I live outside the country, will that affect my warranty?
A. Fortunately, we have had practically zero service issues – regardless of where you live, you just need to send the product in if you ever need service – warranty or not… You should email us at Generalinfo@CreationAudioLabs.com or call us in Nashville at 615-884-7520 to make arrangements.

Q. Does the MW1 Studio Tool include the Redeemer circuit within it?
A. The Redeemer circuit evolved into all our other stuff, MK.4.23, Holy Fire and MW1 have input circuits based on the Redeemer. 

Q. Is the MW1 Studio Tool rack mountable? If it is, does it come with the little "metal corners" to make it rack mountable?
A. The MW-1 includes rack ears and rubber feet so that it can be rack mounted or used on a desktop.

Q. Is the MW1 Studio Tool DI active or passive, if its active, does it require phantom power? Does it even need to go through a preamp?
A. The DI is transformerless and intended to plug directly into the line-level inputs of any pro-audio equipment… no phantom power needed, no preamp needed…

Q. Would the MW1 Studio Tool perform as well with an active guitar as it would with a passive guitar? I only have passive guitars and bass but I had a client come up with active pickups and my active DI didn't perform very well at all...
A. That’s where the MW1 is a real winner – you can dial the input impedance to taste so that it will put just the right load on your pick-ups whether active or passive – or you can go to the extremes with the impedance to get some nice tonal effects… most pick-ups sound really good with the impedance all the way up…

Q. My guitar has a ToneStyler – should the Redeemer go before or after the ToneStyler?
A. No matter what’s going on inside the guitar, The Redeemer normally always go last just before the output. All you should have to do is take out the old ¼” jack – connect the brown wire from the Redeemer to the signal wire (the one that was going to the “tip” of the old jack) and connect the blue wire from the Redeemer to the ground wire (the one that was going to the “sleeve” of the old jack)

We have diagrams for installing a Redeemer here: http://www.creationaudiolabs.com/redeemer

Q. Is there anything I should watch out for when I install the Redeemer?
A. We’ve seen on some guitars, Strats and PV Wolfgang for example,  the wood around the jack prevents the jack from spreading open exactly right unless it’s rotated to just the right position… If the jack is giving you trouble you can modify the jack by re-bending and cutting the “ring” contact like so, here’s a picture: http://www.creationaudiolabs.com/resources/Redeemer%20Strat%20Mod.pdf
If you’d rather get a jack already modified, let us know and we will get one for you.

Also, it is a good idea to keep the internal wiring in your guitar neat, try to trim the wires so they are long enough to service your guitar, but not so long that you have a rats nest in there… messy wiring is more prone to picking up hums and buzzes.

Speaking of hums and buzzes – watch out for the ground connections to the shielding of your guitar’s cavity, the faceplate and the bridge – it’s easy to accidentally leave them disconnected… If you are uncomfortable doing this, please consult a reputable guitar tech in your locality.

Q. I have a Telecaster with very little room, will the Redeemer fit?
A. We’ve done many Tele’s – on guitars with the output jack mounted on a plate in the edge of the body, you can usually remove the jack plate and slide the Redeemer into the hole directly behind the jack. Then all you have to do is find room for the battery inside the control cavity. Most tele’s have a flat bottom cavity which is no problem for the battery, some tele’s have a ridge of wood in the bottom of the cavity in which case you could either remove the ridge, or adapt the Redeemer to a smaller camera battery – As long as the Redeemer has at least 3.6V it will be happy – it can go as high as 18V.

Q. What if I try the Redeemer and the battery suddenly dies in the middle of a set?
A. The Redeemer can operate on as little as 3.6V up to 18V, on a regular 9V battery it should last for several hundred hours. So if you make a habit of checking the battery when you change strings you should always be in good shape.

Another feature of the Redeemer is that even with no battery you’ll have some signal (albeit un-Redeemed and at a lower volume) removing the battery is not meant to be a way to bypass the Redeemer (that should be done with an “in/out” switch if desired) however, it will pass enough signal to get through a show – you don’t need to worry, the guitar will not suddenly turn completely off in the middle of a song. 

Note: If you have a first-run Redeemer with a very low serial number (below 200 or so) then you will actually get no signal without a battery (BTW – you check this by removing the battery). You have two options, 1. Make sure you check the battery when you change the strings… 2. Trade it in for a discount on a new Redeemer (but, you would be trading in a low serial number which is sure to be a collector’s item someday worth thousands on EBAY – which is why I don’t mind getting those back and hiding them in my bench – just kidding – or, am I?). I suppose there is a third option – just click here and order a new Redeemer ;-)

Q. My guitar tech tried to install the Redeemer and he screwed up!
A. If your tech got it completely wrong and you need to go back to the beginning, here is a great place where you can download a ton of guitar and bass wiring diagrams:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/

Once you get the guitar back to the way it was… all you have to do to install the Redeemer is take out the old ¼” jack – connect the brown wire from the Redeemer to the signal wire (the one that was going to the “tip” of the old jack) and connect the blue wire from the Redeemer to the ground wire (the one that was going to the “sleeve” of the old jack)…
But, my guitar has a double-dicky-wazmo switch, a phaser set to stun and a built-in robotic tuner!
That’s got nothing to do with a Redeemer installation… all you have to do to install the Redeemer is take out the old ¼” jack – connect the brown wire from the Redeemer to the signal wire (the one that was going to the “tip” of the old jack) and connect the blue wire from the Redeemer to the ground wire (the one that was going to the “sleeve” of the old jack)…

But, my guitar already has a battery for Active electronics!
Great! Most of the time you can share the battery without a problem. Cut the battery clip off the Redeemer leaving the red and black wires attached to the Redeemer. Splice the red wire from the Redeemer to the positive wire of your existing battery… Take out the old ¼” jack – connect the brown wire from the Redeemer to the signal wire (the one that was going to the “tip” of the old jack), connect the blue wire from the Redeemer to the ground wire (the one that was going to the “sleeve” of the old jack) and connect the black wire from the Redeemer to the minus wire of your existing battery (the one that was going to the “ring” of the old jack)…

If you need a picture, we are constantly adding diagrams to the Redeemer page here:
http://www.creationaudiolabs.com/redeemer

Q. I’m going to be in the Nashville area… can you help me install a Redeemer?
A. Very likely for free – especially if you just bought one from us.

Q. I basically want the clean boost of the MK 4:23. Is the clean section of the Holy Fire identical to the 4:23? If so, I’m tempted to get that, as it’s obviously more versatile. If not, I understand, and will just get the 4:23.
A. The Holy Fire boost section is 12dB, the MK.4.23 (9V) is 24dB and the MK.4.23 48V Pro is 30dB. Most people say they only really need 6 to 12dB so in most cases the Holy Fire has plenty of gain. The Holy Fire is based on an analog computer circuit and hardwired to behave like a tube - so if you were to put a boost pedal in front of the Holy Fire it would overdrive just like a tube pre-amp.

The Holy Fire boost is very clean - 0.02% distortion
The MK.4.23's are the cleanest on the planet - 0.0005% distortion

Q. I’m using with amps that do not have FX loops; is the extra headroom of the higher voltage MK.4.23 48V Pro wasted on me? IF I get the standard MK.4.23 (9V) is the Pedal Power 2 a clean enough supply to use 2 outputs in series for 18V? I’m assuming that the higher voltage model is only different in the power supply that is supplied.
A. The MK.4.23 48V Pro and the Standard MK.4.23 are not the same inside.

The standard MK.4.23 uses a 9V supply but the internal circuit is stepped up to +/- 18V (i.e. 36V peak to peak swings). You cannot use an 18V supply because this will burn out the potted core.

The MK.4.23 48V Pro uses a dedicated 48V supply but the internal circuit is stepped up to +/- 48V (i.e. 96V peak to peak swings) - most amps will run out of headroom before this pedal. We did this so you could skip the pre-amp and insert directly into your output tubes.

I think you would be happy no matter which you choose - if having a dedicated 48V supply doesn't throw you, I would absolutely go with the Pro. We were about to can the 9V altogether, but the world just isn't ready for that. 48V opens up a whole new realm for future pedal innovations...

Q. I understand the Redeemer is basically a very high quality buffer… I like the sound I get with a particular cable load that is setting-up resonance on my passive pick-ups; wouldn’t adding a buffer negate this?
A. You are into advance stuff… if you are into DIY customization you’ll love this. You can actually establish a resonance where you want by adding a capacitor before the Redeemer. You would be creating a "simulation" of that cable you like.   For example, a typical guitar cord might have 33pf per foot - therefore a 330pf cap across the input of the Redeemer would simulate adding a 10ft cable. From the pick-up's point of view, it would load them a bit, set up that resonance, make them a little warmer, etc...  However, coming out from the Redeemer and going to the rest of the world you can now drive any old cable or input without worrying about how it will affect the sound.   The cap in front of the Redeemer would also help a little to suppress noise that might be picked-up inside the guitar.   The low Z output of the Redeemer also helps to reduce noise that might be picked-up by the cable run. 

Q. Two of my main basses that I love have great Aero pickups in them but the output is a little on the low side, so... is the circuit that's in your MK.4.23 boost pedal the same circuit that's in the Redeemer? Main reason I ask is that I'd rather not mod 2 basses if the box will act as my master volume.
A. Yes, the boost is essentially a Redeemer in a pedal with a gain adjustment...

Q. I am thinking about buying either your MK.4.23 Boost or the Pro model and I was wondering how these would interact with a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+?  Are there any issues I should be concerned with?   Would one be more beneficial than the other?
A. A lot of guys are using the pedal with their own power bricks like the Voodoo, etc…  It’s not a problem to do that…
 
The MK.4.23.Pro-48V pedal ships with its own dedicated 48V supply – The Pro-48V should only be used with its own supply.  The Pro-48V has 30dB of gain and an extra 12dB of headroom for players who need it – for example, when used in the high level FX loop of an amp to saturate the output tubes… 

Q. Are your pedals True Bypass, the MK.4.23 Boost and the PS.18.13 Holy Fire?
A. Yes, they are True Bypass.

Q. Can the MK.4.23 boost pedal be powered with the Dunlop DC Brick?
A. Yes, The standard "MK.4.23" is a 9V tip-negative pedal and can be powered from any pedal power brick.

The new "M.4.23 48V Pro" comes with a 48V PSU and as far as I know, pedal power bricks don't have 48V taps - yet...

You would want the standard MK.4.23 if you are going to power it from a pedal power brick.

Q. Can the 48V power supply that comes with the PS.18.13 Holy Fire be adapted to use in other countries?
A. Yes, the power supply that comes with the pedal will operate on all voltages from 90VAC up to 240VAC, so it would just be a matter of matching the plugs…  The cord going from the power supply to the wall is replaceable…

Q. I just received MW1 my problem is that I don't dare to push the power button before I know that the fuse is THE RIGHT ONE. (I live in Sweden (Europe). The one installed is 500mA 250V.
A. Yes, it is OK. The MW1 has a universal power supply that works with all voltages using the same fuse.

Q. I have the MW1 and I also bought the Redeemer. Is there any need of using both MW1 and Redeemer while tracking? I read somewhere that the MW1 has the circuit of Redeemer... Is better to use Redeemer just when playing live?
A. The Redeemer inside the guitar will be the dominant of the two, in this scenario the Input-Z attenuator inside the MW1 will be less noticeable.  Really, putting the Redeemer in the guitar is the best way to go… the reason it is also in the MW1 is because in a Studio, many guitars will show-up without the Redeemer. If you want the option to use the MW1 input Z attenuator then I would suggest using an “in-out” switch for the Redeemer in your guitar.

Q. What’s the deal with the Holy Fire?
A. Here’s the thing with the Holy Fire – it’s not a heavy metal distortion – it emulates the way a tube amp saturates when the tubes are overdriven…

The starting point is “G” at noon, “O” and “D” all the way off and “~” all the way up. At this point if you switch the pedal in and out you should hear that it does not color the sound and that it is quieter than other pedals. If you hear any difference it is because when the pedal is switched in it gives you a low impedance output which is better at driving whatever comes next after the pedal… the pedal can be dialed up to have a lot of gain, so whatever you have next in the line could get clipped if it’s not true-bypass or if it doesn’t have enough headroom. It’s probably best to play around with the pedal by itself at first to get the feel for things, and then introduce other pedals to see how they play together…

“G” gain, is simply an overall boost, it goes from off to +12dB (noon is about unity)…

“O” overdrive, adds boost and begins to round off the peaks of the signal like a tube does when it starts to saturate… this way you can play lightly or dial back the guitar’s volume to get a clean sound, Or, play loud to get a distorted sound… basically controlling the overdrive by the way you finesse the strings – like playing a piano with velocity control to give it expression and emotion… Also, I designed the Holy Fire so that you can overdrive it with either a hot pick-up or boost pedal before it, like you would a tube amp – you can tell when the signal peaks are being rounded by the LED turning yellow…

“D” distortion, starts to flatten the peaks and compress the signal and is interactive with the “O”.

“~” low pass, will shave off the buzzy highs as you dial it down.

The “LOUDEST” setting is “G” and “~” all the way up, and “O” and “D” about 2 o’clock (remember to check headroom on the rest of your chain).
The “HEAVIEST” distortion is with “O” and “D” all the way up; “G” and “~” can be set to taste.

Email us directly if you need clarification or think of any other questions we should add to the FAQ...

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