Stray manual
Intro
STRAY is a preamp pedal based off of the cult classic Yamaha G5 transistor amplifier. More than just an emulation of that hard-to-find practice amp, STRAY excels as a sparkly boost, tone-shaping EQ, or mid-fi overdrive; even dipping into fuzz territory at extreme settings. Loud enough to drive a poweramp, STRAY works well as a standalone preamp, or out in front of your favorite guitar amplifier.
STRAY is handcrafted in Seattle, WA.
Operation
The controls on STRAY are very interactive and interdependent. Changing one control setting will affect the function of the other controls.
Volume
Controls overall gain.
Bass & Treble
Passive EQ controls. Due to the nature of the circuit, extreme settings can yield more distortion and overdrive. With careful manipulation, certain frequencies can be targeted and distorted while keeping others clean.
Master
Controls overall output level.
Input Switch
Selects between high or low gain input.
Clip Switch
Enables or disables diode clipping. Enable for more distorted/overdriven sounds, disable for more clean headroom and output volume. It is normal for STRAY to be much louder with diode clipping disabled.
Lo Cut Switch
Enables or disables a highpass filter. This simulates the lack of bass response of the tiny speaker in the G5. The LO CUT is also useful for removing muddiness when using STRAY as an overdrive or fuzz with the BASS knob set high.
In
¼” mono input jack.
Out
¼” mono output jack.
9V
Power input jack. Industry standard center-negative 2.1mm barrel plug. DC9V ONLY. Do not attempt to run at higher voltages. STRAY only requires a few mA of current to run. We recommend using only high-quality isolated power supplies designed for effects pedals, and to avoid daisy-chaining effects for quietest operation.
Power
LED status indicator. When lit, STRAY is active. When not lit, STRAY is bypassed. STRAY features true-bypass switching.
Note
STRAY uses an odd number of transistor gain stages, and therefore flips the phase of the output signal 180°. This will not affect operation unless attempting parallel processing. Producers using STRAY as an insert may wish to flip the send or return by 180° to avoid phase cancellation.
