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  1. HomeLeveling Amplifier
Effectrode Leveling Amplifier guitar effects pedal fa-arrows-alt
Top of Leveling Amplifier Guitar Effects Pedal fa-arrows-alt
Wall-wart power supply with different sockets fa-arrows-alt
Back of Leveling Amplifier Guitar Effects Pedal fa-arrows-alt
Effectrode Leveling Amplifier Guitar effects pedal fa-arrows-alt
Effectrode Leveling Amplifier guitar effects pedal
Top of Leveling Amplifier Guitar Effects Pedal
Wall-wart power supply with different sockets
Back of Leveling Amplifier Guitar Effects Pedal
Effectrode Leveling Amplifier Guitar effects pedal

Leveling Amplifier

£369.00

The Effectrode LA-1A Leveling Amplifier is a studio-grade compressor in a compact pedal.

The Effectrode LA-1A is a formidable piece of guitar and bass hardware” – Vintage Guitar

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Description

The Effectrode LA-1A Leveling Amplifier was designed with one purpose in mind: to enable artists and engineers extract every last nuance from a musical performance… without compromise. Tubes are renowned for being unparalleled tone enhancers, adding warmth, depth and clarity to recorded and live instruments and Effectrode wanted to push their performance beyond current limits. To that end we based our LA-1A on a parallel tube plate design – the type of tube circuitry only ever found in high-end tube phono preamp stages for turntables (remember those?).
Parallel tube design minimises the noise floor and maximises the signal to noise ratio of your instrument. It’s an expensive way of achieving noise reduction, as four identical input tube stages are required, however it yields stellar tone quality without the compromise of noise gates or ‘cutting’ certain frequencies with equalisation. The parallel tube design has never been built into a stompbox or even a professional studio leveling amplifier/compressor before, making the LA-1A something truely special.

FEATURES

  • Peak Reduction knob sets both the threshold and the amount of signal compression. When adjusting the compression or sustain a good starting point is the 9 o’clock position where subtle leveling enhances note detail, creating a fuller , warmer tone. As the knob is rotated clockwise the volume level of loud notes is reduced relative to quieter ones, squashing playing dynamics – this is the definitive sound of many country and funk-style guitar riffs.
  • Gain knob adjusts the ‘make-up gain’ and is used to match the relative levels of bypassed and effected signal. It can also provide +15dBu of tube boost when the ‘Peak Reduction’ knob fully counterclockwise (zero compresson).
  • Boost knob gives an additional +6dB of gain (on top of the make up gain) – this is useful when soloing on guitar or bass and can push the input stage of a tube amp into overdrive very nicely too. The ‘Boost’ footswitch engages (red LED lit) and bypasses (green LED lit) the boost.
  • Attack and Knee knobs allow the compression character to be tailored perfectly to suit instruments that are challenging to amplify or record. For example, active 5-string bass guitars, nylon and steel string acoustic guitars fitted with piezo pickups and even especially ‘difficult’ stringed instruments such as hammered dulcimer , harpsichord or tar . Rotating the ‘Attack’ knob clockwise increases how fast the side-chain reacts, i.e. the speed at which compression kicks in. The ‘Knee’ knob alters the input/output curve, i.e. how the LA-1A transitions into compression – rotate clockwise and the LA-1A becomes a limiter and counter-clockwise for compression.
  • When the Dynamic EQ toggle switch is in the ‘down’ position the LA-1A dynamically boosts high frequency material. With the ‘Peak Reduction’ knob fully counter-clockwise (zero compression) dynamic eq is inactive, however as the knob is rotated clockwise, and the pedal begins compressing, the effect becomes increasingly pronounced. Fabulous for jangly 12-string Rickenbacker guitar sounds.
  • Bypass Footswitch utilises quiet true bypass switching to minimse ‘pops’ or ‘thump’ when engaging the pedal and ensure there is no loss of guitar tone when the pedal is bypassed.
  • Balanced Direct Out ¼” TRS (stereo) jack socket allows connection of the LA-1A to mixing desk, computer soundcard or external audio capture device. This output is fully balanced and transformer isolated, eliminating earth loops and reducing hum to an absolute minimum and features a gain pad (+6dB, +12dB and +18dB) to facilitate matching with any line or instrument level gear . The Triad Magnetics audio transformer also imparts it’s own character to enhance and sweeten the direct sound.
  • External Select ¼” TRS (stereo) jack socket. This enables an external footswitch, such as the Fender® ‘Twin Reverb’ Amp tremolo/reverb dual latching footswitch), to be utilised for remote bypass switching and activating the tube boost.
  • Includes 12V Wall-wart Power Supply: High quality low-noise switched mode 12VDC at 1.5A wall-wart compatible with all our pedals.

Video

Manuals

PDF iconDownload LA-1A Leveling Amplifier Owners Manual
393.96KB

Reviews

  • Download Vintage Guitar June 2018 Leveling Amp Review
  • Download Guitarist Magazine Blackbird and Leveling Amplifier March 2017

7 reviews for Leveling Amplifier

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  1. 5 out of 5

    Guy Taylor, Australia 12th October 2018

    The leveling amp arrived today, and as usual with Phil’s amazing pedals, I have instantly falling in love with it 🙂 Please tell, it’s amazing!

    • Phil Taylor 16th November 2018

      Thanks Guy, best regards, Phil

  2. 5 out of 5

    Mike Van De Veer, U.S.A. 8th October 2018

    Just got the pedal, I’m pretty impressed, easily the quietest comp pedal I’ve come across.

    • Phil Taylor 16th November 2018

      Thank you Mike – delighted to hear the Leveling Amplifier pedal works for you. Best regards, Phil

  3. 5 out of 5

    Vincent Nichols 26th November 2019

    Short mail to let you know once again how much I enjoy my LA-1A: dead simple to set-up with an acoustic guitar and the noise floor is absolutely unbelievable: no noise from an acoustic guitar preamp is something I had never experienced before!

  4. 5 out of 5

    Adrian Bond 21st September 2019

    Quality-wise, this is easily the best electric tone ever, by far. I, too, was turned off by the disappointing tones I was getting over the years–no, decades, and only last year got a real American Strat and entry-level Fender tube amp for the first time, upgraded the tubes and speaker, and was FINALLY mostly satisfied. But with the Blackbird and LA-1A, this is an entirely unprecedented level of tone quality and absence of noise. And that’s with only a couple of NOS tubes installed, as I’m waiting on the others to arrive. Hat’s off to you, mate! Well, well done!!!

  5. 5 out of 5

    Vincent Nichols 18th September 2019

    A quick mail to let you know how utterly impressed I am with the LA-1A! You knocked it out of the park with this one, this is one tube-fitted box of magic!!!

    I’ve used it with a Taylor ES2 equipped 12 string through a Sarno Music Solutions Octal V8 preamp (clean as can be!) and I haven’t ever had a better amplified acoustic tone! Absolutely stunning and the setup is dead quiet!!! Imagine: no noise at all with a compressor on an acoustic!!! I’ve never heard the like of this before!

    What amazes me is that I also barely need any EQing if at all with this setup: I ran it through Grace Audio’s most excellent Alix preamp, and despite the heavy EQing options on this one, the setup sounded worse and became noisy!!! LA-1A and Octal V8 alone = way to go!

    It seems as if I finally nailed the amplified tone I wanted and I’m amazed to find it with such a simple setup. I use a very soft knee, the attack is set extremely low and the peak reduction is also very light: the result is a warm, rich, natural tone which I feel compliments my fingerstyle playing perfectly!

    Will get to record a soundclip someday!

  6. 5 out of 5

    Rasmus Fris (verified owner) 23rd August 2019

    recieved package in finest order today …. thanks for providing such exelent products!!
    Again the leveling amp is working fantastic together with the blackbird for direct to DAW pedalsteel recording, I use it together with a diamond memorylane analog delay!
    Best preamp setup I ever had .. 🎶🎶 the noise floor level is exelent low 👍👍
    Have a Great weekend Sincerely Rasmus

  7. 5 out of 5

    bfrye55 2nd May 2019

    Just received mine the other day and set it up with my Dyno Rhodes. OMG! I’ll have much more to say on my Insta, but not only is this super quiet, it is UNBELIEVABLY MUSICAL! Breathtakingly so. You can remove the bypass switch, this will never be switched off!

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