La Grotte – User manual

Explore the depths of La Grotte

La Grotte is the new spring reverb from Anasounds. You might think it’s simply the combination of an Element and a Le Bon spring tank in the same enclosure, but it’s not quite that simple! In fact, it’s a new sound and new features imagined in collaboration with Jack White for his signature product brand, Third Man Hardware.

We’re talking about a reverb that’s both analog and mechanical, equipped with a very warm preamp based on Tampco’s Tone Oven, an ultra-efficient two-band active EQ and a three-spring tank for the most cavernous tones.

Separate volume controls for direct and reverb sound give you access to the ideal mix. Separate dry and wet mixes give you even greater flexibility…

A more ambient sound than conventional spring reverbs

With the depth of effect provided by its three springs and the harmonic richness of its preamp, La Grotte gives you access to ambient sounds rarely found on analog reverbs.The interaction between the preamp and the reverb produces resonances similar to a shimmer via a feedback loop between the springs and the amp! Quite a change from digital reverbs, believe us…

Powering La Grotte at its best

La Grotte requires a standard 9VDC center-negative power supply with a current of around 100mA. Make sure you use mono jacks to connect the pedal!

External controls

Dry

Controls the level of the direct sound, without reverb effect. Turn to the left to reduce the guitar level, to the right to boost it. When the pedal is in Reverb Tails mode (buffered bypass), this volume remains active even when the pedal is switched off, and can be used as a boost.

Wet

Controls the reverb level. When set to 0, the effect is muted and the Low and High settings are ineffective.

Low

Controls the balance/mix of the Wet’s low frequencies. Turn to the left to cut the bass.

High

Controls the balance/mix of the Wet’s high frequencies. Turn to the left to cut high frequencies.

Footswitch

Switches the pedal on and off. When the effect is active, the Anasounds and Third Man Hardware logos light up in white.

Application examples

Signal chain

The Grotte is unaffected by the interaction with any other pedal, thanks to its high input impedance and low output impedance. This means you can plug it in anywhere in the signal chain, which is rare for such a vintage effect.

The best thing to do is to try out different pairings yourself and find your ideal configuration!

Here are anyway a few tips: Plug it at the end of the routing, or even in the effect loop, like an amp reverb; Plug it just before a fuzz for shoegaze-style riffs; Or, at the end of the signal chain, followed by a compressor for a recording-studio quality output.

Our suggestions

JACK WHITE | GARAGE ROCK

How do you add the perfect ambience to your most powerful riffs? Simple: lots of spring-loaded reverb that resonates to the rhythm of a solid right hand! And if your amp is too shy, push the preamp to make it roar.

JULIEN BITOUN | AMP REVERB

Spring reverb is inseparable from the sound of surf music, as is distortion for metal. The watery feel of La Grotte is a perfect evocation of the waves breaking on the beaches of Malibu. The guitar effect is more present than the reverb, with more treble than bass for that Californian sound.

SWAN VAUDE | AMBIENT REVERB

It’s one of those colors that evokes both the solitary introspection of the studio researcher and the reality of the festival scene’s singing tomorrows; La Grotte is one of those that inspires, and creates textures that are already deeply touching and unforgettable.

TRANSPARENT OD | POP, SOUL, RNB

As La Grotte’s preamp is derived from Tampco’s excellent Tone Oven, you can take advantage of its dynamic, transparent texture. In this case, adjust the volume with “Dry”, while the “Wet” setting lets you mix the reverb.

Hidden functions

Jack White’s preferred settings

When you receive your pedal, the internal settings are Jack White’s favorites, which you can see below.

Tail

In True Bypass mode (switch on the left), the effect stops abruptly when the pedal is switched off. In Reverb Tails (Buffered Bypass) mode, the effect fades gradually. In this mode, you can also enjoy the preamp with the Dry setting even when the pedal is switched off. We ship the pedal in true bypass mode for our purist friends, and they’re right: too many buffers will deteriorate your tone. We prefer to let you activate it with the knowledge of the elements in your signal chain. Also, it may seem surprising when you receive the pedal and plug it in for the first time to have the Dry active while the pedal is switched off.

Pad

La Grotte features a PAD to adjust the input level to 0dB or -10dB, in addition to the preamp’s substantial volume headroom. You also have two independent volume controls for the original sound and the reverb sound, ideal for operating in full wet on a mix and for working with line levels. The input and output impedances have also been worked out so that you can plug in any instrument without worrying about whether the input level is too high. Try out La Grotte with the -10dB pad, especially on a synth!

Preamp gain

La Grotte also features a warm-sounding preamp to enhance the reverb. The pedal is initially set with plenty of output level, thanks to the preamp, which is at the edge of breakup and push the dry/wet section of the reverb circuit – in short, just like an amp. This gives you extra control over the gain to bring even more warmth and crunch to your sound.

Fade in / fade out

To prevent splattering in the event of a sudden switch-on, we’ve also developed an anti-pop system using a sound engineer’s technique based on fade in / fade out in the wet signal. Activate it by switching to “Yes”, then set the crossover time to 2 seconds using the Fade_In_Time trimpot.

FAQ

Pedal has no sound / does not light up

La Grotte should only be used with mono jacks, to allow the circuit to be powered. A negative-centered 9V DC supply offering +100mA must also be used, otherwise a protection circuit will cut the supply to protect the pedal.

I get a lot of noise the first time I turn it on.

The first thing to check is the quality of the power supply. A cheap power supply is going to create noise in such a vintage analog and mechanical circuit. We won’t have a solution to eliminate it, as we might with digital circuits. Forget the €10 power supply available on supermarkets, and invest in a quality pedalboard power supply. Please read this article for more informations.

How to avoid electromagnetic interference?

There are 2 types of pedalboard power supplies: switched-mode and transformer/linear regulator. Find out more here.

In any case, a power supply can have a transformer that takes the 110VAC 60Hz and transforms it into another voltage. This transformation will create electromagnetic disturbances. A spring is equipped with two mini-transformers which sense vibrations and create them, and these are sensitive to these interferences, especially the output transformer. Ideally, you should install La Grotte’s tank on one side of the board and the power supply on the opposite, as these radiations affect only within a very short distance. Do the test yourself, stick them together and see what kind of perturbation you’re dealing with. As La Grotte’s casing and shielding are optimized, we’re very confident that it will work on all pedalboards, and we’ll be happy to advise you.

I’ve got a good power supply and I’m still getting noise

If you’re sure of your power supply, now check the volume level created in wet. La Grotte has a preamp with a high output level, so if you try to boost the wet beyond +3dB you’re bound to add noise. On a clean amp, it’s easy to notice the wet volume boost: turn the pedal on/off and notice whether the sound level is the same or not, then adjust the wet. On a crunch amp, it’s trickier: you’ll need to find your way through the knobs, as the crunch will “absorb” the increase in volume, then add gain. The unit volume of the Wet is set at : Bass and High at noon, Wet at around 9 o’clock. At this level, background noise is very low, or even non-existent, given the technology and the attention paid to this detail during development. Beyond that, you’ll be asking the preamp to raise all the levels and therefore the noise that goes with them, which is perfectly normal and not at all annoying when you’re playing, given the good signal-to-noise ratio.

How do I clean my La Grotte tank glass?

We’re going to the optician! We take some glasses cleaner and the soft cloth supplied with it, and we gently wipe the glass to avoid any scratches. That’s all there is to it!

Enjoy La Grotte

Now that you know all about La Grotte, we hope you’ll make good use of it and that it’ll fit in perfectly with your pedalboard. At least, as well as Jack White’s board. Don’t hesitate to share your experience of La Grotte on social networks, and let us know what you think!