Generation Loss MKII

This is the slow, drunken pitch wobble that makes tape sound like tape. Turn it up and your notes gently bend and sway in an unpredictable way. In Classic Mode this knob becomes LP, a low-pass filter cutoff instead.

tip: Around 10 (fairly low) is the sweet spot for a nuanced, not-overpowering sound. Push it high for the feeling of struggling machinery and melted tape. Flick DRY to UNITY and raise WOW for a beautiful chorus.

This is your overall loudness for the effected sound. Straight up is the same volume you put in; max makes it twice as loud, handy for pushing an amp. Note: if you've turned on ramping (the auto-movement feature), this knob stops being volume and becomes the speed control for that movement instead — your volume setting is remembered.

tip: To adjust volume while ramping is active, hold down the left footswitch and turn this knob.

This is your tape library — a rotary selector that changes the 'flavor' and tone coloring of the tape machine. Fully counterclockwise is OFF (no EQ coloring, unfiltered). From there: positions 1-3 are VHS (three generations of a decaying VCR, each a copy of a copy), 4-5 are Portastudio cassette 4-tracks (5 is played at half-speed), 6 is a camcorder, 7-8 are Dictaphone voice recorders, 9 is a cheap toy recorder, 10 is a Walkman-style player, 11 is a broken imaginary deteriorated tape, and 12 is a reel-to-reel with brittle tape.

tip: Different instruments sound dramatically different on each model — go through them one by one. In Classic Mode, roll this (as LP) counterclockwise to remove highs and darken your tone.

Where WOW is a slow lazy wobble, FLUTTER is fast nervous shivering. It sits steadily in the middle and feels more like a texture than an obvious effect. It makes both the pitch and the loudness twitch quickly.

tip: Turn it up, then back it down just until you stop noticing it — that's the sweet spot for realistic, subtle vintage character. A tiny bit of FLUTTER is a secret ingredient even when using Gen Loss as an overdrive, EQ, or chorus. WOW and FLUTTER are best used together for a convincing tape sound.

This is your tape overdrive/distortion. Much of the knob's range is gentle and 'felt but not heard' warmth, like a real tape recording. Crank it and you get gnarly, mis-biased, blown-out textures. Because it interacts with the MODEL EQ that follows it, the same saturation sounds different on each tape model.

tip: Turn everything else off and use this as a standalone overdrive. If it's too weak or too strong for your instrument, adjust the INPUT GAIN in the hidden options (DRY toggle) — the high-gain setting gives heavier distortion but can add digital aliasing on loud signals. In Classic Mode this becomes a sample-rate reducer for lo-fi crunch.

This is the 'falling apart' knob. Turn it up and your sound starts glitching in living, unpredictable ways — brief dropouts, little pitch jumps, and a crumbly rustling texture. It brings the machine to life (or to death). It's also the engine behind the moving stereo image when SPREAD is on.

tip: You can shape it: turn off drops or snags with the DROP BYP / SNAG BYP dip switches, and set the crinkle/pop loudness in the hidden options. For a clean, randomized stereo-splitter effect, turn on SNAG BYP, SPREAD, and MISO, turn the other knobs down, and your signal skitters left-to-right while staying clean. The crumbling 'effect' on your sound can't be fully turned off, but the audible crinkle 'sound' can be silenced. In Classic Mode (as HP), roll clockwise to remove lows.

Controls whether your AUX effect (like the tape-stop) snaps on instantly or eases in slowly. Turn clockwise for slow, dramatic, crawling transitions.

tip: A slow onset on the STOP effect gives a gorgeous gradual tape-slow-down.

How loud the tape hiss is when NOISE is switched on.

tip: Keep it low for realism; crank it for a very dirty, degraded vibe.

Controls the machine's rumble/hum. Straight up is silent. Turn right for electrical hum, turn left for VCR-style mechanical noise.

tip: Pick your poison — hum and VCR noise sit on opposite sides of noon, so you choose the character by which way you turn.

How loud the rustling crinkle-and-pop noises are. This is only the audible 'sound' of them — the way they process your actual notes can't be turned off.

tip: Turn this down if you want the failure texture on your notes without the distracting rustle sound on top.

Decides what happens to your signal when the pedal is off. True bypass (left of noon) is a pure analog pass-through. DSP bypass (right of noon) runs your clean signal through the digital circuit even when off, giving silent, click-free switching.

tip: Use DSP bypass if switching pops bother you or you're using the digital dry-through in stereo setups; use true bypass for the purest clean tone.

This three-way switch picks what happens when you stomp the left footswitch during a performance. STOP is a dramatic slow-down-to-a-stop, FILTER instantly opens up the tone by removing the model's EQ, and FAIL slams everything into chaos.

tip: There's a hidden fourth option, FREEZE (holds the last sound forever): set this toggle to FAIL, turn on both DROP BYP and SNAG BYP dip switches, and be in Classic Mode. Set how quickly AUX effects fade in via the AUX ONSET hidden option.

Controls how much of your original clean tone you hear alongside the tape effect. NONE is pure tape machine (fully wet). SMALL adds a touch of clean for a bigger, more detailed sound while keeping the tape dominant. UNITY matches your clean signal to the input level — best for chorus and lush modulation effects.

tip: Use UNITY when chasing chorus and 'sun-soaked' modulation sounds — it lets the wobble beat against your dry note. Note this is a different setting from the DRY TYPE dip switch and the input-gain DRY toggle in hidden options.

Adds the constant background sound of an old tape machine — tape hiss plus mechanical hum/rumble. It brings authentic grime and atmosphere even when you're not playing.

tip: Dial the two noise types separately in hidden options: HISS LEVEL (FLUTTER knob) and MECHANICAL NOISE LEVEL (SATURATE knob) — the mechanical knob goes clockwise for hum, counterclockwise for VCR noise. You can also remove mechanical noise entirely with the HUM BYP dip switch.

Lets you save and instantly recall two complete sounds. Middle = whatever the knobs and switches are currently set to; flick left or right to jump to a saved sound.

tip: To save to the right slot: hold the right footswitch for 3 seconds, then also hold the left footswitch for another 3 seconds. For the left slot, start by holding the left footswitch instead. The middle LED blinks to confirm the save.

Tells the pedal how hot your incoming signal is so the saturation behaves right. Line level for synths/interfaces, instrument level for a normal guitar or bass, high gain when you want more aggressive tape distortion.

tip: If SATURATE feels too tame, bump this toward high gain; if you hear ugly digital fizz on loud notes, back it off.

Your main on/off stomp. When off, your signal passes straight through untouched.

tip: You can switch to a clickless 'DSP bypass' (digital thru even when bypassed) in the hidden options via the MODEL knob — useful for avoiding switching pops, though it means your clean signal is always going through the converters.

The performance stomp. Tap it to lock the AUX effect on/off, or press and hold to have the effect only last while your foot is down. Great for dramatic real-time moments like a tape-stop drop.

tip: Adjust how gradually the effect arrives with the AUX ONSET hidden option (WOW knob) — from instant to a slow crawl.

This is the secret gateway to a second layer of settings. Stomp and hold both switches, wait for the green LEDs, then tweak the knobs and DRY toggle to access hidden parameters, and let go to exit.

tip: You don't need to remember which knob does what — see the hidden options list. Changes only apply while you hold the switches down.

Turn this on when you plug in mono but want stereo out of two amps or a stereo rig.

tip: Combine with SPREAD (and in MKII mode, FAILURE) to turn a mono input into a moving stereo image.

Makes the left and right channels behave differently for a wide, moving stereo picture. In the main mode the FAILURE glitches happen at different spots on each side; in Classic Mode you instead get gentle auto-panning that sways with the wobble.

tip: For a clean randomized stereo splitter, turn on SPREAD + MISO + SNAG BYP and turn the other knobs down.

Normally your dry signal stays perfectly clean. Flip this on and your 'dry' path also gets dirtied up by saturation and the tape model/drops (but not the wobble), so you can blend clean-ish but still colored tones into modulated sounds.

tip: See the Signal Flow diagrams — this changes where the dry blend branches off. Great for gritty chorus textures.

Turns off the brief silences/dropouts so FAILURE only crinkles and snags without the jarring gaps.

tip: Turn this on with SPREAD for more subtle stereo movement from just the crinkles and pops. Also part of the FREEZE unlock combo.

Turns off the sudden pitch jumps so your failure stays more tonal and controlled.

tip: Use with SPREAD + MISO for a clean random stereo splitter; also part of the FREEZE unlock combo.

Kills the mechanical hum/rumble while keeping the tape hiss, if you only want hiss.

tip: Handy when you love the hiss atmosphere but the hum is muddying your low end.

Flip this and you basically have a different pedal — an imaginary, feel-based tape machine instead of the science-based MKII one. Several knobs become filters and a sample-rate reducer, and SPREAD becomes smooth auto-panning.

tip: Classic Mode is required to unlock the FREEZE AUX function, and it's great as a filtered chorus or lo-fi sample-rate reducer.

These little switches let you pick which knobs the pedal will move on its own (or via an expression pedal). Flip on the ones you want automated.

tip: Engage BOUNCE + MODEL + RANDOM for the 'Tape Hopper' effect where each random landing is a different tape machine. If you plug in expression/CV but engage none of these, you control VOLUME by default.

Turns on hands-free continuous movement of whatever knobs you've selected — the pedal keeps sweeping them back and forth (or randomly) forever.

tip: With bounce on, the VOLUME knob becomes the speed control. Hold the left footswitch to still adjust actual volume.

Makes the auto-movement jump around unpredictably instead of gliding evenly — great for sample-and-hold style surprises.

tip: BOUNCE + FAILURE + RANDOM gives the 'Maintenance Phase' effect: ever-changing random amounts of malfunction.

Decides which end of the movement your knob setting marks. If you're bouncing a filter, use the TOP setting so it never sweeps down to silence.

tip: For subtle filter sweeps in Classic Mode, set LP fairly high and use the top SWEEP so it stays audible.

Chooses whether the automated or expression-controlled sweep moves up or down. Used mainly for one-shot ramp moves and expression pedals.

tip: Ramp (as opposed to bounce) only moves once when you power on the pedal — set polarity to control whether knobs rise or fall into place.

This is the input for either a MIDI connection or an external footswitch. Plug an external tap-switch here to control AUX from a tabletop setup — it takes over automatically. For MIDI you need a Chase Bliss Midibox adapter.

tip: MIDI unlocks control of literally everything, including the hidden options and dip switch functions — check the separate MIDI manual.

Plug an expression pedal or CV source in here to control the knobs with your foot or an external device. The pedal auto-detects the signal and hands over control.

tip: Warning: only feed it 0-5V — higher voltage or any negative voltage can damage the pedal. Use a TRS cable for expression, a floating-ring TRS-to-TS cable for CV. Plug in with no CONTROL switches engaged and you control VOLUME.

Where your power supply plugs in. It's a standard pedal-style barrel with the negative on the inside.

tip: Use an isolated, properly-rated supply that can deliver at least 250mA; this is a digital pedal and needs clean power to run right. There's no battery option.