User Manual for Walrus Audio Melee Effects Pedal

Quick Guide

The Walrus Audio Melee is a combined reverb and distortion pedal designed for shoegaze and ambient textures. It requires a 9V DC, Center Negative power supply with at least 200mA. It is highly recommended to use an isolated power supply; daisy chain power supplies are not recommended.

Controls and Operation

The pedal features several knobs and switches to shape your sound:

• Volume: Sets the overall output volume of the pedal.
• Tone: Controls the tone of both distortion and reverb simultaneously. Left is normal, middle is dark, and right is the brightest setting.
• Decay: Controls the decay time of the reverb. Left is minimum, middle is medium, and right is max decay.
• Secondary Control: Hold down the bypass stomp switch and adjust the decay toggle to set modulation. Left is no modulation, middle is 33RPM, and right is 45RPM.

Joystick and Signal Order

The joystick allows for real-time mixing of effects:

• X-Axis (Left/Right): Sets the amount of reverb mix (Left = fully dry, Right = fully wet).
• Y-Axis (Up/Down): Sets the amount of distortion (Down = fully clean, Up = fully distorted).

The D>R | R>D switch determines the signal path:

• D>R (Left): Distortion runs into Reverb. This maintains note clarity similar to traditional setups.
• R>D (Right): Reverb runs into Distortion. This creates a muddied, powerful wall of sound.

Reverb Programs

The Melee includes three reverb programs. Change them by simultaneously pressing the bypass and sustain stomp switches:

• Ambient Reverb (Pink LED): Massive trails for soaring melodic lines.
• Octave Down Reverb (Yellow LED): Adds an eerie lower octave to the reverb trail.
• Reverse Reverb with Feedback (Blue LED): Reversed trails. In this mode, the Decay knob controls feedback instead of decay time.

Momentary Features

• Bypass Switch: When the pedal is off, press and hold to temporarily activate the pedal for a moment of texture.
• Sustain Switch: Hold to ramp up the reverb trail to maximum. Press and release to latch the current reverb decay. Press again to release the latch.

Bypass Modes

The Melee offers three bypass modes. To change the mode, hold the Bypass switch while applying power until the preset LED lights up. Press the Bypass switch to scroll through colors, then press Bypass and Sustain simultaneously to confirm:

• Green (DSP Bypass): Default mode. Reverb has trails after bypassing.
• Blue (DSP+True Bypass): Reverb trails fade out before the relay bypasses the pedal.
• Red (True Bypass): Reverb does not have trails after bypassing.