EarthQuaker Devices Swiss Things Pedalboard Reconciler

The Swiss Things Pedalboard Reconciler is an all-in-one solution designed to really tie your rig together without resorting to some confusing loop-switching contraption bigger than a meatball party sub that eats up the entire bottom row of your board and kind-of-but-not-quite does what you need it to do.

Swiss Things combines two true-bypass Flexi-Switch-enabled effects loops, a Flexi-Switch AB-Y box with transformer isolation between outputs, a buffered tuner output, 20dB of clean boost, an expression pedal output for volume control and a quiet, high-headroom output buffer into a compact pedalboard-friendly signal routing junction box that lives at the top-right corner of your pedalboard and really ties your rig together without any signal loss.

This is what you can do with it:
Use as many pedals as you’d like without tone-suck
Quickly and easily bypass all your pedals with one click
Use Flexi-Switch Technology with every pedal in your setup
Eliminate volume pedal tone-suck by using any expression pedal to control volume
Use multiple amps without phase issues, ground loops or extra noise
Tidy up your rig, shorten cable runs and reduce tone loss by keeping all inputs and outputs in one location

Here’s what the footswitches do:
Loop 1: Press this to engage Loop 1. It features Flexi-Switch Technology and is unbuffered for use with all distortion, overdrive and fuzz pedals, or anything else that doesn’t like being buffered.

Loop 2: Press this to engage Loop 2. It also features Flexi-Switch Technology and is buffered for use with time-based effects (delay, reverb, modulation, etc.).

Note: When nothing is plugged into Loop 2, it functions as a mute.

Boost: press this to activate the boost. It is Flexi-Switch Technology enabled and provides up to 20dB of clean boost post-effects loops and is intended for use as an output booster.

A/B selects between Output A and Output B.

Note: Output B is transformer-isolated and includes a Phase switch for use with pedals and/or amplifiers which invert phase.

Both activates Output A and Output B at the same time and features Flexi-Switch Technology.

Here’s what the input, output, send, return and expression jacks are for:
Input: Plug your instrument in here.
If you have any “always-on” pedals (compressors, preamps, EQs, etc.) place them before the Swiss Things input.
Loop 1 Send: Plug this into the input of the first pedal in the overdrive/distortion/fuzz section of your board.
Loop 1 Return: Plug the output of the last pedal of the overdrive/distortion/fuzz section into this jack.
Loop 2 Send: Plug this into the input of the first pedal in the modulation section of your board.
Loop 2 Return: Plug the output of the last pedal of your modulation section into this jack.
Tuner Output: Connect this to the input of your tuner.
To avoid extra noise, your tuner must always be turned on when connected to Swiss Things.
Volume EXP: Connect any expression pedal to this output to control volume.
Most volume pedals create “tone-suck” by loading the signal down and have limited travel. This solves that problem with a buffered output and allows you to use any expression pedal with the same results. The expression jack is placed after the “dirt” effects loop (Loop 1) which allows you to change volume levels without affecting gain.
Output A: connect this to the input of your amplifier.
Output B: connect this to the input of a separate amplifier to use multiple amps and/or to play in stereo.
Note: to use Swiss Things with stereo effects, they should be placed after Outputs A & B and both outputs must be selected using the Both switch.
Note: Output B is transformer-isolated and includes a Phase switch for use with pedals and/or amplifiers which invert phase.
To use stereo effects after Swiss Things, do not have the Phase switch engaged otherwise the L & R inputs of your stereo effects will be out of phase.

Does it Matter Which Loop I Use?
Yes, it does. Loop 1 is unbuffered and is intended for use with boost, overdrive, distortion, fuzz, etc. Use this loop for vintage pedals and/or anything with low input impedance that requires direct interaction with your pickups. Loop 2 is buffered and is intended for use with time-based and modulation effects (delay, reverb, chorus, phaser, flanger, etc). When nothing is plugged into Loop 2, it functions as a mute switch.

Quick Start Guide
1. Place Swiss Things in the top-right corner of your pedalboard.
a. Note: any mono “always-on” pedals (compressors, preamps, EQs, etc.) should be placed before Swiss Things.
2. Connect the Loop 1 Send to the input of the first gain pedal in your chain.
3. Connect the output of the last gain pedal in your chain to the Loop 1 Return.
4. Plug the Loop 2 Send into the input of the first modulation effect in your chain.
5. Plug the output of the last modulation effect in your chain into the Loop 2 Return.
6. Patch the Tuner Output into the input of your tuner.
a. Note: tuner must be always turned on. If you bypass your tuner, you may experience ground loops or hum.
7. For volume control, plug an expression pedal into the Volume EXP jack.
8. Connect outputs A and/or B to your amplifier(s).

Flexi-Switch Technology
This relay-based, true-bypass switching style allows you to simultaneously use momentary and latching style switching.

For standard latching operation, tap the footswitch once to activate the effect and then tap again to bypass.

For momentary operation, hold the footswitch down for as long as you’d like to use the effect. Once you release the switch the effect will be bypassed.

Since the switching is relay based, it requires power to pass signal.