MESA BOOGIE Owner’s Manual The Spirit of Art in Technology 1317 Ross Street Petaluma, CA 94954
Hello from the Tone Farm... YOU, the smart player and all around intuitive human, have put your trust in us to be your amplifier company. This is something we do not take lightly. Our reward is that we’ve made a classic amplifier and by choosing this amplifier, you have become part of the Mesa family...Welcome! Our goal is to never let you down. Your reward is that you are now the owner of an amp bred of fine all tube amp heritage...
TREM-O-VERB TABLE OF CONTENTS Precautions ___________________________________________________________ Page # FRONT PANEL: Overview ____________________________________________________ 1 Power-Up __________________________________________________________________ 2 Gain _____________________________________________________________________ 3 Treble / Mid / Bass ___________________________________________________________ 3 Presence __________________________________________________________________ 4 Reverb ____
Your MESA/Boogie Amplifier is a professional instrument. Please treat it with respect and operate it properly. USE COMMON SENSE AND ALWAYS OBSERVE THESE PRECAUTIONS: Do not expose amplifier to moisture, rain or water, direct sunlight or extremely high temperatures. Always insure that amplifier is properly grounded. Always unplug AC power cord before changing fuse or any tubes. When replacing fuse, use only same type and rating. Avoid direct contact with heated tubes.
TREM-O-VERB Operating Instructions OVERVIEW: Congratulations on your choice of the DUAL RECTIFIER TREM-O-VERB. You have purchased a handbuilt instrument of the finest quality and craftsmanship. A unique blend of yesteryears’ black magic power section design combined with our race-shop approach to finely tuned, high gain pre-amp circuitry leaves the TREM-O-VERB standing alone...instantly a classic destined for vintage status.
FRONT PANEL: First familiarize yourself with the layout of the front panel and locate the Footswitch Input jack. This jack, when connected to your footswitch will allow you to select either the Lead or Rhythm channel remotely. The rear panel Channel Select toggle must be in the UP position (ORANGE.) If you don’t have a footswitch available, the Channel Switch located on the rear panel ( far left end of panel if facing front of amp ) will activate this switching procedure.
GAIN: Like most amplifiers, the GAIN Control in each channel determines it’s sensitivity and overall tonal characteristics. It meters the amount of Gain (volume) that your guitar signal will produce. In the T-VERB, we paid special attention to the amount and frequencies of Gain present in each mode, making sure the whole range of available Gain is musically usable.
PRESENCE: These are controls that work in the power section to reduce attack and brightness. They work on a different frequency than the TREBLE Control, and depending on the mode chosen, and the amount of Gain dialed up, can sound higher or lower than the Treble frequency. In the Rhythm mode it dials in sparkle and shimmer, letting clean sounds cut through better. Balance the Treble and PRESENCE until the desired blend is reached.
MASTER: A simple control found on most amps today, these serve to balance the playing level of the two channels. They enable the pre-amps Gain Control to be used in a wide range of settings, while never having to affect the listening level. On the T-VERB these MASTERS serve another purpose as well. When the FX Loop is switched out of Bypass and programmed to either channel specifically or, simply ON all the time, these MASTER Controls double as FX Loop Send Level Controls.
up this effect for over-use can be ineffective and can even dilute what might otherwise be a nice sounding tone. External switching of the TREMOLO is possible by a remote footswitch, see section on External Switching. To obtain the smoothest TREMOLO effect, bear in mind that for every range of speed - there is a sweet spot on the Intensity Control. This is especially true for slower speed settings.
RECTIFIER SELECT: This patented switchable feature allows you to select between two different types of rectifiers for different sounds and feel. It first appeared on our Dual Rectifier Solo Head and is, in fact, part of the magic behind the whole Dual Rectifier series of amplifiers. It has since found its way into some of our other products as well, such as the MAVERICK, HEARTBREAKER and the BLUE ANGEL.
34’s. Make sure that the BIAS Switch is set correctly to match the tube type that you are using. Failure to do this will result in tube failure that could possibly burn resistors in the Bias supply. Although this is a fairly simple repair for an authorized technician, it is easily avoidable. ALWAYS CHECK THE BIAS SWITCH setting if you experiment with alternate tube types and you will enjoy uninterrupted performances from your TREM-O-VERB.
SLAVE LEVEL NOTE: Once a signal is taken from the SLAVE, it can not be inserted back into the FX Loop Return jack or a feedback loop will occur. Much like holding a microphone into the PA system’s cabinets...a loud high pitched squeal will occur. SLAVE OUT SPEAKERS: Two 8, two 4 and one 16 Ohm jack are provided for speaker interfacing. The TREM-O-VERB is not very sensitive to speaker mismatches and will not be damaged by them, except that very low ohmage loads will cause the power tubes to wear faster.
SAMPLE SETTINGS Power Section: SAMPLE 1 Sparkling Clean Bold - Tube Rectifier or Solid State Rectifier. CLEAN FX MASTER REVERB PRESENCE BASS MID TREBLE GAIN LOOP ACTIVE MASTER VINTAGE HIGH GAIN BLUES FT.SW INPUT MODERN HIGH GAIN HEAD VERSION Power Section: SAMPLE 2 Pushed Bluesy Rhythm / Solo: Both Channels Spongy or Bold Tube Rectifier. CLEAN FX MASTER REVERB PRESENCE BASS MID TREBLE GAIN LOOP ACTIVE MASTER VINTAGE HIGH GAIN BLUES FT.
PERSONNAL SETTINGS Power Section: SAMPLE 1 CLEAN FX MASTER REVERB PRESENCE BASS MID TREBLE GAIN LOOP ACTIVE MASTER VINTAGE HIGH GAIN BLUES FT.SW INPUT FT.SW INPUT FT.SW INPUT FT.
ON 592151 SPEED 592152 DEPTH KNOB pt# 408110 POT # POT # TREMOLO SWITCH pt# 607101 SWITCH pt# 607101 OFF RED OFF ORANGE CHANNEL SELECT RED SET TO ORANGE WHEN USING FOOTSWITCH OR EXT. SWITCH ORANGE TM ORG TO MODERN CHANNEL CLONING RED TO VINTAGE ORG=VINTAGE RED=MODERN NORMAL SWITCH pt# 600118 SWITCH pt# 602112 REVERB TREMOLO JACK pt# (all) 610110 LOOP REVERB. CHAN. TREMOLO CHAN.
TUBE NOISE & MICROPHONICS: You may occasionally experience some form of tube noise or microphonics. Certainly no cause for alarm, this quirky behavior comes with the territory and the Tone. Much like changing a light bulb, you don’t need a technician to cure these types of minor user serviceable annoyances and in fact, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to cure tube problems...
technician who will basically perform the same simple tests. If the tubes are still within their six-month warranty period, we will happily send you a replacement. Just note the color designation on the tube label so that we can send you the appropriate match. DIAGNOSING PRE-AMP TUBE PROBLEMS: Because your amplifier is an all tube design, it is quite possible that at some point you will experience minors pre-amp tube noise.
BACK EDGE OF CHASSIS DUAL RECTIFIER "TREM-O-VERB" TUBE TASK CHART 6L6 or EL34 RECTIFIER TUBES 5U4G B A B A V5 V6 B A B A B A B A V4 V3 V2 V1 (6) 12AX7 (Each 12AX7 contains two separate Triodes) PARTIAL VIEW OF CHASSIS Description of Tube Functions V1 A= 1st Input/Gain Stage V1 B= Reverb Return V2 A= 2nd Gain Stage V2 B= 3rd Gain Stage V3 A= 4th Gain Stage V3 B= 5th Gain Buffer PAGE 15 V4 A= FX Return - Amp V4 B= FX Send - Buffer V5 A= Reverb Driver V5 B= Reverb Mixer Amp V6 A= Phase Split
BIAS ADJUSTMENT: (Part of a continuous series) NOTE: An article written by Randall Smith that we thought you might find interesting. CATHODE ( ) GRID ( , ) SCREEN GRID ( ) Here’s a question we often hear: BEAMCONFINING ELECTRODE ( ) .. ..... .... . ... . .... PLATE ( , ) “Why doesn’t Mesa put bias adjustments in their amplifiers?” Well, there’s a short answer and a long answer to this question. Structure of a 6L6 / 5881 Beam Power Pentode.
Voltage and current are NOT the same. Current is the AMOUNT of electricity, the “quantity” — and is measured in amperes. Voltage is the degree of electric charge — like the “pressure” to use the old water analogy. Let me illustrate how different voltage and current are: When you scrape your feet across a carpetted floor in dry, wintery conditions, your body can become charged with 50,000 to 100,000 volts of static electricity.
Some of the other recommended biasing, “methods” — such as -”.. tubes running red hot, increase the bias .. sounds harsh and runs too cool, turn it down ...” are guesswork at best. Luckily, one of the great things about tube amps is that they can usually stand some abuse without causing any real harm ... at least not immediately.
MESA BOOGIE The Spirit of Art in Technology Thank you for trusting MESA/Boogie to be your amplifier company. We wish you many years of toneful enjoyment from this handbuilt all tube instrument.
