MESA BOOGIE Owner's Manual
Greetings from the Home of Tone Congratulations on your choice of the WalkAbout as your Bass amplifier and welcome to the MESA/Boogie family! As a discriminating player you probably know that you have purchased the most comprehensive instrument for amplifying Bass that is available. What you might not realize is that this entitles you to all the experience, resources and commitment our twenty-five years of service to musicians world wide has to offer.
PRECAUTIONS & WARNINGS 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: WARNING: EU: permission from the Supply Authority is needed before connection. WARNING: Vacuum tube amplifiers generate heat. To insure proper ventilation always make certain there is at least four inches (100mm) of space behind the rear of the amplifier cabinet. Keep away from curtains or any flammable objects.
Table of Contents Precautions Overview Instant Gratification Helpful Hints 0 1/2 2 2/3 FRONT PANEL: Instrument Inputs: ACTIVE & PASSIVE CONTROLS: GAIN BASS MID TREBLE DI LEVEL MASTER PARAMETRIC EQUALIZER FREQUENCY CONTROLS 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 6/7 7 REAR PANEL: FUSE A.C.
Operating Instructions OVERVIEW: Congratulations on your choice of the v WalkAbout Bass Amplifier! This compact and powerful little brother to the M-Pulse 600 and 360 delivers all the tone and most of the features in a package that’s bound for the open road. At the heart of this giant killer is a robust 300 watt Simul-State power section that will handle most clubs and smaller venues with surprising headroom.
OVERVIEW: (Continued) type BASS and TREBLE controls are combined with a passive style MID to produce a powerful string of musically interactive and comprehensive tone controls. If even further tweaking is desired, we have included a 3 Band Semi-Parametric Equalizer that covers frequencies between 30Hz and 12Khz. This in-line EQ assures that any sound you can dream of can be dialed in quickly and accurately.
HELPFUL HINTS: (Continued) and boost these frequencies when the control is set above 12:00. The MID works like a normal passive control and boosts a broad band of frequencies as it is increased. 5. When using the Parametric EQ keep in mind that cutting (notching) undesirable frequencies is often preferable to boosting desirable ones. By using this technique you will keep noise to a minimum and ensure ample headroom at all times.
FRONT PANEL CONTROLS: (Continued) GAIN: This control determines the overall character of the input sensitivity. The lower regions of the control (below 12:00) lend greater headroom and provide a scooped, brighter personality. The upper harmonics come through more prominently in this area of the control making the top end sound more transparent and sweet. This region is especially useful for funkier stuff when thumbing is in order.
FRONT PANEL CONTROLS: (Continued) MID: This is the only passive style control in the string of rotary tone controls. This scheme was chosen for its inherently musical blend and for the way the passive style midrange control, with its wide spread and smooth taper, fills in the holes. Unlike the BASS, this control is a boost only, and while it can competently remove this broad spectrum of midrange from the mix, it cannot provide the extreme attenuation of an active style control.
FRONT PANEL CONTROLS: (Continued) DI LEVEL: This rotary control determines the amount of signal present at the Rear Panel DIRECT OUT XLR jack. You will find ample gain here and should be able to dial in the appropriate amount of signal for most any live or recording console.
FRONT PANEL CONTROLS: (Continued) PARAMETRIC EQUALIZER: (Continued) controls and then begin with subtle tweaking of the frequencies using the PARAMETRIC EQ. Don’t start boosting everything all over the bandwidth and expect to have a great sound. Make small moves and then allow your ears time to adjust to the difference. With controls this powerful EQ Hangover is part of the buzz.
REAR PANEL CONTROLS: REAR VIEW: WalkAbout M-PULSE TM WALKABOUT SIMUL STATE BASS AMPLIFIER TUBE DRIVEN-MOSFET POWER CAUTION:Unplug power before removing fuse or bolts holding chassis FUSE FUSE POWER WER 120 V~ 60 Hz 6A HANDBUILT IN PETALUMA , CALIFORNIA DIRECT OUTPUT EFFECTS LOOP GROUND LIFT SPEAKER OUTPUT SUGGESTED LOAD 4 OHMS FUSE 6A SLO BLO RETURN SEND FUSE: This is the A.C. Mains Fuse for the WalkAbout REPLACE ONLY WITH A SLO-BLO TYPE FUSE OF THE PROPER RATING.
REAR PANEL CONTROLS: (Continued DIRECT OUT: This section captures the entire pre-amp signal including the SEMI-PARAMETRIC EQ and the EFFECTS LOOP which in turn allows you to send a Balanced signal to either a House Main Board or a Recording console. There are two elements to this circuit which are; (1) a male XLR jack, (2) a GROUND LIFT switch. DIRECT OUT GROUND LIFT GROUND LIFT: This switch removes the circuit-to-chassis ground connection from the XLR jack.
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DIAGNOSING PRE-AMP TUBE PROBLEMS: 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...
FRONT VIEW: WalkAbout BULB pt# 703047 ALL FRONT PANEL KNOBS SAME 408114 part # LEN pt# 703782 ACTIVE INSTRUMENT INPUTS 0 db 0 0 POT pt# 593379 POT pt# 593379 POT pt# 593379 -15 GAIN BASS MID + - + - +15 60 Hz 340Hz 2K POT pt# 592155 POT pt# 592155 POT pt# 592155 30 PASSIVE 300 200 2K 1.
MESA BOOGIE The Spirit of Art in Technology Thank you for trusting MESA/Boogie to be your amplifier company and we wish you many years of toneful enjoyment from this handbuilt all tube instrument.
The Spirit of Art in Technology (707) 778-6565 FAX NO.
