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1. Thus a diode tube one with a cathode and an anode is mostly used to rectify alternating current into direct current by passing it without restriction but in one direction only This also explains why closing time is strictly enforced at Irish pubs During normal operation the traffic flow is similarly unimpeded and uni directional toward the bar and this process rectifies the work day negativity It goes without saying that no one leaves as long as the atmosphere around the bar remains positively charged This section is a continuing technical treatise on the workings of Irish Pubs but to make it easier for the layman to understand it is explained in terms of vacuum tube technology Enter the original bar free beer and no doors Well it turns out that some control over the flow can be a necessary and useful advantage This led to the invention of those swinging louvered saloon doors which are open at the top and bottom They are patterned after the control grid of the vacuum tube which is a loosely wound coil of thin wire located between the cathode and the plate In a Triode the plate is always positively charged with high voltage D C and even though the grid is blocking the path those nega tive electrons can still FEEL the strong attraction just as the Irishmen can see in through the louvers of the bar doors They know what pleasures lie beyond but to get there requires overcoming the negative influences controlling the access T
2. 50 WATTS 100 WATTS 50 WATTS 100 WATTS 50 WATTS FX ON FX FX ON FX ON FX ON FX TUBE NOISE amp MICROPHONICS Vou 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 by simply swapping out a pre amp or power tube First may we suggest that you set the amplifier up on something so that you can get to the tubes comfortably without having to bend down It also helps to have adequate lighting as you will need to see the tube sockets clearly to swap tubes Use caution and com mon sense when touching the tubes after the amplifier has been on as they may be extremely hot If they are hot and you don t want to wait for them to cool off try grasping them with a rag and also note that the glass down around the bulbous silvery tip is considerably less hot which makes it easier to handle Gently rock the tube back and forth as you pull it away from its socket ey There are two main types of tube faults shorts and noise Both large and small tubes may fall prey to either of these problems but diagnosis and remedy is usually simple If a fuse blows the problem is most likely a shorted power tube and shorts can either b
3. CORRECT MATCH CORRECT 4 Cabinet 4 Cabinet 16 Cabinet 16 Cabinet 30 WIRING SCHEMES Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM 16 Ohm Cc SERIES BOX 8 Ohm Cabinet 80hm Cabinet 8 Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH Partial back view of amp 1 yl CORRECT MATCH BOHM 4OHM L 16 Ohm Cabinet 16 Ohm Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH 16 Cabinet 16 Ohm Cabinet PAGE 31 WIRING SCHEMES Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier 16 Ohm 4OHM 40HM 80HM la SERIES BOX 8 Cabinet 8 Cabinet 16 Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH 16 Cabinet 16 Cabinet 16 Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH PAGE 32 ONTRIODES PENTODES amp IRISHMEN With apologies to Friends and Relatives from the Emerald Isle who will make their appearance soon enough the humor which follows is dedicated to the memories of Spec McAuliff and Fae Rafael McNally two of the True Greats As their numerical references suggest the terms Diode Triode and Pentode indicate the number of elements within the vacuum tube i e two three or five All tubes also require a filament or heater which is not included in the count Its purpose is to excite elec trons from the cathode coating by raising the temperature such that they are able to boil out of the electron rich coating material and for
4. This three position toggle switch determines the status of the incoming AC power SPONGY works like a built in Variac reducing all the internal voltages for a true vintage feeling and that extraordinary brown sound Power is reduced somewhat too making it easier to achieve an overdriven power sound especially when the RECTIFIER SELECT switch is set to the TUBE RECTIFIER position ON BOLD STANDBY SPONGY Using the Roadster in the SPONGY power setting will also extend tube life and overall reliability while still producing enough power to work many of your gigs and all of your recording needs For maximum power normal response and the greatest headroom use the BOLD setting of the AC power switch Make sure the unit is grounded all three terminals of the A C power cord must be connected whenever possible to avoid injury to the user as well as to the unit and that the proper voltage is present Follow the cold start procedure described in the STANDBY section above when powering up your new Roadster Now that we have reviewed the Channels and their Modes we are ready to go aft and check out the treasure chest of features that ride the Rear Panel PAGE 11 REAR PANEL CONTROLS amp FEATURES REAR VIEW Roadster Combo SPEAKERS 160HM 80HM 40HM 40HM ee ee e SEND RETURN ae KING WAT F CKNG WATTS OFF TRACKI ATTS 0 KING quss Wm TWO 5 CABS SIBAH This 1 4
5. between or pushed sounds in TWEED that pay homage to the amazing tweed amps of yesteryear Yet here in the Roadster there is just enough increased gain to take these sounds over the top and give you that extra fire and feel This mode may be one of the best sounds in the Roadster and would make a truly great amp all by itself Be sure to experiment with the Recto Tracking setting in CHANNEL 1 to create the ultimate retro character and super dynamic attack envelope The added bounce of this feature mates perfectly with TWEED s preamp voicing especially when used with the 50 watt power setting If you like this approach to clean sounds be sure to check the beyond vintage feel by taking this scheme a step further and selecting SPONGY on the A C POWER SELECT switch and knocking the A C down for a truly soupy vibe Whether you choose to utilize TWEED for these lower headroom retro applications or you want a sweet clipped sound with just a bit more resiliency this mode is a wonderful voice for any style of clean playing or soft clip soloing PAGE 5 CHANNEL MODES Continued This mode appears in CHANNEL 2 only and as the name implies was inspired by the great sounding amps of the 50s amp 60s that were built in Great Britain These classic amplifiers were basically upside down Leo circuits but none the less had a signature sound all their own due largely to the fact that they were powered by the pentode available to them at the ti
6. As in most tube guitar amplifiers the TREBLE control in all four channels of your Roadster is the most powerful of the rotary controls and is next in line only to the GAIN control as a shaping tool Because it is first in the signal path of the tone controls and from here the Middle and Bass receive their signal it is by far the dominant tone control For this reason the setting of the TREBLE control is very important for equal representation of the three frequency regions to appear at their respective controls Like most of the controls on your Readster there is an optimum region of the TREBLE CLEAN control where ample top end is mixed in and yet enough signal is still passed on to IN the MIDDLE and BASS controls FAT WQ NEED As you might surmise here is the sweet spot There are definitely great sounds MEN above and below this middle region 11 00 1 30 but the balance between the GAIN TREBLE TREBLE control and the other two tone controls is compromised CLEAN FAT Q e The one place you may wantto throw caution to the wind and set the TREBLE control above this median zone presents itself in CHANNEL 1 of your new Roadster In all 3 BRIT modes CLEAN FAT amp TWEED the TREBLE control can be used to dump extra gain into the mix This is especially effective in the TWEED mode for crunch sounds When doing so use the PRESENCE control to roll off some of the more than ample top end for a more compressed feel and fatter
7. including contaminate coming loose or physical contact or near contact between the elements Replace it and the fuse with the proper slo blo type and power up the amp using the power up procedure as we described earlier in this manual Often caused by contamination within in a tube the culprit can usually be identified and by lightly tapping on the glass you will probably hear the noise change Hearing some noise through the speakers while tapping on the 12AX7 s is normal however And the one nearer the INPUT will always sound louder because its output is being further amplified by the second 12AX7 The power tubes should be all but quiet when they are tapped If crackling or hissing changes with the tapping you have probably found the problem To confirm a noisy power tube merely put the Roadster on Standby remove it from its socket and turn it back on It will cause no damage to run the Roadster briefly with one power tube missing You may notice a slight background hum however as the push pull becomes unbalanced Whenever you are trying to diagnose a suspect tube keep your other hand on the POWER and STANDBY switches ready to shut them off instantly in the unlikely case you provoke a major short If you think you ve located a problem tube but aren t sure we recommend substituting the suspect with a new one just to be sure of your diagnoses You will be doing yourself and us a big favor by just following the simple guidelines previousl
8. jack and control provide a signal derived from the speaker jack Perfect for using either the Roadster head version or combo as a master pre amp and additional power amps for more power when needed Some players use the SLAVE to derive an FX Send Signal and go to other amps for their wet sound 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 a PA system s cabinets a loud high pitched squeal will be the result KERS 4 OHM 4 OHM ee USE WITH TWO 8 CABS SPEAKERS Two 4 Ohm one 8 Ohm and one 16 Ohm jack are provided for speaker interfacing The Roadster is not very sensi tive to speaker mismatches and will not be damaged by them except that very low ohmage loads will cause the power tubes to wear faster A single twelve inch 8 Ohm speaker should generally be connected to the 8 Ohm output When using two 8 Ohm speakers connect them both to the 4 Ohm outputs provided because the total load is 4 Ohms in that case Check out the information further back in this manual regarding speaker impedance and possible speaker hook up schemes 4x12 cabinets may be 4 8 or 16 Ohms If you are not sure of the impedance of your cabinet you may need to remove the Rear Panel in order to verify the impedance rating of the individual speaker or speakers MESA 4x12 and 4x10 cabinets come standard wired to 8 Ohms
9. the Roadster is more than just an amp It s a collection of amps housed in one chassis This arsenal of sounds is so powerful that with them at your command inspiration will take over and propel your playing to places you have only dreamed Let s take a moment and review the features that make up this house of tone First and foremost it will help you to digest this dictionary of amazing guitar sounds by realizing that as daunting as it looks it is re ally just four separate amps If you view it as such and learn them individually and then combine and dedicate them you will find the process easier Each Preamp Channel on the Front Panel has a corresponding Power Amp Effects Loop Control Panel on the Rear Panel we call them Channel Strips Once you have chosen a Channel Mode combination for a sound you simply go to the Rear Panel and select that Channel s Reverb Setting power amp choice 50 or 100 Watts choose your Rectifier Style and set your Effects Loop status There you go one channel done repeat this scheme three more times and you are ready to explore your first palette of sounds in the Roadster Rest assured many more combinations are lurking in there and you can look forward to years of discovery as you go deeper In case that was too simple sounding here is a more expanded way of understanding the Roadster Four independent preamp channels make up the front end of the Roadster and though they may each be used for any sound they are g
10. A C RECEPTACLE FUSE and SERIAL NUMBER FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS DIAGNOSING TUBES amp TUBE MAINTENANCE SPEAKER HOOK UP amp IMPEDANCE MATCHING GUIDE FEATURE ARTICLE Irishmen Pentodes amp Triodes by Randall Smith PARTS SHEET PRECAUTIONS amp 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 WARNING Do not block any ventilation openings on the rear or top of the amplifier Do not impede ventilation by placing objects on top of the amplifier which extend past the rear edge of its cabinet WARNING Do not expose the amplifier to rain moisture dripping or splashing water Do not place objects filled with liquids on or nearby the amplifier WARNING Always make certain proper load is connected before operating the amplifier Failure to do so could pose a shock hazard and may result in damage to the amplifier Do not expose amplifier to direct sunlight or extremely high temperatures Always insure that amplifier is properly grounded Always unplug AC power cord before changing fuse or any tubes Whe
11. Readster incorporates a further improved version of our patented Switchable Rectifier feature first seen on the Dual and Triple Rectifier SOLO heads It incorporates a Rectifier Tracking feature that insures proper voltage is present at all times and improves reliability This switch operates in tandem with the individual Channel Power Select 50 100 switch located in each Channel Strip The Rectifier Tracking feature monitors the Channels determines their power status and automatically selects the proper rectifier type which ultimately assures the best sound This provides optimization of the power settings delivering a magical tube rectified power sag vibe for the channel set to 50 watts and a tighter bolder 100 watts of diode rectified authority for the channel set to full power Here is an explanation of how the two choices work DIODE Calls up the silicon diode rectifier which offers more punch a tighter attack with more brightness and substantially more headroom This rectifier choice provides the highest power and therefor the tightest rectification This setting would be best for any application where maximum headroom is needed or tight bass response is called for Situations that usually require this are clean rhythm playing or extreme high gain crunch rhythm sounds ad Sj Each channel features the ability to choose between the saggy bounce of the 5U4 Rectifier Tubes or the tight bold authority of the Silicon Diodes Selecting R
12. circuit But measuring VOLTAGE is easy It is not necessary to interrupt the circuit because a voltage reading can be taken in PAR ALLEL with the circuit intact Thus as a matter of convenience most bias settings are given in volts at the grid even though current through the plate is the important factor In fact plate current is so inconvenient and dangerous to measure that Fender doesn t even state what the correct value should be They only give the grid voltage that will produce that current That s the minus 52 But that only happens if the tubes being used are in spec As long as the tubes ARE in spec the right bias voltage will always give the correct plate CURRENT but then there s no need for the bias voltage to be adjustable If the tubes are NOT in spec then the only proper way to re set the bias is to cut the circuit and measure the current while adjusting the bias but no manufacturer know even STATES the desired current value Be that as it may when the original bias voltage is altered far enough it will compensate for the tube s abnormal performance and the correct amount of idle current flow may then be restored Clearly this is something most repair techs should not attempt Some newer amps have LED indicators connected to the circuit which will turn on when the right threshold of current flow has been reached This is an improvement and almost worthy if you re willing to except resistors and lights add
13. hard wired to the correct values and NEVER needed adjustment And for 25 years that s how MESA Boogies have been built Time to change tubes Just plug our tubes into any one of our amps and you re DONE No tech needed NO bills and no BS about biasing And most important The bias is RIGHT because it can t change Now you want the long answer Here s more information on how our hard wired bias avoids trouble Please read on But first let s make an important distinction Our business is designing and building high performance amplifiers And for this we need tubes whose variance is within a narrow range Our warehouse is full of rejects oh they work they just don t perform within our tolerance range We have a very sophisticated computer based tube testing system nicknamed Robotube that matches and measures tubes over seven important parameters It can even predict which tubes are likely to have a shortened lifetime even though they work perfectly during the test Because our business is building quality amps we can afford to reject a lot of wayward tubes The guys you hear complaining because Boogies don t have bias adjusters are primarily in the business of selling tubes not amps They don t want to throw away 30 percent of their inventory so they promote the idea that tubes outside our parameters can be used to customize amplifiers and they criticize us because our amps can t be adjusted to accommodate their out of MESA tol
14. isn t And their tubes aren t all bad either It just doesn t make sense to pay more of your hard earned cash for tubes that were probably made in the same Russian or Chinese fac tory and which have the possibility of being outside the performance window we select for your amp And it pains us to hear the hype and mystique built up around biasing when twenty five years of evidence affirms our decision to make bias circuits that never need adjustment How much money and trouble that has saved MESA Boogie players you couldn t estimate Our rigorously tested and hand selected tubes are available at your nearest MESA Boogie Pro Center or from us directly Nobody offers better price quality or warranty than we do so why swerve Next time we ll talk about our part in developing the great Sylvania STR 415 type 6L6 and how we re on the verge of seeing something fairly close reappear on the market Remember we still have some of these super rugged mondo bottles available for older amps Boogies only please Until then Relax Breathe and Nourish your soul Cheers MESA Boogie Ltd PAGE 26 SPEAKER IMPEDANCE MATCHING amp HOOK UP GUIDE IMPEDANCE Wiring up speakers to provide the most effective load and making sure that all of them are in phase will help in creating the best sound possible This is not too difficult as long as you understand a few things about loading and how to connect your speakers to provide an optimal resistive load
15. level of the four Channels The OUTPUT receives its signal from the EFFECTS RETURN jack and therefore this control is only in the signal path and active when the EFFECTS LOOP is set to LOOP SYSTEM ACTIVE When in LOOP BYPASS the individual CHANNEL MASTER controls are the final output level controls NOTE USING THE ROADSTER AS A POWER AMP ONLY It is possible to use the Roadster s power section as a stand alone power amp for use with external preamps as half of a stereo power rig or as a slave for another Readster in larger venues Here s how 1 Connect your preamp signal to the EFFECTS RETURN jack 2 Select LOOP ACTIVE on the Rear Panel 3 Use the OUTPUT control as your power amp level control 4 Adjust the PRESENCE control of the Channel you are using to taste 5 Select a Channel and a power setting in that Channel We recommend not using the MODERN mode of CHANNELS 3 amp 4 for this application as the increased power sensitivity of this mode due to the removal of negative feedback in the power section creates an extremely hard to manage power amp If you wish to use all four Channels when using the EFFECTS LOOP RETURN as a POWER IN jack we suggest using CHANNELS 1 amp 2 in the CLEAN mode and CHANNEL 3 amp 4 in the RAW mode This will provide uniform input sensitivity and the only volume difference you will experience are those caused by the output power of the different tube settings 50 or 100 watts PAGE 10 CONTROLS
16. nearer to the INPUT jack always sound noisier but this is because they are at the start of the chain and their noise gets amplified over and over by the tubes that follow The tube that goes into this input socket usually labeled V1 needs to be the least noisy of the bunch The tube that goes at the end of the preamp chain just ahead of the power tubes can be quite noisy without causing any problem at all The tubes in your amp have already been located in the most appropriate sockets and this is why you should NEVER pull them all out at once and ALWAYS swap them one at a time ALWAYS return a perfectly good tube to its original socket Also it s a good idea to put the amp on STANDBY when swapping tubes to reduce the heat build up in the tubes themselves and to prevent explosive noises which can still occur even if you are pulling the tubes away from their sockets gently from coming through the speaker Remember take your time be patient and chances are real good that you can fix your amp yourself by finding and replacing the bad tube It kills us to see someone who has shipped their amp back to all it needed was a simple tube replacement If you must send back your amp remove the chassis from the cabinet by unscrewing the four mounting bolts on the bottom top The chassis then slides back like a drawer and comes out from the back Remove the big power tubes and mark them according to their location from left to right 1 2 etc They n
17. voice As you might surmise the BASS controls effectiveness will be reduced so you may have to run a much higher setting than you are used to seeing to achieve a balance This said keep in mind that the TREBLE control in Channel 1 TWEED should be used sparingly above 2 30 to avoid unwanted microphonic tube problems IPA The MID control is responsible for the blend of midrange frequencies in the mix and though its effect is not as dramatic as that of the TREBLE control it plays an integral part in achieving any sound in your Roadster t is capable of changing the feel dramatically as it blends in a group of frequencies that tend to soften or stiffen the way a sound feels to play Most players tend to lean in the direction of lower MIDDLE control settings 7 00 11 00 where a scoop in this region produces girth by letting the Bass become a little more dominant and a lack of punch lends a more compressed even feel to the strings and therefore less apparent resistance to the pick As the MIDDLE control is increased 11 30 1 30 the sound is rounded out and PAGE 8 CONTROLS Continued filled in with a focused mid attack appearing rather quickly As you would guess the feel starts to change becom ing more resistant Above this region the MIDDLE control could be used to compensate for either weaker pick ups or for times when a specific deficiency is produced by either an extremely high setting of other tone controls or a phys
18. 0 POT pt 590378 LENS KNOB 703300 4 REVERB CONTROL KNOBS KNOB pt 408116 pti 408116 PATENTED 4 211 893 5 091 700 5 168 438 6 621 907 6 724 897 AND OTHERS PENDING amp APPLIED FOR RECTIFIER 8 RECTO are trademarks of M B HANDBUILT IN PETALUMA CALIFORNIA USA PN CH3 i x 7 O SEND LEVEL A LOOP SYSTEM X LOOP h SWITCH ACTIVE e e 1 HARD A PASS 616 oF REVERB SOLO ALOOP 0080 SEND 9 USE WITH TWO OH CABS POWER FUSE REVERB REVERB REVERB 0 SPEAKERS _16OHM 4OHM FXON DIODE 100 WATTS FX ON DIODE 100 WATTS 1 50 50 DIODE 100 WATTS FOOT CONTROLLER SWITCH JACKS ti 607200 tH 12 CHANNEL STRIP 4 SPEAKER HOLDER pt 790347 TOGGLE SWITCHES alee TEAT FUSE 4A pt 790403 4 DOUBLE JACKS ptt 619357 607200 pt 619112 618356 SWITCH 607200 PAGE 36 Spirit of Art in Technology Thank you for trusting MESA Boogie to be your amplifier company and we wisb you many years of toneful enjoyment from this handbuilt all tube instrument The Spirit of Art in Technology 707 778 6565 FAX NO 707 765 1503 1317 Ross Street Petaluma CA 94954 USA 09 18 06
19. BLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER VINTAGE MODERN VINTAGE MODERN VINTAGE MODERN RAW 0 VINTAGE MODERN CHANNEL 3 SETTING 3 Liquid Solo Recto Vintage OOQODOQOO GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER CHANNEL 3 SETTING 4 Giant Fur OOOO OO GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER RAW VINTAGE MODERN RAW VINTAGE MODERN RAW VINTAGE MODERN RAW VINTAGE MODERN PAGE 20 DIODE RECTO TRACKING DIODE RECTO TRACKING DIODE RECTO TRACKING DIODE RECTO TRACKING 100 WATTS 50 WATTS 100 WATTS 50 WATTS 100 WATTS 50 WATTS 100 WATTS 50 WATTS FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS CHANNEL 4 SETTING 1 Atlantic Blues GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER OQOO0600 CHANNEL 4 SETTING 32 Stripped Grind GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER QOO660 CHANNEL 4 SETTING 3 Hot Liquid Solo GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER CHANNEL 4 SETTING 4 Recto Modern GAIN BASS PRESENCE MASTER VINTAGE MODERN RAW VINTAGE MODERN e VINTAGE MODERN RAW 9 VINTAGE MODERN VINTAGE MODERN RAW VINTAGE MODERN VINTAGE MODERN RAW VINTAGE MODERN PAGE 21 DIODE RECTO TRACKING DIODE RECTO TRACKING DIODE RECTO TRACKING DIODE RECTO TRACKING 100 WATTS 50 WATTS 100 WATTS
20. Continued This control is an additional output control wired in parallel with the main OUTPUT that you can pre set to a higher level and then switch to during performances A simple idea that adds amazing potential to virtually any sound in the amplifier Like the OUTPUT control SOLO gets its signal from the EFFECTS RETURN jack and therefore it is only in the signal path and active when the EFFECTS LOOP is to LOOP SYSTEM IN This control may be used to step out for a solo or to compensate for other volume drops created by various switching scenarios One might be a processor that you love the sound of but steals gain from your signal when introduced via the LOOP However you choose to use this valuable feature SOLO adds power and versatility to an already mighty package NOTE As mentioned above when using the Readster as a slave power amp the SOLO control can be used to provide a footswitchable volume boost for the power amp Perfect for set breaks this toggle switch also serves an even more important purpose In the Standby position the tubes are at idle so that during power up they may warm up before being put to use Before Power is switched on make sure the STANDBY Switch is in the Standby position Wait at least 30 seconds and then flip the STANDBY switch to the ON BOLD ON position This prevents tube problems and increases their toneful life substantially 0 9 STANDBY SPONGY 5
21. ECTO TRACKING brings on line one 5U4 when in 50 watts and two 5U4s when 100 watts is selected The tube rectifier sound takes a power section walk down memory lane paying tribute to those vintage gems of yesteryear In those early days of amplification the only rectifiers available were tubes Unbeknownst to their creators these sweet sounding amplifiers would someday become relics as the demand for higher volumes and more power per package led to the abandonment of the tube as a rectifier in favor of the five cent silicon diode s greater efficiency With this decision went much of the sweetness and soul and by the late 60 s most amps were bold loud and efficient but unfortunately sometimes lacking that earlier soul We sought to bring that magic soul personality and feel to the Dual Rectifier Series and the resurrection of this age old circuit does just that NOTE Don t forget the Front Panel AC switch incorporates the reduced voltage SPONGY setting This adds yet another dimension to the power expression scenario and can produce amazing results when combined with the RECTO TUBE TRACKING feature Be sure to experiment with these two features in combination with each other PAGE 13 REAR PANEL CONTROLS amp FEATURES continued RS a This mini toggle switch in each Channel Strip assigns the Series EFFECTS LOOP and determines its status in the signal path Once the LOOP has been engaged its Channel specific status is sent to the
22. ERN mode This will increase the power section input sensitivity by an order of ten Be warned this will make the OUTPUT level control extremely sensitive and the amplifier will be LOUD NOTE See the section on OUTPUT in the CONTROLS section earlier in this manual for more information on using the Roadster as power amp only EUM These seven jacks are provided so that you may control the 4 Channels the EFFECTS LOOP The Reverb and the SOLO feature with an external master Switching device This is essential to use the Roadster as part of a Midi rig where all sounds are called up via a Midi Footcontroller and both amplifier and effects settings are stored under a midi program number The logic used to trigger these ports is simple tip to ground latching type and most Master switching systems incorporate several jacks dedicated to this logic The EXTERNAL SWITCHING jacks override the Roadster s Footcontroller Once a Chan EXT nel or Feature has been triggered On at the EXT Switch ports it may not be controlled or turned Off until the logic at the Switch Port is reversed CHANNEL FOOT CONTROLLER REVERB SOLO LOOP TUNER OUT This jack located in the stack of EXTERNAL SWITCH ports see above is a Tuner Output and allows for silent tuning in live stage or studio environments where it is essential to tune your instrument without sound When a Tuner is connected to this jack tap TUNER MUTE on the Footcontroller
23. ESTION Speaker 8 Ohms Speaker 8 Ohms SERIES Connect the Negative side of Speaker A to the Positive side of Speaker B PAGE 27 SPEAKER IMPEDANCE MATCHING amp HOOK UP GUIDE Continued When wiring in parallel the resistance of the speakers decreases Two 8 ohm speakers wired in hooked up Parallel results in a 4 ohm load It s easy to calculate the effect of a resistive load when all the speakers are all the same resistance It is really not suggested to wire different resistive load values in Parallel 8 and 4 16 and 8 etc The formula for figuring the total impedance in Parallel is the multiplication of the two loads divided by the sum of the two loads i e putting two 8 ohm speakers in Parallel results in a 4 ohm load Connect the Positive side of Speaker A to the Positive side of Speaker Connect the Negative side of Speaker A to the Negative side of Speaker B Speaker B 8 Ohms Speaker A 8 Ohms CELESTIO WC NEGATIVE POSITIVE gt Total Load 4 Ohms 5 8 This is really just two sets of Series wired speakers connected in Parallel This is how you maintain a consistent load with multiple speakers The importance of this is more evident when you have more than one cabinet to connect to your amplifier This is when you need to figure out the loads and how to wire them up without applying too low All 4 Spkrs are 8 Ohms of
24. Front Panel FX LOOP LED DIODE 100 WATTS FX ON RECTO 50 FX TRACKING WATTS OFF indicator that sits between the pairs of Channels for at a glance monitoring of its status See the EFFECTS LOOP section for more information on the LOOP NOTE Remember that the FX LOOP must be engaged in the FX LOOP section of the Rear Panel for signal to be routed via these switches Your Roadster is fitted with a Series Effects Loop for interfacing outboard processing The Loop is placed at the junction between the preamp and the power amp and is optimized for levels that will match up with most good quality processing devices A SEND LEVEL Control is provided to fine tune the signal strength coming from the preamp and allows for some compensa tion for extreme Channel MASTER settings AS or NORMAL AN LOOP SYSTEM FX LOOP ACTIVE HARD BYPASS LOOP OUTPU SOLO CONTROLS SEND RETURN Each of the four Channel Strips contain an Effects Loop Control switch labeled FX ON FX OFF This mini toggle controls the status of the Effects Loop in each Channel once the LOOP has been engaged via the master LOOP SYSTEM IN LOOP BYPASS switch that is located adjacent to the LOOP SEND and RETURN jacks Selecting FX ON in a given Channel will engage the LOOP automatically when that Channel is selected with either the Footcontroller or the Channel Select Rotary switch As mentioned earlier the Front Panel OUTPUT and SOLO Control is part of the Effects
25. INGS CHANNEL 1 SETTING 1 Versa Clean OO OOO00 TWEED GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER CLEAN BRIT CHANNEL 1 SETTING 2 Spank 422000000 TWEED GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER CHANNEL 1 SETTING 3 Tweed Howl TWEED GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER CHANNEL 1 SETTING 4 Fat Solo OOO QO O O GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER 18 6 DIODE 100 WATTS RECTO 50 TRACKING WATTS DIODE 100 WATTS RECTO 50 TRACKING WATTS DIODE 100 WATTS RECTO 50 TRACKING WATTS DIODE 100 WATTS RECTO 50 TRACKING WATTS FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS CHANNEL 2 SETTING 1 Skinny Skank CLEAN 2000000 TWEED GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER 7 CLEAN 8000000 T ME BRIT TRACKING WATTS CHANNEL 2 SETTING 2 Rhythm Mix CLEAN 0000090 e N TWEED GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER d SOOOOOO m x BRIT TRACKING WATTS CHANNEL 2 SETTING 3 Power Rhythm CLEAN FAT 000009 N TWEED GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER 3 3000000 NP BRIT TRACKING WATTS CHANNEL 2 SETTING 4 Brit Grind CLEAN 2000000 TWEED DIODE 100 WATTS GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER 800606060 TRACKING WATTS PAGE 19 FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS CHANNEL 3 SETTING 1 Purring Blues 259909 GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER CHANNEL 3 SETTING 2 Smooth Grind O00000 GAIN TRE
26. Loop Return stage and therefore these are not active when the Loop is switched out of the circuit The Loop may be switched out of the signal path completely using the LOOP SYSTEM IN HARD BYPASS switch located adjacent to the loop This switch engages the Loop SEND and RETURN jacks SEND LEVEL Control OUTPUT and SOLO Control and all associated circuitry When LOOP BYPASS is selected switch up the entire Loop is removed from the signal path and the individual Channel MASTER Controls become your final output level controls This HARD BYPASS feature allows you to use your Roadster in all its raw glory in the studio where processing will be added later on a separate channel and you need every ounce of pure unfiltered Tone for a magical performance NOTE The FX LOOP switch must be set to LOOP SYSTEM IN for the TUNER MUTE function of the Footcontroller to work properly PATCHING EFFECTS 1 Connect the SEND to your processors INPUT 2 Connect the RETURN to your processors OUTPUT 3 Setthe Four Channels to you dedicated sounds and levels using the Channel MASTER Controls 4 Selectthe individual Channels Loop Status in the corresponding Channel Strip 5 Select LOOP SYSTEM IN on the LOOP Select switch 6 Set your processor s INPUT Level control for unity gain 7 After playing in each channel Adjust the Rear Panel SEND LEVEL to achieve a good unity gain peak level remember that clean sounds will peak a bit higher because of th
27. MESA BOOGIE 7 ROADSTER Owner s Manual Hello from the Tone Farm You smart player and intuitive human have put your trust us to be your amplifier company This is something we do not take lightly By choosing this instrument to be a part of your musical voice you have become part of the Mesa family WELCOME Our goal is to never let you down Your reward is that you are the new owner of an amp bred of fine all tube heritage benefiting from the many pioneering and patented Mesa circuits that led to the refinement of your new model We feel confident this amp will inspire many hours of musical satisfaction and lasting enjoyment It was built with you in mind by players who know the value of a fine musical instrument and the commitment it takes to make great music The same commitment to quality value and support we make to you our new friend Table of Contents Precautions Overview Getting Started Helpful Hints FRONT PANEL MODES Ch 1 amp 2 CLEAN Ch 1 amp 2 FAT Ch 1TWEED Ch 2 BRIT Ch 3 amp 4 RAW Ch 3 amp 4 VINTAGE Ch 3 amp 4 MODERN CONTROLS GAIN TREBLE MID BASS PRESENCE MASTER OUTPUT CONTROL SOLO CONTROL STANDBY SWITCH POWER BOLD OFF SPONGY SWITCH REAR PANEL SLAVE SPEAKERS REVERB CHANNEL STRIPS RECTIFIER SELECT with TUBE TRACKING FX ON FX OFF SWITCHES FX LOOP amp PATCHING USING THE FX RETURN AS A POWER AMP INPUT EXTERNAL SWITCHING TUNER OUT
28. MESA Boogie amplifiers can handle 4 and 8 ohms effectively Never run below 4 ohms in a tube amplifier unless you are absolutely certain that the system can handle it properly this can cause damage to the Output transformer A few amplifiers can handle 2 ohms effectively without damaging them for example the MESA S Bass 400 You can always have a higher resistance 16 ohms for example without damaging results but too low of a resistance will likely cause problems 5 When running a higher resistance for example 8 ohm output into 16 ohm cabinet a slightly different feel and response will be eminent A slight mismatch can provide a darker smoother tone with a little less output and attack This response is a result of the amplifier running a bit cooler Sometimes when using more than one cabinet a mismatch will be the only option WHAT IS MY CABINETS IMPEDANCE you have only a single speaker you just match that single speakers impedance to the amplifier and you are done In many cases you will have a number of speakers and then you must calculate the load that the ampli fier will need to support There are generally three ways to wire multiple speakers together They are as follows SERIES When you wire hook up speakers in Series the speakers resistance as measured in ohms is additive i e put ting two 8 ohm speakers in Series results in a 16 ohm load POSITIVE Lee CEL
29. STANDBY to the ON position EX If a power tube is going bad or is arcing you will see it Flip the STANDBY switch down immediately and replace ne faulty power tube and the FUSE if necessary M If you see nothing abnormal as you lift the STANDBY switch it is possible that a power tube shorted temporarily and blew the FUSE If this is the case it may work again normally To be safe you might want to replace just the adjacent tube or all power tubes in the shotgun troubleshooting tradition and save the replaced set as spares Spare fuses are a must for the fabled cord bag along with your spare tubes Always carry both for they could be worth their weight in gold someday asa The Serial Number of your amplifier is printed on a small metal tag attached to the tube side of the chassis near the Reverb and Solo External Switching Jacks see pg 16 for reference You ll need this number when registering your amplifier for warranty That covers the features and functions on the Rear Panel and by now you should be ready to start crafting your dream Tone If you would like some examples of ways to set the modes in your Roadster for different applications you may find the following SAMPLE SETTINGS helpful We wish you a lifetime of amazing and inspirational Tone from your new musical instrument and our hope is that it takes you to new and exciting places on your musical journey REST AREA m PAGE 17 FACTORY SAMPLE SETT
30. a resistance on the amplifier Simply connect the Positive side of Speaker A to the Posi tive side of Speaker C SPEAKER A Connect the Negative side of Speaker A to the Positive side of Speaker B Next connect the Negative side of Speaker B to the Negative side of Speaker D And lastly connect the Positive side of Speaker D to the Negative side of Speaker 4 Eight 8 Ohm speakers wired in Series Parallel Total Load of 8 Ohms POSITIVE NEGATIVE 28 1 WIRING SCHEMES Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets 2 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 80hm Cabinet Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of some Mesa amp 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM e _ 8 Ohm Cabinet 4 Ohm Cabinet i Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier 4 OHM 8 OHM 16 OHM 80hm Cabinet 4 OHM 8 OHM 16 OHM 16 Ohm Cabinet 16 Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH PAGE 29 6 WIRING SCHEMES Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets 7 Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM ef 09 80hm Cabinet 80hm Cabinet 80hm Cabinet 16 Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM BOHM 40HM 4 OHM a a
31. and are wired series parallel Some Non MESA 4x12 cabinets are wired 16 Ohms using four 16 Ohm speakers By wiring e all four speakers in parallel you can reduce the cabinet to an impedance load of 4 Ohms assuming USE WITH TWO 8 OHM CABS the speakers are 16 Ohms each No matter how unusual your speaker setup it is always possible to get good performance These 4 rotary controls determine the dry wet mix ratio for the rich analog REVERB and are wired to the Reverb return circuit Each of the 4 Channels have a dedicated control so that a different Reverb mix can be attained for each individual sound The controls sweep from a subtle background effect at their low range to a drenched swimming effect at the top of the control Several factors affect the REVERB tone and drive including the different Modes gain structures preamp gain settings and CHANNEL MASTER and OUTPUT control settings Generally speaking REVERB lower gain settings will produce cleaner purer Reverb effects while higher gain settings will produce more smeared washy Reverb sounds This difference can be useful desirable and is a normal characteristic of 9 9 Reverb circuits of this type RECTO 50 FX TRACKING WATTS OFF The REVERB may be switched in and out of the circuit via the REVERB button on the Footcontroller NOTE t is normal to experience approximately 1 2 seconds of delay before the REVERB is mixed with the dry signal after swi
32. and the signal to the speakers will be muted The signal will remain muted until you tap TUNER MUTE again to bring the signal back NOTE The FX LOOP switch must be set to LOOP SYSTEM IN for the TUNER MUTE function of the Footcontroller to work properly The removable Euro Style A C cord that is supplied with your new Roadster makes set ups and tear downs after the gig a snap It also makes de racking much easier when you wish to remove the unit from a hard wired rack system where all the A C cords have been cable tied in Additional heavy duty cords are available should you ever need one simply call us direct and we can ship one directly to you for a nominal charge plus shipping cost ao Make sure the A C cord is firmly seated in the A C RECEPTACLE found on the tube side of the chassis before powering up the amplifier NOTE Never alter the three prong power cord in any way Receptacle PAGE 16 REAR PANEL CONTROLS amp FEATURES continued FUSE This is the A C s Alternating Current main fuse and provides protection from outside A C fluctuations as well as power tube failure damage Should the FUSE blow replace it with the same rating in a Slo Blo type package The domestic U S version requires a 4 amp Slo Blo fuse A power tube short or failure is often the cause of a blown fuse Follow the cold start procedure men tioned in the STANDBY switch section and watch the power tubes as you flip the
33. arged serve to direct the flow right toward the plate This is much the way a short entrance hall to the bar prevents wandering accidentally into the Men s room on the way Once at the bar though the circuit is complete and the process of soul nourishing works its ritual magic Biases having been over come illusory nightingales having vanished the spirits truly soar and the once surly Irishmen now are filled with warmth wit and kindred friendship enjoying the music and glowing nicely with their heaters on With appreciative thanks to the inhabitants of the Land of the Leprechaun we have now concluded our little diversion into the mechanics of proper bar lay out A feature article by Randall Smith Designer President PAGE 35 FRONT PANEL ROADSTER SWITCH 607313 CLEAN Oe 590148 590378 GE oe 590738 590740 ome PUSHED LOOP MUTE MODERN GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTERS Q GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER ix SPONGY ar 590148 590378 T Eo 690794 590738 ROADSTER PUSHED CH2 MODERN SWITCH BULB pt 703047 pti 600631 ptt 607313 SWITCH pti 607313 INSTRUMENT INPUT JACK pt 610120 6 LENS pt 703300 LENS pt 703782 pt 600639 HOLDER pt 703850 REAR PANEL ROADSTER ROTARY POT ROTARY POT 590736 pt 608100 KNOB pt 40811
34. control grid only to find that they have been fooled Once past the control grid and drawn toward the screen grid they discover there s almost nothing there The path they re on has them aligned to zing straight through the spaces BETWEEN screen grid windings So rather than a close and personal encounter they just fly on past and once they re out that far there s no stopping them The influence of the plate takes over and being solid metal and of the highest positive attraction it is at this final destination that the electrons congregate PAGE 34 Thus the proper cocktail waitress visible through the louvers is scantily clad so as to be all the more effective at reinforcing the attractive influence of her bar and by being located in between the door and the bar she serves as bait to lure customers past the doors negative influence Once through the door however it is the rare Irishman who actually comes in personal contact with the cocktail waitress as for all intents and purposes she like the screen grid turns out to be a vanishing illusion Yet having come this far the solid influence of the bar itself now takes over and attracts the customers to congregate hav ing happily reached their destination If you re still following this and haven t lost track of the count you ll know still one element short of the five needed to make a Pentode This last part is a pair of beam confining shields which being negatively ch
35. d However the actual frequencies and style of lows it mixes in changes from channel to channel Like the MIDDLE control it falls in line BASS signal wise after the TREBLE control and the same scheme applies When the TREBLE control is set high the effectiveness of the BASS and MIDDLE controls is reduced If the TREBLE control is set low these two controls become dominant For the most balanced sound and a balance of power between the three rotary tone controls try to use the TREBLE control in its middle ranges This scenario produces nearly equal representation of all the frequencies on the tone controls and provides a great neutral starting point for further tweaking 91339 The PRESENCE control is a high frequency attentuator that is placed at the end of each channels pre amp stage BASS PRESENCE and affects frequencies higher than those of the TREBLE control It acts independently of the other rotary tone controls and is crucial in voicing the Channel It is a powerful global tone control Lower PRESENCE control settings darken and in fact compress the signal which works well to fatten single note solo sounds giving them girth and focus Some of the best lead sounds in your Roadster will find the PRESENCE control in its lower regions where a balanced vocal response is achieved Higher settings unleash the mighty roar of your Roadster and this can be great for sparkling clean sounds in Channels 1 amp 2 and more aggressive crunch rhy
36. d or switching the Reverb itself in and out of the signal path with the Footcontroller itis normal to experience approximately 1 2 seconds of delay before the Reverb effect is mixed back in with the dry signal See NOTE under REVERB in the Rear Panel section of this manual for more info Now that we have shared a few hints to make things easier let s take a look at the controls and modes PAGE 4 CHANNEL MODES This is the lowest gain circuit of the Roadster s twelve modes and is optimized for producing bal anced pristine clean sounds This mode is duplicated in CHANNEL 2 as it is extremely useful for many different applications For the best understanding of how to achieve a great sound in this mode please refer back to the GAIN control section of this manual However a great place to start is 12 30 or so on the GAIN control with more sparkle available below this and more warmth apparent above from there adjust according to your guitars individual response Because of its more traditional architecture this mode also works extremely well for vintage style drive sounds By turning the gain all the way up a beautiful old school solo sound is possible especially with neck single coil pick ups The TREBLE and MIDDLE controls can also add gain and sustain to this sound reduce Presence to blend highs but you will probably want to run the BASS control below 10 30 to avoid flubbiness and preserve a focused attac
37. d our rigourous test we can t predict how the tubes will respond over time exposed to extreme gain settings Your tubes are warranted for a period of 6 months under normal use but you can save yourself the present and future inconvenience of having to deal with annoying microphonic tube problems by simply using a little common sense Don t turn the Gain all the way up If you must for a specific part or at very low volumes back down the TREBLE and PRESENCE controls Your Roadster was designed to provide amazing gain and tone at less than extreme settings removing the need for you to crank everything all the way up If you are not able to achieve the sound you want at sensible settings on any or all of the controls your problem may lie elsewhere in the signal chain i e pick ups cabinetry processing etc Keep in mind you can always call on one of our product specialist Monday through Thursday and seek some advice should you find yourself struggling to get the sound you want 2 GAIN In conjunction with the Tone controls Basically a simple rule applies as the Gain is increased the Tone control string has less and less effect on the signal until at 5 00 the signal is so saturated that you are getting mostly Gain and very little Tone Again this is the reason we suggest using the GAIN control in its middle region Here the Tone control string is very active and provides maximum shaping power allowing you to dial virtually any sound you desire
38. e mild or severe In a mildly shorted tube the electron flow has overcome the control grid and excess current flows to the plate You will usually hear the amp become distorted and begin to hum slightly If this occurs quickly look at the power tubes as you switch the amp to STANDBY and try to identify one as glowing red hot It is likely that two of a pair will be glowing since the shorted tube will pull down the bias for its adjacent mates but one tube may be glowing hotter and that one is the culprit The other two are often fine unless they ve been glowing bright red for several minutes Because there is no physical short inside the tube just electrons rioting out of control merely switching to STANDBY for a few mo ments then back to ON will usually cure the problem at least temporarily Watch the tubes carefully now Should the problem recur the intermittent tube will visibly start to over heat before the others and thus it can be identified It should be replaced with one from the same color batch shown on its label Call us and we will send one out to you The severe short is not nearly so benign In the worst cases a major arcing short occurs between the plate and the cathode with visible lightning inside the glass and a major noise through the speaker If this is seen to happen IMMEDIATELY turn the amp to STANDBY By this time the fuse probably will have blown Such a short is usually caused by a physical breakdown inside the tube
39. ed into your amplifiers audio path which we aren t The other advantage of this system is that it allows some amp manufacturers to avoid matching their power tubes The thinking is that adjusting the bias to each tube separately eradicates the inherent differences between the tubes by insuring that the same current flows through each one PAGE 25 BIAS ADJUSTMENT Continued Again this has some merit but it s still not as good as using tubes that are matched in the first place because compensating forthe mis match causes the push pull circuit itself to become unbalanced Two wrongs don t really make a right 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 But don t these alterations imply that you are second guessing the amp designer and that there s a better set of operating conditions that the designer missed but the tube sellers have discovered Now some players may like the sound of their amp altered by tubes with extreme characteristics and with the bias set to help compen sate But often it is the mere novelty of change that they re really responding to and when the amp goes back to the proper original way we ve seen them be far hap
40. ed with the radically more present top end keeps MODERN the MODERN mode tracking accurately even at extreme gain settings Keep in mind that when using MASTER MODERN in CHANNEL 3 you will have to run the PRESENCE control almost all the way up to ap proach the lower range of the PRESENCE control in CHANNEL 4 VINTAGE N MODERN This lack of extreme top end can be a benefit when searching for single note solo sounds in the MODERN mode as the more compressed nature of this tamer presence range in CHANNEL 3 tends to warm things up CONTROL 5 This control adjusts the predominant gain stage in each channels circuit with the function and taper being optimized for each individual channel Remember that your Roadster is really three separate multi mode amplifiers built onto one chassis so though each channel looks identical the GAIN control for each channel comes in a different place and adjusts a different point in that channels circuit In most guitar amplifiers and especially in all tube circuits the GAIN control is the most powerful control in the preamp It shapes the overall style and character of the sound and is responsible for whether the sound is clean overdriven or anywhere in between In your Roadster the GAIN control is even more powerful It not only determines the amount of drive but also acts as an integral part of the tone control string as well To simplify the GAIN controls ro
41. eed to be wrapped separately with plenty of wadded up newspaper around them and put in a smaller box within the larger carton Remove the Rectifier tubes and wrap them also You can leave the preamp tubes in or remove them and wrap them separately being sure to label their location See Tube Task Chart To wrap the chassis use plenty of tightly wadded up newspaper so there is at least six inches of crush space between the chassis and the cardboard box Bubble wrap also works well but please DON T use styrene peanuts they will shift during transit and get lodged inside your electronics as well as allowing your amp to end up at the bottom of the box unprotected and possibly damaged Pre amp tubes don t normally wear out as a rule Therefore it is not a good idea to change them just for the sake of changing them If there isn t a problem don t fix it If there is no result from your substitutions it may be possible that you have more than one problematic tube Though rare this does happen and though it makes the troubleshooting process a little more intimidating it is still possible to cure the problem yourself NOTE It is normal to hear a slight metallic ringing sound when tapping on the preamp tubes As long as the tube does not break into oscillation or start crackling or any other form of bizarre noise it is considered normal and functional PAGE 23 BIAS ADJUSTMENT Part of a continuing series BEAM An Article written by Ra
42. eir more dynamic less compressed nature 8 Adjust the Front Panel OUTPUT Control to the desired playing volume 9 Connect the Footswitch to the Rear Panel FOOT CONTROLLER jack select SOLO and adjust the SOLO Control for the desired amount of volume boost PAGE 14 REAR PANEL CONTROLS amp FEATURES continued You will find the FX LOOP a welcome feature for all rack type processing and when good quality cables are used and kept to a length of 3 feet or less you will notice very little if any degradation in the sound of your Roadster NOTE Because the FX LOOP is wired in series with the main signal it is very important that you choose processing devices that are of professional grade quality from reputable manufacturers In a series configuration your amplifiers sound will depend on the integrity of the processors input and output stages because you have inserted something into the heart of the most sensitive place in your amplifier RU You may at times wish to use the Roadster as a stand alone power amp for amplification of processing or as half of a larger stereo rig Because of the channel and mode specific changes that take place internally you will want to follow the suggestions below for the best results 1 The FX LOOP SELECT switch must be set to LOOP SYSTEM IN Loop engaged 2 The FX LOOP RETURN jack is the INPUT to the power section This jack bypass
43. erance tubes Now you might be thinking But thought you just said that tubes don t draw bias therefore they don t effect the bias supply and thus it doesn t need to be adjustable When you set the bias whether it s by selecting the right resistors as we do or adjusting a trimmer which is quicker what you are doing is establishing the correct amount of idle CURRENT that flows through the power tubes But you can t adjust the current directly you can only change it by adjusting the amount of bias VOLTAGE that goes onto the tubes PAGE 24 control grids Voltage and current 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 carpeted floor in dry wintery conditions your body can become charged with 50 000 to 100 000 volts of static electricity And when you reach for the door knob a spark jumps and you feel it The voltage is super high but the cur rent measured in micro amps is tiny otherwise you would die from electrocution Contrast this with your car battery which puts out a mere 12 volts You can lay your hands right across the terminals and not feel a thing Yet the amount of current available can run to several hundred amperes enough to turn over a cold en
44. es the entire preamp including the GAIN and all the Tone Controls 3 The OUTPUT is your level control 4 You may use the SOLO Control for a footswitchable volume boost Footswitch must be connected 5 You may use the Channel Strip POWER SELECT switches to select a power rating that is appropriate for the venue or applica tion 6 The choice of rectifiers is still available when using the Readster FX RETURN as a power input Remember that this choice is channel specific The SILICON DIODE selection is more in line with what you would find in most all other stand alone power amplifiers but for guitar applications it is nice to have the choice of the saggy response of tube rectification NOTE Keep in mind that cleaner sounds although they appear to be the same volume as saturated sounds send a more dynamic signal to your processor and therefore will probably register a hotter signal on the processors Input indicator This is not a problem but it will be of interest when setting up your sounds in the channels Set the Channels for their relative volume and don t pay too much attention to the processors Input unless you experience clipping If so reduce all the Channel MASTER controls a bit and compensate with the OUTPUT control NOTE It is important to understand that the EFFECTS LOOP was designed to work best with a unity gain signal By increas ing the gain on your processors Input or Output beyond this point you run the risk of expe
45. ferent mode and we feel sure that no matter how you decide to dedicate your clean channels you will find the BRIT mode an awesome addition to your bevy of sounds NOTE BIAS SETTING MUST MATCHTUBES IN USE FAILURETO DO SO WILL RESULT IN DAMAGE TO YOUR AMPLIFIER This new Roadster mode is the lowest gain of the three in the two high gain lead channels Its less saturated nature lature greatly enhances the enhances the already versatile bag of sounds the two original lead channels offered The range of gain available covers an extremely wide spectrum and it can be set to double as a formidable alternate clean mode a low gain RAW purring blues sound and beyond all the way up to a grinding crunch or searing solo sound VINTAGE The TREBLE can be set relatively high 2 00 to add a little more gain shred when using RAW for MODERN certain crunch rhythm sounds and keep in mind CHANNEL 4 is capable of more aggressive sounds due MASTER to its more extreme PRESENCE control taper Don t overlook the amazing medium gain soloing potential vee RAW offers in CHANNELS 3 amp 4 where because of the PRESENCE controls more gradual response a e wider range of voice like single note sounds appear that benefit from this more compressed character MODERN This high gain mode is the famous liquid Reczo voice and it can be found in its original state CHANNELS 3 amp 4 Its lush harmonic content and fat creamy feel has found its way onto so man
46. gine and get it started So current and voltage are two totally separate electrical parameters though when you multiply them together you get POWER which is measured in watts When you set the bias of an amplifier you are adjusting the static VOLTAGE at the control grid of the tube in order to produce a desired amount of idle CURRENT flowing to the tube s plate A small change in grid voltage produces a large change in the amount of current flowing and that s basically how a tube works Say that again because it s super important A small change in voltage at the grid causes a large change in current flowing to the plate See that s the essence of amplification A small change causing a large change And here it s a small voltage change causing a large current change The bias conditions are what determines how much current flows through the big power tubes when you re not playing And what drives your speakers is fluctuations in that current flow when you ARE playing If the amount of current increases and decreases 440 times per second then you ll hear an A note If the fluctuations in current flow are large and still at 440 per second you ll hear an A that is LOUD But for purposes of biasing it s the amount of plate current flowing with no signal applied that s important Unfortunately current is hard to measure because the circuit must be interrupted as in cut the wire and the meter spliced in series with the broken
47. his negative influ ence is typically called a Bias In electronic terms that means the grid is supplied with a voltage which is slightly MORE NEGATIVE than the already negative electrons The more negative the Bias the more it tends to neutralize the attraction of the plate and repel the electrons back toward the cathode The Irish can be similarly charged with Bias but unless you are Irish yourself this type of Biasing may be more difficult to under stand The effect is similar though The more negative the Bias the more it impedes forward progress Generally speaking though the electronic Bias of the grid is easiest to overcome and for two main reasons First the Bias is set like the bar doors to allow some passage Second the grid is mostly NOT THERE like the louvered doors which are mostly open spaces Unlike the plate which is solid the grid is like a coiled bed spring It can create repelling field but mostly its empty space in between widely sepa rated windings of wire It s very easy to control the electrons as they pass through the grid s force field Changing the grid voltage only slightly will have an enormous effect on how much current flows through and that s what AMPLIFICATION is a small change in voltage at the grid causing a large change in current flowing to the plate The purpose of the louvered bar doors is similar to that of the grid namely to give momentary pause while still revealing the promise within Hesita
48. ical anomaly in the room While these MIDDLE control settings 2 00 5 00 can introduce added gain and create enhanced focus the trade off will be a stiffer more forward less compressed feel CHANNELS 1 amp 2 utilize a different MIDDLE control than that of the CHANNELS 3 and 4 with a custom designed taper and TREBLE value In its low range below 12 00 it functions as a normal midrange control with a taper suited to blending fine increments of these frequencies Most players lean toward a fairly radical scoop 7 00 10 30 for clean playing preferring to let Treble and Bass remain dominant thus producing the signature sparkle and breath essential for a pristine clean sound As the MIDDLE control in CHANNELS 1 amp 2 are swept past 1 00 it quickly starts to add gain in these midrange frequencies adding cut and punch As the top end of the control is reached 3 00 5 00 it becomes an additional gain control capable of taking both CLEAN and TWEED modes to extremes Experiment with this cranked region in conjunction with conservative settings of the other tone controls to balance both sound and feel While this added flexibility may make CHANNEL 1 amp 2 MIDDLE control a little more tricky to learn at first it will become quite valuable as you start to realize the power of this super versatile channel ELS This contro works similarly in all four channels in that it determines the amount of low frequencies present in a soun
49. ing back the spring steel tube clamps just enough so that the base of the tube will have to barely push the clamps out of the way as they go in Be sure to line up the guide with the slot in the socket don t force it when it is lined up it will fit in the socket easily When the tube is lined up gently press the tube into the socket while rocking it back and forth until it is seated Connect the 8 Pin DIN Footcontroller Cable to the female DIN connector located on the Rear Panel just under the Rotary Mode Select Switch Connect the A C Power Cable to a grounded A C outlet Flip the A C Mains switch to the BOLD position and wait at least 30 seconds for the power tube filaments to warm up with the STANDBY switch in the down STANDBY position This cold start procedure prolongs tube life so try to follow it each time you power up the amplifier Turn the Front Panel OUTPUT control to zero before flipping the STANDBY switch to the ON position This will prevent accidental settings that are too loud for the room and your ears These amplifiers are LOUD and are capable of extreme volumes and should be used with care to avoid damage to your hearing Starting each power up with the OUTPUT control zero ed help to eliminate painful and or embarrassing situations Flip the STANDBY to the ON position and enjoy your new instrument Hints 1 The Rear Panel CHANNEL SELECT Rotary switch must be set to FOOTSWITCH t
50. k This mode comes from our original Mark 1 Boogie and puts emphasis on the low mid and bottom end and as a result the top strings of the instrument have more girth and width This mode is duplicated CHANNEL 2 and is very useful for a variety of sounds The difference is wonderful for clean single note soloing where you need more body and warmth behind the notes Because this mode is very different from the CLEAN mode it requires that you reset the controls for balance We suggest running the BASS control a couple notches lower especially for chording It also helps to use the GAIN controls tonal influence refer to GAIN in the controls section of this manual to achieve the best results with this mode We like to set the GAIN somewhere between 10 30 and 12 00 for chording as this brings out the sparkle and improves the headroom For single note clean soloing you can run the GAIN up around 1 00 2 00 If you are going for a pushed rhythm sound with the GAIN all the way up you will likely have to run the BASS below 9 30 to avoid flubbiness and boom 715308 This mode appears in CHANNEL 1 only and is a gainier variation on the CLEAN that appears in both channels Here we have emphasized the gain in the midrange to achieve a more vintage feel that has an element of sag built in This mode begs you to run the GAIN high and clip the first tube stage especially with single coil pickups You ll find a whole world of in
51. le in shaping the overall tone of the sound we will look at it in two ways 1 alone and 2 in conjunction with the tone controls 1 By itself the GAIN control has basically three tonal regions Low 7 00 11 00 provides the cleanest least saturated sounds and in this region the sound will be brighter and contain more upper harmonics lending a three dimensional character to the sound Middle 11 15 2 00 enhances the saturation and replaces some of the upper harmonics with a richer warmer quality and a fuller bottom end response Not yet fully saturated this region is the easiest place to get a great sound in all three channels This region contains many of the Roadsters best sounds especially for soloing due to the crucial blend of an expressive attack combined with ample sustain High 2 15 5 00 saturates the signal and enhances low and low mid frequencies While this region provides the maximum satura tion and therefor sustain it also compresses and softens the attack characteristics For this reason we suggest using this higher region of the GAIN control sparingly and only when maximum sustain is needed PAGE 7 CONTROLS Continued NOTE Due to the Roadster s extreme gain potential the highest regions of the GAIN control may possibly push the pre amp tubes past what they can handle producing microphonic squealing While we screen and test the tubes your amplifier was shipped with and the tubes in your amp passe
52. m a cloud of free electrons in the vacuum space surrounding the cathode Although the term filament and heater are often used interchangeably there are specific differences A filament is a directly heated cathode where cathode coating is applied directly to the heating element Examples are 504 twin diode rectifier and 300B triode amplifier tubes A heater on the other hand is a heating element which is separate from the cathode and is usually inserted within the tubular cathode sleeve Examples are 12 7 twin triode amplifier and 6V6 or EL84 beam power pentode tubes In all cases this fundamental aspect of each tube s construction is clearly visible especially when the heating element is glowing red hot The cathode then would be considered the first numbered element because it is the source of the electrons The word itself is from the Greek literally meaning completely down which implies a sense of central origin like the center of the earth where Tone begins It might be said that an ecstatic audiophile experiences a positive catharsis his soul being purified when his system transports him to Audio Nirvana The only trouble with taking this positive imagery too far is that the cathode is unfortunately negative at least electrically speaking However this is easily remembered since virtually all musicians and audiophiles have also experienced the more common negative catharsis when they emerge from the emotional rebirth kicking and screami
53. me the Euro style EL 34 This difference along with minor value differences in the circuit created a very different sound than the tweed and black face amps born in the United States NE We have combined all the great qualities of several of these classic circuits to arrive at a sound that is pure tea bag pat With emphasis on a lower region of Treble and more punch in the low mids this mode is truly different than the FAT other modes in CHANNELS 1 amp 2 It works extremely well for both chording and single note soloing with its thicker throatier nature It also lends itself well to clipped sounds with its less extended top end and wider mid section producing some of the coolest crunch rhythm sounds around BRIT Needless to say the 50 watt power setting when selected with a set of EL34 s was born to serve this mode and when these two parts are used together a level of character is unveiled that is the equivalent opposite to TWEED feeding 2 x 6L6 s in 50 watt mode BRIT works very well with EL34 type power tubes so be sure to try using the Real Panel Bias switch and swapping the stock compliment of 6L6 s for a set of EL34 s to create the ultimate pre power match in the studio EL34 s will most likely compromise the performance of the other modes making the entire amp brighter and thinner You may want to keep using 6L6 type tubes for most of your live applications The choice is yours as to how best to use this very cool and dif
54. n and pushed rhythm sounds respectively and dedicate 3 amp 4 to high gain crunch rhythm and lead sounds using different settings of the same modes This type of preamp versatility means you will never have to compromise even when you change bands or venture into a new and different style with your playing You ve chosen an amp that will grow with you This awesome preamp power is then sent to the Roadster s Effects Loop section and we have provided a Series Loop to assure match to whatever type of processing you choose The Loop may be programmed active in any of the channels or footswitched in and out on the fly The Roadster also features Rectifier Tracking a feature which automatically matches the type of rectification for each of the preamp power sections you have configured This means you can tune the power feel even further to the sound you are creating You might want a lower wattage clean sound with the loose airy feel of Tube Rectification and a high gain lead sound with higher power and the tight tracking bass response of the Diode rectifier or vice versa Many combinations are possible and the best part is that Rectifier Tracking follows your choices in power settings to always mate the proper amount of rectification for the number of tubes in use For example if you are using either 2 x 616 and you choose Recto Tracking 1 x 5046 will be applied If you use 4 x 6L6 2 x 5U4G will be used This Rectifier Tracking feature provides
55. n replacing fuse use only same type and rating Avoid direct contact with heated tubes Keep amplifier away from children Be sure to connect to an AC power supply that meets the power supply specifications listed on the rear of the unit Remove the power plug from the AC mains socket if the unit is to be stored for an extended period of time If there is any danger of lightning occurring nearby remove the power plug from the wall socket in advance To avoid damaging your speakers and other playback equipment turn off the power of all related equipment before making the connections Do not use excessive force in handling control buttons switches and controls Do not use solvents such as benzene or paint thinner to clean the unit Wipe off the exterior with soft cloth YOUR AMPLIFIER IS LOUD EXPOSURE TO HIGH SOUND VOLUMES MAY CAUSE PERMANENT HEARING DAMAGE No user serviceable parts inside Refer service to qualified personnel Always unplug AC power before removing chassis EXPORT MODELS Always insure that unit is wired for proper voltage Make certain grounding conforms with local standards READ AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS OF PROPER USAGE ROADSTER Operating In Instructions Congratulations on choosing the Mesa Dual Rectifier Roadster as your amplifier and welcome to the Mesa Boogie Family By choosing this all tube hand built instrument you have taken a step into the future of guitar amplification for as you can see at a glance
56. ndall Smith that een ql we thought you might find interesting onmo GRID Here s a question we often hear Why doesn t Mesa put bias adjustments in their amplifiers Structure of a 6L6 5881 Beam Power Pentode Well there s a short answer and a long answer to this question The short answer is that during my 12 years of repairing Fenders one of the most frequent problems saw was bias controls that were either set wrong or that had wandered out of adjustment due to vibration As any honest tech will tell you there s lot s of easy money to be made by sprinkling holy water on amplifiers uh what meant to say is Your amp needed biasing See what mean What customer is going to argue with that It only takes a moment and a volt meter The Fender diagram shows how Adjust this trim pot for 52 volts That s it Nothing more Now don t be fooled into thinking that tubes draw more or less bias they don t The way a bias supply is connected to a tube is akin to a dead end road it just trails off to nowhere without really completing a circuit It s a static voltage and regardless of what tube is in the socket or even if the tubes aren t plugged in at all it doesn t change the bias voltage a bit So the end of the short answer is this Since bias supply needs to put out the right voltage and never vary wanted to build amplifiers that were individually
57. ng in rage and frustration Once heated the intrinsically negative electrons are energetic little fellows of almost no mass Thus they may be accelerated al most instantaneously and will travel through a vacuum a nearly the speed of light Being of like negative charge they tend to repel one another and thus within the electron cloud surrounding the cathode there is much jostling and elbowing as each one tries to maintain his distance from all the others unless there is a strong and universal attraction from an outside influence Visualize if you will a group of sub atomic Irishmen milling about and in a repellent negative state of mind All are scowling and none wants to have anything to do with the other Now introduce a strong attraction say a public bar and you can easily picture an orderly if rapid movement of the lot in a single direction This is what happens when a positively charged element called the anode or plate is introduced into the vacuum The plate is the large metal element most prominently visible through the glass of an electron tube It is the outermost element of a tube s structure and it surrounds all the others The cathode is at the center radiating electrons outwards As higher and higher positive voltage is applied to the plate the attraction for the electrons surrounding the cathode is increased and with nothing stand ing in the way full uninhibited flow to the plate occurs sort of like removing the doors and
58. o access either Channels or features via the footcontroller 2 The OUTPUT and SOLO controls work only if the Effects Loop is active Switch out of the LOOP BYPASS position in the 3 4 5 EFFECTS LOOP section the Rear Panel The SOLO Control is activated when the Footcontroller is connected to the FOOTSWITCH jack on the Rear Panel and the Ef fects Loop is taken out of LOOP BYPASS and activated When the Footcontroller is not connected the SOLO control will have no effect on the signal The SOLO feature can be used to set a volume level above that of the OUTPUT control setting It will not allow a setting below that of the OUTPUT control The GAIN and TREBLE controls are the most powerful controls in all four channels They should be used with taste and you will find that many of the best sounds are found with the controls set somewhere in their middle regions Avoid setting the TREBLE above 2 00 when the GAIN is maxed as the possibility of unwanted noise and squealing from microphonic tubes increases dramatically above this setting You will notice a substantial volume increase when switching from either the RAW or VINTAGE modes to the MODERN mode in Channels 3 amp 4 When switching modes Always check your MASTER controls to avoid sudden volume increases It is a good practice when setting up your channels to get in the habit of zeroing out the Channel MASTER control each time you switch modes PAGE 3 Helpful Hints contin
59. offering free drinks to the crowd of surly Irishmen milling around outside As electrons flow to the plate the space charge will continually be replenished by further boiling of the hot electron rich cathode as you can easily imagine other Irishmen impatiently taking up the places of those who ve gone inside until the entire village is deserted Now where do they come from and how do they emerge Well a grand and elegant lady once showed me how to revive flat cham pagne She dropped a raisin into the glass There was a dramatic and immediate increase in effervescence with the introduction of a cathoding surface Thousands of tiny bubbles suddenly appeared and continued to flow from the raisin Of course the bubbles were made up of gas dissolved in the beverage but the analogy makes it easy to visualize the loosely bound electrons dissolved in the rich cathode coating as they effervesce from its heated surface But back to the electron flow If the electrons are strongly attracted to a positively charged plate then it follows that they are strongly repelled by a negatively charged plate and they are Thus if an alternating current such as comes from a transformer is applied to the plate electrons will flow only during the times when the plate is positively charged During periods of negative plate charge electron flow is stopped and the space charge of electrons remains compressed in the area around the cathode PAGE 33
60. one more layer of focus to an already mindbending array of sounds to create the most expressive amplifier available anywhere The Roadster incorporates a rich all tube analog Reverb Controlled per channel with the Rear Panel Reverb controls it may be switched in and out via the foot controller Our patented SOLO feature is an additional Output Level control that is wired in parallel to the Output and provides a pre assignable footswitchable boost for stepping out when it s time to solo A built in Variac our patented SPONGY BOLD switch is also included which enables you to reduce the A C line voltage for a looser feel and increased upper harmonic spread resulting in that brown sound that has the elusive sag And finally to keep you in constant control of all the features aboard this vehicle of expression we have supplied one of the mightiest footswitches around All possible Channels Functions and Features are there for your instant access and their status is monitored by LED illumination So with an overview of the basic layout of the Readster behind us let s get ready to play PAGE 2 Getting Started 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 After unpacking the amplifier remove the plastic webbing from all of the tubes including the tubes behind the row of power and rectifier tubes and make sure all tubes are seated firmly in their sockets Install the 504 Rectifier tubes if they are not already in place by bend
61. pier still Because every part in every one of our designs has been meticulously evaluated compared and stressed over no matter how seemingly insignificant it might be And with every design we look for a sweet spot where all the parameters including the bias come together to give the best sonic performance consistently and reliably Every part and voltage is important yet no one complains that these other parameters aren t available for tinkering Consider our patented Simul Class circuitry where there are two different bias voltages used for separate pairs of power tubes and changing one voltage also changes the other Great care goes into getting this just right and we think we d be asking for trouble to have it adjustable for the world to play with unless you like paying to have your amp messed up Sorry meant to say Uh your amp needed biasing If that doesn t appeal to you then merely plug a matched set of tubes into one of our amps and you re ready for tone Guar anteed You d be amazed at the number of service calls we field every day that lead to a diagnosis of out of tolerance non spec tube problems To think these would be prevented by including a bias adjustment is something of an insult to you and us If you put the wrong size tires on your car do you think changing the pressure will make them right Please don t think this is a blanket indictment of the other guys selling tubes it
62. riencing a high pitched squeal or feedback This is a result of the SEND and RETURN jack being connected together by adding excessive gain at the processors Input and Output stage thus reducing the internal separation between these stages we have built into the Readster s EFFECTS LOOP Why can t there be more separation at this point in the circuit There could be if we and you didn t care about TONE This is an extremely sensitive part of any amplifier and we have always chosen these most critical part values on the side of TONE knowing that if the loops are used properly with high quality processors there will be no problems Please try to keep in mind that this is a high performance amplifier and should be used in conjunction with outboard gear of equal quality If you must use lesser processing you will have to tolerate any degradation in sound quality and remember that turning up the gain of such a processor much at all will only cause feedback problems NOTE Remember that the LOOP BYPASS switch removes all LOOP circuitry from the signal path including 2 x 12AX7s and the OUTPUT and SOLO controls PAGE 15 REAR PANEL CONTROLS amp FEATURES USING THE FX RETURN AS A POWER AMP INPUT Continued NOTE When using the Roadster s EFFECTS RETURN jack as a Power Amp Input the input sensitivity will be most normal in CHANNELS 1 and 2 For increased power sensitivity you may choose the incredibly sensitive CHANNEL 3 or 4 MOD
63. rouped as two sets of lower gain Rhythm Channels 1 amp 2 and two sets of high gain Lead Channels 3 amp 4 The two sets are stacked with the lower gain rhythm channels following the Input jack Each of these channels house 3 different modes which are voiced differently and in certain cases have different gain structures You ll notice the modes are duplicated in the two types of channels excepting one in each Rhythm Channel which makes it possible to use the them for different settings of the same sound FRONT VIEW COMBO Roadster RAW 5 ON w BAD ase S MODERN s SOLO GAIN TREBLE MID BASS PRESENCE MASTER 5 GAIN TREBLE MID BASS PRESENCE MASTER f ERN 2 RAW OUTPUT 5906906 90690906 BRIT CH2 CH4 MODERN REAR VIEW COMBO Roadster CH3 CH2 CH1 SPEAKERS 160HM 80HM 40HM 40HM SWITCH ODON REVERB SOLO LOOP TUNER OUT SOLO CONTROLS SEND RETURN USE Two caes OUT This allows the Roadster to be many amps to many players and roam confidently between extremely different musical styles while retaining the ability to focus in on any one and offer a multitude of great sounds for a specific genre For example a Blues player might dial up 1 amp 2 for different clean sounds using the same mode for both chording and solo fills while 3 4 provide different levels of the same lower gain solo sound Conversely a Rock player might configure 1 amp 2 for semi clea
64. s the instrument is turned down Microphonic noise is caused by mechanical vibration and shock think of banging a microphone around and you ll understand where the word came from The best way to approach a pre amp tube problem is to see if it occurs only in one specific mode or channel This should lead you to the tube needing replacement Then all that remains is to swap the suspect tube for a known good performer If you cannot narrow down the trouble to a specific mode or channel the problem may be the small tube that drives the power tubes which is operational in all modes and channels Though rare a problem with the driver tube would show up in all aspects of performance so if you can t narrow the problem down to being mode or channel specific you may want to try replacing the driver tube Driver problems generally show themselves in the form of crackling or hum in all modes of performance and or weak overall output from the amplifier Occasion ally an anemic driver tube will cause the amplifier to sound flat and lifeless but this is somewhat uncommon as worn power tubes are a more likely suspect for this type of problem Sometimes making the diagnosis is more trouble than it s worth and it s faster and easier to merely replace the small pre amp tubes ONE AT ATIME with a replacement known to be good But MAKE SURE you keep returning the tubes to their original socket until you hit the one that cures the problem You ll notice that tubes located
65. tching the REVERB or Channels This intentional built in delay prevents both switching noise from the hard bypass relays used to isolate the pure dry signal from the effected REVERB signal and the prior Channels sound coming through the REVERB in the current Channel when switching At first this may seem strange but after a couple minutes in real world situations you will see that it is prefer able to the embarrassing alternative of a loud overdriven crunch chord drowning out your beautiful clean passage in the middle of a breakdown PAGE 12 REAR PANEL CONTROLS amp FEATURES continued Ma These 4 clusters of switches and controls house the specific features that can be pre assigned per individual channel Once you have deciphered one you have learned the Roadster s secret and are ready to roll for they are simply repeated for the 4 channels This section is where you choose the status of the LOOP your power setting 50 100 watts the type of Rectifier you wish to use and your Reverb Mix Level Each preamp channel has a corre sponding CHANNEL STRIP to give you voicing and feel control over each of the four footswitchable sounds for the ultimate flexibility and maximum tone REVERB DIODE 100 WATTS FX ON O TRACKING WATS This two position toggle selects the type of rectifier Silicon Diodes or Tube which converts the voltage from AC to DC for the power supply The
66. thm sounds in the high gain modes Be sure to taunt the beast that lurks in CHANNEL 3 MODERN as the PRESENCE is truly amazing in this most agro mode PAGE 9 CONTROLS Continued This control is the master feed from the end of the pre amp to the driver stage and the Effects Loop As you can see each Channel is fitted with its own MASTER control enabling the four channels relative volumes to be matched regardless of their extremely different sound styles and gain signatures The MASTER control makes possible a wide range of sounds through its ability to use very low Gain sounds at high volumes e e e and conversely high Gain sounds at low volumes and everywhere between Again we suggest using the MASTER control in its sensible ranges 9 00 2 00 Here the channels will be easier to match with each other and the Effects Loop will see more BASS PRESENCE MASTER reasonable signal levels NOTE Because the MASTER control creates the send to the Effects Loop extreme settings will cause a large signal to be sent to the Loop for that Channel Not only may this cause possible overloading of the processors Input stage but will make balancing the four channels Effect Send level difficult This is the overall OUTPUT LEVEL control for the entire amplifier It is located at the input to the power sec tion and allows you to raise adjust the playing level once you have used the individual CHANNEL MASTER controls to balance the B
67. tion mostly gives way to temptation but there are those few stalwart Irishmen who think twice and decide to come back later Most just pause slightly then go on through That is the purpose of the bar doors to prevent everyone from crowding in all at once and as the door is made less of a barrier wider spaces between the louvers more of the bar s attractive influence is felt outside thus amplifying the customer flow and increasing the crowd at the bar PENTODES Occasionally though bar doors even the louvered type were found to be too effective and too many customers turned away Something further was needed to increase the attraction of the bar and overcome the resistance created by the door Thus the cocktail waitress was invented Once again the idea was inspired by the vacuum tube It had been discovered in some tubes often large power types that the distance to the plate was too great to attract enough electrons past the negative influence of the control grid So another grid coil of fine wire was inserted between the first grid and the plate This was called the screen grid and carrying a highly positive charge it functioned as a bait for the plate In a properly designed power tube such as an EL84 or a 6V6 the windings of the screen grid are precisely aligned to fall in the shadow of the control grid This way the electrons responding to the pull of the screen grid are lined up in sheets as they pass be tween windings of the inner
68. ueg 7 8 The PRESENCE control determines a lot about the voicing of gain sounds Set lower it will fatten and compress single note sounds and lend a liquid feeling to the strings in the 3 modes of Channels 3 amp 4 Set higher it will add cut and brightness to the sound and can be useful in keeping Bass response tight especially at high GAIN settings when searching for crunch rhythm sounds Although Channels 3 amp 4 contain duplicate modes the PRESENCE controls are different and therefor settings and sounds will not dial up exactly the same CHANNEL 3 has been optimized for the RAW and VINTAGE modes with a PRES ENCE control that peaks just above very bright and at the low end of the control gets truly round and squashed This response showcases the more warm and fury nature of these two modes CHANNEL 4 houses a much more powerful PRESENCE control that has been optimized for the MODERN mode and will go to realms of top end that are frankly ridiculous However up to the 2 00 region its more unbridled response makes the Recto MODERN mode a force to reckon with Think of the difference like this the entire range of CHANNEL 3 s PRESENCE control can be found below 10 00 on Channel 4 s PRESENCE control It plays out like this using MODERN IN Channel 3 will require a PRESENCE setting at the top of the range and conversely using RAW and VINTAGE in CHANNEL 4 may require a very low PRESENCE setting 9 When switching Channels with Reverb applie
69. y mentioned regarding tube replacement You ll probably be successful with much less effort than is required to disconnect everything and haul the unit to a 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 PAGE 22 DIAGNOSING PRE AMP TUBE PROBLEMS Because your amplifier is an all tube design it is quite possible that you will at some point experience minor pre amp tube noise Rest assured this is no cause for alarm and you can take care of the problem yourself in a matter of minutes by simply swapping tubes Let us begin by saying It is a very good idea to keep at least a couple of spare pre amp tubes on hand at all times to insure unin terrupted performance These minor pre amp tube problems can take many forms but can generally be described in two categories Noise and Microphonics Noise can be in the form of crackling sputtering white noise hiss and or hum Microphonic problems usually appear in the form of a ringing or high pitched squealing that gets worse as the gain or volume is increased thus are more noticeable in the higher gain modes Microphonic problems are easily identified because the problem is still present even with the instru ments volume off or unplugged altogether unlike pick up feedback which ceases a
70. y recordings it is now a staple for anyone headed to the studio for an album project Combining this super juicy expressive preamp with the Reczos black magic tube rectified power section creates colors in oors Im galm thatmostpia that most players find truly addictive Single note solo work is effortless as the strings become easy to play with VINTAGE modes musical and natural tube compression Spend time learning the lower regions of the VINTAGE RAW mode as the overlap between RAW and VINTAGE is a place where many beautiful sounds lie VINTAGE These two modes are similar enough when VINTAGE is set in its lower range and RAW is set in its medium MODERN to higher range and yet each posses a character that is unique and identifiable Remember that you can MASTER RAW swap channels to achieve different voicings of the VINTAGE sound and no matter which you settle upon you will likely find your trademark lead sound lurking somewhere in this sea of liquid gain VINTAGE 3 MODERN PAGE 6 CHANNEL MODES continued ERE Aggressive This is the word that best describes the menacing power of the Roadster s most rebel lious of all modes and ui icc in its original form in CHANNELS 3 amp 4 A take no prisoners crushing assault of top end cut and lightning fast response creates a sound of unparalleled aggression that has set a new standard for RAW hard core sounds VINTAGE e The added tightness of the low end response combin

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