Mesa Cab Clone Owner's Manual

Owner’s Manual

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS:

• Read these instructions.

• Keep these instructions.

• Heed all warnings.

• Follow all instructions.

• If the CABCLONE gets hot to the touch (from playing too loud), back down the amplifier’s Output (MASTER) and take a break for a minute
or two and let it cool. Avoiding high Output levels with your amplifier (especially with 100+ watt amplifiers) will prevent the internal load from
getting hot and radiating to the chassis. The Internal Load is NOT A POWER SOAK.

• Do not use this apparatus near water.

• Clean only with dry cloth.

CABCLONE™ OWNER’S MANUAL & OPERATING GUIDE

Congratulations on your choice of MESA/Boogie® and welcome to the MESA® Family! The same passion for excellence, commitment to quality and
dedication to customer satisfaction is present in each and every product we make in our one-and-only shop in Petaluma, California, U.S.A. Rest assured
that the very same people that hand-build the finest amplifiers in the world built your device and you have access to the same resources for help that
all our customers do. Call on us anytime and most of all, enjoy!

OVERVIEW

The CABCLONE™ is a passive Cabinet Simulator/Speaker+Mic alternative for use with Guitar amplifiers that allows direct interface of your guitar amp’s
Speaker Output with a mixing console, microphone preamp or even direct to your converters (recorder). It’s also a Compensated Headphone Driver
that delivers a great sounding, great feeling Headphone-friendly version of your amp’s Tone that’s perfect for late night practice sessions or anytime you
want to play without others listening.

Featuring an internal (resistive type) load that can also be defeated, the CABCLONE can be used to capture a direct signal either with or without a
live speaker connected to the amplifier. When used with a Speaker (connected to the Rear Panel THRU jack) the dynamic content will be increased
along with a slight increase in top end. Without a speaker connected the internal resistive load provides a very good representation of the amplifier’s
feel (considering it is a fixed impedance and does not change with frequency) and is rated for 100 Watts @8 Ohms (Standard). The CABCLONE is
designed for amps rated at 100-Watts or less and the standard format is wired for a nominal impedance of 8 OHMs. Also available are 4 OHM and 16
OHM versions that allow proper impedance matching with other MESA—as well as non-MESA—amplifiers. Using this internal load scenario, you can
transform any amplifier into a powerful “silent” recording tool.

The Front Panel features an adjustable D.I. (OUTPUT) LEVEL control that accommodates a wide range of destination input requirements ranging from
MIC (-30dB) to Instrument/ Line (-10dB) to Pro LINE (+4dB) and anywhere in between. This adjustable pot allows you to fine tune the signal strength
for virtually any kind of monitoring or recording environment.

A PHASE FLIP switch is provided as well to allow inverting of the phase 180 degrees when blending the CABCLONE signal with other sources in
recording or live environments.

The Front Panel GROUND/LIFT switch allows you to lift the CABCLONE BALANCED DIRECT OUT XLR’s PIN 1 (GROUND), from the Circuit and
Chassis Ground. In many cases this can remove annoying ground loops that can occur from “grounded” devices that have their own different ground
reference when interfacing to consoles.

At the far right of the Front Panel there is a VOICING switch giving you three popular choices for the style of Speaker Cabinet simulated. The upper
CLOSED BACK position scoops the midrange and also allows more of the upper harmonic region through, simulating the response of a 4x12 cabinet
loaded with British-style 60 watt speakers and pays tribute to our Rectifier® Traditional Cabinet. This response is often preferable for heavily saturated
rhythm and/or lead work where you want a midrange scoop and a huge sonic spread (width). The center OPEN BACK position takes the lid off a bit
so the upper harmonics can shine through and provide a more open, three-dimensional sound with accentuated top end. This position works well for
clean work and overdriven rhythm applications where a brighter, “faster” response is in order. The lower VINTAGE CABINET position is the darkest,
most compressed choice and offers the best response for single note soloing, especially when higher gain sounds are in use. This setting will keep
lead work fat and round and free of “buzzy” gain artifacts.

Within these three selectable VOICING positions you‘ll find the ability to tune the CABCLONE’s response to work well for almost any sound style. Keep
in mind that adding a live speaker to the THRU may affect the sound and the sound of these VOICING choices... possibly making things more reactive
dynamically and perhaps brighter as well, depending on the speaker’s inherent characteristics that you have chosen.

In the CABCLONE’s simple Front Panel controls are the basic—but powerful—tools to control your guitar amp’s sound and get it to the Console direct
with the least possible effort, time and “superfluous noise”. Now let’s jump to the Rear Panel and review the interfacing possibilities found there.

Starting from the far left of the Rear Panel we have the INPUT. This ¼” jack is where you will connect the SPEAKER OUTPUT of your amplifier. The
Standard 8 Ohm CABCLONE accepts and will work with almost any impedance load. However, for the best Tonal results and to avoid damage to your
amplifier’s output transformer from an impedance mismatch, it is always best to match the amplifier’s Output Impedance to a CABCLONE wired for that
same impedance. The three Screened-On Boxes in the center of the Rear Panel indicate the as-built impedance. Make sure your CABCLONE has the
IMPEDANCE BOX checked that you intend to use most of the time and that it matches the SPEAKER OUTPUT IMPEDANCE JACK you favor on your
amplifier. A correct match here will ensure the best Tonal results and remove the possibility (with some amplifiers) of shortened Output Tube life and/
or damage to your output transformer.

Next we have the THRU jack and this provides the option of having a live speaker on your amplifier while taking the DIRECT OUT signal to your console
and using the CABCLONE Direct circuitry for capturing the sound. When using this configuration you can also decide to mic-up the live speaker cabinet
as well, giving you the choice of the CABCLONE BALANCED DIRECT OUT, the Mic—or both—for the ability to blend them (in real time or later) in a
mix session. The THRU jack is a switching-type and inserting a ¼” phono plug (use unshielded speaker cable) automatically defeats the internal Load
Resistor so that your amplifier is seeing the true impedance load of your chosen speaker cabinet. Note that using a live speaker connected to the THRU
may produce a different sound at the DIRECT OUTPUT of the CABCLONE due to the different response characteristics, loading effect and dynamic
properties of the individual cabinet in use. A “fixed” or “static” load as used when nothing is connected to the THRU jack—no matter how good sounding
and feeling—doesn’t change in impedance according to frequency like a “reactive type” (speaker) load does. The complex response curve of a reactive
speaker load is very difficult to mimic, and therefore the sound of the speaker load cannot be EXACTLY duplicated. That said, you will likely find the
CABCLONE—like so many top Artists and Producers have—very good sounding and feeling. The THRU jack gives you the added flexibility to decide
how best to use it for great results in your musical environment.

In the center of the Rear Panel is the 3-Pin male XLR jack BALANCED DIRECT OUT. Here the microphone cable is connected to your mixing console,
preamps or even converters and you are ready to press RECORD in the studio or Rock The House in a live venue. And depending on whether you’ve
chosen to connect a live speaker cabinet to the THRU jack or not... Silently and with Great Tone! The signal level here is determined by the setting of
the Front Panel D.I. LEVEL Rotary Control and as mentioned earlier, can be set to match almost any input destination’s requirement from -30dB Mic
Level all the way up to a +4dB Pro Line Level signal.

A ¼” LINE OUT has been included to capture the unprocessed (untreated) sound of your amplifier’s Speaker Output for various applications ranging
from creating a Slave signal for additional power on amps that don’t incorporate that feature, to a Direct feed to a Console/Recorder. This signal is