Mesa Boogie 50 Caliber Series User Manual

MESA/BOOGIE

MESA/BOOGIE

.50 CALIBER SERIES
OWNER OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

CONGRADULATIONS! You've just become the proud owner of the boldest sounding, easiest operating
50-watt amplifier there is... and you're sure to enjoy it! When friends and strangers come up to
compliment you on your tone, you can smile knowingly... and hopefully you'll tell them a little about us!
Because word-of-mouth is still the best way to spread the news about MESA/Boogie.

The Spirit of Art in Technology

GREAT SOUND
would deliver professional quality sound that lives up to the MIESA/Boogie reputation. (So even though
the big Mark III Boogies have more power and more features, your .50 was designed and built as a
totally professional, no compromise instrument.) We figure that once you're hooked on a great amp
performance, you'll find yourself playing better and enjoying it more.

GREAT SIMPLICITY
nearly impossible to come up with a bad sound or a wrong setting. And here to help you get started, is a
brief explanation of your new amp's features and controls.

FRONT PANEL

INPUT JACK This 1/4 inch guitar jack is the instrument input to your studio amplifier. Patented "Dual
Mode" circuitry makes this single jack work for both Rhythm and Lead ... providing very high headroom
for sparkling clean rhythm and super high gain for monstrous lead playing. Be sure to use a good quality,
shielded guitar cord.

FOOTSWITCH JACK
cabled provided. When the red LED on the footswitch box is illuminated, the .50 Caliber is in the
RHYTHM mode... Red equals Rhythm. Stepping on the button switches the amp into the LEAD Mode
and the light goes out.

Many months of patient, painstaking R & D were spent developing the .50 Caliber so it

One of the .50 Caliber's greatest virtues is its incredible simplicity of operation. It's

FEATURES

This 1/4 inch jack connects to the Lead/Rhythm footswitch via the un-shielded

Should you lose or forget your footswitch, you can activate the Lead mode by plugging a cable into the
footswitch socket and shorting the tip of the other plug against the chassis or one of the metal handle
caps.

VOLUME This control is active in both Rhythm and Lead Modes. It establishes the amplifier's overall
sensitivity to your guitar's output and must be mixed in conjunction with the Master.

In the Rhythm mode, the maximum clean setting is usually around 6 (varies with stronger or weaker
pickups) and most players find their favorite cleanest brightest spot between 3 and 5. But if you want
some break-up in the Rhythm mode, turn the volume up high.

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In the Lead mode the Volume knob is intentionally less sensitive so that there is no need to "re-set" it for
the two modes. With most guitars, distortion begins around 2 with a real nice sounding blues-type tone
reminiscent of old Fenders turned up loud. Settings above 3 or 4 produce the more modern, more
monstrous distortion sounds. Gain and distortion increase slowly as the Volume setting is increased,
often producing the tightest, best sounding heavy crunch tone between 7 and 9.

Th prevent undesirable squealing, noise, and feedback, the Volume should be reduced as playing
loudness-via the Master-is increased. We only recommend running the Volume above 6 when the Master
is below 6.

MASTER This control regulates the power amplifier level and the actual overall loudness. If you run the
Volume at 10 and the master below 1 (in the Lead mode) Grandma can nap in the next room while you
annihilate Manhattan with monstrous metal performance. You'll still get the sound and feel of big amps
cranked way up!

Turning up the Master begins to reveal the .50 Caliber's monstrous sound-per-watt capability…it's
noticeably louder than other comparably rated amps! The maximum performance for loud, clean rhythm
and hot, high-gain lead playing comes around 5 and 7 on the Volume and Master controls. This puts the
amplifier right in the middle of its range for great sound and easy footswitchability. The taper of the two
controls is gradual enough so that dialing in both great lead and great rhythm sounds is quite easy to do.

However, the taper of the Master control gets radical above 7 and begins to unleash the maximum from
your .50's power section. And this power amp has been designed to deliver its greatest crunch when
turned up smoking loud! But you must turn down the Volume control as you increase the Master. A
maximum setting would be 3-4 on the Volume and 8 or 9 on the Master.

When you want to turn down to soft playing levels and continue to footswitch between Lead and Rhythm,
merely turn down the Master. This will preserve the volume balance between the two modes. Note:
Settings of Volume control below 2 or 3 with Master settings also low may cause an imbalance in
channel volume levels.

TREBLE This is the most powerful of the three rotary tone controls. At high settings (7 ½ and above) it
will appear to minimize the effect of the Bass and Middle. But they will become the stronger controls
when the Treble is set below 5. For those who split hairs tonally and want the very best, most bubbly,
funky clean tones, you should find the exact spot on the Treble where all-the tone controls are balanced.
This will usually be somewhere between 5 and 7. Some players are very particular about the exact spot ­say “6 ¼ or 6 ¾” - for their ideal tonal balance.

When playing hard-core crunch, especially at the very soft practice volumes, the .50 will usually sound
better with the Treble and Presence set quite high, or all the way up. This will also help produce sustain
and harmonic jumps at soft playing levels.

For silky, warm, and round jazz tones, run the .50 Caliber in the Rhythm mode with the Treble set low
and Bass and Middle turned up higher. Add sparkle with the Presence control.

BASS, MIDDLE

You've already read some recommendations for these settings in the TREBLE section,

and because the tone controls are interactive, all three must be used together.

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