Mesa Boogie Studio 22 Plus User Manual

MESA/BOOGIE

MESA/BOOGIE

STUDIO .22 PLUS
OWNER OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

CONGRATULATIONS! You've just become the proud owner of the liveliest sounding, easiest
operating, small caliber 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.

GREAT SOUND Many months of patient, painstaking R & D were spent developing the Studio .22
Plus so it would deliver professional quality sound that lives up to the MESA/Boogie reputation. (So
even though our other models have more power and perhaps more features, your Studio .22 was
designed and built as a totally professional, no-compromise instrument.) We figure that once you're
hooked on great amp performance, you'll find yourself playing better and enjoying it more.

GREAT SIMPLICITY One of the Studio Boogie's greatest virtues is its incredible simplicity of
operation. It's 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.

The Spirit of Art in Technology

FRONT PANEL FEATURES
INPUT JACK This ¼ inch 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
cable provided. When the red LED on the footswitch box is illuminated, the Studio .22 is in the
RHYTHM mode...red equals
and the light goes out.

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, which could also be called "preamp gain", establishes the amplifier's overall
sensitivity to your guitar's output. It is active in both Rhythm and Lead modes, and must be mixed in
conjunction with the Master (or, when in the Lead mode, both Masters). 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 model turn the Volume up high.

This ¼ inch jack connects to the Lead/Rhythm footswitch via the un-shielded

rhythm. Stepping on the button switches the amp into the LEAD mode

In the Lead mode the Volume knob is intentionally less sensitive so that there is no need to 'Ire-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,
"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.

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

MASTER This control regulates the power amplifier level, or the actual overall loudness. (When you
are in the Lead mode, both the regular Master and the Lead Master operate together -- in series -- to
regulate the overall level.) If you run the Volume at 10, the Lead Master at 4, and the Master at 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 overdrive and sustain of big amps cranked way up.

Turning up the Master begins to reveal the Studio Boogie's monstrous sound-per-watt capability…it's
much louder than comparably rated amps! The maximum performance for loud, clean rhythm and
hot, high-gain lead playing comes with the Volume and Masters around 5. This puts the amplifier
right in the middle of its range for great sound and easy footswitchability. The taper of the 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 at 7 and unleashes the maximum output from
your Studio's power section. And this power amp has been designed to deliver its greatest crunch
when turned up smoking loud! Even with the single 12-inch combo speaker, your friends will be
blown away by the .22's big, tight low end... it truly has the fat chunking sound of a 4x12!

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.

LEAD MASTER

This control, which is operative only in the Lead mode, works together with the
regular Master to determine your Lead volume. It is "in series" with the regular Master, and is located
"before" it in the signal path. It is also located just before the Effects Loop, and therefore acts as an
effects send

control for the Lead mode (whatever level is set here is the level your effects will
receive), whereas the regular Master is placed after the Loop. You'll most likely find your ideal
Lead/Rhythm balance with the Lead Master somewhere between 3 and 5; its exact setting, of
course, is up to you.

TREBLE This is the most powerful of the three rotary tone controls. At high settings (7½ 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 control where all the tone controls are
balanced. This will usually be somewhere between 6 and 7. Some players are very particular about
the exact spot; they say “6¼” or “6¾” gives them the ideal tonal balance.

When playing hard-core crunch, especially at very soft practice volumes, the or even all the way up.
This will help produce sustain and harmonic jumps at soft playing levels.

For silky, warm and round jazz tones, try running the Studio .22 in the Rhythm mode with the Treble
set low and the 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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