Mesa/Boogie TransAtlantic TA-15 Owner's Manual
  1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. Mesa/Boogie Manuals
  4. Musical Instrument Amplifier
  5. TransAtlantic TA-15
  6. Owner's manual

Mesa/Boogie TransAtlantic TA-15 Owner's Manual

Hide thumbs
Table of Contents

Advertisement

Quick Links

Owner's Manual

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the TransAtlantic TA-15 and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Related Manuals for Mesa/Boogie TransAtlantic TA-15

Summary of Contents for Mesa/Boogie TransAtlantic TA-15

  • Page 1 Owner’s Manual...
  • Page 2 Hello from the Tone Farm Congratulations on your choice of the T TA-15 and Welcome to the MESA/ rans TlanTic Boogie Family. The instrument you have chosen redefines the micro amp genre by including preamp and power options that seem near impossible for an amplifier with such a humble footprint.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    TABLE OF CONTENTS OVERVIEW _______________________________________________________________________ 1-2 HELPFUL HINTS __________________________________________________________________ 2-3 FRONT PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES THE MODES: NORMAL, TOP BOOST ____________________________________________________3 THE MODES: TWEED, HI 1, HI 2 ______________________________________________________ 4-5 POWER MODES: MULTI-WATT POWER ________________________________________________ 5-6 INPUT _____________________________________________________________________________7 FOOTSWITCH_______________________________________________________________________7 VOLUME / GAIN ___________________________________________________________________ 7-8 TREBLE ___________________________________________________________________________8 BASS ______________________________________________________________________________9 CUT / PULL MASTER _________________________________________________________________9...

  • Page 4: Important Safety Instructions

    IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS Read these instructions. Keep these instructions. Heed all warnings. Follow all instructions. Do not use this apparatus near water. Clean only with dry cloth. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat.

  • Page 5: Overview

    Instruction Manual Overview: While the TA-15 control layout is rather sparse (compared to some MESA’s), there is a lot more going on internally than might be apparent at first glance. Make no mistake, this is not a low line offering, but rather a power experiment in the world of micro. In every way the TA-15 stands proud alongside any of our larger multi channel offerings with the same components, build quality, versatility and performance…...

  • Page 6: Helpful Hints

    (Continued) verview The 15 setting brings on a Push-Pull wiring scheme while remaining in Class A and pumps up the wattage for the perfect blend of vintage sound, manageable power and sweet, smooth clip. ™ From there things take a leap forward in time and power to our Patented Dyna-Watt power in the upper 25W position.

  • Page 7: The Modes: Normal, Top Boost

    Odes CHANNEL 1: NORMAL: This mode takes its architecture from the TOP BOOST circuitry and removes gain, adds brightness and fills out the bottom with a little more air and dimension. It works best for clean work and provides substantially more headroom than TOP BOOST. NORMAL is the choice when you need more stripped urgent clean sounds that will tuck up nicely in a mix.

  • Page 8: The Modes: Tweed, Hi 1, Hi 2

    Odes ontinued CHANNEL 2: TWEED: This is the lowest gain of the three Modes in Channel 2 and is aimed at clean and edge of clip sounds. It draws the framework of its circuit architecture from the early tweed amps from Southern Cal and then gets a healthy dose of magic from the 40 years of little secrets we’ve discovered to arrive at a beyond vintage level of Tone and performance.

  • Page 9: Power Modes: Multi-Watt Power

    Odes ontinued So in HI 2 you will find all the desirable qualities of your favorite Boogie high gain Mode, but find them fine tuned in a way that sits beautifully alongside the British flavor of HI 1. Plenty of difference to be recognizable… but not so different that it sticks out and feels out of place.
  • Page 10 Odes ontinued 15W: CLASS A CLASS A power has long been touted the Holy Grail of power wiring schemes for all out Tone and there is good reason. It produces an extremely smooth transition into clip, lush harmonics and an angelic quality to the sound. When pushed to clip, it responds with soft transients and never sounds harsh ever at the extremes.

  • Page 11: Input

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features INPUT: This is the instrument INPUT jack. This jack feeds the preamp and since the T is a high gain amplifier and rans TlanTic therefore very sensitive, always use a high quality shielded cable between the instrument and the amplifier. This will prevent unwanted noise and microphonic cable sounds.

  • Page 12: Treble

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) expect the same type of response you would find with these heavier sounds as you would from a 100 watt amp. The TA-15 is indeed mighty in its class… but those little EL84’s can’t handle massive amounts of both preamp gain and huge low end like an amp running the larger octal-based 6L6 or EL34 type power tubes.

  • Page 13: Bass

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) BASS: The BASS is probably the simplest control on the TA-15 and it simply dials in low frequencies to the mix in the preamp sec- tion. It is a less “volatile” Tone control than the TREBLE in that high settings will only cause an unbalanced sound, and not some other “stress”...

  • Page 14: Channel Select

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) CHANNEL SELECT: This 3 position mini toggle allows manual selection of the Channels when the Footswitch is not connected. Set it to the center FT-SW position to use the Channel Select Footswitch. NORMAL TWEED HI 1 TOP BST HI 2...

  • Page 15: Fuse

    POWER STANDBY SPEAKERS: The TransAtlantic TA-15 provides one 8 ohm and one 4 ohm speaker output. This enables you to use many dif- BASS MASTER ferent combinations of speaker setups. You should experiment with different loading conditions as there may be a certain impedance mismatch that produces a sound you may prefer to the correct load condition.

  • Page 16: Factory Sample Settings & Personal Settings Sheets

    SAMPLE SETTINGS Spanky Clean / Blues Vibe NORMAL TWEED ™ HI 1 TOP BST HI 2 POWER INPUT FT SW STANDBY PULL VOLUME TREBLE BASS CUT / MASTER GAIN TREBLE BASS MASTER 15W or 5W (knob pushed in) Clean Punch / Brit Crunch NORMAL TWEED ™...
  • Page 17 SAMPLE SETTINGS AC Solo / Vintage Clean NORMAL TWEED ™ HI 1 TOP BST HI 2 POWER INPUT FT SW STANDBY PULL VOLUME TREBLE BASS CUT / MASTER GAIN TREBLE BASS MASTER Pull Master As (knob pushed in) Needed AC Grind / Saturated Brit NORMAL TWEED ™...

  • Page 18: User Settings

    USER SETTINGS NORMAL TWEED ™ HI 1 TOP BST HI 2 POWER INPUT FT SW STANDBY PULL VOLUME TREBLE BASS CUT / MASTER GAIN TREBLE BASS MASTER NORMAL TWEED ™ HI 1 TOP BST HI 2 POWER INPUT STANDBY FT SW PULL VOLUME TREBLE...
  • Page 19 USER SETTINGS NORMAL TWEED ™ HI 1 TOP BST HI 2 POWER INPUT FT SW STANDBY PULL VOLUME TREBLE BASS CUT / MASTER GAIN TREBLE BASS MASTER NORMAL TWEED ™ HI 1 TOP BST HI 2 POWER INPUT STANDBY FT SW PULL VOLUME TREBLE...

  • Page 20: Tube Maintenance & Diagnosis

    TUBE NOISE & MICROPHONICS: You may occasionally experience some form of tube noise or microphonics. Certainly no cause for alarm, this quirky behavior comes with the territory and the Tone. Much like changing a light bulb, you don’t need a technician to cure these types of minor user serviceable annoyances and in fact, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to cure tube problems...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...
  • Page 21 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.

  • Page 22: Bias Adjustment: A Feature Article By Randall Smith

    BIAS ADJUSTMENT: (Part of a continuing series) BEAM- CONFINING An Article written by Randall Smith that ELECTRODE CATHODE we thought you might find interesting. GRID ..SCREEN GRID ..
  • Page 23 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.
  • Page 24 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 for the mis-match causes the push-pull circuit itself to become unbalanced. Two wrongs don’t really make a right.

  • Page 25: Speaker Impedance & Possible Hook-Up Schemes - Amps To Speaker Cab

    SPEAKER IMPEDANCE MATCHING & 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.
  • Page 26 SPEAKER IMPEDANCE MATCHING & HOOK-UP GUIDE: (Continued) PARALLEL: 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 resis- tance.
  • Page 27 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 Ohm Cabinet Partial back view of some Mesa amp 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 4 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet...
  • Page 28 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 Ohm Cabinet 16 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH CORRECT MATCH Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier...
  • Page 29 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier 16 Ohm 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM SERIES BOX 8 Ohm 8 Ohm 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH Partial back view of amp Partial back view of amplifier CORRECT MATCH 8 OHM...
  • Page 30 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier 16 Ohm 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM SERIES BOX 8 Ohm 8 Ohm 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet 16 Ohm Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH Partial back view of amplifier 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM...

  • Page 31: Triodes, Pentodes & Irishmen: A Feature Article On The Workings Of Tubes

    ON TRIODES, PENTODES & 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.
  • Page 32 ON TRIODES, PENTODES & IRISHMEN: (Continued) 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.
  • Page 33 PENTODES: (Continued) 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 door’s negative influence.

  • Page 34: Tube Description & Task Chart

    PAGE 30...

  • Page 35: Parts Sheet

    PAGE 31...
  • Page 36 NOTES:...
  • Page 37 OOGIE The Spirit of Art in Technology Thank you for trusting MESA/Boogie to be your amplifier company and we wish you many years of toneful enjoyment from this handbuilt all tube instrument.
  • Page 38 The Spirit of Art in Technology (707) 778-6565 FAX NO. (707) 765-1503 1317 Ross Street Petaluma, CA 94954 08/16/10...

Table of Contents