Mesa/Boogie Mark II-C Operating Manual

Congratulations! You have purchased the finest music instrument amplifier that modern
technology and Old World craftsmanship can produce. Nothing has been spared in terms of
cost or care to make this unit the most versatile, most reliable, and best sounding amplifier
available. The MESA/Boogie itself is more like a fine musical instrument than a piece of
commercial gear, and as such it will continue to reward you richly as you gain more practice in
its use. With only reasonable care it should last a lifetime and, as experience has shown, a
well kept Boogie will maintain or increase in value as it ages.
Here is a list of controls and features and sample settings to help you gain familiarity with your
new amplifier. You are encouraged to experiment every way possible with speakers, controls
and external effects; your Boogie has been made virtually foolproof so damage in the event of
accident or misuse is quite unlikely. First, plug the AC cord into a wall socket and turn the
Power switch ON. It is not always necessary to have the three-pin power plug grounded, and
in some situations (such as multiple amp setups) a ground float adapter may reduce line
buzz. The Ground switch located on the amplifier rear panel should be set to the middle
position and switched to right or left only when buzzing line conditions warrant its use. With
the amplifier on STANDBY, plug the footswitch box into the lower front panel Jack using the
cord supplied, though any cord will work. If the red LED indicator on the footswitch box does
not light up, press the footswitch, also check that all five pullout switches on the control knobs
are fully pushed in. When the red LED is lit, the amplifier is in the Rhythm mode (Red =
Rhythm). Set Volume 1 to about 7 and Master 1 to about 2. These are the two gain controls
used primarily for rhythm playing. Generally you will want to run the Volume 1 control as high
as possible without causing unwanted distortion, in order to have available the most possible
sustain when switching into the Lead mode. The Master 1 will control the playing loudness
without changing the tone. The Bright switch pullout on the Volume 1 control has less and
less effect as the control is turned up higher and will have no noticeable effect from about 8 to
10. Set the Treble control to about 7. When the knob is pushed in, the tone control
equalization is similar to that on old Fender amplifiers; when pulled out, the Treble control
frequency center point is shifted downward to give a more robust sounding midrange. Treble
Shift, when pulled, is automatically switched on in Lead mode to give a hotter, fatter lead
sound. Set the Bass and Middle controls to about 2 each. The Master 1 control (already set to
2) also incorporates the Gain Boost pull switch that can be used for adding extra bottom to
the amp's tone as well as a slight increase in gain.
The Lead Drive controls the amount of overdrive sustain and distortion; set it to about 8. The
Pull Lead switch built into this control performs the same function as the footswitch, namely
triggering the relay. You will see the LED indicator on the box go out when the Lead Drive
knob is pulled. The Lead Master controls the playing loudness in the Lead mode, set it to
about 2. The Pull Bright on this control only has effect on the Lead mode and not the Rhythm
mode, and adds gain and sustain as well as brightness. So, to summarize briefly: Volume 1
and Master 1 regulate the gain and the loudness of the Rhythm mode, Lead Drive and Lead
Master regulate the overdrive distortion and loudness of the Lead mode where Volume 1 still
provides the initial signal strength. Or, in other words, the amp uses two volume controls for
Rhythm (Volume 1, Master 1) and three volume controls for Lead (Volume 1, Lead Drive and
Lead Master).
MESA/Boogie Mark II-C
OPERATING MANUAL
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