Mesa/Boogie Stiletto Ace Amp Owner's Manual
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Mesa/Boogie Stiletto Ace Amp Owner's Manual

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Summary of Contents for Mesa/Boogie Stiletto Ace Amp

  • Page 1 OOGIE Owner's Manual...
  • Page 2 Hello from the Tone Farm ...You, smart player and intuitive human, have put your trust in us to be your amplifier company. This is something we do not take lightly. By choosing this instrument to be a part of your musical voice, you have become part of the Mesa family...WELCOME! Our goal is to never let you down.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Precautions Overview & Instant Gratification _________________________________________________________ 1-3 Helpful Hints _________________________________________________________________________ 4 THE MODES: Channel 1: Fat Clean / Tite Clean / Crunch_________________________________________________ 4-5 Channel 2: Crunch / Tite Clean / Fluid Drive _______________________________________________ 6 FRONT PANEL CONTROLS & SWITCHES: Gain,Treble / Mid / Bass ________________________________________________________________ 7-8 Presence / Master _____________________________________________________________________ 9 Rectifier Select: Diodes / Tube Rectifier ___________________________________________________ 9...
  • Page 4 PRECAUTIONS & WARNINGS Your MESA/Boogie Amplifier is a professional instrument. Please treat it with respect and operate it properly. USE COMMON SENSE AND ALWAYS OBSERVE THESE PRECAUTIONS: WARNING: EU: permission from the Supply Authority is needed before connection. WARNING: Vacuum tube amplifiers generate heat. To insure proper ventilation always make certain there is at least four inches (100mm) of space behind the rear of the amplifier cabinet.

  • Page 5: Overview & Instant Gratification

    Overview: Congratulations on your choice of the as your amplifier and welcome to the MESA/Boogie Family! This design represents our experience gained over the last several decades hand-building all-tube, high performance amplifiers and showcases ultimate tone and versatility served up with intuitive simplicity.
  • Page 6 Overview: (Continued) The Preamp MODES: In Channel 1 the choices are grouped in reference to gain regions usually associated with Rhythm styles; FAT CLEAN, TITE CLEAN and CRUNCH. CHANNEL 1 The beauty of FAT CLEAN re-educates EL aficionados used to living with clean “inputs” that are no more than upstream patch points.
  • Page 7 Overview: (Continued) incorporates our patented switchable RECTIFIER ™ feature. This is a Channel Assignable feature that appears as two toggle switches located on the Front Panel. These switches allow selection of a Rectifier style - Tubes for a saggy, compressed feel or Silicon Diodes for tight, punchy response. This power-vibe flexibility allows you to zero in on the sound as well as how that sound feels to play.

  • Page 8: Helpful Hints

    HELPFUL HINTS: 1.) The OUTPUT Control works only when the FX LOOP is activated. Switch out of the Loop Bypass position on the Loop Assign switch to activate the FX Loop and bring the OUTPUT Control on line.. 2.) The SOLO Control is activated when the Footswitch is connected to the FOOTSWITCH jack on the Rear Panel and the FX LOOP is activated.
  • Page 9 FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) The MODES: Channel 1 (Continued) Because the voicing of this mode is heavy in these rich lows, it will be necessary at times to reduce the setting of the BASS Control, especially when higher settings of the GAIN Control are to be used. Some amazing clipped or pushed sounds are possible with the FAT CLEAN mode by cranking the GAIN and setting the BASS at 0 (7:00/off).

  • Page 10: Channel 2: Crunch / Tite Clean / Fluid Drive

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) The MODES: Channel 2 CRUNCH: See the description of this mode under Channel 1 as it is duplicated here in Channel 2. Don’t underestimate this mode for its soloing potential. Despite the lower gain range, it has virtues for lead work the other higher gain CRUNCH FT.SW modes are missing due to their more saturated character.

  • Page 11: Gain,Treble / Mid / Bass

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) While you have most likely taken your new for an inspiring spin around the world of high performance EL34 tone, we encourage you to read through the Control section to learn how these interactive controls can shape your dream tone. Many hours were spent making sure they are powerful, musical and that they will deliver all the shaping power you’ll ever need to craft a signature sound all your own.
  • Page 12 FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) TREBLE: As in most tube guitar amplifiers, the TREBLE Control (in both channels of your ) is the most powerful of the rotary controls and is next in line only to the GAIN Control as a shaping tool. Because it is first in the signal path of the tone controls - and from here the Middle and Bass receive their signal - it is by far the dominant tone control.

  • Page 13: Presence / Master

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) PRESENCE: The PRESENCE Control is a high frequency attentuator that is placed at the end of each channels pre-amp stage and affects frequencies higher than those of the TREBLE Control. It acts independently of the other rotary tone controls and is cru- cial in voicing the channel.

  • Page 14: Channel Select

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) CHANNEL SELECT: This 3 position switch - located in the center line of the chassis between the two channels - is responsible for selecting the desired channel when the Footswitch is not being used.This comes in handy in the studio where you may wish to use the head in the control room with the cabinet isolated and select the channels for overdub DIODE parts, or any time the footswitch is not needed for performance.

  • Page 15: Standby

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) STANDBY: Perfect for set breaks... this toggle switch also serves an even more important purpose. In the Standby position the tubes are at idle so that during power up they may warm up before being put to use. Before Power is switched on make sure the STANDBY switch is in the Standby position.

  • Page 16: Speakers

    REAR PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) SLAVE: (Continued) gives you separate control over the wet sound in a parallel world. This separate treatment of the processed sound mimics having separate channels of processing on playback in a recording console and is the ultimate way to make sure there are no compromises in your live tone.

  • Page 17: Fx Loop:

    REAR PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) FX LOOP: located adjacent to the loop. This switch engages the Loop SEND and RETURN jacks, SEND LEVEL (Continued) Control, OUTPUT and SOLO Control and all associated circuitry. When LOOP BYPASS is selected (switch down) the entire Loop is removed from the signal path and the individual Channel MASTER Controls become your final output level controls.This HARD BYPASS feature allows you to use your in all its raw glory in the studio where processing will...

  • Page 18: Ac Receptacle

    REAR PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) USING THE FX RETURN AS A POWER AMP INPUT: (Cont.) 4) You may use the SOLO Control for a footswitchable volume boost (Footswitch must be connected). 5) You may use the Front Panel POWER SELECT switches to select a power rating that is appropriate for the venue or application. 6) The choice of rectifiers is still available when using the FX RETURN as a power input.
  • Page 19 NOTES: REST AREA PAGE 15...

  • Page 20: Factory Sample Settings

    FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS Ch 2 Ch 1 SAMPLE #1. Skinny Clean / Grinding Tight Crunch Clean Diodes Diodes DIODE SOLO CLEAN SPONGY TUBE INPUT CH 1 POWER CRUNCH MASTER PRESENCE BASS TREBLE GAIN CRUNCH CH 2 FT.SW STDBY DIODE OUTPUT FLUID DRIVE TUBE...
  • Page 21 FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS Ch 1 Ch 2 Tube Rectifier Diodes SAMPLE #6 Spankin Clean / Howling Lead DIODE SOLO CLEAN SPONGY TUBE INPUT CH 1 POWER CRUNCH MASTER PRESENCE BASS TREBLE GAIN CRUNCH CH 2 FT.SW STDBY DIODE OUTPUT FLUID DRIVE TUBE Ch 1 Diodes...

  • Page 22: Personal Settings Page

    PERSONAL SETTINGS PAGE DIODE SOLO CLEAN SPONGY TUBE INPUT CH 1 POWER CRUNCH MASTER PRESENCE BASS TREBLE GAIN CRUNCH CH 2 FT.SW STDBY DIODE OUTPUT FLUID DRIVE TUBE DIODE SOLO CLEAN SPONGY TUBE INPUT CH 1 POWER CRUNCH MASTER PRESENCE BASS TREBLE GAIN...

  • Page 23: Tube Noise & Microphonics

    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 techni- cian 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...

  • Page 24: Diagnosing Pre Amp Tube Failure

    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 25: Speaker Impedance Matching & Hook-Up Guide

    MESA/Boogie amplifiers can handle 4 and 8 ohms effectively. Never run below 4 ohms in a tube amplifier unless you are absolutely certain that the system can handle it properly; this can cause damage to the Output transformer. A few amplifiers can handle 2 ohms effectively without damaging them (for example the MESA’s Bass 400+).

  • Page 26: Speaker A Speaker B

    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 resistance. It is really not suggested to wire different resistive load values in Parallel (8 and 4, 16 and 8 etc.) The formula for figuring the total impedance in Parallel is the multiplication of the two loads divided by the sum of the two loads - i.e.
  • 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: Bias Adjustment: A Feature Article By Randall Smith

    BIAS ADJUSTMENT: (Part of a continuous series) BEAM- CONFINING An article written by Randall Smith that ELECTRODE CATHODE we thought you might find interesting. GRID ..SCREEN GRID ..
  • Page 32 BIAS ADJUSTMENT (Continued) Voltage and current are NOT the same. Current is the AMOUNT of electricity, the “quantity” — and is measured 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 and when you reach for the door knob, a spark jumps and you feel it! The voltage is super high but the current...
  • Page 33 How much money and trouble that has saved MESA/Boogie players you couldn’t estimate. Our rigorously tested and hand selected tubes are available at your nearest MESA/Boogie Pro Center or from us directly. Nobody offers better price, quality or warranty than we do ... so why swerve? Next time we’ll talk about our part in developing the great Sylvania STR 415 type 6L6 and how we’re on the verge of seeing something...

  • Page 34: Triodes, Pentodes & Irishmen: A Feature Article By Randall Smith

    ON TRIODES, PENTODES & IRISHMEN: A look into the inner workings of the Vacumm Tube 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 35 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 opera- tion, the traffic flow is similarly unimpeded and uni-directional toward the bar and this process rectifies the work-day negativity.
  • Page 36 ON TRIODES, PENTODES & IRISHMEN: ( Continued ) 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 37: Tube Task Chart

    PAGE 33...

  • Page 38: Part Sheet

    PAGE 34...
  • Page 39 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 40 The Spirit of Art in Technology (707) 778-6565 FAX NO. (707) 765-1503 1317 Ross Street Petaluma, CA 94954...

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