The Modes: Normal, Top Boost - Mesa/Boogie TransAtlantic TA-15 Owner's Manual

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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. It is probably not the best
choice for overdriven or clipped rhythm sounds as there is not quite enough gain to smooth out the jagged edges, and because of the
added brightness it can sound a bit toward the ragged and buzzy when pushed too hard with weaker pickups.
TOP BOOST:
This Mode represents our tribute to the amazing legacy of the British darling VOX. The TOP BOOST circuit has
appeared in countless Boutique renderings of the last 20 years and is considered one of the must have staples in classic Rock guitar.
Out of respect we chose to refrain from treading on this hallowed ground until such time as we could bring something worthwhile to
the party... not to simply duplicate, but rather enhance this iconic sound. Well, with the inclusion of our patented Multi-Watt
nel Assignable Power and several other "trade secrets" we've unearthed over the last 40 years of amp design, the time has come
to redefine a classic. Only you can be the judge if we've added something beautiful to the original, but our comparisons and the
NORMAL TWEED
HI 1
TOP BST HI 2
25W 25W
FT
SW
15 15
PULL
MASTER GAIN
5W 5W
The choices found in the Multi-Watt Power switch greatly expand this edge-of-clip area and adds color to the mix along with harmonic
and volume changes. For the most traditional response the 15W setting will provide the best blend of characteristics and the best bal-
ance of volume versus clippability. If you've ever played an AC 15 you will instantly fall into familiar territory where the subtle changes
in your picking can push things in and out of clip with amazing expression. The 15W Power Mode also works well with TOP BOOST
for using the guitar's Volume control to take you from clean to varying degrees of saturation by rolling up and down without losing the
sweet harmonic top end spectrum.
The 5W Power Mode will provide a sweeter blend of upper harmonics and allow you to bring the onset of clip down to very low
volume levels. Watch the BASS control setting in 5W as the lower power is not capable of managing high levels of GAIN and BASS
together. If you intend to run the GAIN control high when in 5W don't be surprised to see your BASS control below 10:00 – or even
off – to achieve tight tracking bottom end response. The (Dyna-Watt) 25W Power Mode will respond the opposite way and allow you
to run both GAIN and BASS higher than in either 5W or 15W Modes. This mode is probably better suited to when you are using TOP
BOOST for either really clean (GAIN 10:00 or below) or really heavy sounds (GAIN above 3:00) where you need the bottom end tight
and percussive. In these two regions the extra power and headroom along with the accentuation in the upper mids that comes with
this burst of attack-instant voltage release really focuses things and adds authority.
comments of our brothers in tone around the world... including our English ones, leave us feeling pleased
with a job well done.
TOP BOOST is great for many things from urgent jangly cleans with a bit of attitude to full on saturated solo
sounds, but probably its greatest asset is seen when riding the edge of clip. It seems to transition almost
seamlessly from clean to saturation for there are many subtle graduations within this usually small realm that
widen it to resemble an entire empire - instead of a narrow, hard to fine-tune band.
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