Front Panel Controls & Features; Modes: Clean, Crunch, Blues, Burn - Mesa/Boogie Express series Owner's Manual

FrONT PANeL: C
THe MODeS
CHANNEL 1
CLEAN:
This is the lowest gain of the four modes in your Express and it is voiced to deliver beautiful sparkling and warm clean
chording sounds. The CLEAN mode has the greatest dynamic range of all the modes as the signal here is not compressed with
any additional gain as are sequentially, the other three. Because of this more traditional gain structure, many players that are look-
ing for a vintage style response from the Express should be at home here. At higher GAIN settings this mode
delivers great old school lead sounds and if you are a player that is reliant on overdrive pedals for a certain
sound (although we greatly encourage you to explore the other three modes – especially BLUES - for over-
driven applications), CLEAN will likely be the best match for retaining more dynamic range.
The taper of the GAIN control is calibrated such that at the lower settings 9:30 - 11:00 the sound will be very
bright and skinny, as you approach 12:00 – 2:00 warmth and richness appears and the signal stays clean.
From the 2:30 – 4:30 range a soft fur will begin giving way to a vintage style break-up and finally at its maximum setting (5:30) the
signal will be fairly pushed and overdriven. Keep in mind that these are approximate descriptions of the sound and that your own
personal playing style, guitar, pickups and most of all touch, will determine how this mode reacts at specific settings.
CRUNCH:
This mode excels at higher gain rhythm sounds and though it is quite a bit gainier than the CLEAN mode, it's voiced
to retain as much dynamic range as possible. It cleans up nicely at the lower end of the GAIN control (9:00 – 12:00) and therefore
can be used as an alternate type of clean sound, though it will always retain a bit more aggressive midrange and will not have as
much top end sparkle as CLEAN.
Between 12:00 – 2:30 is where the classic rock rhythm sounds live, especially with humbucking pickups and
mahogany guitars. This is a sound that is overdriven, crisp and urgent, but not overly saturated. From 2:30
on up to the maximum GAIN setting (5:30), the sound becomes more saturated and begins to get a bit thicker
and creamier. This region is great for solo sounds where more urgency is needed, as it has ample gain but is
still tight tracking and responsive.
Be sure to experiment with the CONTOUR feature in the CRUNCH mode as some amazing sounds appear as a result of this com-
bination. We tend to like the CONTOUR set at 12:00 with the GAIN at around 4:00 for a great rock rhythm sound. Again, these are
approximate settings as everyone will have different styles, guitars, pickups and touch.
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ONTrOLS eATureS
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