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Hello from the tone Farm Congratulations on your choice of the CALIFORNIA TWEED™ and welcome to the MESA/Boogie® Family! The model you’ve selected has a deep heritage that combines the best attributes of vintage tube amplification with pioneering innovation to arrive at a new realm of performance.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS Before attempting to use this apparatus, read and follow these instructions for proper use. Keep these instructions. Heed all warnings. Do not use this apparatus near water. Clean only with a dry cloth, do not use any solvent such as benzene, naphtha or paint thinner on apparatus. Do not block any ventilation openings.
• This device may not cause harmful interference • This device must accept any interference received, including interference that cause undesired operation. Suppliers Declaration of Conformity for California Tweed 6V6 2:TWENTY Responsible Party Gibson Brands Inc.
Operating Instructions OVERVIEW Congratulations on your choice of the California Tweed 6V6 2:TWENTY and welcome to the MESA/Boogie family. You have chosen wisely as this amplifier, though simple and straightforward in comparison to our multi-channel models, represents no less commitment to excellence, attention to detail and refinement in performance.
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FRONT VIEW: CALIFORNIA TWEED™ 6V6 2:TWENTY GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER MULTI-WA TT ™ NORMAL POWER 6 V 6 6 V 6 INPUT 2:TWENTY STANDBY ™ GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER MULTI-WA TT ™ tweed NORMAL POWER 6 V 6 6 V 6 ™...
GETTING STARTED After unpacking the amplifier, check to make sure all the tubes are firmly seated in their sockets as some may have loosened a bit during shipping. 2. Connect the A.C. Cord to a grounded (3 pin) A.C. outlet. 3.
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only the sections you are interested in, and yet still where necessary, get important points you should know about the California Tweed. We apologize if this gets annoying for the cover-to-cover reader, but even they may appreciate it sometime in the future when referencing this guide quickly for a specific topic. •...
FRONT PANEL GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER MULTI-WA TT ™ NORMAL POWER INPUT 2:TWENTY STANDBY ™ tweed ™ INPUTS CALIFORNIA TWEED HAND-WIRED ™ VACUUM TUBE IN PETALUMA, Two INPUTS are provided on the Cali Tweed to allow for different gain levels, pickup output levels and tone. AMPLIFIER CALIFORNIA, USA WARNING:...
LOW when you explore it for the right applications. Just remember that it will be all but impossible to achieve much clipping, or even subtle breakup, in LOW as the instrument’s signal strength just won’t be there to push the preamp stages into much saturation. GAIN This is by far the most powerful control in the preamp and its setting determines the style and personality of the sound.
out or bury in the mix in terms of top end and learn to “swap the top” as you see fit for different styles, characters, responses and attack center-points. Spending a little time early on with these three powerful tone and “dynamic”...
For gained-up sounds at the top of the GAIN control a similar story unfolds as the MID is increased. Lower settings (7:30–10:30) will produce wider sounding, more elastic feeling chording sounds and the single notes will have a creamier, smoother character. High harmonics created by the gain and controlled largely with the TREBLE, will put a patina of three-dimensional, harmonic-enriched haze on things and will allow them to “smear”...
Again, this is just to give you an example of the concept. The offset differences might be greater or less depending on guitar, speaker cabinet, room, live mics on stage, outdoors vs. indoors, etc., but the concept should serve you well. And finally, the nice thing about the BASS control is that it’s the least affected by other tone controls and really the GAIN is the only control you will need to consider with it as far as avoiding less than optimum sounds.
these elements work seamlessly to protect the integrity of your tone WITHOUT using the loop, but also so you can rest assured your processors will interface nicely without compromising it. However, please remember that EVERYTHING in the signal path is a “tone element”, so keep that in mind when choosing processors to place right in the middle of your amplifier.
control, or even some of the other controls, to see if perhaps a slight adjustment of settings will eliminate or reduce the feedback, resonance or anomaly. MULTI-WATT™ As mentioned in the overview of this manual, your California Tweed presents the next evolutionary step in traditional amp all-tube power sections.
even the glass they are encased in, and they return to their “cold” state even after a short time with the power off. This procedure, when followed religiously, will help prevent tube problems and extend their useful life. COLD START PROCEDURE (Use every time amplifier has been switched off for more than 3 minutes) Switch to STANDBY (STANDBY switch left) 2.
with the SEND interrupting the signal at the preamp’s end and the RETURN feeding the signal back in right before the power section, just before the driver tube. Using this patch point usually ensures the best sonic performance as well as signal to noise ratio with your outboard processors not used between the instrument and the amplifier’s “front end”...
California Tweed. We feel confident it will reward you many times over for your initial investment and help you take your playing and musical endeavors to exciting new heights. From all of us here at MESA/Boogie, Cheers and Enjoy! PAGE 16...
FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS SWEET VINTAGE CLEAN GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER MULTI-WA TT ™ NORMAL POWER INPUT 2:TWENTY STANDBY ™ tweed ™ MAX HEADROOM CLEAN CALIFORNIA TWEED HAND-WIRED ™ VACUUM TUBE IN PETALUMA, AMPLIFIER CALIFORNIA, USA WARNING: Unplug power before servicing fuse or chassis EFFECTS SPEAKERS TUBE GUIDE...
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FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS VINTAGE O.D. GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER MULTI-WA TT ™ NORMAL POWER INPUT 2:TWENTY STANDBY ™ tweed ™ JAZZ CLEAN CALIFORNIA TWEED HAND-WIRED ™ VACUUM TUBE IN PETALUMA, AMPLIFIER CALIFORNIA, USA WARNING: Unplug power before servicing fuse or chassis EFFECTS SPEAKERS TUBE GUIDE...
USER SETTINGS GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER MULTI-WA TT ™ NORMAL POWER INPUT 2:TWENTY STANDBY ™ tweed ™ CALIFORNIA TWEED HAND-WIRED ™ VACUUM TUBE IN PETALUMA, AMPLIFIER CALIFORNIA, USA WARNING: Unplug power before servicing fuse or chassis EFFECTS SPEAKERS TUBE GUIDE DYNA-WATT™...
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USER SETTINGS GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER MULTI-WA TT ™ NORMAL POWER INPUT 2:TWENTY STANDBY ™ tweed ™ CALIFORNIA TWEED HAND-WIRED ™ VACUUM TUBE IN PETALUMA, AMPLIFIER CALIFORNIA, USA WARNING: Unplug power before servicing fuse or chassis EFFECTS SPEAKERS TUBE GUIDE DYNA-WATT™...
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.
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end up at the bottom of the box unprotected and possibly damaged. Pre-amp tubes don’t normally wear out as a rule. Therefore, it is not a good idea to change them just for the sake of changing them. If there isn’t a problem - don’t fix it. If there is no result from your substitutions, it may be possible that you have more than one problematic tube.
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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.
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SERIES When you wire ( hook-up ) speakers in Series, the speakers resistance ( as measured in ohms ) is additive - i.e. putting two 8 ohm speakers in Series results in a 16 ohm load. NEGATIVE = POSITIVE = Speaker A = 8 Ohms Speaker B = 8 Ohms SERIES:...
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COMBINATION OF SERIES & PARALLEL This is really just two sets of Series wired speakers connected in Parallel. This is how you maintain a consistent load with multiple speakers. The importance of this is more evident when you have more than one cabinet to connect to your amplifier.
SERVICE INFORMATION USA /CANADA Customer Support: • For technical support, troubleshooting, tone questions, settings help and more... 707-778-6565 Monday-Thursday, 9 AM-5 PM Pacific Time NOTE: If a Product Specialist is not available when you call (helping other customers), PLEASE leave a voice message with a phone number and a good time to call and WE’LL CALL YOU BACK! INTERNATIONAL Customer Support: •...
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Thank you for trusting MESA/Boogie® to be your amplifier company and we wish you many years of toneful enjoyment from this handcrafted instrument.
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1317 Ross Street, Petaluma, CA 94954 USA • (707) 778-6565 • www.mesaboogie.com 22/03/29...
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