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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" controls will allow you to dial up sounds quickly and easily and enhance your enjoyment of
your amplifier.
TREBLE
While the GAIN is the most powerful control in the preamp, the TREBLE comes in a close second. The TREBLE
is largely responsible for shaping the character of the sound and its response in the tonal realm. It can
overpower the rest of the tone controls due to its "cut and slice" component and therefore its setting is crucial
to a rich and balanced sound. Setting the TREBLE with care and taste in mind is critical for achieving an overall
blend and assuring the tone control string works harmoniously.
The middle region of the TREBLE delivers the best balance and creates sounds that are plenty bright enough,
yet still rich and warm. May we suggest you start with the TREBLE at 11:00 and adjust up or down slightly
until the desired blend is achieved. That said, circuits emanating from this "other side" of the MESA Line that
share Tweed-based DNA reveal low TREBLE and PRESENCE control settings that are very useful and pleasing.
Depending on guitar woods, pickups and technique, don't be surprised to find great sounds below 11:00, and
even very low, on the TREBLE and PRESENCE. The MID's broad Q carries a substantial amount of top end and
even though lower and different, it will at times provide all the cut you'll need for some things.
For higher gain sounds, especially for single note soloing, experiment with the TREBLE and PRESENCE around
10:00–10:30 and the MID around 9:00–9:30 for a rich creamy response that feels great on the strings and
sounds soulful and pleasing. Adjust up or down to taste, but you will likely find the most vocal and round attack
characteristics down in this range, especially for longer "Fender Scale" instruments. Shorter scale guitars
like Gibsons and/or darker sounding woods like mahogany may require a little higher settings on these three
controls, or a deviation in ratio between them, for the best balance and harmonic content.
MID
The MID control brings in and out a broad band of midrange frequencies and along with these ride a fair
amount "low treble" range frequencies. These high frequencies are lower than those residing within the
TREBLE's domain, but they are important for the punch and cut in a mix.
For rhythm playing, but also globally, a lower MID setting (7:30–10:00) scoops some of this midrange attack
and makes the bottom end breathe more, while at the same time, letting the higher harmonics define the top
end with increased sparkle, chime and openness. This range will also make things more resilient and create
an easier to play, more elastic feel on the strings. Single coil guitars work very well here for the slinky, rubber-
band attack and bouncy bass character associated with Blues, R&B and Country or most any styles based on
bright, bubbly clean response.
The middle region of the MID control (10:00–1:00) is where the punch and attack begin to come on with more
urgency. This is where mahogany guitars really like to see the MID set for cut and definition. Here the top end
begins to show itself in the mix of the MID controls' spectrum and chording sounds start to punch with a more
forward character.
From there on up (1:00–5:30) the MID introduces an aggressive range of sounds that are still full, but also
quite forward as the dominant frequencies become those present under control of the MID. In this range you
will likely have to increase the BASS to add back in some richness and warmth that can get overshadowed
when the MID control is set high. If you like the attack and urgency found in this range of the MID, all the other
controls (except maybe the MASTER, which you may have to back down as the sound gets more forward) may
have to be set higher to keep up with the MID-dominant curve. This is fine, although there will reach a point of
diminishing return as the headroom in the preamp gets eaten up by this tonal "arms race" of frequencies and
you begin to clip the preamp with the increased signal from setting the tone control string higher.
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