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Greetings from the Home of Tone ...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.
Important Safety Instructions Read these instructions. Keep these instructions. Heed all warnings. Follow all instructions. Do not use this apparatus near water. Clean only with dry cloth. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat.
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2” of open “breathing” space on both sides of the unit. Allow 2 Rack Units of open space above the unit to allow heat to escape the upper rear vents. Your Mesa/Boogie Amplifier is a professional instrument. Please treat it with respect and operate it properly. READ AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS OF PROPER USAGE...
Congratulations on your choice of the CARBINE and welcome to the Mesa/Boogie Family! First we would like to thank you for choosing us as your amplifier company and trusting us to help create your musical voice. This is something we never take for granted and you’ll find that we are here ready to assist you should you ever need help.
LIFT position to eliminate the hum caused by the two different references to ground. That wraps up our Overview of the controls and features of the M9 CARBINE and now we’re ready to look at the controls and their individual roles in creating the sounds you hear in your head.
FrONT PANeL CONTrOLS: INPUT: This jack is the instrument INPUT which feeds the first tube in the all-tube preamp of the CARBINE. It is set up with enough headroom to handle both passive and active style instruments. For active instruments you may find yourself running the GAIN control somewhere between 10:00 and 2:00 for optimum headroom.
FrONT PANeL CONTrOLS: (Continued) BASS: This control is responsible for the basic mix of low frequencies in the tube pre-amp. The BASS control is an active shelving type control as opposed to a passive style control. This means that a center Q point has been chosen and this control allows you to either boost or cut that frequency.
FrONT PANeL CONTrOLS: (Continued) TREBLE: The TREBLE is also an active shelving style control like that found in the BASS and again, it was chosen for its ability to radically shape the upper harmonic region. Like the BASS, it also has a center Q point with harmonics above and below responding in harmony as it is dialed for either cut or boost.
FrONT PANeL CONTrOLS: (Continued) GRAPHIC EQUALIZER: (Continued) The same holds true for boosting frequencies. If you are using VOICE mode #4 (which has an innate mid bump) and you use the Graphic EQ to boost the midrange bands, you will be boosting boosted mids and the Graphic won’t seem very useful either.
FrONT PANeL CONTrOLS: (Continued) THRESHOLD: (Continued) NOTE: Keep in mind that the settings of all the other controls, GAIN, Rotary TONE Controls, VOICE and GRAPHIC EQ have an effect on the signal strength and therefore affect the sensitivity level of the THRESHOLD control when the COMPRESSOR is engaged.
FrONT PANeL CONTrOLS: (Continued) VOICE: (Continued) Here is a synopsis of the 5 choices found on the VOICE control: 1 Fairly extreme Mid cut centered at 540Hz. Excellent for dramatic thumbing/slapping styles or smooth chording. 2 Gentle scooping of Midrange also centered at 540Hz. Great for R & B and anytime you want to tastefully widen a sound. 3 Voice feature bypassed (Flat with Tone controls set at 12:00) 4 Midrange boost centered at 370Hz.
FrONT PANeL CONTrOLS: (Continued) TUNER MUTE LED: This LED indicates that the Tuning MUTE function has been triggered either by pulling out the Front Panel MASTER PULL MUTE, or by the Rear Panel Function Switch jack. When this LED is illuminated there will be no signal present at the SPEAKER OUTPUT jacks.
NOTE: NEVER ALTER THE THREE PRONG POWER CORD IN ANY WAY. HEAT PROTECTION CIRCUIT BREAKER: The M9 CARBINE incorporates a push-to-reset circuit breaker to protect the transformer under situations of extremely heavy load (playing at maximum volume for extended periods) or when the amplifier is subjected to above normal operating temperatures (as when it’s mounted in racks that have inadequate ventilation space).
reAr PANeL CONTrOLS: (Continued) SPEAKER OUTPUTS: These are the Speaker Outputs for the CARBINE. These jacks accept Nuetrik locking SPEAKON type connectors or standard ¼” phono type plugs. This is the suggested configuration. With an 8 ohm speaker load and the impedance switch set to 8/4, your CARBINE will produce approximately 450 watts of clean power.
reAr PANeL CONTrOLS: (Continued) 3) Adjust the processor’s Input/Output Level attenuator to achieve unity gain by connecting and EFFECTS LOOP: (Continued) disconnecting your patch cables from the SEND and RETURN jacks while making fine adjustments at the processor until you hear no level difference.
DIAGNOSING PRE-AMP TUBE PROBLEMS: At some point it is quite possible that you will experience some kind of 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.