Mesa/Boogie Lonestar Special Owner's Manual
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Mesa/Boogie Lonestar Special Owner's Manual

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Summary of Contents for Mesa/Boogie Lonestar Special

  • Page 1 OOGIE Owner's Manual...
  • Page 2 Hello from the Tone Farm ...You, smart player and all around intuitive human, have put your trust in us to be your amplifier company. This is something we do not take lightly. By purchasing and choosing this unit 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.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Precautions OVERVIEW ____________________________________________________________________ 1-4 HELPFUL HINTS _________________________________________________________________ 3 INSTANT GRATIFICATION__________________________________________________________ 4 FRONT PANEL CONTROLS & FEATURES INPUT __________________________________________________________________________ 4 FOOTSWITCH ___________________________________________________________________ 4 DRIVE __________________________________________________________________________ 5 CHANNEL SELECT _______________________________________________________________ 5 DRIVE / CLEAN __________________________________________________________________ 5 THICK / NORMAL / THICKER _______________________________________________________ 6 GAIN _________________________________________________________________________ 6-7 TREBLE / MID / BASS / PRESENCE________________________________________________ 7-8 MASTER ________________________________________________________________________ 9...
  • Page 4 PRECAUTIONS & WARNINGS Your MESA/Boogie Amplifier is a professional instrument. Please treat it with respect and operate it properly. USE COMMON SENSE AND ALWAYS OBSERVE THESE PRECAUTIONS: WARNING: EU: permission from the Supply Authority is needed before connection. WARNING: Vacuum tube amplifiers generate heat. To insure proper ventilation always make certain there is at least four inches (100mm) of space behind the rear of the amplifier cabinet.

  • Page 5: Overview

    Instruction Manual Overview: Congratulations on your choice of the Lone Star Special as your amplifier and Welcome to the Mesa/Boogie Family! This hand-built instrument was crafted with the finest quality components and designed to provide you with years of musical inspiration and toneful satisfaction.
  • Page 6 Overview: (Continued) The power choices range from 30 watts (using 4 x EL84) to 15 watts (using 2 x EL84) to 5 watts (using 1 x EL84), allowing the Special to soulfully cover any situation from mid-size clubs to combo rehearsals to bedroom recording - while always staying in a power-optimized range.The power tube wiring configuration is changed to accommodate these different wattage ratings and offer the sweetest sound and best feel for each of the three choices.The 30 and 15 watt selections utilize a Push-Pull configuration for its quicker response and greater power efficiency characteristics.The 5 watt setting introduces a unique new Single-Ended design for...

  • Page 7: Helpful Hints

    Overview: (Continued) the EFFECTS SEND jack, this output captures the entire sound of the preamp and power sec- tion and is generated by padding down the signal at the speaker output. NOTE: Once you have taken a signal from the SLAVE Output - do not go back in to the EFFECTS LOOP RETURN jack. Doing so will create a feedback loop and squealing will occur.

  • Page 8: Instant Gratification

    Overview: (Continued) Instant Gratification Demo Settings SAMPLE #1. Sparkling Clean / Singing Lead CH 1 30 WATTS U R E L A S S O W E R OUTPUT SOLO LOOP ON CH 2 INPUT POWER 5 WATTS TREBLE GAIN BASS PRESENCE MASTER...

  • Page 9: Drive

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) DRIVE: This is the pre-drive control for the high gain preamp in Channel 2. It may be switched out of the circuit, along with its associated tube stages, to create a slightly higher gain clone of Channel 1 in (this bottom) Channel 2. When the DRIVE control is activated (switch left, towards DRIVE), this control operates in conjunction with the GAIN control to meter the amount of preamp drive that will be introduced into the circuit.

  • Page 10: Thick / Normal / Thicker

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) THICK / NORMAL / THICKER: This 3 position mini toggle allows you to select between three different voicings. It selects what frequency the Treble control will enhance. By lowering the frequency of the treble capacitor, additional gain in these frequencies is added. This allows you to shape the sound for either sparkling clean sounds, or fatten up the Treble region and thicken the sound for more voice like single note solo sounds.

  • Page 11: Gain

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) GAIN: (Continued) bottom end response. Not yet fully saturated, this region is the easiest place to get a great sound in both channels. This region contains many of the Lone Star Special’s best sounds...especially for soloing due to the crucial blend of an expressive attack combined with ample sustain.

  • Page 12: Treble Mid Bass Presence

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) MID: The MID control is responsible for the blend of midrange frequencies in the mix and though its effect is not as dramatic as that of the TREBLE control, it plays an integral part in achieving any sound in your Lone Star Special. It is capable of changing the feel dramatically as it blends in a group of frequencies that tend to soften or stiffen the way a sound feels to play.

  • Page 13: Master

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) MASTER: This control is the master feed from the end of the pre-amp to the driver stage and the Effects Loop. As you can see each Channel is fitted with its own MASTER control, enabling both channels relative volumes to be matched regardless of their ex- tremely different sound styles and gain signatures.The MASTER control makes possible a wide range of sounds through its ability to use very low Gain sounds at high volumes 30 WATTS...

  • Page 14: Watts / 15 / 5 Watts: Channel Power Select

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) 30 WATTS / 15 / 5 WATTS: Channel Power Select (Continued) offering 3 choices that showcase the two classic wiring configurations per channel! NOTE: At some point in your experimentation with the Channel Power Select switches, try setting one or both of the Channels to 30W and moving the Speaker Load to the OPTIONAL (8 ohm) jack.

  • Page 15: Power On / Standby On

    FRONT PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) POWER ON: This sideways 2 position toggle switch determines the status of the incoming AC power. During power up it is im- portant that you turn the POWER switch on first and allow at least 30 seconds of warm up time for the power tubes before flipping the STANDBY to the ON position.

  • Page 16: Fuse

    REAR PANEL: Controls & Features WARNING: ALL - TUBE OOGIE Unplug power LONE STAR before replacing AMPLIFIER fuse or removing CH 2 REVERB CH 1 bolts mounting FUSE NORMAL REVERB chassis SEND RETURN LOOP CHANNEL SOLO First set sound with SPEAKERS BRIGHT FAN ON...

  • Page 17: Fx Loop: Series

    REAR PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) FX LOOP: Series (Continued) match the volume present before connecting the device(s) to the Lone Star Special. You can check this by simply removing both the cables from the SEND and RETURN simultaneously. 4.) Use the Front Panel OUTPUT control to raise and lower the overall volume as it is essentially an Effects Return Stage volume control.

  • Page 18: Speakers & Slave

    REAR PANEL: Controls & Features (Continued) SPEAKER: The Lone Star Special provides one OPTIONAL / 35 WATTS (8 ohm) and two MAIN /30-15-5 (4 ohm) speaker outputs and this enables you to use many different combinations of speaker setups. The MAIN jack is preferred for most vintage inspired sounds where a smoother, warmer character will be noted in all three power selections and an impedance correct match will be achieved for the 15 and 5 watt selections and a slight mismatch will occur in the 30 watt setting where maximum power will be about 30 watts.

  • Page 19: Factory Sample Settings & Personal Settings Sheet

    FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS SAMPLE # 1 LONESTAR STATE CH 1 30 WATTS U R E L A S S O W E R OUTPUT SOLO LOOP ON CH 2 INPUT POWER 5 WATTS GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER CLEAN DRIVE STANDBY FT.SW 30 WATTS...
  • Page 20 FACTORY SAMPLE SETTINGS SAMPLE # 5 PASS THE SAUCE 30 WATTS CH 1 U R E L A S S O W E R OUTPUT SOLO LOOP ON CH 2 POWER INPUT 5 WATTS GAIN TREBLE BASS PRESENCE MASTER CLEAN DRIVE STANDBY FT.SW...
  • Page 21 PERSONAL SETTINGS SHEET SETTING # 1 30 WATTS U R E L A S S O W E R OUTPUT SOLO LOOP ON POWER INPUT 5 WATTS TREBLE GAIN BASS PRESENCE MASTER STANDBY FT.SW 30 WATTS 5 WATTS SETTING # 2 30 WATTS U R E L A S S...

  • Page 22: Tube Maintenance & Diagnosing Tube Failure

    TUBE NOISE & MICROPHONICS You may occasionally experience some form of tube noise or microphonics. Certainly no cause for alarm, this quirky behavior comes with the territory and the Tone. Much like changing a light bulb, you don’t need a techni- cian to cure these types of minor user serviceable annoyances and in fact, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to cure tube problems...
  • Page 23 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.

  • Page 24: Tube Description & Task Charts

    PAGE 20...

  • Page 25: Speaker Impedance & Possible Hook-Up Schemes - Amps To Speaker Cabs

    MESA/Boogie amplifiers can handle 4 and 8 ohms effectively. Never run below 4 ohms in a tube amplifier unless you are absolutely MESA/Boogie amplifiers can handle 4 and 8 ohms effectively. Never run below 4 ohms in a tube amplifier unless you are absolutely MESA/Boogie certain that the system can handle it properly;...

  • Page 26: Speaker A Speaker B

    SPEAKER IMPEDANCE MATCHING & HOOK-UP GUIDE: (Continued) PARALLEL: When wiring in parallel, the resistance of the speakers decreases.Two 8 ohm speakers wired in ( hooked-up ) Parallel results in a 4 ohm load. It’s easy to calculate the effect of a resistive load when all the speakers are all the same resistance. It is really not suggested to wire different resistive load values in Parallel ( 8 and 4, 16 and 8 etc.
  • Page 27 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 Ohm Cabinet Partial back view of some Mesa amp 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 4 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet...
  • Page 28 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 Ohm Cabinet 16 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH CORRECT MATCH Partial back view of amplifier Partial back view of amplifier...
  • Page 29 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier 16 Ohm 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM SERIES BOX 8 Ohm 8 Ohm 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH Partial back view of amp Partial back view of amplifier CORRECT MATCH 8 OHM...
  • Page 30 WIRING SCHEMES...Amplifier to Speaker Cabinets Partial back view of amplifier 16 Ohm 4 OHM 4 OHM 8 OHM SERIES BOX 8 Ohm 8 Ohm 8 Ohm Cabinet 8 Ohm Cabinet 16 Ohm Cabinet SAFE MISMATCH Partial back view of amplifier 8 OHM 4 OHM 4 OHM...

  • Page 31: Bias Adjustment: A Feature Article By Randall Smith

    BIAS ADJUSTMENT: (Part of a continuing series) BEAM- CONFINING NOTE: NOTE: NOTE: An article written by Randall Smith that ELECTRODE CATHODE we thought you might find interesting. GRID ..SCREEN GRID .
  • Page 32 BIAS ADJUSTMENT (Continued) Voltage and current are NOT the same. Current is the AMOUNT of electricity, the “quantity” — and is measured in amperes. Voltage is the degree of electric charge — like the “pressure” to use the old water analogy. Let me illustrate how different voltage and current are: When you scrape your feet across a carpeted floor in dry, wintery conditions, your body can become charged with 50,000 to 100,000 volts of electricity.
  • Page 33 How much money and trouble that has saved MESA/Boogie players you couldn’t estimate. MESA/Boogie players you couldn’t estimate. MESA/Boogie Our rigorously tested and hand selected tubes are available at your nearest MESA/Boogie Pro Center or from us directly. Nobody MESA/Boogie Pro Center or from us directly. Nobody MESA/Boogie offers better price, quality or warranty than we do ...

  • Page 34: Triodes, Pentodes & Irishmen: A Feature Article On The Workings Of Tubes

    ON TRIODES, PENTODES & IRISHMEN: A look into the inner workings of the Vacuum Tube With apologies to Friends and Relatives from the Emerald Isle - who will make their appearance soon enough - the humor which follows is dedicated to the memories of Spec McAuliff and Fae (Rafael) McNally, two of the True Greats. As their numerical references suggest, the terms Diode, Triode and Pentode indicate the number of elements within the vacuum tube i.e.
  • Page 35 ON TRIODES, PENTODES & IRISHMEN: ( Continued ) Thus a diode tube - one with a cathode and an anode - is mostly used to rectify alternating current into direct current by passing it without restriction, but in one direction only. This also explains why closing time is strictly enforced at Irish pubs: During normal operation, the traffic flow is similarly unimpeded and uni-directional to- ward the bar and this process rectifies the work-day negativity.
  • Page 36 ON TRIODES, PENTODES & IRISHMEN: ( Continued ) PENTODES: (Continued) Thus the proper cocktail waitress - visible through the louvers - is scantily clad so as to be all the more effective at reinforcing the attractive influence of her bar and by being located in between the door and the bar, she serves as bait to lure customers past the door’s negative influence.

  • Page 37: Part Sheet

    PAGE 33...
  • Page 38 NOTES:...
  • Page 39 OOGIE The Spirit of Art in Technology Thank you for trusting MESA/Boogie to be your amplifier company and we wish you many years of toneful enjoyment from this handbuilt all tube instrument.
  • Page 40 The Spirit of Art in Technology (707) 778-6565 FAX NO. (707) 765-1503 1317 Ross Street Petaluma, CA 94954 9/07/06...

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