Front panel: controls & features, Continued) thick / normal / thicker, Gain – Mesa/Boogie II User Manual

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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. Spend some time experimenting with this switch as it can be crucial
to attain the lead sound you are searching for as well as allowing you to cop the vibe of several
classic amp styles.

NORMAL is the best choice for clean chording and traditional blues style single note solo sounds.
In this position the highest frequencies are passed through with the best balance between the
three tone controls gain wise. In other words, the gain of the Treble region is in line with that of the
Bass and Mid. Here the most sparkle and shimmer will appear and a beautiful blend will be easy
to achieve for all your clean work. The

NORMAL selection will also let the true character of your

individual guitar shine through more than the gain enhanced character of the other two choices.

When searching for identiﬁ able signature sounds,

NORMAL would be the best choice for traditional “black face” style clean or clipped

sounds due to this lack of alteration of the classic treble frequencies.

THICK lowers the frequency of the Treble region while keeping the gain closer to that of the

THICK

NORMAL setting. This selection fattens the

upper region and smears the line between Mid and Treble to achieve a more robust, throatier sound.

THICK is the best choice when

THICK

searching for classic British style response for either chording or overdriven sounds. You might think of it as a “plexi” switch.

THICKER lowers the Treble frequency even further and adds considerable gain in that region. It can enhance high gain solo work by
saturating the sound and covering up fret buzz, weak pickups or other nuances that will appear as holes in a high gain lead sound. It
allows you to retain focus at extreme gain settings while at the same time reducing the dreaded buzziness that can appear with certain
guitars or speaker choices. This setting has appeared in various clothing on virtually all MESA ampliﬁ ers through the years and is classic
Boogie. THICKER is the choice for the trademark singing sustain that has long been associated with our ampliﬁ ers.

GAIN:

This control adjusts the predominant gain stage in each channel’s circuit with the function and taper being optimized for each

individual channel. Remember that your

Lone Star Special is really two ampliﬁ ers built onto one chassis, so though each channel looks

identical, the

GAIN control for each channel comes in a different place and adjusts a different point in that channel’s circuit.

In most guitar ampliﬁ ers, and especially in all-tube circuits, the

GAIN control is the most

powerful control in the preamp. It shapes the overall style and character of the sound and is
responsible for whether the sound is clean, overdriven or anywhere in between. In your

Lone

Star Special the GAIN control is even more powerful. It not only determines the amount of
drive, but also acts as an integral part of the tone control string as well.

To simplify the

GAIN controls’ role in shaping the overall tone of the sound we will look at it

in two ways -

1) alone and 2) in conjunction with the tone controls.

1) By itself the GAIN control has basically three tonal regions -

Low ( 7:00 - 11:00 ) provides the cleanest, least saturated sounds and in this region the sound will be brighter and contain more upper
harmonics lending a three dimensional character to the sound.

Middle (11:15 - 2:00) enhances the saturation and replaces some of the upper harmonics with a richer, warmer quality and a fuller

INPUT

FT.SW

DRIVE

CH 1

CH 2

THICK

THICKER

CLEAN

NORMAL

INPUT

FT.SW

DRIVE

CH 1

CH 2

THICK

THICKER

CLEAN

MAL

GAIN

NOR