NOTE: The LEAD DRIVE pull switch overrides the Footswitch when pulled out, and the Lead Mode will be
selected/active.
FUSE Replacement
The Mains Fuse is there to help protect your amplifier from spikes or power surges in the AC Line, faulty or
arcing power tube issues, and other forms of duress your amplifier might encounter. If the Fuse should ever
blow, ALWAYS replace your Fuse with the same type and power rating Fuse. In the MARK IIC+ Simul-Class
model, the Fuse is a 4 Amp SLO-BLO type Fuse.
FRONT PANEL
VOLUME 1
The VOLUME 1 control is royalty among the rotary controls and its setting determines much about the sound
and feel of both the Modes. In many of our amplifiers, and those of other manufacturers as well, this spot in
the circuit is called GAIN, as that is what it meters. Being a re-creation of an iconic model and wanting to stay
true to Boogie history, we have used our original name for this important spot in the signal path. The VOLUME
1 control meters the gain and tube saturation in the early stages of the tube preamp and determines whether
the response will be cleaner with maximum headroom or more saturated with tube overdrive.
Regardless of what style you are looking toward, the setting of VOLUME 1 determines the character and shape
of the sound – clean or dirty, bright or dark, thick or trim. That’s because as natural tube saturation increases,
the top end recedes and is traded for girth and warmth and a slightly more compressed feel, which often leans
appropriately toward the applications and playing styles where more gain is used. In other words, cleaner
sounds usually benefit from the lower VOLUME 1 setting’s brightness and inherently trim EQ, while higher gain
sounds benefit from the receding top end and added warmth and width as more tube saturation compresses,
fattens, and darkens the character at higher VOLUME 1 settings.
Not only do the opposing ends of the gain spectrum sound dierent, but it is also important to remember that
as the signal becomes more saturated and overdrive increases, the dynamic response changes and the attack
can begin to feel “slower” and less immediate. Rarely in a problematic way, because the styles played with
overdrive lend themselves naturally to the sound, shape, and feel produced by the added gain, but rather just
in comparison to pristine clean sounds, where the attack is more immediate and the dynamic content broader.
Some of the best sounds fall in the Tone Zone, as we call it, somewhere closer to the middle zone of VOLUME
1’s range, say 4.0 to 8.0, depending on Mode and application. The lower the setting, the brighter and more
stripped of low end the sound will be; the higher the setting, the warmer, thicker, and fuller the sound will
become. Outside this range, the more extreme the dierences will be, and at some point, there will be either
weak sound when set too low, or a compromised attack and less dynamics when set too high. For clean work in
the Rhythm Mode, you may want VOLUME 1 somewhere between 4.5 and 6.0 or possibly even 6.5. For higher
gain overdrive work in the Lead Mode, you will likely find great sounds upwards of 7.0 but below 8.5, in order
to retain the optimum attack and still have ample sustain for soloing.
You will achieve the greatest headroom, clarity, and top-end sparkle in the Rhythm Mode with the VOLUME
1 set between 4.5 and 6.0, especially with stronger output pickups. If you don’t need to footswitch to a Lead
sound...for example when you are doing only clean rhythm parts in a session, you have the freedom to optimize
VOLUME 1
PULL BRIGHT PULL SHIFT PULL SHIFT PULL BRIGHTPULL LEADPULL DEEP
TREBLE BASS MIDDLE MASTER 1 LEAD DRIVE LEAD MASTER 80 240 750 2200 6600
EQ. IN STANDBY
EQ. AUTO
INPUT
FOOT
SWITCH
ON
POWER
ON
® MESA / Boogie Ltd.
PAGE 10
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