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the attack and tracking.
NOTE: IMPORTANT! This is a good time to mention that the rotary Tone Controls and Graphic EQ Slider Pots, while powerful
when feeding guitar Cabinets and/or Speakers, can become FAR more powerful - and perhaps even dangerous (to Good
Tone and Ears alike) - when using the Direct Out and CabClone IR Cabinetry.
Studio Monitors, and especially Headphones, can enhance certain frequencies, and the amplifier’s Controls may quickly
push them past what is musically useful and/or physically unpleasant and beyond, potentially damaging ears and speakers.
Use care, common sense, and caution when dialing the Controls in a Direct Interfacing scenario until you learn the limita-
tions of your destination system and your hearing’s ability to handle the sounds you wish to achieve in your Studio or Live
environment.
GAIN
In all three Channels of the MARK VII, GAIN is royalty among the Controls. Regardless of what style you are
looking toward, the setting of the GAIN determines the character, color, and shape of the sound, clean or dirty,
bright or dark, thick or trim. That’s because as natural tube saturation increases, top end is usually traded for
girth and warmth, which often leans appropriately toward the applications for the dierent sounds and playing
styles. In other words, cleaner sounds usually benefit from the lower gain’s brightness and trim EQ, and higher
gain sounds benefit from the receding top end and added warmth and width as saturation compresses, fat-
tens, and darkens the character.
The GAIN control meters the gain and tube saturation in the early and middle stages of the tube preamp and
determines whether the response will be cleaner with maximum headroom or more saturated with tube over-
drive, which again exhibits a more naturally compressed nature and recessive or “slowed” top end.
Not only do the opposing ends of the gain spectrum sound dierent (trim and bright or wide and dark), but it is
also important to underscore 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. Not in a problematic sense,
because the styles played with overdrive lend themselves naturally to the shape and feel produced by the
added gain, but just in comparison to pristine clean sounds, where the attack is more immediate and urgent.
Most of the great sounds in most of the Channel Modes fall in the Tone Zone, as we refer to it, and lie some-
where closer to the middle range of the GAIN controls; 10:30 – 2:30.
Outside this middle range, there are good usable sounds. Still, with a good quality instrument and capable
pickups, you will likely only occasionally find the need to venture there unless heavy rock and metal sounds are
your calling. If that is the case, you may find the GAIN set much higher or even all the way up for the extremes.
If that is your go-to range on the GAIN, just remember what we covered in the Helpful Hints Section; when the
GAIN is set in its highest range, the tubes are more prone to any microphonic issues, such as squealing and
“runaway” harmonic peaks and even Reverb howling or other gain related issues, including excess noise in
the form of hiss and/or hum. Also, recall that as the GAIN goes up, the BASS control should often come down
for the most articulate attack and focused low end.
MASTER
Think of the MASTER as the control valve for the feed to the Power Section. It supplies the Driver Stage, which
in turn shovels gain toward the output tubes, and they, in turn, amplify the signal to achieve the playing volume
you desire.
Having a MASTER control means you can set any amount of gain desired in the preamp stages and adjust the
listening level (determined by the power amp’s MASTER setting) independently. This makes the wide array of
sounds available in the MARK VII possible at nearly any volume level.
The MASTER also feeds the CabClone IR DI Output section, and though we’ve taken steps to prevent over-
loading of the CabClone’s Input circuit, being more reasonable with your MASTER settings will help avoid any
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