MESA BOOGIE DUAL CALIBER DC - 3 Owner's Manual The Spirit of Art in Technology 1317 Ross Street Petaluma, CA 94954 USA
Hello from the Tone Farm... YOU, the 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. Our reward is that we've made a classic amplifier and by choosing this amplifier, you have become part of the MESA family...Welcome! Our goal is to never let you down. Your reward is that you are now the owner of an archetypical guitar amp bred of fine all tube amp heritage...
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: Do not expose amplifier to moisture, rain or water, direct sunlight or extremely high temperatures. Always insure that amplifier is properly grounded. Always unplug AC power cord before changing fuse or any tubes. When replacing fuse, use only same type and rating. Avoid direct contact with heated tubes.
DC-3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Precautions FRONT PANEL Description and Usage Gain Page # 0 1 2&3 Treble 3 Mid 3 Bass 3&4 Presence 4 Reverb 4 Master 4&5 Output Level 5 Graphic EQ 5 Toggle Switches: Rhythm / Lead, On / Standby and Power 6 REAR PANEL Description and Usage 7 Fuse 7 EQ Select 7 FTSW EQ / Reverb 7 FX Loop Send / Return 8 FX Mix 8 Recording / Silent Recording 8 Slave 9 9 Speaker (impedance matching) Suggested Sample Settings & Personal Setting Page Tube Task Chart Dia
DC-3 Operating Instructions Overview: Your DC-3 amplifier was designed to deliver maximum performance in a format based on simplicity. Its easy to dial nature allows each of the two channels to deliver a wide range of sounds in both clean and overdrive styles. This Dual Caliber uses four EL-84 power tubes to fuel its healthy thirty-five watt power section. We are pleased by its surprising headroom, yet truly musical “c lipability” when pushed.
FRONT PANEL: First familiarize yourself with the layout of the Front Panel and locate the Lead / Rhythm switch on the right side of the chassis, next to the Standby Switch. This toggles you between the top (Rhythm) Channel and the bottom (Lead) Channel. If you don’t have the Rhythm/Lead Footswitch connected, this switch will activate the channel switching function.
GAIN: (Continued) probably a good time to mention that most of the great sounds can be found by setting the GAIN Control moderately, especially in the LEAD Channel. For example, somewhere between 2 thru 6 In the RHYTHM Channel try setting this control somewhere between 3 thru 8 . Use of moderation here will reduce the likelihood of pesky tube microphonic problems ever occuring, while at the same time making the two channels easier to balance in relative listening volume and effects send signal strength.
BASS: (Continued) sounds in this channel. In the LEAD Channel, try setting the BASS Control somewhere between 3 and 6 . These settings will vary with the amount of Gain and Treble you have dialed up. PRESENCE: These two controls attenuate the upper high end harmonics and control dynamic compression in the power section. High settings produce more sparkle and cut, lending a more open quality to the Channel.
MASTER: (Continued) NOTE: When trying to use your DC-3 at extremely low volume levels it will be necessary to reduce the far left Gain control. Once the Masters and Output Levels has been reduced to roughly 1.5 , reducing the Masters or Output Level below this point causes phase interaction that prevents a clean signal from passing through this circuit junction. If you must use your DC-3 at whisper levels to practice late at night etc...get used to reducing the Gain as well as the Masters and Output levels.
TOGGLE SWITCHES RHYTHM / LEAD: This toggle calls up one channel or the other and can take the place of the Channel Select footswitch when there isn’t one handy. RHYTHM LEAD ON ON STANDBY POWER DUAL CALIBER DC-3 ON / STANDBY: Perfect for set breaks... this toggle switch also serves an even more important purpose. In the Standby position the tubes are at idle so that during power up they may warm up before being put to use.
REAR PANEL: FUSE: This is the A.C.’s (Alternating Current) main fuse and provides electrical current protection from outside A.C. fluctuations, as well as power tube failure damage. Should the FUSE blow, replace it with the same rating in a slo-blo type package. The domestic U.S. version requires a 2.5 amp slo-blo fuse. A power tube short or failure is often the cause of a blown fuse...
REAR PANEL: (Continued) FX LOOP: SEND / RETURN: These two 1/4" jacks are thae patch point for external effects. The Effects Loop is wired in parallel with the normal signal. Connect the SEND jack to your Effects Input jack. Connect the RETURN jack to the Output jack of your effect. The Effects Loop is a patch point between the pre-amp and power section. Therefore, the RETURN jack can double as a “Power RHY Amp Input” jack. IN LEAD 1.25A OUT FT SW FUSE 2.
REAR PANEL: (continued) SLAVE: This 1/4" jack and control provide a signal derived from the speaker jack. Perfect for using the DC-3 as a master pre-amp, or additional power amps may be connected for more power when needed. Some players use this to derive an FX Send Signal and go to other amps for their wet sound. SLAVE NOTE: Once a signal is taken from the SLAVE it can not be inserted back into the FX Loop Return jack or a feedback loop will occur.
SUGGESTED SAMPLE SETTINGS SAMPLE 1 INPUT 5 Sparkling Clean 5 1 CHANNEL Rhythm 4 2 2 4 RHYTHM ON ON LEAD STANDBY POWER 3 FOOT SWITCH GAIN TREBLE MID BASS PRESENCE REVERB MASTER OUTPUT LEVEL 80 240 750 SAMPLE 2 Pushed Bluesy Rhythm/Solo INPUT 8 7 7 2 0 2200 6600 DUAL CALIBER DC-3 CHANNEL Rhythm 3 4 RHYTHM ON ON LEAD STANDBY POWER 2 FOOT SWITCH GAIN TREBLE MID BASS PRESENCE REVERB MASTER OUTPUT LEVEL 9 7 6 240 750 EQ Optional SAMPLE 3 Crunch Rhythm INPUT
PERSONAL SETTINGS PAGE INPUT RHYTHM FOOT SWITCH GAIN TREBLE MID BASS PRESENCE REVERB ON ON MASTER LEAD OUTPUT LEVEL 80 240 750 2200 6600 STANDBY POWER DUAL CALIBER DC-3 INPUT RHYTHM FOOT SWITCH GAIN TREBLE MID BASS PRESENCE REVERB ON ON MASTER LEAD OUTPUT LEVEL 80 240 750 2200 6600 STANDBY POWER DUAL CALIBER DC-3 INPUT RHYTHM FOOT SWITCH GAIN TREBLE MID BASS PRESENCE REVERB ON ON MASTER LEAD OUTPUT LEVEL 80 240 750 2200 6600 STANDBY POWER DUAL CALIBER
Dual Caliber DC-3 TUBE TASK CHART NOTE: BEFORE CHANGING TUBES FLIP POWER SWITCH TO STANDBY.
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 technician 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...
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. Let us begin by saying; It is a “very good” idea to keep at least a couple of spare pre-amp tubes on hand at all times to insure uninterrupted performance.
BIAS ADJUSTMENT: (Part of a continuous series) BEAMCONFINING ELECTRODE Here’s a question we often hear: CATHODE ( ) GRID ( , ) SCREEN GRID ( ) “Why doesn’t Mesa put bias adjustments in their amplifiers?” Well, there’s a short answer and a long answer to this question. ... .... . ... . ... . .... ( ) PLATE ( , ) Structure of a 6L6 / 5881 Beam Power Pentode.
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 carpetted floor in dry, wintery conditions, your body can become charged with 50,000 to 100,000 volts of static electricity.
BIAS ADJUSTMENT: (Continued) Some of the other recommended biasing, “methods” — such as -”.. tubes running red hot, increase the bias .. sounds harsh and runs too cool, turn it down ...” are guesswork at best. Luckily, one of the great things about tube amps is that they can usually stand some abuse without causing any real harm ... at least not immediately.
FRONT VIEW DC -3 SWITCHS (all 3) pt# 601073 JACK pt# 610120 KNOB pt# 409124 KNOB pt# 409124 SLIDER BUTTON pt# 408535 INPUT POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# 2739 2148 2737 2148 2148 2151 2737 GAIN TREBLE MID BASS PRESENCE REVERB MASTER POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# POT pt# 2148 2738 2737 2739 2148 2151 2737 RHYTHM ON ON POT pt# FOOT SWITCH 2151 LEAD STANDBY POWER OUTPUT LEVEL 80 240 750 2200 6600 DUAL CALIBER DC-3 PIL
MESA BOOGIE The Spirit of Art in Technology Thank you for trusting MESA/Boogie to be your amplifier company. We wish you many years of toneful enjoyment from this handbuilt all tube instrument.
The Spirit of Art in Technology (707) 778-6565 FAX NO.
