Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product DC3 Mesa/Boogie
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1317 Ross Street Petaluma, CA 94954 USA The Spirit of Art in Technology OO GI E B M ESA D U AL C ALIBER DC - 3 Owner's Manua l.
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.
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.
T ABLE OF CONTENTS Precautions FRONT PANEL Description and Usage Gain Treble Mid Presence Reverb Master Bass Page # 0 1 2 & 3 4 5 6 3 3 4 & 5 3 & 4 4 5 REAR PANEL Description and Usage Fus.
DC-3 Operating Instructions Overview: Y our 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.
P AGE 2 First familiarize yourself with the layout of the Front Panel and locate the Lead / Rhythm switch on the right side of the chas sis, next to the Standby Switch.
P AGE 3 probably a good time to mention that most of the great sounds can be found by setting the GAIN Control moderately , especially i n the LEAD Channel. For example, somewhere between 2 thru 6 In the RHYTHM Channel try setting this control somewhere between 3 thru 8 .
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 T reble you have dialed up. These two controls attenuate the upper high end harmonics and control dynamic compression in the power section.
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.
P AGE 6 This toggle calls up one channel or the other and can take the place of the Channel Select footswitch when there isn’t one hand y. 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.
P AGE 7 This is the A.C.’s (Alternating Current) main fuse and provides electrical current protection from outside A.C. fluctuations, a s well as power tube failure damage. Should the FUSE blow , replace it with the same rating in a slo-blo type package.
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 ef fect. The Effects Loop is a patc h point between the pre-amp and power section.
P AGE 9 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.
P AGE 10 SUGGESTED SAMPLE SETTINGS SAMPLE 1 Sparkling Clean SAMPLE 2 Pushed Bluesy Rhythm/Solo SAMPLE 3 Crunch Rhythm High Gain Lead/Crunch SAMPLE 4 Lead CHANNEL Rhythm CHANNEL Rhythm CHANNEL Rhythm C.
P AGE 1 1 PERSONAL SETTINGS PAGE INPUT FOOT SWITCH DC-3 C ALIBER D UA L STANDBY POWER LEAD ON ON RHYTHM 80 240 750 2200 6600 GAIN TREBLE MID BASS PRESENCE REVERB MASTER OUTPUT LEVEL INPUT FOOT SWITCH .
P AGE 12 TUBE TASK CHART NOTE: BEFORE CHANGING TUBES FLIP POWER SWITCH TO STANDBY. Dual Caliber DC-3 12AX7 REAR OF CHASSIS GRAY REVERB WHITE (Each 12AX7 contains two separate Triodes) V 6 V 5 V 4 V 3 .
P AGE 13 Y ou may occasionally experience some form of tube noise or microphonics. Certainly no cause for alarm, this quirky behavior com es with the territory and the T one.
Because your amplifier is an all tube design, it is quite possible that you will at some point experience minor pre-amp tube no ise. 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 tu bes.
P AGE 15 Here’s a question we often hear: “Why doesn’t Mesa put bias adjustments in their amplifiers?” Well, there’ s a short answer and a long answer to this question.
P AGE 16 V oltage and current are NOT the same. Current is the AMOUNT of electricity , the “quantity” — and is measured in amperes. V olt age is the degree of electric charge — like the “pressure” to use the old water analogy .
P AGE 17 Some of the other recommended biasing, “methods” — such as -”.. tubes running red hot, increase the bias .. sounds harsh and ru ns too cool, turn it down ...” are guesswork at best. Luckily , one of the great things about tube amps is that they can usually s tand some abuse without causing any real harm .
GAIN TREBLE MID BASS PRESENCE REVERB MASTER INPUT FOOT SWITCH 80 240 750 2200 6600 STANDBY POWER LEAD ON ON RHYTHM D UAL C ALIBER DC-3 OUTPUT LEVEL EQ SELECT RETURN RECORDING FX MIX 0% SEND OUT RHY LE.
The Spirit of Art in Technology OO GI E B M ESA Thank you for trusting MESA/Boogie to be your amplifie r company. We wish you many years of toneful enjoyment from this handbuilt all tube instrument.
The Spirit of Art in Technology 1317 Ross Street Petaluma, CA 94954 USA (707) 778-6565 FAX NO. (707) 765-1503.
An important point after buying a device Mesa/Boogie DC3 (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
If you have not bought Mesa/Boogie DC3 yet, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with the basic data on the product. First of all view first pages of the manual, you can find above. You should find there the most important technical data Mesa/Boogie DC3 - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Mesa/Boogie DC3 you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Mesa/Boogie DC3 will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Mesa/Boogie DC3, but have not read the manual yet, you should do it for the reasons described above. You will learn then if you properly used the available features, and whether you have not made any mistakes, which can shorten the lifetime Mesa/Boogie DC3.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Mesa/Boogie DC3. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Mesa/Boogie DC3 along with tips on how to solve them. Even if you fail to solve the problem, the manual will show you a further procedure – contact to the customer service center or the nearest service center
