Mesa/Boogie Mark 5 Owner'S Manual Download Page 26

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MARK I

(Mode Select Switch Down):

This is it! The sound that started it all and put MESA on the map when it burst on the scene back in 1970 aboard the little Boogie

combo.  This devastating little wolf-in- sheep’s-clothing introduced the world to the first high gain preamp and ushered in
the Modern Era of amplification.  Before the MARK I, all amplifiers were the same in the sense that they were all about
the same gain-wise.  Amplifiers created before this belong to the Vintage Era and in a sense, the MARK I is really a pivotal
moment that changed music for all time, or at the very least…guitar music.

Randall Smith smashed the barrier when he built the first high gain cascading preamp and gave electric guitarists liter-

ally a hundred times more gain than they had ever experienced before.  Suddenly a new solo voice came from the guitar when - for
the first time - notes could have sax-like fluidity and finally… virtually unlimited sustain.  And equally important this sustain was - for
the first time - independent of volume!  Now a player could get any sound, from pristine clean to a beautifully contained explosion
of overdrive at any volume anywhere.  Needless to say, the news spread quickly when guitarists the world over heard this sound on
Carlos Santana’s ABRAXAS album.   Immediately a flood of orders for the little Boogie came pouring in to the little mountain shack
in Lagunitas, CA. and soon most all of popular music had a Boogie somewhere in the mix.

Forty years later that sound is alive and well and has given birth to a whole family of circuits we still build today, including this Mode
in the

MARK V

and the re-issue MARK I.

This circuit is extremely versatile and shines for both rhythm and single note soloing but these different applications require a different
approach to settings.  However, two things tend to remain a constant in regards to the Tone Controls, no matter what the application.
First is that the TREBLE control is quite effective at adding gain to the signal so that higher settings (12:15 – 3:00) can be more useful
than in the other Channels.  This is related to the second trait of the MARK I circuit… that there is huge amount of Bass, in fact sub-
low Bass, present in this mode.  It’s also a good idea to remember what we mentioned earlier in the HELPFUL HINTS section - as the
GAIN goes up the BASS should come down.  Many of the great sounds available in this mode will present themselves with a lower
than normal setting on the BASS control and a higher than normal setting on the TREBLE.  The Tone control string is highly interactive
and this approach sends less signal to the BASS and MID control where an abundance of fat low-end lives.

This approach is especially true for higher gain single note sounds where you may want to run the TREBLE at around 2:30 and the
Bass (and maybe the MID as well) at 9:30 or below. For lower to medium gain solo sounds you can run the TREBLE a little lower –
(12:30-1:30) - and the BASS and MID up a bit (9:30 – 10:30) to add warmth and air.

When using the Graphic EQ (SLIDERS or PRESET) for high gain heavy sounds in the MARK I mode, it is important to keep the BASS
control rather low. If you jack up the low-end with the EQ and there is already a fair amount of low-end dialed up on the rotary BASS
control, you might overload your speakers and even perhaps damage them at high or extreme volume settings… not to mention it will
sound flubby and swamped with lows.

frOnt panel: M

ODeS

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Continued

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EQ ON

EQ FS

MARK I

NORMAL

MARK I

THICK

10 W