Studio Preamp
Owner’s Manual
Congratulations on your purchase of the MESA/Boogie Studio Preamp! In this compact, rack-ready
package you’ll find all the basic tones that made Boogie famous – clean, warm, smooth rhythm
sounds; a screaming, vicious Lead voice; and enough control to produce anything in between. The
Preamp is simple and straightforward, yet sophisticated. Like all other Boogies, it’s based on a no
compromise, all-tube circuit with traditional style tone controls and instant Lead/Rhythm footswitching.
It includes a 5 band graphic EQ for tone customizing; a carefully tweaked, deep-sounding
3-spring reverb; a stereo effects loop that can accommodate either low-level or line-level effects; and
two pairs of stereo outputs (including Recording Outputs with speaker-simulator circuitry, which will
mate perfectly with either a mixing console or the front end input of most guitar amps.)
NOTE: If you are using the Studio Preamp in conjunction with a "dedicated" power amp, we strongly
recommend the use of a high quality, all tube amplifier such as our Stereo Simul-Class 295, or the
Strategy 400. Only then can you be assured of taking full advantage of the Preamp’s sound quality.
1. Connecting the Preamp: The simplest method for connecting the Preamp is to plug your guitar
into the front or rear panel INSTRUMENT INPUT, then run shielded cables from MAIN OUTPUTS
A&B into the inputs of your power amp. The two output level controls on the Preamp will deter-
mine the overall level being sent to the power amp. (If you are feeding into a mono power amp, use
either one of the Preamp’s Main Outputs A or B.
If you wish to use the Preamp in conjunction with a "normal" guitar amplifier such as a Fender,
Marshall, etc., you can either 1) run a shielded cable from one of the Preamp’s rear panel RECORD-
ING OUTPUTS into the front panel input of the amp; or 2) run a cable from one of the MAIN OUT-
PUTS into the effects return or Power Amp Input jack of your amp (assuming your amp has one of
these).
If the Preamp is being used for recording and you wish to connect it directly to a mixing console, we
recommend using the RECORDING OUTPUT(s), connected to a line level input on the console. Or,
as an alternative, you can use one or both of the Preamp’s MAIN OUTPUTS for this purpose. The
Recording Outs are EQ’d differently than the Main Outs, so the choice here is mainly a matter of
taste.
2. Using Stereo Effects: The Studio Preamp is capable of stereo operation if used with a stereo
effects unit (and, of course, a stereo power amp). To do this, connect a shielded cable from the
Preamp’s EFFECTS SEND jack into the input of your effects unit, and set the Preamp’s EFFECTS
LEVEL switch to either "LOW" (for using floor pedals or "inexpensive" rack effects) or "LINE" (for
using studio-quality effects). Then connect the outputs of the effects unit to the RETURN jacks on
the Preamp using shielded cables, and use the Preamp’s Main Outputs to feed the power amp. Use
the Mix or Blend control on the effects unit to set the "wet/dry" (effect/direct) blend.
Another way to run the Preamp in stereo with effects is to connect one of the Preamp’s MAIN OUT-
PUTS (or both, if the effects unit has stereo inputs to the input of the effect. In this case the Preamp’s
OUTPUT LEVEL control(s) will determine the send level to the effects; the overall level going to the
power amp will be determined at the effects unit.
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