Marshall Amplification MF350 - Manual (Page 4)

4
Fully Loaded For Professional Use
From the very start, the MODE FOUR was created with the professional guitarist in mind. To this
end it boasts a host of carefully thought out features that have been designed to give you, the
player, the ultimate in professional flexibility and control. These include:
■ Two independent, footswitchable amplifiers – AMP 1 and AMP 2.
■ Each amp type offers two footswitchable modes, giving you four in total: CLEAN, CRUNCH, OD1 &
OD2.
■ Each AMP has separate controls for GAIN, VOLUME, BASS, MIDDLE and TREBLE.
■ Each AMP has a front panel SCOOP switch.
■ AMP 2 has a three-way TONE MATRIX control.
■ Footswitchable, built-in Digital Reverb with separate REVERB controls for AMP 1 and AMP 2.
■ A Parallel / Series FX Loop with individual FX LEVEL controls for AMP 1 and AMP 2.
■ A footswitchable SOLO LEVEL control.
■ Master controls for RESONANCE, PRESENCE and VOLUME.
■ The power stage is fan cooled to ensure reliable and efficient operation.
■ A TUNER OUT jack with a front panel TUNER MUTE switch for ‘silent’ tuning between songs.
■ XLR and 1/4" jack EMULATED LINE OUTPUTS.
■ LOAD PROTECTION CIRCUITRY.
■ 6-way LED footcontroller supplied that controls CLEAN, CRUNCH, OD1, OD2, SOLO and REVERB.
ENGLISH
ENGLISH
1. INPUT Jack
Use a good quality guitar cable (i.e. one that’s
screened) to plug your guitar in here. The
quality of your guitar cable is particularly
important in a very high gain amplifier design
such as the MODE FOUR. Any fault in the cable
could lead to unwanted hum, noise, or high-
pitched feedback.
In common with most high gain designs and in
order to avoid unwanted noise, the MODE
FOUR is automatically muted when there is
nothing inserted into the INPUT Jack. This
means that if no guitar is plugged in, the amp
will be very quiet regardless of the settings.
TONE TIP: For using a separate pre-amp with
the power amp section of the MODE FOUR,
see Frequently Asked Questions (page 12)
TONE TIP: Microphonic (i.e. loose) guitar
pickups can lead to unwanted low-end feedback
at high gain settings. If your guitar suffers from
this, we would suggest you visit a qualified
guitar service technician to remedy the problem
so you can get the optimum performance from
your MODE FOUR at all Gain settings.
AMP 1 CONTROLS
2. CLEAN Mode Select Switch
Push this switch to select the CLEAN Mode of
AMP 1. When this mode is selected via the front
panel or the supplied 6-way footcontroller, the
red LED within this switch will be illuminated.
3. CRUNCH Mode Select Switch
Push this switch to select the CRUNCH Mode
of AMP 1. When this mode is selected via the
front panel or the supplied 6-way footcontroller,
the LED within this switch will light up.
4. GAIN Control
When AMP 1 is in CLEAN Mode, this control
will take you from shimmering, bell-like, clean
tones at low settings, to edgy, valve generated
bluesy distortions at higher settings.
When CRUNCH Mode is selected you enter
the hallowed world of a front-ended JCM800,
which will give you classic Marshall metal and
alternative rock tones. Low GAIN settings will
yield the truly dynamic, touch sensitive,
overdriven valve roar that made the JCM800
2203 a hard rock legend. Higher levels of GAIN
give you dense, saturated tone with endless
sustain and a slamming, low-end thump without
losing any of that all-important note definition,
even when playing complex chords.
AMP 1 GAIN CONTROL SWEET SPOT: The
CLEAN and CRUNCH Modes of the MODE
FOUR offer a huge degree of flexibility in terms
of gain.
As the GAIN Control is shared between the
CLEAN and CRUNCH Modes some change in
MODE FOUR Front Panel Features - see panel page 70
MODE FOUR Front Panel Features - see panel page 70
level may be experienced when switching
between these modes, especially at extreme
settings.
The diagram below shows the 'Sweet Spot'
area of the AMP 1 GAIN Control where the
levels of CLEAN and CRUNCH are well
balanced.
Obviously, when using GAIN settings on
either side of this ‘sweet spot’, if you switch
between AMP 1’s CLEAN and CRUNCH
modes, you’re going to have to compensate for
the resulting level differences with your guitar’s
volume control &/or pickup selection.
TONE TIP: At low CRUNCH settings, ballsy
crunch can be transformed into wonderfully
rich clean tones by merely reducing the guitar
volume control.
5. BASS Control
This controls the amount of low frequencies
(bottom end) in your tone. Adjusting this control
in conjunction with the RESONANCE control
(12) will drastically affect the size and tightness
of your low end. The more BASS and
RESONANCE you dial in, the fatter your
bottom end will become.
6. VOLUME Control
This control determines how loud or quiet
AMP 1 is. This control should be used in
conjunction with AMP 2’s VOLUME control (19)
to set the relative levels of the two amps. Once
this is done you can use the MASTER volume
control (16) to set the overall output level of the
amplifier.
7. MIDDLE Control
This controls the all-important mid-range of
your sound. Higher settings will make your
guitar sound fatter and fuller. Conversely, lower
settings will reduce the mids in your sound,
giving you a more aggressive, ‘scooped’ sound.
8. SCOOP Switch
This control has been specifically fine-tuned
to give the most crushing mid ‘scoop’ sound
imaginable. By reconfiguring the entire post-EQ
voicing of AMP 1, the tone becomes extremely
aggressive – tight, punchy and focused with
the highs and lows accentuated and the mids
‘scooped’ out.
9. REVERB Control
This controls the level of the MODE FOUR’s
specially designed, built-in, digital Reverb for
AMP 1.
10. TREBLE Control
This control determines the amount of high-
end and makes your guitar’s tone brighter and
more cutting as it is turned up. Adjusting the
TREBLE Control will allow you to fine-tune
upper-end ‘shimmer’ on your CLEAN sounds
and aggressive bite on your CRUNCH –
especially when used in conjunction with the
PRESENCE Control (13).
TONE TIP: AMP 1’s tone network is highly
interactive and altering one control can change
the shape of the sound in relation to the other
tone controls. Experimentation is the best way
to achieve your desired sounds.
11. FX LEVEL Control
When you’re using an external effects device
in the MODE FOUR’s Parallel to Series FX
loop, this control adjusts the amount of the
chosen effect that will be mixed in with AMP 1’s
dry (uneffected) signal. Please refer to the FX
Loop section on page 8 for further details.
5
0 10
CRUNCH mode
louder than
CLEAN
GAIN CONTROL 'SWEET SPOT'
(CLEAN & CRUNCH balanced)
CLEAN mode
louder than
CRUNCH