H. Mesa Boogie Mark II/IV tone

I find I can get a good Mesa Boogie Mark II/IV tone from the Uber amp. The key tweaks is to pre-EQ. I like a Line 6 Drive with Bass 25%, Mids 65%, Treble 75%. I set Drive to 0% and Output to 100% - the common filter/boost pedal settings. I find even this still might break up a little, so I put a Volume effect in front and reduce the level to about 50%. This makes sure the Line 6 Drive is only acting as a filter.

I also like to turn the Hum Amp DEP up to 55% - just this small tweak makes the distortion thicker and darker and more aggressive. I turn Bias X up to ~70% - this gives notes more "bloom" but doesn't lead to unnatural compression or wonk to the tone.

Top of Tips and Pitfalls

I. Clean Boost

There are several ways to perform a clean (solo) boost to your tone. The easiest is to use the Studio EQ effect - it has a Gain parameter that has nothing to do with EQ - it just sets the output level. This lets you boost or cut the signal level anywhere in your chain. For a clean boost, you should place this behind your amp/distortion. Then you just toggle it on/off for your boost

If you already have a Mid-Focus EQ in your chain, the Gain parameter acts as an overall output level control, not to adjust the amount of EQ applied. This EQ is harder to make neutral than the Studio EQ, and usually won't be toggled on/off, but you can use it to boost the signal.

You can do the same thing using the FX Loop. You place a patch cable from the send and receive connections, set send to 0 db and boost the receive level to your desired amount. Make sure mix is at 100%.

I believe the FX Loop uses less DSP than the Studio EQ, but it also requires a patch cable and that you aren't already using the loop. Also, the loop can introduce additional noise into the tone.

Top of Tips and Pitfalls

J. Leveling Patches

For a single amp patch, the best way to set it up is to place all your effects and amp block in Channel A after the path split and in front of the Mixer. In the mixer, pan Channel A to center and mute Channel B. This prevents you from having to worry about Input 2 issues, as only Input 1 will feed into Channel A. Each channel is stereo, so it has no impact on stereo effects. The upside is that the Mixer block is last in the chain and can be used to level your patch without worry of unwanted clipping, which can occur by trying to level patches using the amp's Ch. Vol. control (physical VOLUME knob on the unit).

If you are using a dual amp patch, I like to use a Mid-Focus EQ or Studio EQ as the last (or close to the last) effect in my chain, behind the mixer. The Gain parameter on these EQ's does not affect frequency response, only output level. So you can use these to set a final patch level, keeping the amp blocks' Ch. Vol. control conservative, preventing unwanted clipping. The Mid-Focus EQ is not neutral by default and is sensitive to a hot input signal. I prefer the Studio EQ if I'm just using this effect for patch leveling. However, I'm usually using a Mid-Focus to roll off a bit of high and low end anyway, so it doubles as my final output control.

Top of Tips and Pitfalls