Prs guitars Mark tremonti mt15 User manual

Service Notes

Tubes

Tubes are consumables, as they have a given usable lifespan. They are part of the

heart of the tone, so keeping correctly operating tubes is essential. Tubes can fail

catastrophically or gradually, and it’s good to know what to look for if they start

to go bad. Periodically inspect them and look to see if anything inside the tube is

glowing cherry red other than the normal orange glow of the filament. This would

indicate a situation where the tube is conducting more current than it is capable

of handling and most likely about to fail. Two other conditions to observe are:

1) filaments not glowing or 2) a miniature fireworks display inside the tube. Any

of the above conditions indicate serious problems with the tube and should be

taken care of immediately. Tubes quite often are the cause of spurious noise in the

amp. Microphonic tubes will squeal or rale with the vibrations of the cabinet.

If suspected, tap each tube lightly with a pencil with the amp powered up—the

suspect tube will let you know. Note that there is a normal metallic clinking when

doing this, but a microphonic tube will be quite loud.

Replacing preamp tubes will not require any adjustment, but the power tubes will

need rebiasing to assure proper operation. After power tube replacement, initially

inspect the tubes often to assure there are no “cherry red” components within

the tube. Tubes today can have a wide variety of tolerances and a re-bias is highly

recommended with new ones.

Power tube bias should be adjusted to 30 mV, +/- 5 mV. If power tubes are

mismatched by less than 5 mV, average the two around 30. Mis-matched tubes

beyond 5 mV will induce noise and may cause a degradation of tone.

NOTE! Capacitors may retain an electric charge and can be dangerous even when

the unit is o, unplugged, and has not been played for an extended period of

time. USE CAUTION!!!!

“Paul Reed Smith,” “PRS,” the PRS logo, the PRS Paul Reed Smith logo, the Paul Reed Smith signature, the bird

inlays, the headstock bird, the PRS headstock shape, the PRS body shape, the PRS “scoop” design, “Singlecut”,

“Mira” and the “SE” are all registered trademarks of Paul Reed Smith Guitars “Custom 24,” “Modern Eagle,”

“SE Custom,” “SC 245,” “SC 250,” “Starla”, “Tonare”, “Sewell”, “ Blue Sierra”, and “Angelus” are all trademarks

of Paul Reed Smith Guitars. The Birds, New Birds, are copyrighted by PRS Guitars.

LIT-AMP-MAN-MT15 REV B

Mark Tremonti MT15

User’s Manual

MT15

POWER

STANDBY

PRESENCE MASTER BASS MIDDLE TREBLE VOLUME BASS MIDDLE TREBLE GAIN

PULL BOOST

CLEAN CHANNEL LEAD CHANNEL

LEAD CHANNEL

CLEAN

LEAD

INPUT

Using your PRS Amplifier

IMPORTANT: Before using your amplifier, refer to the IMPORTANT SAFETY

INSTRUCTIONS insert supplied with the product.

Powering Up:

1. Make sure your speaker or speaker cabinet is connected to the correct speaker output

impedance jack with a high quality speaker cable. Do not use guitar cords.

2. Make sure the power cord is connected to the correct grounded outlet.

3. Make sure there is at least 6 inches (150mm) of clearance around the amplifier to allow

for proper cooling. Never place the amplifier against a wall or other equipment, and

keep it clear of other heat sources, such as other amplifiers or stoves. Make sure there

are no flammable items, such as curtains, behind the amp. Do not drape items over

the amps that can prevent proper cooling. Do not set drinks or other liquids on top of

the amp that can spill into the amp.

4. The amplifier is designed to be able to power up without the use of a Standby Switch.

It is OK to turn both switches on at the same time, or to leave the Standby Switch on

at all times. Use the Standby Switch to mute the amplifier when necessary.

5. Turn the master volume down (lead channel), volume control down (clean channel) or

flip the Standby Switch o to mute the amp, plug in the guitar cable and any eects,

switch on the Standby, bring the volumes up and play some tunes. This amplifier

can produce very loud volumes so take care with this procedure to avoid volume

surprises.

This equipment is capable of very high sound pressure levels. Prolonged

exposure may cause hearing damage.

This equipment contains no user-serviceable parts. Refer all repairs to qualified service

personnel.

Ensure that the mains plug is easily accessible to allow the unit to be switched o.

Only connect this unit to an earthed supply socket.

THIS UNIT IS CLASS 1 CONSTRUCTION AND MUST BE EARTHED!

MT15 Amplifier Front Panel Controls

Input: ¼” Standard Mono Guitar Cable.

Channel Select: Selects between Lead and Clean channels.

Lead Channel

Gain Control: Adjust for preamp volume/distortion/saturation.

Treble Control: Adjusts the high frequencies within the overall tone. This adjustment

allows the tone to become warmer at low seings and brighter at higher seings.

Middle Control: Adjusts the midrange frequencies within the overall tone. This adjustment

allows the user to add fullness or body to the sound, or create a “scooped”, crisp sound.

Bass Control: Adjusts the low frequencies within the overall tone. Lower seings will

sound tighter, especially with more gain and higher seings will add deep fullness and

thump.

Lead Channel Master: Adjusts the overall loudness of the lead channel. Work this along

with the Gain Control to balance the volume between the Lead and Clean channels.

Clean Channel

Volume Control: Increases the volume and gain of the clean channel.

Treble Control with Pull Boost: Adjusts the high frequencies like the lead channel with an

added general gain boost of the clean channel frequencies when pulled.

Middle and Bass Controls: Similar function to the lead channel controls.

Presence Control: Adjusts power amp brightness on both channels globally.

Power On/O and Standby Switches: The MT15 was designed to not need a Standby Switch

as part of properly powering the amp on. However, as a convenience we have provided a

Standby Switch that eectively mutes the amp while it is still powered on. Use the switch

to mute the amp when changing guitars, eects, or between sets.

Rear Panel Controls

Mains Socket: Always use the mains lead supplied. Your sales outlet can provide a

lead suitable for your country. Always disconnect the equipment from the mains and

ancillary units before moving.

Fuses: This amplifier is equipped with multiple accessible and inaccessible fuses.

Replacement fuses must be of the same type and rating as indicated. Failure to comply

may result in permanent damage to the product, and/or create a safety hazard. Always

disconnect the equipment from the mains supply before replacing a fuse.

Mains Fuses: These are located in the mains socket. There is one active and one spare.

B+ Fuse and Filament fuses: These are located on the PCB board and should be

evaluated and replaced by a qualified technician.

Bias Jacks and Pot: These jacks measure the power tube current draw in milliVolts.

1mV=1mA. Review the information on the back of this manual for guidance on replacing

tubes. Biasing and tube replacement should be performed only by a qualified

technician. Bias adjustments can be made with a jewelers Phillips head screwdriver.

Speaker Jacks: These are the main outputs for your speaker cabinet(s). There are 3

total jacks to use. There are two 8 ohm jacks wired in parallel, and a single 16 ohm

jack. Determine beforehand what your total speaker loading will be and use the

appropriate jacks. Never use the 16 Ohm jack with the 8 Ohm jacks at the same time.

For two 16 ohm cabinets in parallel (creating and 8 Ohm load), plug each cabinet into

one of the two parallel 8 ohm jacks. Failure to correctly match the speaker load to the

appropriate output jacks can cause tube socket arcs, blown power tubes, or failure of

the amp.

Half Power Switch: Selecting the half power seing changes the operation of the

power tubes from full-power pentode configuration to 8 was in triode configuration.

Power down the amp when changing this switch or make the selection prior to turning

on the amp.

Eects Loop: This amplifier features a series eects loop that is integral to the overall

sound of the amp. Connect the Send jack with a 1/4” mono instrument cable to the

input of your pedal(s). Connect your pedal(s) output to the Return jack also using

a 1/4” mono instrument cable. To minimize your cables picking up hum, arrange the

cables together for the first few feet away from the amp, and move them away from

the power transformer and mains power cable.

Footswitch Jack: Connect the included PRS FSIM footswitch to control Channel

switching. Do not use other footswitches as they can possibly damage the amp. When

aached, the front panel Channel selector switch becomes inoperable.

Safety Symbols: The following symbols mean:

Warning: read instructions to understand possible hazard

Danger: electrical shock hazard

Warning: This equipment is capable of very high sound pressure levels.

Prolonged exposure may cause hearing damage.