Cruise 5-100 watt amp

>The Cruise MQ4 amps handle multiple power issues differently and more elegantly than the other multi-wattage amps I am familiar with.

>A front-panel-mounted 8-way wattage selector gives you selections ranging from 5w to 100w. Pseudo class A at 5, 15 and 50, AB at the other settings.

>A series of relays is used to change plate voltages and pentode/triode status of the 4xEL34 output tubes. There are no impedance issues, and you achieve changes in tonal characterstics as well as volume characteristics.

Lee Sebel/Cool Music Gear You Can't Live Without/888-487-2166
Representing A Variety Of Fine Musical Products Perusable At:
www.cruiseaudio.com
www.robinguitars.com
www.catalystinstruments.com
www.antares-systems.com
www.aslindane.com
www.kablekeepers.com

Cruise MQ4212 Multi-Quartet Combo - official product page. "The MQ4 represents the pinnacle of tone, design, craftsmanship, engineering and manufacturing prowess. Starting with the input stage which features dual inputs all the way to the Master section with Blend and Wattage Selector controls the MQ4 is capable of producing almost any tone or gain characteristic you can imagine. It will produce that sound with the magic of tubes surrounded by the reliability of incredible technology."

Feature Analysis (from input to output)

• Dual Inputs: the MQ4 has dual inputs--one for standard electric pickups (magnetic) and one for electric and acoustic guitars equipped with Piezo or other bridge transducers. By the way, the entire input stage is driven by a 12AX7.
• Ch 1/Piezo Input: although designed for the special characteristics of Piezo and other assorted bridge transducers, this versatile input can also be used for standard magnetic pickups, too. Additionally, a switch located underneath the input allows the guitarist to switch between Passive or Active positions to match the output of the bridge transducer or pickup. To make this input even more versatile instruments plugged into the Ch 1/Piezo Input are tied to channel one only--and channel one features it's own series effects loop that allows the any instrument plugged into this input it's own processing path separate from the remaining channels! In addition, a bypass mode is included on the optional footswitch enabling any instrument plugged into the magnetic input access to this and all other channels.
• Magnetic Input: it's just labeled "input" for simplicities sake, but it is designed to accommodate the signals of any type of magnetic pickup--single coil, humbucking, high output, vintage, etc.
• The Stock Channels: each of the stock channels features the identical compliment of controls and switches. The controls are Gain, Volume, Blend, Reverb (yes, it is a tube driven reverb), Bass, Middle, and Treble. The switches consist of a three position Bright (Bright 1--Off--Bright 2) and a dual position Voicing switch which offers a traditional passive midrange or a sweet bump in the mid frequencies for just the right combination of mids and gain.
• The Clean/Blues Channel: a single 12AX7 provides sweet and pure tone yet it has plenty of depth and body. The perfect channel for Piezo equipped instruments. It is the essential channel for the purity of jazz and other ultra clean tones (let's go surfin' now, everybody's learnin' how...)
• The Blues/Vintage Channel: this channel can take you to many places in the world...from the smoke infested rooms of Chicago blues clubs, to a BBQ-smoke filled room in Texas, to a raw blues club in the Delta, to London in the 60's (we're breaking crystal here! Somebody get me my 12 string!), to the New York underground, to eatin' crawfish in the Bayou...this channel delivers all the sounds from fat and thick, to spine tingling screams (don't you just love our superlatives?) The Blues/Vintage Channel takes advantage of the full power derived from a 12AX7.
• The Classic/HiGain Channel: can you say "let's rock?" All the classic sounds we've come to know and love plus the crunch of a modern HiGain amp! Think "balls-to-the-wall" and you'll get the idea of what this channel can do! Tons of gain yet it is sensitive enough to allow a huge of tonal shaping to let your sound come through. Oh yeah, it uses dual 12AX7's to produce the tone!
• The UltraGain Channel: where the Classic/HiGain stops is where this one begins...HiGain smoke to out-and-out scorch. And with the Voicing switch you can instantly scoop enough mids for those fundamental metal tones. If your a metal fan wait till you hear this channel with the Wattage Selector at the 35 watt setting and the gain control flat out! And at 100 watts you'll need to get your knee caps out of the way! Knee surgery provided by the full power of dual 12AX7's.
• The Master Section: the area where all channels meet. The Master Section consists of a Master Volume, Reverb, Presence, and Depth controls. The Volume and Reverb are self explanatory. Presence balances the amount of top end (smooth to extreme). Depth is an important control--it adds or subtracts the tight low end of the MQ4. Depth is especially effective for adding the low end that is usually sacrificed while playing at relatively low volume levels.
• The Blend� Master: the ability to mix the characteristics of the channels together is something that is completely unique to the MQ4. Just think of Blend as a "tone kitchen"! Imagine being able to "blend" just the right amount of grit from channels two or three into a very clean tone created in channel one. Or maybe you have created a great crunch tone in channel three and you want to add the sparkle of your guitar's bridge transducer plugged into channel one. Or maybe you've dialed in a scorching solo tone in channel four and you want to add some beef with channel three. Or maybe you just want to see what will happen if you Blend three or all four channels together! With the ultra sophisticated logic circuit we have employed in the MQ4 you have complete control of mixing the gain and tonal characteristics of the channels in any way you want. Virtually any amp sound you can think of is possible by combining the great tones of the individual channels with Blend!
• Volume Boost/Cut: the Blend function also serves a secondary purpose. Once you get a great sound out of one of the channels you can determine two different volume settings for each--one with the channel Volume control and the other with the channel Blend control. Once those two controls are set you can switch back and forth between the two volume settings using the Blend on/off switches on the front panel or on the optional footswitches. And this can be accomplished without changing the tone and gain characteristics of the channel! Of course, you can also use the volume controls on your guitar which will change the gain structure of the channel in tandem with the Volume/Blend switching. Just the possibilities of altering volume with your guitar, with the Blend function (not to mention the nearly endless possibilities with channel Blending) will add tremendous dimension to your sound!
• Wattage Selector: the final stage (or is it the beginning stage?) is the Wattage Selector control. Don't confuse this control with one of those power attenuators on the market--you know, the ones that limit the amount of energy sent to the speakers--because this 8-position control actually changes the output of the power amp stage! You know all we've talked about so far in terms of the stock channels, tone, gain, and Blend? Well, multiply all that you can do with those functions by a factor of eight! Why? Because each of the Wattage Selector positions alters the tonal spectrum of the MQ4! The eight positions are 100, 65, 50, 35, 25, 15, 10 and 5 watts. To make this amp even more versatile (like it needs to be!) the 50, 15 and 5 watt positions are Class "A"!
• The Power Amp: 10-12AX7's in the front end. Just as important is how the power amp is designed (not just the fact that it uses 4-EL34's). The power transformer is a superb Toroid transformer that is used not only as the main power source but also to provide the taps necessary to accomplish the radical Wattage Selector switch. Coupled with the power of the preamps our power amp helps us give you tones from pristine, to the scorch of metal and ALL points in between!
• The Back Panel: any amplifier worth its salt is going to have a full compliment of interface connections and switches on the back panel. Read on:
• Parallel Effects Loop: tube driven for added sweetness. And yes, there is a mix control for adding just the right amount of your processed signal.
• XLR and 1/4 Inch Speaker Emulation Output: using one of these two outputs plus various microphone techniques you'll be able to get the perfect sounds for recording or live mixing.
• Tuner Output: a simple but very useful output. Use it with any analog or digital tuner.
• 25 Pin Footswitch Connection: we chose to use this type of jack (it looks like a computer's printer cable connection) because 1) they are readily available at any computer store and are not that expensive; 2) you can have any length that you want--10, 15, 25 or even a 100 feet long; and 3) the multiple pins allow us to offer an optional basic footswitch which mimics the Blend Master for basic channel switching and Blending functions. Other functions that are available on the optional MQ4FS Footswitch include a dedicated switch for remote selection between the Ch1./Piezo or Magnetic input, remote on/off for the Global Effects and Reverb and a dedicated system Mute switch.
• Cabinet: a 3/4" Mahogany laminate cab is used for the MQ4212 combo (and for all of our products). We prefer this mahogany laminate not only because it allows for extended low end but it is incredibly smooth across the guitars tonal spectrum.
• Speakers: we researched and auditioned a lot of different speakers for the MQ4's (some well known, some odd-balls, and some custom stuff). But the ones that brought the true tonal spectrum of the MQ4 to life are models from the Eminence Legend series.
• Options: Stock and CustomShop PreAmp Cards. (click here go to PreAmps option page) Also, Cruise Audio is offering a line of custom canvas covers and road cases to protect your investment.

Harmony Central: News release about MQ4 - "To answer the needs of musicians requiring amplifiers of varying power for specific applications, the MQ4 also offers a Power Selector control. This control enables the MQ4 to operate at 8 different wattage levels: from it's maximum power of 100 watts to a minimum of approximately 5 watts. The Power Selector feature enables the MQ4 to be used in any live application, rehearsals, and in any recording environment. To further enhance the MQ4's adaptability in recording environments the MQ4 is also equipped with a dedicated balanced XLR recording output with a new speaker emulation circuit. Other features of the MQ4 Multi-Quartet include a parallel effects loop, parallel effects mix control, line level output, unbalanced recording output, and tube reverb."

Cruise amp 100-5 watt

indoor storm info page - "The MQ4 represents the pinnacle of tone, design, craftsmanship, engineering and manufacturing prowess. Starting with the input stage which features dual inputs all the way to the Master section with Blend and Wattage Selector controls the MQ4 is capable of producing almost any tone or gain characteristic you can imagine! And it will produce that sound with the magic of tubes surrounded by the reliability of incredible technology.

Deja.com Newsgroup postings about "cruise" and "mq4"

Amptone.com ultra gear-search page