There's no substitute for your favorite MESA, or really any, tube amplifier paired with your favorite cab in a magical sounding room or favorite environment. MESA also knows the challenges and potential costs of capturing great tone and recreating that tone from venue to venue for those recording or in a live stage environment.
Adding to the challenge, many of us prefer a variety of sounds-yet collecting multiple cabs, gear and gaining access to acoustic spaces can be a challenge both logistically and financially. Sometimes we just need the convenience of going direct for recording or even live without cabs and the need to mic up, and without those placement challenges and the inevitable bleed issues associated with ensembles in either of those situations.
Your ultimate solution Tone Tool is here now and it's all MESA in quality and sound. The CabClone IR Cabinet Simulator/IR Reader is ready to give you virtually limitless options, true portability, flexible control and tonal consistency from venue to venue with its wide array of popular MESA cabinets captured by a pro engineer with iconic mics in a state of the art studio, all from your pedalboard or in your gig bag. Go direct to interface or console for recording or playing live, or straight to headphones for silent practice with the new CabClone IR!
8 Legendary MESA Cabs, Meticulously Captured Two Ways
The CabClone IR comes with 16 MESA Proprietary Cabinet Impulse Responses loaded into two banks of 8 Presets. BANK A contains MESA's "LIVE" IRs, recorded with Dynamic and Ribbon Microphones. BANK B contains MESA's "STUDIO" IRs recorded with Condenser and Ribbon microphones for the same eight most popular MESA cabinets, appearing in the same order. This allows you to compare the microphone choices by simply flipping the BANK switch between A and B. The "Factory" loaded cabinet models, BANK A-LIVE and BANK B-STUDIO, are loaded left to right in these 8 Preset Locations;
No Additional Load Box Needed!
The Internal Reactive Load provides an impedance-matched (per your choice at purchase) safe way to forego the Speaker Cabinet or internal speaker (in a Combo) and record Direct and/or send a DI signal silently to a Live (FOH/Monitor) Console.
A speaker cabinet may also be used simultaneously for stage sound and monitoring your amplifier through guitar cabinets, this having no effect on the selected Cab Sim/IR you have chosen to send to the Console of choice other than what characteristics individual speakers may impart on the output transformer.
MIDI Control
MIDI (Program Change) messages are supported and can be used to access the 16 Cabinet Simulations/IRs housed in the two BANKS of 8 Presets via the standard 5-pin MIDI IN connector. A MIDI THRU is provided to pass those program change messages on to other devices in your rig that accomodate midi commands.
This means you can dedicate different Cabinets for each of your preamp/amp sounds. You might choose an Open-Back 2x12 from the LIVE BANK for your Clean sound/Channel, a Closed-Back 4x12 from the LIVE BANK for your Crunch Rhythm sound and a Closed-Back 1x12 from the STUDIO BANK for your Solo sound/Channel.
Or, you might want two different Cab Sims on the same sound/Channel for different applications or vibes... perhaps for a Bluesy sound in a pushed Clean Channel where you might want a 1x12 Open-Back Ceramic (magnet) speaker for your Rhythm work and a 1x12 Open-Back loaded with an Alnico speaker for your Lead sound. Midi compatibility expands the matchmaking possibilities many-fold and allows these style-appropriate pairings to be accessed instantly from one button on your midi controller.
Third-Party IR Compatibility
Along with the 16 MESA Factory supplied IR Cabinet Simulations, there is ample room to download and save a huge library of third-party IRs within the CabClone IR's processor memory. Once accessed and viewed on your computer as a standard file directory via USB connection, IR Cab Sims can be downloaded and dragged or copied (one for each of the 16 presets), into any of the CabClone's available locations within the two Banks of eight.
This flexibility allows you to customize the instantly accessible PRESETS within the two BANKS for your own personal music, Recording or Live performance Sets.
Stage, Studio or Silent Practice at Home
Your favorite MESA (or any) tube amplifier coupled with the CabClone IR... Newfound flexibility, grab and go portability, previously only dreamed of convenience and ultimate control through isolation of your sound all adds up to an ultimate next generation Tone Machine. You now have the ability to go direct silently or with your cab, for recording, stage or headphone practicing with instant access to 16 real MESA cabinets mic'd two ways in a Pro Environment. It really doesn't get any better in terms of having consistent tone from venue to venue, all in a box that drops neatly into your gear bag.
