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Post by bigdannyd on Jan 27, 2011 17:30:19 GMT -7
Not sure if anyone out there has had their amps modded yet, so I thought I would share my experience. I loved my Maz 1x12 NR combo from the begining, but it wasn't quite giving me what I needed. It was quite a bit too bright and didn't have enough clean headroom. I tried changing tubes but I still didn't get the results I was looking for. I took the amp in to James at Bad Cat Amplifiers in Orange, California. He worked wonders! Started with new tubes and a speaker change (I HATE the G12h30), and ended up changing some caps, resistors, ect... So much clean head room! The amp still has sparkle, but not those ice-pick highs. The amp sounds fantastic.
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Post by Ben on Jan 27, 2011 18:14:13 GMT -7
Its a little hard to put it in good perspective without knowing the rest of the tools used Geetar and pickup selection? Single or Humbuckers? Tubes swaped in V1? For another 12AX7 or down to a NOS 5751? MV dimmed with Volume backed off? I can get tons of clean headroom (and 2x more with a NOS 5751 in V1) and always wondered how guys can't get any from the Maz, but i'm sure with some more info we'll know how it got hairy quickly for you!
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Post by thecryingstrat on Jan 27, 2011 18:36:22 GMT -7
what speaker are you using now? tubes? any detail of the mods?
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Post by Scott on Jan 27, 2011 19:35:36 GMT -7
I would love to know exactly what caps resistors were changed, just for documentation purposes.
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Post by Eddie on Jan 27, 2011 21:16:05 GMT -7
You loved it from the beginning, but modded it. I don't get it. Why not trade the MAZ for a Bad Cat?
In the end, I'm glad you got it sounding like you want. Eddie
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Post by Eddie on Jan 27, 2011 21:17:25 GMT -7
...and hold the heck on a minute. Didn't you just order that amp in early December?
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Post by bigdannyd on Jan 27, 2011 22:08:46 GMT -7
I did just order the amp in December. I tried the whole nos 5751 thing and it didn't work for me. I guess I could have traded it, but I like the way the controls interact with eachother on this amp. I play and American Strat with SCN pickups. High quality pedals in front. Fulldrive, keeley compressor, Tim, OCD, m9, cathedral reverb. It wasn't so much the gain that bothered me as the icepick high end. I put in Bad Cats celestion speaker (just a modded vintage 30 with bad cats logo).
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Post by bigdannyd on Jan 27, 2011 22:13:02 GMT -7
Using 3 Chinese 12ax7s (they just say "China 12ax7"). Groove tube el84s power tubes (rated at 7). JJ rectifier.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2011 22:30:23 GMT -7
To each his own. The risk in modding the circuit is that it'll make it much harder to get your money back if you ever sell the amp--and of course it voids the waranty, assuming it was still in effect. But if you like it with a V30 and Chinese preamp tubes, etc., more power to you.
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Post by Andy 67 on Jan 28, 2011 3:05:00 GMT -7
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Post by bigdannyd on Jan 28, 2011 6:48:43 GMT -7
The #1 and #3 mods from the above post were done. It's not like the whole amp got rewired. Just warmed it up and adjusted the cut. I'm glad the doc had that up there.
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Post by 1juicy1 on Jan 28, 2011 9:25:02 GMT -7
Are these mods for the Reverb model only as the Doc states or are they fine in the NR model too?
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Post by bigdannyd on Jan 28, 2011 10:44:08 GMT -7
Only the first mod is reverb only. Rather than adding a cap, just changed the existing to smooth the high end.
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Post by thecryingstrat on Jan 28, 2011 22:43:34 GMT -7
so you just did mods 1 and 3 to the amp? or did you mod anything else besides that?
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Post by bigdannyd on Jan 29, 2011 17:35:51 GMT -7
Just 1 and 3
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Post by Scott on Jan 30, 2011 7:17:00 GMT -7
Thanks for the post.
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Post by Dannydny on Jan 30, 2011 13:08:09 GMT -7
A nice NOS Rectifier Tube would have warmed up the high end...
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Post by 1juicy1 on Jan 31, 2011 12:09:45 GMT -7
What value cap in the first mod did you change to? I find my Maz too bright also. I NEVER can get my treble or cut above 10:00 without my ears bleeding and thats with any of my guitars. I see video demos with treble and cut at noon and wonder if there is something wrong with my amp that I can't adjust it that way.
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Post by mazmaster on Jan 31, 2011 14:09:56 GMT -7
You know, looking at the mods prescribed, I can't imagine not being to get most of those changes by changing tubes and just using different knob adjustments and speakers. I use JJ preamp tubes throughout and that really smooths out everything about the amp. The Shuguang 12AX7s were the worst tubes I've ever used in the Maz 18 - very fizzy and harsh to my ears. The JJ GZ34 also makes the amp much "harder" sounding than either the Sovtek or Mullard I've tried. Lastly, I've owned a Bad Cat Hot Cat 30R combo with their V30 and, while it's better sounding than the regular V30, it's the LAST speaker in the world that I'd use to achieve your stated goals. If anything, it'll make the amp sound more harsh, not less. I'd go for a G12-65 or RWB or Cannabis Rex or Scumback M75 or M75-LHDC or even a well broken in EVM-12L Classic in a good Thiele cab.
But, obviously, you're a happy camper now, so it sounds like the mods were worth it!
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