Post by drew on Mar 23, 2006 1:23:18 GMT -7
Hi. I'm new to the Z world and am impressed by all that I read and hear. I apologize for this lengthy email but I’m making a big decision (and an expense one for me) and was hoping that my verboseness might give insight to help answer my questions below.
I live in Boise ID and don’t get to sample Z amps. I was in Seattle last week and did get to play a Carman Ghia through a Z Best 2x12 cab for about 10 mins. (The store was temp out of other Z models) The tones were heavenly, especially when cranked. IMHO all of the combo amps that I’ve played and/or owned sounded nice at lower volumes but when cranked they get this awful midrange honk that to my ears is not musical. Tweaking knobs helps but does not make it go away. A 4x12 cab will fix it but I refuse to carry that much gear around. The Ghia did not have that ugly midrange thunking goose honking sound. I tried a THD UniValve and BiValve 30 the day before. They were nice and sounded OK when cranked but nothing like the Z rig. The Ghia was wonderful from the first to the last note and any volume. I had to leave and catch a plane… bummer. I was really impressed that when I turned down the strat, the springy response and brightness didn’t go away. I generally keep my guitar volume up all the way up to get that bouncy tone. I love the way a strat responds when it’s spanked really hard. I’d like to turn down my guitar for clean work but the sparkle goes away. With the Z amp, I turned down the strat and kept the bounce. I’ve never had the happen with any other amp. Will all Z amps do this so well?
I’m no Hendrix or SRV just love to play the elec guitar with a kickin band. I’ve been playing for about 28 yrs and have owned so many Fender, Marshall and countless other amps that it’s silly. I’ve never been truly happy with any amp I’ve owned. The closest thing to content was a Fender 410 HotRod Deville. It wasn’t great but it had nice clean and decent dirty tones. It was too heavy and too powerful to really crank so I got rid of it. I now have a Mesa Nomad 55 and an old Peavey Classic 50 410. I use the Nomad most of the time. It’s OK but requires way too much tweaking per gig and it doesn’t always do it for me. I’m hoping a Z amp will. My primary guitar is a strat with Samarian cobalt pic’ups – Neck and middle postion are my favorite. I do breakout my Les Paul occasionally but love the lively response of the strat. My favorite tones come from David Gilmore, Duane A and Derek T, Les Dudek, Thin Lizzy dudes, SRV but I prefer not to be a SRV wannabe, Brad Paisley has excellent tone, Pete Anderson, and that dude on Alan Jackson recordings has tone that knocks me out.
Here’s my dilemma. I’m poor and can barely afford 1 Z rig. I live in Boise so I can’t try them on for size. I want to make the best choice for my first Z rig. Here are some questions that should help make the decision easier.
- Will the Carman Ghia amp sound as nice with a 2x10 cab? I’m heavy - bulky adverse.
- Will a Z28 give those greasy, sleazy, cranked overdriven tones without blowing the windows out? I’d prefer not to use an airbrake but will if I have to. I do love a fender tone but learn more toward a Marshall tone. However, Metalica and Megadeath are not the tone that I prefer.
- Is there really that much difference in the Ghia and a Maz 18 Jr?
- I was really impressed when I turned down the strat. The Z amp stayed crisp and bouncy when the guitar was turned down. Will all Z amps do this? Please say yes.
- Will the Ghia or Maz have enough volume??? I think so but am fairly confident the Z28 would.
Thanks for your patience in reading all this stuff… Any advise you can give is appreciated
Drew
I live in Boise ID and don’t get to sample Z amps. I was in Seattle last week and did get to play a Carman Ghia through a Z Best 2x12 cab for about 10 mins. (The store was temp out of other Z models) The tones were heavenly, especially when cranked. IMHO all of the combo amps that I’ve played and/or owned sounded nice at lower volumes but when cranked they get this awful midrange honk that to my ears is not musical. Tweaking knobs helps but does not make it go away. A 4x12 cab will fix it but I refuse to carry that much gear around. The Ghia did not have that ugly midrange thunking goose honking sound. I tried a THD UniValve and BiValve 30 the day before. They were nice and sounded OK when cranked but nothing like the Z rig. The Ghia was wonderful from the first to the last note and any volume. I had to leave and catch a plane… bummer. I was really impressed that when I turned down the strat, the springy response and brightness didn’t go away. I generally keep my guitar volume up all the way up to get that bouncy tone. I love the way a strat responds when it’s spanked really hard. I’d like to turn down my guitar for clean work but the sparkle goes away. With the Z amp, I turned down the strat and kept the bounce. I’ve never had the happen with any other amp. Will all Z amps do this so well?
I’m no Hendrix or SRV just love to play the elec guitar with a kickin band. I’ve been playing for about 28 yrs and have owned so many Fender, Marshall and countless other amps that it’s silly. I’ve never been truly happy with any amp I’ve owned. The closest thing to content was a Fender 410 HotRod Deville. It wasn’t great but it had nice clean and decent dirty tones. It was too heavy and too powerful to really crank so I got rid of it. I now have a Mesa Nomad 55 and an old Peavey Classic 50 410. I use the Nomad most of the time. It’s OK but requires way too much tweaking per gig and it doesn’t always do it for me. I’m hoping a Z amp will. My primary guitar is a strat with Samarian cobalt pic’ups – Neck and middle postion are my favorite. I do breakout my Les Paul occasionally but love the lively response of the strat. My favorite tones come from David Gilmore, Duane A and Derek T, Les Dudek, Thin Lizzy dudes, SRV but I prefer not to be a SRV wannabe, Brad Paisley has excellent tone, Pete Anderson, and that dude on Alan Jackson recordings has tone that knocks me out.
Here’s my dilemma. I’m poor and can barely afford 1 Z rig. I live in Boise so I can’t try them on for size. I want to make the best choice for my first Z rig. Here are some questions that should help make the decision easier.
- Will the Carman Ghia amp sound as nice with a 2x10 cab? I’m heavy - bulky adverse.
- Will a Z28 give those greasy, sleazy, cranked overdriven tones without blowing the windows out? I’d prefer not to use an airbrake but will if I have to. I do love a fender tone but learn more toward a Marshall tone. However, Metalica and Megadeath are not the tone that I prefer.
- Is there really that much difference in the Ghia and a Maz 18 Jr?
- I was really impressed when I turned down the strat. The Z amp stayed crisp and bouncy when the guitar was turned down. Will all Z amps do this? Please say yes.
- Will the Ghia or Maz have enough volume??? I think so but am fairly confident the Z28 would.
Thanks for your patience in reading all this stuff… Any advise you can give is appreciated
Drew