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Post by guitargeorge on Feb 20, 2007 11:10:01 GMT -7
I'm trying to get some idea of what is normal operating level of hiss, hum and noise in general for a MAZ 18 at idle. It does operate quieter when it's away from the wall out in the middle of the room. I would imagine there is a normal ammount of noise from the circuitry, I have a Princeton Reverb II and that beast is quiet, no hiss, no hum, I can't hear a thing, not even transformer noise. Also does your MAZ do any background noises when you are playing through it, Cathode biased amps will exhibit some weirdness with doublestops and bent notes, I just want to get an Idea what is normal for a dr Z MAZ 18.
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Post by aj1169 on Feb 20, 2007 11:23:20 GMT -7
My MAZ Jr. NR is pretty darn quiet. Of course there is a slight hiss when the volume or cut is turned up to higher levels, but it's nothing that bothers me. I've got several Z amps, and they're all much less noisey than any other tube amps I've played, cathode biased or not. Also, I don't get any wierd noises while playing. If you feel the amp is hissing too much, try turning your guitar volume all the way down and see if the noise is still present. Some pickups can be quite noisey, and you may want to check your tubes if you got the amp used.
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Post by guitargeorge on Feb 20, 2007 13:13:47 GMT -7
The noise level is fairly low, it happens whether I have a guitar plugged in or not, if I turn the volumes up all the way the hiss and scratch get louder but I wolud never run the MAZ at max master amd gain, I don't hear it in a club where the background noise from the club usually masks it, however I get a background hum behind certain notes, I recently moved all my signal carrying wires as far away from the tube fillament power supply wires and this made the humming behind the note being played happen on less notes, I have maybe one or two notes that do this, my strat has Bill Lawrence Noiseless pickups so it's not a guitar thing. Also when I have the amp cranked and when bending certain strings I get a weird "lower note" in the background that follows the bending of the string in pitch, I understand that this is a normal thing on cathode biased amps, I had a Top Hat and called Brian Gerhart, and he told me this is a normal thing. I just want to hear of the experiences of other MAZ users so I can decide whether my amp needs a trip to see the tech.
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messenger
Full Member
life is good!
Posts: 194
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Post by messenger on Feb 20, 2007 13:33:30 GMT -7
mines very quiet.started getting noisy when the rectifier tube started going tho.had 2 mesas prior to the z s.look up the word noise in the dictionary & you'll probably see a picture of a mesa boogie.very noisy!
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Post by aj1169 on Feb 20, 2007 13:36:17 GMT -7
Is your amp the reverb version or non-reverb? I've heard that the reverb driver tube can sometimes go microphonic and give some strange noises. I can't say for sure because my amp is the non-reverb version. Also, I remember reading a while back about the "lower note" happening on someone else's MAZ. I'll check and see if I can find that thread. I wouldn't neccessarily call it normal because I have not heard this on my amp. Maybe someone else can chime in here.....
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Post by shugaboy on Feb 20, 2007 14:08:37 GMT -7
Mine makes zero noise
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Post by Strato on Feb 20, 2007 15:22:57 GMT -7
right now, mine makes an intermittent static-type sound. Its not too loud, but you definitely hear it when your guitar is muted. Any ideas?
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buster
Junior Member
Posts: 73
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Post by buster on Feb 20, 2007 15:34:46 GMT -7
Hi. I have a Jr and Sr and they both have some hum at idle regardless of where the settings are. They are a little noisier than any of my other amps including my boogie. The hum intensifies as the tubes age and when they are at their quietest, they still have some hum. It hasn't been too much of a problem so far even for recording unless I am recording at fairly low levels in which case it's a bit too loud. By comparison my Gibson Goldtone 15rv and my Deluxe reissue are extremely quiet. The Deluxe records extremely well and is a nice contrast to the Jr. I just recieved all new tubes for both Maz's from eurotubes and will see how that affects the levels of hum this time. So far I have always gotten some hum but as far as hiss goes(turning up the amp) these amps seem to be fairly reasonable in this regard. Both my amps are combos.(2x12 sr and 2x10jr).
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buster
Junior Member
Posts: 73
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Post by buster on Feb 20, 2007 15:36:08 GMT -7
The static sound sounds like it could be a tube or tubes to me.
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Post by guitargeorge on Feb 20, 2007 17:09:28 GMT -7
The static could also be a cellphone, my maz picks up a signal right before my wife calls me on the cell and I had a problem at a gig because the keyboard player used to have his setting about 2 ft from my amp.
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Post by guitargeorge on Feb 20, 2007 17:27:42 GMT -7
I have a real quiet set of JJ EL84's that I just put in the amp and its pretty quiet now. still getting a slight hum that comes in behind certain notes.
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Post by eyebanez on Feb 21, 2007 17:17:48 GMT -7
I've had my 2 x 10 NR JR for about 6 months now and it's very quiet. The only time it got noisy is when I plugged a Digitech GNX-1 pedal into it...I went quickly back to my old analog pedals and ..quiet once more.
I love this amp every time I play it!
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a42
Full Member
Posts: 130
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Post by a42 on Feb 22, 2007 11:36:21 GMT -7
right now, mine makes an intermittent static-type sound. Its not too loud, but you definitely hear it when your guitar is muted. Any ideas? Make sure all the nuts on the power and standby switches are tight. Sounds weird, but it was the cause of this problem when I had it.
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Post by bluesrising on Feb 22, 2007 12:27:23 GMT -7
Mine is very quiet, if it is making less noise away from the wall, that means you have a lot of noise in your power supply or u have a tv aerial in the wall. For our PA we are using a power conditioner, you chaps in the US have monster, furman and phonic. So keep it away from mains as thats like EMI/RFI noise. The power cord is good on the amp for low noise, but make sure your leads are good quality otherwise thats an aerial, and humbuckers are too. Hope that helps
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Post by guitargeorge on Feb 22, 2007 19:51:43 GMT -7
I tried different tubes and got the idling noise to a very minimum, which will never be audible at a gig, I noticed when playing my Strat (Tokai TST-62) w/Bill Lawrence noiseless pups, I was getting that hum behind the note whenever I would play "B" and with the strat the hum would increase in pitch as I increased pitch up from the B for about 5 halfsteps and then it stopped. I tried my PRS and noticed that it also had a background hum but only on the "B" note, I went back to the strat again and then noticed that there was a sizable length of string on my G and D strings behind the nut so as an experiment I installed a thin wood strip behind the nut kind of weaved it in the strings and the hum was a lot less than when the wood was'nt there. I have one of those string retainers on the E and B behind the nut, I am going to buy another tomorrow and install it on my G and D strings and see if that was it, it seems that the length of string on the G and D was causing a "Sitar" effect, and the amp was picking it up. I spent the rest of the evening playing my PRS custom 22 with my Addrock Geranium Fuzz and a little flanging from an IPS-33B harmonizer and was squeezing out heavenly tones controlled by the volume knob on the guitar. These MAZ 18's are such responsive amps they amplify everything, you can't play sloppy because there's no hiding sloppy playing with a MAZ, I think if I farted while I had my guitar in my hands and plugged into a MAZ it would probably come through the speakers.
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Post by deltone on Feb 22, 2007 20:38:12 GMT -7
Mine is totally quiet--not a hint of a hiss or a hum. And no extraneous noises when playing through it...well...other than my typical scratchin'.
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Post by oldgoat on Mar 2, 2007 8:50:48 GMT -7
Mines scary quiet. Good thing theres a pilot light. ;D
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Post by Strato on Mar 2, 2007 23:29:38 GMT -7
So today, mine was picking up a radio station. Anyone have a solution?
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Post by mooretonerocks on Mar 3, 2007 12:42:26 GMT -7
Mine too is very quiet. Picks up a little noise with the Analogman Comprossor.
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a42
Full Member
Posts: 130
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Post by a42 on Mar 5, 2007 10:02:33 GMT -7
So today, mine was picking up a radio station. Anyone have a solution? Have you got a Wah pedal in your chain? Those make great radio receivers.
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Post by Strato on Mar 5, 2007 13:11:29 GMT -7
No chain, just guitar + cable + maz. My maz has always made an intermittent static noise, but now it randomly picks up radio stations. Kinda strange.
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Post by nitehawk55 on Mar 5, 2007 14:13:08 GMT -7
No chain, just guitar + cable + maz. My maz has always made an intermittent static noise, but now it randomly picks up radio stations. Kinda strange. Well as long as it's a good radio station and you arn't hearing voices in your head telling you to do evil deeds ;D Back years ago when CB radio was the big thing had one fellow who lived close to a funeral home come through the PA while a service was on .
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nick
Full Member
Posts: 136
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Post by nick on Mar 6, 2007 5:59:37 GMT -7
In one room of my house, my Maz plays gospel music. I think it's just blessed...
Other than the divine intervention, my Z is really quiet. You may have some issues somewhere.
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Post by DRZ on Mar 6, 2007 7:17:59 GMT -7
No chain, just guitar + cable + maz. My maz has always made an intermittent static noise, but now it randomly picks up radio stations. Kinda strange. Strato, tighten the four bolts that hold the chassis to the cab. Inside the cab top is a RF shield and the chassis MUST make a very tight contact or pops and RF can leak in. Also clean and re-tension your Reverb RCA cable ends, nice tight connection will quite things down a bit. All of this is routine maintenance guys. DR.Z
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Post by BW on Mar 6, 2007 7:37:43 GMT -7
Don't tighten 'em TOO tight! (don't ask me how I know...)
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Post by Strato on Mar 6, 2007 9:54:11 GMT -7
No chain, just guitar + cable + maz. My maz has always made an intermittent static noise, but now it randomly picks up radio stations. Kinda strange. Strato, tighten the four bolts that hold the chassis to the cab. Inside the cab top is a RF shield and the chassis MUST make a very tight contact or pops and RF can leak in. Also clean and re-tension your Reverb RCA cable ends, nice tight connection will quite things down a bit. All of this is routine maintenance guys. DR.Z Mine is a head, so I'm assuming the RF shield is inbetween the chassis and the cab. Thanks z, ;D I will give it a shot Don't tighten 'em TOO tight! (don't ask me how I know...) Oh I know, baby. I know.
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Post by Curt on Mar 6, 2007 23:00:57 GMT -7
Dunno??? mine never idles Play the song brother...play the song.
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mark
New Member
Posts: 8
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Post by mark on Mar 8, 2007 15:19:43 GMT -7
Mine hums pretty loud. I tried all the connections and made sure the chassis is tight. I also temporarily swapped ALL of the tubes with some spare ones that I know work from another amp. Still HUMS loud. What's my next step
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Post by dgabbear on Mar 8, 2007 19:06:55 GMT -7
mark Like Dr. Z wrote, check the reverb tank connections. I had a Vibrolux and one day after turning the amp on, had a MASSIVE hum, and it turned out to be the reverb tank or some short in the tank connection. I basically unconnected then reconnected the reverb cables and the hum mysteriously disappeared. good luck
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mark
New Member
Posts: 8
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Post by mark on Mar 8, 2007 19:17:23 GMT -7
Thanks, I had already checked those connections when I posted. I checked the ends that plug into the amp. I didnt seen any problems
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