Post by benttop (Steve) on Nov 6, 2007 10:47:49 GMT -7
Wow.
Got it at 8:15 this morning, and here it is 9:30 and I'm already sharing my first impressions. So things will likely change, but first impressions are interesting too.
This is one gainy mofo... The thing is, I had a Mazerati a while back - my first Z amp in fact - and this Mazerati retains a number of characteristics of the original, but also has this new gain thing going on.
The main feature of the original that I hear in this one is that very characteristic midrange that my original Mazerati had. Not unpleasant, but very pronounced. Gives this amp some real snarl if you ask me. I am wondering how our bass player is going to react to it.
In my 45 minutes of ownership, I tried every speaker I have in my studio, and also A/B'd with two other high gain amps so that I could get some initial impressions.
Speakers: I tried it first with the Alnico Golds, then the Alnico Blues. I tried it on the THD 2x12 with their speakers, and with my 1x12 with Weber Blue Dog (50 watt ceramic). I even pulled out my Rivera 4x10 with Fender speakers. Finally I tried it on the Celestion G12H30 in my Rivera Venus 6, and of all the speakers I think I liked the G12H30 the best. It was the smoothest, had the best distortion characteristics, tended to flatten out the midrange a bit, and generally sounded awesome. The Golds and the Blues both sound pretty good with the GT, but you can wear out your ears with the Airbrake any higher than 4 clicks. The Fender speakers sounded terrible. I kind of expected that, but you never know till you try them. The Blue Dog was OK, but I didn't care for it with this amp. And the THD speakers were OK too, but I doubt I'll use them with this amp. It will come down to the Golds or buying a G12H30 specifically for this amp, and I think I have already made that decision since I want a 1x12 convertible cab from Doc Z.
Amps: The A/B tests were done using the Golds since that cab is set up stereo and it facilitates getting very good comparison data. I set up the GT on the left and then set up my RXES on the right. These two amps have about the same amount of gain available (when the RXES has its OD on) but they could not be more different. There is no way I could get the RXES to sound like the GT, nor is there any way to get the GT to sound like the RXES. Wild. Both sound great, but so different. As I said, the GT has more midrange snarl, while the RXES has that Hi-Fi tone going on. Against the GT the RXES sounds very full range and flat frequency response. Interesting.
Then I hooked in the SRZ-65 on the right speaker and played some more. The SRZ is also very different from the GT. It is much flatter as well, but has a different sound from the RXES. Once again, I can't get the SRZ to sound anything like the GT, nor the GT like the SRZ.
I'm sure as I play this thing and get used to how it works and what it likes for speakers, I'll have more to say. There is no question that playing the GT live, it will punch through like there is no other instrument on stage. That can be good, but folks in the front row might want to consider moving back a bit, because the guitar is going to rip! It is seriously loud - I had both Airbrakes on 4 clicks when I was comparing the SRZ and the GT and the volumes were about the same!
Got it at 8:15 this morning, and here it is 9:30 and I'm already sharing my first impressions. So things will likely change, but first impressions are interesting too.
This is one gainy mofo... The thing is, I had a Mazerati a while back - my first Z amp in fact - and this Mazerati retains a number of characteristics of the original, but also has this new gain thing going on.
The main feature of the original that I hear in this one is that very characteristic midrange that my original Mazerati had. Not unpleasant, but very pronounced. Gives this amp some real snarl if you ask me. I am wondering how our bass player is going to react to it.
In my 45 minutes of ownership, I tried every speaker I have in my studio, and also A/B'd with two other high gain amps so that I could get some initial impressions.
Speakers: I tried it first with the Alnico Golds, then the Alnico Blues. I tried it on the THD 2x12 with their speakers, and with my 1x12 with Weber Blue Dog (50 watt ceramic). I even pulled out my Rivera 4x10 with Fender speakers. Finally I tried it on the Celestion G12H30 in my Rivera Venus 6, and of all the speakers I think I liked the G12H30 the best. It was the smoothest, had the best distortion characteristics, tended to flatten out the midrange a bit, and generally sounded awesome. The Golds and the Blues both sound pretty good with the GT, but you can wear out your ears with the Airbrake any higher than 4 clicks. The Fender speakers sounded terrible. I kind of expected that, but you never know till you try them. The Blue Dog was OK, but I didn't care for it with this amp. And the THD speakers were OK too, but I doubt I'll use them with this amp. It will come down to the Golds or buying a G12H30 specifically for this amp, and I think I have already made that decision since I want a 1x12 convertible cab from Doc Z.
Amps: The A/B tests were done using the Golds since that cab is set up stereo and it facilitates getting very good comparison data. I set up the GT on the left and then set up my RXES on the right. These two amps have about the same amount of gain available (when the RXES has its OD on) but they could not be more different. There is no way I could get the RXES to sound like the GT, nor is there any way to get the GT to sound like the RXES. Wild. Both sound great, but so different. As I said, the GT has more midrange snarl, while the RXES has that Hi-Fi tone going on. Against the GT the RXES sounds very full range and flat frequency response. Interesting.
Then I hooked in the SRZ-65 on the right speaker and played some more. The SRZ is also very different from the GT. It is much flatter as well, but has a different sound from the RXES. Once again, I can't get the SRZ to sound anything like the GT, nor the GT like the SRZ.
I'm sure as I play this thing and get used to how it works and what it likes for speakers, I'll have more to say. There is no question that playing the GT live, it will punch through like there is no other instrument on stage. That can be good, but folks in the front row might want to consider moving back a bit, because the guitar is going to rip! It is seriously loud - I had both Airbrakes on 4 clicks when I was comparing the SRZ and the GT and the volumes were about the same!