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Post by jacobian on Jun 30, 2008 17:46:32 GMT -7
Hello, I'm new to the forum and Dr. Z amps. I actually just got a EZG 50 and like it. My only issue is clean headroom. The amp breaks up pretty early and was hoping someone may have some pointers. The speakers I've used with it are CL80's and Austin Speakerworks 70's( 80watt H30's).
Are DR.Z's a single coil only type amps? I use both single and humbuckers.
Thanks so much!!!!
Jay
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Post by kruzty on Jun 30, 2008 17:57:21 GMT -7
I don't have one, but it should have plenty of clean headroom if you turn the pre way down and use the post for your volume level.
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Post by jacobian on Jun 30, 2008 18:02:53 GMT -7
I run the pre on 8:30 and post @ 12:00.....
Treble 12:00 Mid 9:00 Bass 9:00 with Strat 0 with 335
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Jun 30, 2008 18:35:22 GMT -7
There are a lot of variables that contribute to the amount of clean headroom in any amp. Some are easy to control, while others are more difficult.
The easiest thing to control is your signal level going in to the amp. You don't really say what guitars you're using, but if you're using both singles and humbuckers, you can get more clean headroom from the humbuckers just by turning the volume on your guitar down a bit.
The preamp tubes make a large difference as well. Substituting a 5751 preamp tube for a 12AX7 will drop your gain for those stages from approximately 100 to approximately 70 or so. I say approximately because modern 12AX7's tend to be lower gain than NOS tubes. But it's worth a try.
Another thing that affects clean headroom is the power tubes and their bias. I don't see it anywhere, but I'm assuming the EZG-50 is fixed bias. That means you can adjust the bias to make your tubes run hotter or cooler, and that will affect your clean headroom to some extent.
Again, I'm guessing, but many of Doctor Z's amps use unique tone controls that in some cases add gain as you turn them up. It's worth trying some other settings just to see.
Good luck!
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Post by jacobian on Jun 30, 2008 20:43:36 GMT -7
Thanks so much guys for the info!! Right now I have a Brimar 12AX7 in V1. I have a Jan Philips 5751 but its balanced so I hope thats not a factor in using it in V1. My guitars are: Fender Strat with Fralin Blues Specials with blender pot
Gibson CS 63 reissue Block with Holmes 450/455 pickups DrVintage pots/caps.
Gibson Lester Wolftone Marshallheads with DRV pots/caps
PRS DGT totally stock
PRS 245 totally stock
54 reissue JB Oxblood with Barenuckles Crawler/ Rebel Yell and RS pots/caps.
All guitars set up with 11's tuned to E flat with Snake Oil strings.
Cables are Evidence Audio Lyric HG and Melody for pedals plus Siren for Speaker cables.
Cabs are Stone Age 2X12C open back with CL80's
Two Rock Sig 2X12 with Austin Speakerworks 70's.
Again thnks so much for the help!!! Keep it comin'!!!!
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Post by myles on Jul 1, 2008 9:02:13 GMT -7
Make sure there is as little "master volume action" as possible .... as in, make sure that what could be thought of as the "master" is all the way up.
A balanced tube will have no ill effects in a first gain stage ... the two sides of the dual triode have different functions and there is no plus or minus in a front gain stage.
A phase inverter has MUCH more impact on clean headroom than the output tubes as long as the output tubes are close to design spec and performance. A weak phase inverter can cause all sorts of havoc and one with a lot of gain will make the amp have less clean headroom and be more agressive at lower settings which is something some folks like a lot.
V1 is everything in this amp. V2 is reverb as is V3 for the most part with a bit of recovery in there too and V4 is the phase inverter. There is a lot of variability in 12AT7s made today and 90% of them are junk but the Doc uses NOS 12AT7s which is pretty darn cool.
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Jul 6, 2008 14:35:26 GMT -7
Sorry, I just saw this post or I would have been in earlier...
In addition to what the others have said, one big thing I've found about my EZG-50...like all Z amps it's very touch sensitive. I have mine set very similarly to yours... but I keep my Strat's guitar volume between 5-7 for clean and crank it up to 10 for leads.
You may have to put a "volume kit" (resistor and/or capacitor) across your guitar's volume pot to get your guitar to sound like you want it to at lower volume settings.
Also try picking lightly...you can go between clean and crunch with just picking dynamics with volume settings like you mentioned and single coil pickups.
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vino
New Member
Posts: 2
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Post by vino on Jul 10, 2008 0:55:14 GMT -7
hi all I'm interested in this one, since I'm about to pay up(EZG 50) 'unheard'. I'm actually offloading a really nice 97 Matchless for exactly the same reason- lack of clean headroom. I've tried using tamer pre- tubes but it still breaks up way too early. I'm wondering if this particular Dr Z is similar....ie more suited to high gain players. Any further thoughts? Most top end amp builders these days seem to be increasing the grunge factor ie hotting up the pre-amp section. Personally, I find this restricts an amps versatility, since it has a very narrow 'sweet spot'-often well below it's 'rated' power-unless you want loads of break up. I look forward to your comments Vino
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Post by James on Jul 10, 2008 7:16:27 GMT -7
hi all I'm interested in this one, since I'm about to pay up(EZG 50) 'unheard'. I'm actually offloading a really nice 97 Matchless for exactly the same reason- lack of clean headroom. I've tried using tamer pre- tubes but it still breaks up way too early. I'm wondering if this particular Dr Z is similar....ie more suited to high gain players. Any further thoughts? Most top end amp builders these days seem to be increasing the grunge factor ie hotting up the pre-amp section. Personally, I find this restricts an amps versatility, since it has a very narrow 'sweet spot'-often well below it's 'rated' power-unless you want loads of break up. I look forward to your comments Vino "high gain players" No way.....the ezg50 is all about big clean ...LOUD CLEAN.......tone.
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janlf
Full Member
Moment's Notice
Posts: 173
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Post by janlf on Jul 10, 2008 7:17:46 GMT -7
Hi!
The EZG is not by any means a high gain amp. I'm pretty sure it could go in that direction with the right guitar, stompbox and the right speaker cab though. but if this is an issue with a strat, tele old PAF etc, I would try swapping the 1st preamp tube for a AY7 or a 5751. The EZG should though to my experience have lots of more clean headroom than an class A Matchless amp - wich is an incredible nice amp though. Good luck.
JanLF
JanLF
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Post by myles on Jul 10, 2008 8:09:26 GMT -7
hi all I'm interested in this one, since I'm about to pay up(EZG 50) 'unheard'. I'm actually offloading a really nice 97 Matchless for exactly the same reason- lack of clean headroom. I've tried using tamer pre- tubes but it still breaks up way too early. I'm wondering if this particular Dr Z is similar....ie more suited to high gain players. Any further thoughts? Most top end amp builders these days seem to be increasing the grunge factor ie hotting up the pre-amp section. Personally, I find this restricts an amps versatility, since it has a very narrow 'sweet spot'-often well below it's 'rated' power-unless you want loads of break up. I look forward to your comments Vino Vino, The Matchless is a great amp but it is a cathode biased amp and will not be as tight or clean as a grid biased amp such as the EZG. Very different animals.
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Jul 11, 2008 5:50:10 GMT -7
What's interesting is that the description of the EZG on the Z web site is "definitive 6L6 clean sound". If you haven't heard the amp you may thing that it's got Fender Twin Reverb-like headroom and is meant to do only clean sounds (the transformers *are* as big as a Twins!). However, the "pre" and "post" volume controls really are the key to unlocking the sounds in the EZG. You can get a big beautiful clean sound, but you can also get dirty, or lots of places in between. It extremely versatile and guitar-and-player sensitive. It's a real "players" amp. It's definitely not "high gain" though... more like a cranked Super Reverb kind of sound... a great blues overdrive.
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Post by Lonny Caughron on Jul 11, 2008 6:12:17 GMT -7
With my strat and tele it's a pretty clean amp, although with the pre cranked it does get some hair on it. With the Lollar P-90s in my Collings 290, it gets dirty much faster.
just my 0.02 worth
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