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Post by sparrowhawk (Bob) on Jan 9, 2006 10:34:39 GMT -7
I've been living with my 38 Reverb 1x12 for 3 weeks now. For the most part it has been a real honeymoon -- sounded so good that I was happy with the tone no matter how I set the knobs. Now that I've lived with it, I'm starting to really scrutinize how the amp interacts with my gear and playing style, and to tweak the knobs to find my sweet spot. For the record, I play a Strat and Tele, all pickups are vintage-style single coils. I have an old SG with mini humbuckers, but it doesn't see much action and I haven't gotten around to trying it with the Z yet (decided a while ago that I'm a single-coil kinda guy). We're a cover band and do classic rock, blues, R&B and Motown.
I'm discovering that the tone knobs are somewhat interactive -- the relative effect of each knob depends on the settings of the other knobs. For the first couple of weeks, I had the Cut pretty high (10:00 to noon) and was really digging how the amp spoke with authority on solos. But then I realized my rhythm tone was suffering -- too "in your face", even with the guitar volume rolled off. This weekend I found myself progressively decreasing the Cut, wound up with it completely off, and liking what I heard.
Anyway, I realize that the 38 is a different animal than all the other amps I've owned and, as mentioned on more than one post here, you have to throw out any preconceived notions on how to set the tone stack. But I've never had a tone knob (i.e., a typical Presence knob) on an amp set to zero, seems kinda strange to me.
Just thought I'd throw this out for discussion. Anyone else doing this? Cut doesn't seem act like a typical Presence knob -- anyone have some insight on how the Cut knob functions, and how it interacts with the other knobs? Will it act differently when I plug in a humbucker? Etc. etc...
Edit to add: I'm using George L cables. I know they are low capacitance to keep the highs faithful. The overall flavor of the amp with my guitars is pretty bright. Anyone favor different cables to tame the highs a bit?
Thanks in advance!
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Post by billyguitar on Jan 9, 2006 10:51:52 GMT -7
I don't like a very bright tone so here's how I set the tone controls on my Maz 38. Treble @ about 9:00, Middle at about 3:00, bass just on enough to hear it fill in the lows and cut just on enough to hear the sparkle start. YMMV because my Tom Andersons are pretty bright guitars. I have played around with the cut all the way off and boosting the treble. It's a fun sound that I would probably use if I was going to play a Cream tune or early Clapton kind of stuff. The cut control is definitely more like a tone control than a presence control. I don't really know how it works but after buying a reissue AC-30 some years ago I found it to be a very useful control. I probably wouldn't want the Maz without that knob.
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Post by bluzsteel on Jan 10, 2006 5:32:57 GMT -7
my cut is just up a hair
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Post by zane on Jan 10, 2006 6:27:21 GMT -7
be carefull using "C" words with those "hair" words ...that "autocensor" might start to "freakin"
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Post by hdahs143 on Jan 10, 2006 6:36:18 GMT -7
My cut and treble are never past 8 or 9 either. It's kind of a bright amp. Speakers and preamp tubes contribute to this.
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Post by bluzsteel on Jan 10, 2006 6:51:47 GMT -7
be carefull using "C" words with those "hair" words ...that "autocensor" might start to "freakin" dirty mind
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Post by hdahs143 on Jan 10, 2006 6:59:02 GMT -7
When turned up, the "cut" adds a little "hair" to the sound ;D
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Post by sparrowhawk (Bob) on Jan 10, 2006 10:08:57 GMT -7
Thanks for the affirmation, guys. We're rehearsing tomorrow night - gonna try to do the whole session with Cut on just a tad to see what it feels like. Yeah, the amp is a tad bright. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. Just might take a bit of getting used to.
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arthur
Junior Member
Posts: 85
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Post by arthur on Jan 12, 2006 20:13:21 GMT -7
I keep the cut between off and about 9:00. Having it set higher might be right for some guitars/situations.... I also find that the amp gets too noisy with the cut turned up.
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Post by kingink on Jan 19, 2006 10:40:01 GMT -7
Hi everyone. Haven't posted here in awhile, probably because I've been playing the hell out of my Maz 38! ;D Though it took me a month or two to warm up to this amp, I'm now way into it. This is a really cool piece of gear.
I find that I change the amount of cut depending where I have the master and volume set, whether I'm at home or at rehearsal, and depending on which speakers and cab I'm using.
What I've noticed is that there's a little treble boost when you dime the preamp, probably to compensate for the loss of high end due to increased gain. I've also noticed that, with the preamp dimed like this, as you raise the master, the tone gets thicker as well, rolling off high end. Since I dime the preamp and run the master at 2 o'clock, thus getting lots of distortion, the cut is handy for compensating for high-end loss.
My guess is that if you're diming the preamp volume but keeping the master low, you probably wouldn't need as much cut. With low volume but high master settings, you might use more cut. Also, an open-back combo probably doesn't need as much cut as would a closed back cab, since the closed-back gives you all that "woof' and "whump."
I use a Z Best cab and/or an Earcandy Buzzbomb at rehearsals and some weird Crate 1x12 at home. All are closed back cabs. The Z Best and Buzzbomb are each loaded with greenbacks, the Crate with a G12-65. The Crate and Z are rear-loading, the Buzz is front-loading. Again, through these cabs, with the pre/master settings I use, the cut comes in handy.
The cut is also useful at home for low volume playing through my Hotplate, if I don't use the Hotplate bright switch. I also use the Hotplate at rehearsal, set to -4db, usually with the bright and deep switches off.
I hope this info is useful.
David
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Post by sparrowhawk (Bob) on Jan 19, 2006 20:38:15 GMT -7
Thanks for the tips, David. The more I play it, the more I'm getting used to the characteristics of the amp. Kinda fun, really.
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Post by propellr on Feb 9, 2006 8:03:09 GMT -7
sparrowhawk, I think a mixture of things is going on to cause you to dial down the cut.
your guitar pickups may be brighter than you knew prior to owning the Maz 38 the Maz 38 may be bright compared to what you're used to the guitar sound you've had in your head is really dark and the Maz is finally able to take you there you may have actually been seduced by the dark side the cut control may be like an atom bomb- there only if you need it the amp is articulate, allowing you to hear the brightness of itself and/or your pickups your cable may preserve the signal highs coming from your guitar your speaker may need breaking in your guitar may have been modded using light from the sun you just might be crazy
Just kidding, man. It is an interesting topic. Most "Presence" controls should have the controls flipped and be renamed "Muddiness" for all they're good for. I always had mine on about 9. This "Cut" knob is very interactive. I keep my cut control between 9:00 and 10:00, but I play humbuckers and turn the tone pot from my bridge pickup way down.
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Post by sparrowhawk (Bob) on Feb 10, 2006 7:51:58 GMT -7
propellr - I think you hit the nail on the head with most of your comments. The Maz is unlike any amp I've ever owned and it took me a while to figure out how it interacts with my gear, style, and what's in my head. The good news is it's been a really great bonding process. Between rehearsals and a couple of gigs, it's got about about 30 hours on it now at reasonably high volume. The speaker definitely has broken in - the weirdness is gone and the funamental tone has emerged. I like it a lot, no desire to swap it out. I also settled in on tone knob settings that work for me and have learned to use the guitar tone pot to tweak the sound for what the song demands. We rehearsed a couple of days ago and I found myself wanting a bit more "presence", I tweaked the Cut up from 9:00 to 10:00 -- gave me exactly what I was looking for. It is a really useful control once you get used to it.
Bottom line is I'm starting to really "feel" the Z and it's giving me what I want. I have never been so satisfied with my tone. It's just so great to get what you pay for....
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