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Post by Buzz Fretwear (Ignatius) on Aug 4, 2006 9:25:49 GMT -7
I've had my Mazerati for coming up on a year now, and I've probably done 50 or 60 gigs with it.
There are times when I just feel enveloped by the great, rich tone this amp produces and I've never been happier with my tone...when the conditions are right.
But lately, I'm finding that depending on the guitar I'm using or the room I'm playing, I just wish the amp had a little more tweakability than the one tone knob offers. Sometimes I wish I could skim off just a little high end, or tweak the mids a little, or what have you.
It's a real dilemma, because as I said when conditions are right I love this amp. But I'm wondering if I should move to a Maz Sr. Before owning this Mazerati I had a Maz JR, and while it didn't have the headroom of the Mazerati, I was always able to dial in my tone a little more accurately.
No real point to my post I guess, other than wondering if anyone else has been down this path.
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Post by Bill on Aug 4, 2006 10:03:02 GMT -7
I know EXACTLY what you're saying. Went through that with my Ghia, and to a degree with my Z28. Sometimes you want a touch more of this or that. On the other hand, turning a lot of knobs is not what I want to do...and realizing one can become obsessed with focusing on settings (and not the performance), at the end of the day I like a total of about 3 knobs, including volume. I've seen some great players tweak a dozen knobs in rapid fashion, end result being a killer tone. I can't do that, but CAN get good tone from just a few knobs...IMHO ;D
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Post by billyguitar on Aug 4, 2006 11:13:04 GMT -7
That's the reason I wanted a Stang Ray. The cut knob makes all the difference. I had a Mazerati head for a couple of weeks and couldn't get the "glass" off of the top. I thought about buying darker speakers to compensate for that but I also couldn't get enough clean headroom so I traded it in on a Maz 38 sr. The Mazerati was a smokin' one trick pony but it was a trick I couldn't use. The Ghia is the same tonally but because it's just a fun amp for the house, to me, I love it anyway. The Ray amps are the best minimalist amp. The cut knob absolutely makes the difference. I wish it was on all the Z amps. On my Ray I set the tone knob on about 10:00 then turn the cut from zero to about 9:00. All the tone I need is right in there. I've noticed with the Air Brake that I need to turn the cut up a bit with each click down to compensate. I have only used it with the killer Z 2x10 cab so other speakers might let me open up the cut more so YMMV!
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Post by jharris on Aug 4, 2006 11:25:01 GMT -7
That is why I love my RC Booster so much, with the treble and bass knobs on the boost I can use that to fine tune the tone while no getting into the madness of so many knobs on the amp. Its like the amp is the same every night, then I fine tune with the RC.
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Post by BW on Aug 4, 2006 13:26:02 GMT -7
My bud Walter Trout plays a Mark IV Boogie--TWO ROWS of knobs, and another full complement of gizmos on the back. He sounds great though. I just never could get on with a M/B, had a couple way back, and had that 'mosquito in a jar' overdrive tone. I've been enjoying the KT45's 3 knobs as of late.
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Post by billyguitar on Aug 4, 2006 14:20:17 GMT -7
I think the deal with a boogie is you have to crank it REAL loud. Like (sorry I forget) the guy with Toto did. Can't stand most of them myself.
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Post by BW on Aug 5, 2006 5:03:49 GMT -7
Steve Lukather. I played a Mark I with a 12 inch Altec in it, belonged to Dave Crocker of guitar show fame. THAT one sounded good, but the 2 I had--AND the studio preamp--didn't melt my butter.
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Post by Buzz Fretwear (Ignatius) on Aug 5, 2006 6:31:13 GMT -7
My bud Walter Trout plays a Mark IV Boogie--TWO ROWS of knobs, and another full complement of gizmos on the back. He sounds great though. I just never could get on with a M/B, had a couple way back, and had that 'mosquito in a jar' overdrive tone. I've been enjoying the KT45's 3 knobs as of late. Hmm - maybe the only problem I have is that I just gotta add one more knob ;D Those Presecription ES's are starting to look pretty intriguing...
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Post by foxx on Aug 5, 2006 10:54:42 GMT -7
I'm a simple guy that needs a simple amp. I only have the Mazerati, and want a Mini. If I had any more knobs I would be tweeking too much. My overdrive has bass and treble, even so, they all stay in the middle for the most part. I like it simple.
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Post by bukowski on Aug 9, 2006 6:43:05 GMT -7
every once in awhile I think of doing something insane like trading or selling my rati but all I have to do is plug in and listen to the thick chewy cleans with complex overtones and gobs of chime and then I move on to some other obsession
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wilzgt
Full Member
I plumb for Z-Tone !
Posts: 151
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Post by wilzgt on Aug 9, 2006 15:45:46 GMT -7
I find sometimes when I play my strat with my Mazerati I get too much high on the bridge pickup. Typically I play my amp with the tone at 1-2pm at low volume at home. So, I have a nice balance of bass and mids, but the high is too high.---I found if that happens I'll slightly turn down my tone knob on the guitar itself and the high smooths out a little and I'm happy.
It's interesting, but I recently recorded and through the recording, I had to leave my strat tone knob all the way on and the tone was really nice on the recording. So, in this case had I just played I would think the high strings were too bright, but on the recording it blended beautifully.
I might be alone in saying this, but I once owned a Maz 38 and I like the tone of this amp better and never found the one tone knob a limiter. With my strat and my Les Paul, I have tons of tone options with my Mazerati.
I hope this helps!
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Post by digdoug on Sept 15, 2006 12:09:48 GMT -7
2 weeks ago I dragged my Rati rig (cab: 2x12 Avitar cab with 1 Weber BD ceram. and 1 Weber Alnico Blue) to an outdoor jam/party and played with about 5 other guitar players. I could not come to terms with the rig no matter what I tried.
It didn't help that the guy next to me had an ultralinear twin and a heavy hand but the rig just wasn't right. Basically I needed more headroom to get heard, but if I thickened it up with the tone knob AND cranked it, the speakers started getting overwhelmed and it sounded like arse. Go the other way with the tone knob and, as much as I hate to say it - especially in that outdoor setting, the Rati is irritatingly bright and a bit thin sounding.
So I took the thing home kinda bummed out, set it up in my living room, re-tweaked everything and nearly had a relgious experience. Chewy, bouncy, detailed tone. Awesome. WTF?
I'm just finding more and more that this amp hasa "happy place" and if the room's not right or you try to push it to far, it's going to bite back. But in the right setting, lookout...
I just need an old Pro or Super or even a Maz38 to use along with this amp. I'm frustrated with it, but when it is good, it is SO good I can't bring myself to get rid of it. Can't wait to record it. DW
PS I also dial off some top end with the guitar's tone knob. It's almost a must-do.
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messenger
Full Member
life is good!
Posts: 194
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Post by messenger on Sept 15, 2006 12:36:03 GMT -7
i'm with bw on the m/bs.just sold a mark4 & a tremoverb.mark 4 had so many nobs & switches,4 phillidelphia attornys & 1 rocket scientist to figure it out.i could never get a good dirty sound out of it.tremoverb had the better tone but was very noisy. gotta love them zs!
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Post by billyguitar on Sept 15, 2006 13:12:42 GMT -7
digdoug: A Maz 38 head would sound great and be less money than an old Pro Reverb or Super Reverb. The Maz 38 has much more tone shaping for the different venues and has more clean headroom than the Mazerati. While I haven't a/b'd a Maz 38 against the old Fenders I'm pretty confident the Maz 38 will sound better at higher volumes and cut thru better. With the great Master Volume you can cut it back and still get 99% of the tone. Messenger: I've got two old fender bronco guitars and one bronco amp, which is basically a Vibro Champ.
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messenger
Full Member
life is good!
Posts: 194
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Post by messenger on Sept 15, 2006 13:51:52 GMT -7
billyguitar, thanks for info.wasn't aware of the similarities between bronco & vibro champ.mines a keeper.sounds preatty sweet with a carl martin compressor in front of it.tremolos quiet nice too.thought about trying a weber alnico in it someday,although the fender alnico thats in is not bad.
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Post by billyguitar on Sept 15, 2006 19:00:28 GMT -7
I bought my little amp for $30 in a pawn shop, it had a bad speaker otherwise it was mint. Pretty quick I found an exact replacement speaker at a guitar show for $20. I haven't played that amp in 10 years. I'm gonna fire it up!
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Post by Buzz Fretwear (Ignatius) on Sept 15, 2006 19:51:19 GMT -7
2 weeks ago I dragged my Rati rig (cab: 2x12 Avitar cab with 1 Weber BD ceram. and 1 Weber Alnico Blue) to an outdoor jam/party and played with about 5 other guitar players. I could not come to terms with the rig no matter what I tried. It didn't help that the guy next to me had an ultralinear twin and a heavy hand but the rig just wasn't right. Basically I needed more headroom to get heard, but if I thickened it up with the tone knob AND cranked it, the speakers started getting overwhelmed and it sounded like arse. Go the other way with the tone knob and, as much as I hate to say it - especially in that outdoor setting, the Rati is irritatingly bright and a bit thin sounding. So I took the thing home kinda bummed out, set it up in my living room, re-tweaked everything and nearly had a relgious experience. Chewy, bouncy, detailed tone. Awesome. WTF? I'm just finding more and more that this amp hasa "happy place" and if the room's not right or you try to push it to far, it's going to bite back. But in the right setting, lookout... I just need an old Pro or Super or even a Maz38 to use along with this amp. I'm frustrated with it, but when it is good, it is SO good I can't bring myself to get rid of it. Can't wait to record it. DW PS I also dial off some top end with the guitar's tone knob. It's almost a must-do. As the person who started this thread due to a similar situation at one gig (amp just not settling into the sweet spot for the room), I can also say that since then I've had the thing sounding GREAT at a bunch of gigs over the past month, including an outdoor one (which admittedly had a fantastic sound company running sound). I think this experience is common to ALL amps to some degree. Some nights it just isn't going to sound perfect. I'm sure the pros experience this too, and what makes them a pro is to play through the gig as if it sounded great to them.
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jbro
Full Member
Posts: 123
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Post by jbro on Sept 16, 2006 12:03:51 GMT -7
Any amp will give different results under different circumstances.. I think it generally boils down to properly choosing a cab/speaker for a given venue/location. It's always hard to get a good sound outdoors - things definitely sound and behave very different without any room ambience. Outdoors, I find I generally want multiple cabinets on stage to fill out the sound, even if there are stage monitors. One cab may "fill a room" nicely, but when there's no room, everything changes.
I've had my Mazerati for about 7 month now.. around 100 gigs and at least as many rehearsals/recording/jam sessions, and there was only one occasion where I wasn't happy with the sound it was giving me on a gig. It was just a funny sounding room though, and outside of lugging around a portable wall with some type of acoustic treatment on it, there's not much you can do for your sound in some places.
I think a big thing with a "minimalist" amp like this is taking the time to really tune it in to your guitar(s). When I first got this amp I had a bit of a time finding the right speaker and tube combination for my main gigging axe and playing style. I feel like I've nailed it down now, and I've honestly never found myself wishing for more knobs on the amp. I use a strat with Suhr pickups 90% of the time - the guitar volume and tone knobs give me all the control I need over the breakup and high end (BTW - if you play a strat, moving the second tone knob to the bridge pickup is pretty much essential IMO). The tone control on the amp helps me dial it in to the room... that's all there is to it, and all I need. It's truely a player's amp.. not for everyone, but great for me. If I need more versitility, I drag out my BF Bassman. If I want pure organic simplicity, the Mazerati kills!
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Post by foxx on Sept 17, 2006 9:00:58 GMT -7
Digdoug stated earlier that he couldn't get into the amp while playing outdoors with 5 guitarists. I couldn't imagine being heard in that situation either. If his amp is too "overwhelmed" at full volume, I would suggest a tube swap. Dr. Z has stated that the JJ Ecc83 he was using in the amps were "too harsh". My mazerati has is much better now that Myles has hand picked my tubes.
Just one opinion.
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Post by bluzsteel on Nov 30, 2006 7:27:04 GMT -7
As the person who started this thread due to a similar situation at one gig (amp just not settling into the sweet spot for the room), I can also say that since then I've had the thing sounding GREAT at a bunch of gigs over the past month, including an outdoor one (which admittedly had a fantastic sound company running sound). I think this experience is common to ALL amps to some degree. Some nights it just isn't going to sound perfect. I'm sure the pros experience this too, and what makes them a pro is to play through the gig as if it sounded great to them.[/quote]
very well said ,Ive owned some of the greatest amps ever made and at one time or another they all sucked at a gig, and thats the hardest thing to do ..........just plow ahead and play like it sounds great
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Post by cementman on Dec 12, 2006 16:09:05 GMT -7
ignatius, i once owned a 2000 mazerati, it had the smaller transformer, a bit dirtier tone, i was told... you will be just fine with a maz 38, you can crank the bass and roll off the treble and use the cut up high to get close to what you want on a mazerati. i too was thrilled with the overdrive of the mazerati with a strat,,, but it is a one trick poney, a nice poney though. i have a 6545 now and kinda miss the z-28 i had,, will probably have to poney up for one of those again,, thought about "trading"the 6545, but just cant do it. the 38 will get you just about anything you want... loved mine, but was probably too much amp for me overall.
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