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Post by mrsooty on Sept 2, 2009 15:02:44 GMT -7
I just heard the clip of the KT45 of the Z website. Sounds....a.....mazing. Is that all amp overdrive on that clip?
I'm about to buy a Maz 18, but jeepers, this one's got me wondering lots of things.....a second Z?....or get a Maz 18 head and cab and later get a KT head too?.......
...anyway, no way I can afford both at this stage, and I'm not sure if I'd get a KT45 as my only amp, but it's certainly the most interesting tone clip I've heard.
Question time:
Is that clip (at the bottom of the KT45 section of the website) all amp distortion? If so, with it being a 45 watter and having no master volume, I'm guessing it has to be rediculously loud to get that sound right? Does it have clean headroom? I guess an Airbrake is a must on this one, am I right?
Secondly, I've played EF86 amps before, and I LOVE the EF86 breakup, but it doesn't seem to play well with OD pedals. Can this amp handle OD pedals very well?
I'm a huge Gilmour fan, this amp has me all confused. I kinda need Reverb and more EQ control. But wow, imagine a Maz 18 AND this. My wife would never agree to it though. Lol.
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Post by Martanthegreat on Sept 2, 2009 17:10:24 GMT -7
Well for starters this amp in my opinion is the top of the Z line.Not sure about the clip I would say an overdrive was used. Clean headroom you ask? All day long. In order to get the beloved EF86 breakup it is crazy loud but a lot of factors come into play here like pickups,speakers,tube or SS rectifier. This amp eats pedals, it loves them so put all your favorites in front of it and go.I have an airbrake which is awesome or I use an overdrive to give it alittle breakup. All I can say is the amp never stops giving, if you need more, its waiting for you to turn around and open it up. The tight bass and the response of the KT is amazing and you won't find it in any other Z. I've sold my Ghia and an AC30 to make this my main amp. Don't be afraid, this amp will change you as a player...
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Post by mrsooty on Sept 2, 2009 21:02:55 GMT -7
Unfortunately I could only afford the head, and then I'd have nothing to play it through. Sticking to the Maz for now. But suddenly I'm GAS'ing for two Z's.
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Post by Darkside on Sept 3, 2009 4:46:27 GMT -7
The KT45 kicked my Hiwatt Custom out of my rig for my Pink Floyd tribute band. Does everything the Hiwatt could offer and more with less controls and way better tone. It's everything you could wish for in a pedal platform amp, takes every pedal extremely well, superb headroom and yes, crazy volume to get the EL34 distortion but what a tone!!
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Sept 3, 2009 5:02:16 GMT -7
+1 to all that's been said so far here. I'm one of the forum's biggest KT45 proponents- I just love that amp. It's got great cleans, has plenty of clean headroom, absolutely loves pedals, and yet can do that great overdrive- albeit at very high volumes. Curt and I both have said that it may have the best Strat neck PU tone ever- SRV would have loved this amp. Also the "notch" positions on a Strat are very 3D and "pop"- making it just kill for Dire Straits type stuff and country chicken pickin'.
As far as the amp itself, the overdrive is all EL34 power tube. The EF86 is very well implemented by the Doc in the input position of the circuit to minimize problems from noise and microphonics. That's also why it takes pedals so well- tons of headroom on the input from that little pentode.
Also you'd be surprised how much you can do with the two knob EQ on the KT. I've never felt the need for another control. I do use reverb from my Room Mate or Z-Verb and they both sound great with the KT- until you get into distortion land, as no reverb sounds good "up front" in that situation.
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Post by mrsooty on Sept 3, 2009 16:35:12 GMT -7
So where are all the clips then? Can't find any.
Is the RT66 pretty much the same amp with a lower wattage? I know it uses KT66's, but aren't they pretty similar to EL35's? Or not?
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Post by timford on Sept 15, 2009 3:59:22 GMT -7
I was wondering the same thing, but I don't recall the route 66 mentioned in the same sentence as Hiwatt amps. I am looking to get a route 66, played it and loved it, but have been reading a lot about the KT 45 and am very interested. Especially when people mention David Gilmour, Hiwatt/slight AC30, Mark Knopfler and awesome clean tone.......
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Post by troutstrat on Sept 15, 2009 9:39:30 GMT -7
Rt 66 is a bit darker sounding, not as bright. Different color of gain as well. I had both at one time and the component boards looked similar but I read in other threads that there is different magic besides the similarities. Inverted something or other, I can't recall. I love them both, but my favorite Z amp remains my KT45. Great clean headroom, and/or great unique gain tones both very articulate.
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Post by jiseman on Jan 8, 2010 11:02:49 GMT -7
The route 66 is more fender-y to my ears (though not exactly a fender in tone). I think that troutstrat hit it right on the head when he mentioned the difference in gain tone. You can tell they're not the same amp right off the bat, but when you turn them both up they truly show different characters.
Personally I think the KT45 retains a bit more focus when driven than the Route 66. It seems to be slightly less tight on the bottom end (I mean that relatively - compared to a Fender blackface, the 66 would still have a very tight bottom end).
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Post by eliot1025 on Jan 9, 2010 5:55:01 GMT -7
I believe the KT45 clip on the Z site is done without a distortion pedal - that's the natural amp breakup when turned way up. It's a fantastic sound. That clip was the KT45 through a Marshall 4x12 cab loaded with 25 watt greenbacks.
The KT sounds very very different than the Route 66. (I've had them both at the same time.) The KT is Vox AC30 meets Hiwatt - it's rich, bright and chimey but not in a Fender way. Lots of headroom and a big tight bass response.
The Route 66 falls somewhere in Marshall territory but is not any kind of Marshall clone - it's unique. It's much darker than the KT and has earlier breakup and more gain. Warm and thick with lots of note bloom and very little chime.
Both are great amps and real tone monsters but they do different things and are designed for different purposes. They are both very pedal-friendly.
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Post by Darkside on Jan 10, 2010 17:27:46 GMT -7
If you're a Gilmour fan you NEED one of these! Very different with a Strat to the Maz, I love the Maz by the way and would dare to say that I think the Maz Jr is the best ever strat amp, but the KT is so good for cleans, it's a 3d type of tone, must be the EF86 but what it does to your guitar is amazing. I run my KT through a Z 4x10 in my Pink Floyd tribute duo: Gilmour Strat > pedalboard>Z-verb>KT Perfect!
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Post by jiseman on Jan 11, 2010 15:44:56 GMT -7
The route 66 is more fender-y to my ears (though not exactly a fender in tone). I think that troutstrat hit it right on the head when he mentioned the difference in gain tone. You can tell they're not the same amp right off the bat, but when you turn them both up they truly show different characters. Personally I think the KT45 retains a bit more focus when driven than the Route 66. It seems to be slightly less tight on the bottom end (I mean that relatively - compared to a Fender blackface, the 66 would still have a very tight bottom end). I'm an idiot. He said Route 66 and the whole time I was thinking EZG..... sorry, didn't mean to steer you wrong, my brain just got the amps names mixed up!
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Post by taswegian on Jan 17, 2010 4:22:48 GMT -7
Unfortunately I could only afford the head, and then I'd have nothing to play it through. Sticking to the Maz for now. But suddenly I'm GAS'ing for two Z's. Then 3, then 4. It's a sickness. Having now played a Remedy, I am suddenly gassing for this amp! I love el34's and I love headroom. My Set Neck with 11's hits an amp pretty hard and sometimes I'd just love to hammer it with my right hand and have it not break up. I have a feeling the KT45 might have a little AC50 going on, along with everything else. But in the end, it's a Dr Z amp, which to me says more than it having any other characteristics. Maybe I can get George excited about this amp again. ;D There is a nasty virus attatched to this forum.
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Post by groovergeorge on Jan 17, 2010 4:33:12 GMT -7
You rang?
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Post by taswegian on Jan 17, 2010 4:46:23 GMT -7
;D ;D ;D
I think you need this back on your gas list. Lets get one in the country. I'm trying hard not to put it on mine.
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Post by astronome on Jan 17, 2010 12:39:28 GMT -7
I really want a KT45 as well man! The headroom thing has got me goin. And i just picked up an Aracom Power Rox attenutaor that just flat out blows my mind with how transparent and amazing it is. Now that the attenuator is a check i think i need a KT45, a Maz GT a 66 a.......haha i need them all.
oh and Tas how does one from the states such as myself move out to Australia?? I would love to get out there man
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Post by taswegian on Jan 17, 2010 16:41:31 GMT -7
The nice thing about that in regard to our two countries is you can have dual citizenship. One of my best friends is from Pretoria, Ill, came to Tassie to do his doctrate in Marine Biology and is now a dual citizen and lives here. Incidently he is working on the Tasmanian Devil task force to help save them.
Bring a KT45 with ya! ;D
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Post by groovergeorge on Jan 18, 2010 4:51:58 GMT -7
I won't be getting a KT45 this week Jaye. I just bought a handwired Tweed Deluxe last week. I was nearly going to get another Z28 to replace the one I had to sell last year but decided to go with the tweedie. In the end it came down to the funds I had at the time but would have gone the Z28 if I had a few more $$$. Next amp will probably be the EZG-50 to cover all my Fender Blackface tones or a Remedy for the plexi stuff. My opinion for your next right Jaye - Ray for the clean Police stuff you do or a Remedy.
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Post by timford on Jan 18, 2010 5:31:11 GMT -7
There should be a KT45 arriving in Australia this week...........
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Post by groovergeorge on Jan 19, 2010 0:49:42 GMT -7
Good work Tim. Tell us more, is it 2nd hand or did you order a 240 volt Aussie trannie version?
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Post by timford on Jan 19, 2010 18:41:24 GMT -7
I've only played it for about 30mins so far, and I'm probably going to need a lot longer than that to start to get a feel for it. Really forces you to use the guitar tone control and volume, and it is a really full spectrum sound. Lots of bass, mids and treble.
Found with the 535 I had to keep the treble and bass fairly low so it wouldn't feed back too much, but it sounded great once it was there. Nocaster sounded great on the neck pickup (which I usually prefer......) and I'll have to play with the bridge and mixed setting to tame the treble, or grow better fingers..... Haven't had a chance to test it with the strat with amalfitano pickups.
I have mainly played with my fingers lately, but found the tone better with a pick so far, but haven't given it a real chance yet. And I have got some real nice nos tubes I'm going to swap out with it, and try a tube rectifier. Not sure when I'll get the chance though. Going away for the long weekend, but school starts again next week, so I should get some loud playing time then.
I really wish the 2003 Route 66 I bought had not fallen through. It would have been fantastic to play these 2 side by side. Only ever played the route 66 once in the shop in sydney. And I'd love to hear it alongside the stangray as well. I like big and clean.
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Post by taswegian on Jan 20, 2010 1:10:23 GMT -7
Fantastic Tim, congrats. Hopefully you get along with it. It's a tough call to buy these amps unplayed eh? Groover, I have a Remedy at home. It does the Police thing really well. It has a great clean tone, but gets SOOO aussie pub rock as well. Think AC/DC, Chisel, Screaming Jets, Rose Tattoo, Angels. It gets very aggresive with the volume up and humbuckers. Check the Rem section.
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Post by timford on Jan 20, 2010 2:03:16 GMT -7
I can see we are going to have to organise an 'Aussie' Z fest (or get together and compare anyhow). How much would it cost to fly MZ out for a weekend.........and some shop visits in our local regions.........
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Post by groovergeorge on Jan 20, 2010 18:47:05 GMT -7
I can see we are going to have to organise an 'Aussie' Z fest (or get together and compare anyhow). How much would it cost to fly MZ out for a weekend.........and some shop visits in our local regions......... I'm not sure how much it would cost Tim but it sounds great to me. maybe a Dr Z stand at the Sydney/national guitar and amp show etc ? Jaye you old dog, when did the Remedy arrive, have I missed something, do you own a Remedy as well? I knew when they said "plexi" and 70's amp that the Remedy would nail that Angels-Chisel tone. I had a 50 watt JMP a few years ago. I think the Remedy will replace that and I will play it into a single G12-65 open back or a V30 closed that I have here with my 76' Explorer. If I hadn't have bought the Tweed deluxe about a week or so ago I would have bought the black Remedy here for sale in the buy and sell section. It's all good though, I'll get one before the years out and probably an EZG head as well.
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Post by sixacrelake on Dec 29, 2010 6:18:50 GMT -7
Mark my words... I will buy a KT-45 and a Remedy this year for the ultimate live rig... My Maz 18 will stay at home for recording purposes.
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