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Post by dixiechicken on Oct 10, 2007 6:57:34 GMT -7
DC to every patient Z-brother out there! Lo and behold today about on hour and half ago - I finally got my Route66. I unpacked it for a first inspection and fired it up for a quick check - it works. The headline for this topic is totally misleading - because the Route WAS NOT DELIVERED - I had to pick it up myself - at ONE of THREE possible terminals in our city. First I had to locate and find where the shipment might possibly be. That took me seven phone calls to two different customer service centers then three personal visits by car all around town. All in all I have spent 4 hours today chasing this shipment. Then I had get 775 $ roughly in cash - to pay for VAT - customs toll - etc because the "PostÅkeriets" terminal don't take credit cards. So let it be known henceforth that - October the 10:th - is officially known as - DC Route66 Pickup Day. ;D Pics to follow soon! Cheers: Dixiechicken
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Post by zdogma on Oct 10, 2007 7:30:58 GMT -7
Finally
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Post by LeftyLang on Oct 10, 2007 8:05:25 GMT -7
Congrats Chicken......now play the heck out of it!! Soon you will buy another to run in stereo....more waiting.......................................
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Post by John on Oct 10, 2007 8:10:41 GMT -7
Congratulations!!! Remember to let those big KT-66 tubes warm up for at least two minutes before turning the stand-by switch on. You're tubes will last longer.
Are you saying, in addition to paying for the amp, you had to pay $775 (US) in taxes?
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Post by mfirst on Oct 10, 2007 9:39:40 GMT -7
Congratulations! I've been waiting to see a post where you finally got your amp. I've been reading for a while that you were looking forward to it. I hope that you enjoy it as much as you thought you would. I'm kinda looking for a rt 66 as my next Z, so i've been spending some time in the 66 section doing some reading.
enjoy your new amp. let us know how you like it.
Matt
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Post by dixiechicken on Oct 10, 2007 10:29:06 GMT -7
"gtrmna3"1) Thanks for the advice 2) Yes indeed - but the major part about 686 $ is VAT - that sum was deducted from the the Norwegian price - before shipping. Because Norway is outside (not a member of) the EU and Sweden is. "LeftyLang" I will! "zdogma" and "firsttenor1" - thank you for your kind thoughts. Here is the first pics: Just the Route66 on top of the 2x10" cab. The cab is the new design with removable middle back panel. Next picture wasn't to sharp the focus is somewhere "god only knows". Any way the "Weber Minimass 50W" on top of the Route. Top left in the sofa is the Fender Precision June-1964. The pickup is a Seymour Duncan quarterpounder. Top right is a 1969 gold top Les Paul. (it once was gold top - long story) The pickups on the "Lester" is Seymour Duncan P-90 stacks. Have the pup:s wired for both serial and parallel switching. Right of the Route is my Warmothe Telecaster. Bottom left is a handmade Spanish steel string - a Manuel Rodriguez. The body is all cedar the neck mahogany and fretboard is either dark Brazilian rosewood or maybe even Macassar ebony - don't remember. Cheers: Dixiechicken
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Post by billyguitar on Oct 10, 2007 11:19:43 GMT -7
So...... Tell us about how it sounds!
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Post by zdogma on Oct 10, 2007 11:21:48 GMT -7
I'm interested in what you think of the 210. I've never tried the new one. I think it would sound good with the back on...
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Post by jb on Oct 10, 2007 11:26:25 GMT -7
Glad to see you finally got it. I think the LP and Tele are really going to like it. My guess is that you will too!!!
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Post by fisholot on Oct 10, 2007 12:19:26 GMT -7
Congrats DC you have waited a long time for that... Mine really takes to the humbuckers, I have a PRS with Dragon II's in it....
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Post by dixiechicken on Oct 10, 2007 15:41:18 GMT -7
DC here - Thanks everybody tonight I did a more thorough test drive 2 hours in the rehearsal studio alone. I tried it with and without the Weber Minimass. Quick impressions so far: 1) The tonecontrols and the volume too works differently - like almost everbody here has said. 2) With volme at 9, Treble & Bass at 12 the sound with the Telecaster is very clean very bright, too bright, for my liking it reminds of a typical Marshall. Overall I find tha amp very bright with the Telecaster. I will have learn to work the tone control on my Telecaster much more than I 've been used to. 3) Working the volume and toncontrols on the amp - it's fairly easy to ajust to tonecolor to something more to my liking. 4) The amp seems very articulate, as many of you have pointed out. 5) It's possible to get very loud - I will most likely need to work the whole setup together with the Minimass. The Minimass colors the sound some - it felt like the pick attack was softened up a bit. Like some of the presence of the sound was removed a bit. ( could be the Fletcher-Munson effect ) 6) With the Les Paul it was easy to get that "Beano-vibe" classic 60-70 rockn & blues sound. ( I immediately did the first two choruses of Hideaway ) 7) I was a bit surprised how fast the amp started to breakup. I was expecting a bit more clean headroom. 8) The cab sound somehow, loud, articulate distinct but the sound is not really big - I don't feel that it really engulfs me I've been used to playing through 12" and 2x12" combos for years now - so this will take some time to adjust to. The real test will come next Tuesday - rehearsal with the band and the hornsection. Will be interesting to see/hear how it stacks up then. I did not run the cab tonight with the back-panel removed - but I will try this also. 9) The setup looks really neat - a simple straightforward no nonsense - I mean business - look. Cheers: Dixiechicken
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Post by taswegian on Oct 10, 2007 16:18:15 GMT -7
The 2-10's probably contribute to the brightness also. 10's wouldn't be my choice with the 66 but I'm obviously after a different thing from my 66. Those new cabs look awesome. Just the right size. And Tele's are always too bright (duck, cover, run...run faster ;D) just kidding of course, I'd love a tele. Glad it has all worked out and now you can get to jammin'! I recon that Gibbo might like the 66 ;D Hia Norge- Z delivery day!
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Post by taswegian on Oct 10, 2007 16:21:04 GMT -7
The real test will come next Tuesday - rehearsal with the band and the hornsection. Will be interesting to see/hear how it stacks up then. My guess is this is when you'll hear how good the amp REALLY is. The 66 really shines in a mix. That's when you get to hear how well it's voiced IMHO.
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Post by LeftyLang on Oct 10, 2007 17:44:11 GMT -7
The 10's will be less bright once they are worked in. For more clean headroom, turn the Bass & Treble to 9:00. I hope that helps.
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Post by taswegian on Oct 10, 2007 17:59:59 GMT -7
Good advise leftylang. DC, you better play the hell outta that thing and break those speakers in before next tuesday!
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Post by woody on Oct 10, 2007 18:53:41 GMT -7
I'm taking tomorrow off...when I call into work I'll just say "DC GOT HIS AMP"...perfectly valid excuse to take off
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Post by jwr on Oct 10, 2007 19:02:32 GMT -7
Congrat's! If your looking for clean headroom you might want to try a 5751 or 12AT7 Phase Inverter as well as LeftyLang's suggestion to run the tone controls down and the volume up.
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Post by dixiechicken on Oct 11, 2007 2:28:21 GMT -7
Sure thing - just tell them I told you to - I'll shut them up if they hassle you any. ;D Thanks for all the advice, as everybody has said - the tone controls on the Route - past 12 o'clock they start to add gain and saturation and compression. I also thought yesterday evening that the Treble & Bass works differently in this respect. The Treble control adds a lot of this saturation/breakup to the sound but the Bass control not at all as much. This may again some extent have to do withe the "Fletcher-Munson" effect. The human ear is more sensitive in the Treble control area. Also an observation with the cab, it is articulate and feels well balanced. However if I compensate for the treble on the "Tele" by adding lots of Bass - then on the neck pickups on both the Les Paul and the Tele tend to sound a bit overbearing on the lower strings. (especially at high volumes) I'm theorizing that the small air volume inside the cab is the culprit - I will try it without the backplate and see/hear what happens. Still it's early days yet - this is only the first impressions. One last thought that struck me - although I don't as general thing favor "OD" pedals I thought that this might actually work quite well with the Tele. Treble at 9 o'clock Bass at noon. ( less "Trebliness" ) push the volume to breaking point. Then add the OD pedal for the final push.
A fascinating theory that needs to tested - to confirm or reject. Cheers: Dixiechicken
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Post by taswegian on Oct 11, 2007 2:42:41 GMT -7
Don't forget you can crank it up and roll back your guitar volume for clean sounds. My favorite cleans with the 66 are with the amp wound up like 2 or 3 oclock everything, then rolled back till it cleans up. I find the cleans have much more sparkle like this than running the amp "clean". Then you should be able to just about wind up to any amount of overdrive you want. (within reason).
Of course, this is pretty loud so that may be a problem. Work those knobs, there is a suprising amount of variation that can be achieved. And also remember that bass at noon is like max bass. After that it is just saturating. So maybe your tele wants to be a 9 oclock bass and treble, 2 oclock volume, or there abouts
I've played gigs with the amp cranked up and my guitar volume never above half. Played gigs where the amp is 9 oclock all knobs. Tons of variation. Find your sweet spot!
Have fun!
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Post by dixiechicken on Oct 11, 2007 5:31:07 GMT -7
"tas" - DC here! I'll certainly try your advice. And yes the Route seemed to like my Paul - it was really easy to get that classic 60:s/70:s english blues rock sound ala Mick Taylor or E.C on the Beano-album - or 2-4-6-8 Motorway Tom Robinson Band. Of course when I tried the "Lester" I had already mucked about with the Tele for an hour and half, so I had a little better feeling for what those controls do on the amp. Please everybody who happens to read this thread - feel free to keep advice coming - every little nifty trick you've discovered - it's very very much appreciated. Cheers: Dixiechicken
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Post by iggs on Oct 11, 2007 8:56:03 GMT -7
Hey DC, congrats on finally getting the amp!
I run mine with all controls around 1 o'clock and with both my Strat and Tele it's just right. Maybe a tiny bit on the bright side, but that's Strats and Teles for you ... ;D
The 66 seems to sound drastically different with different tubes so I'd check which ones you have. From your comments, I'd say you have JJ KT66 in there as they seem to be the brightest sounding of all current production KT66. If so, you might want to try the Chinese KT66 (brown base, GT KT66C, Valve Art ... etc.) which are not as bright.
Also, if you have a Sovtek GZ34/5AR4 rectifier in there, I'd strongly suggest swapping it for at least a JJ GZ34 or ultimately for a good NOS recto. Mike at KCA has a good variety to choose from depending on your budget.
Lastly, check out which EF86 you have in there, Dario Miniwatt is a good NOS one and not too pricy either.
66 is anything but a bright amp so I'd check the tubes that it came with and then look into trying it out with some different speakers if you can.
As far as clean headroom goes, there's not much of it past 9 o'clock ... it's definitely not a "Fender clean" type of amp ... which for me is awesome! This amp is definitely made to be played loud & proud!
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Post by dixiechicken on Oct 11, 2007 10:55:46 GMT -7
"iggs" - DC here!
I did a quick check/peek inside: EF86 is the Briamar NOS PI tube is a Sovtek 12AX7 KT66 PT:s are Groove Tubes labeled and rated at #6 the Rectifier tube GZ34/5AR4 seems to be a JJ - a bit hard to see.
On hand/stash I have EF86 1)Briamar plus 1)NOS Brittish CV2903 - I bought from "nitehawk55" Rectifier tube the NOS JAN Phillips GZ34 PI tubes 3) Telefunken ECC83/12AX7 KT66 PT:s a matched pair of NOS G.E.C CV1075 1975/1971
So I could try some of those out and see/hear what happens.
Cheers: Dixiechicken
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Post by iggs on Oct 11, 2007 13:36:06 GMT -7
Holy #$#&*$ ... you have a NOS pair of GEC's and still haven't put those in???
What are you waiting for??? ;D ;D ;D
Can you bias the amp yourself? If yes, I'd put that NOS recto and those GEC's in there right away.
Are the GT power tubes KT66C? I'd also check the bias as well, it may have been knocked out of whack in shipping.
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Post by dixiechicken on Oct 11, 2007 16:18:04 GMT -7
Tonight I removed the back plate from the cab for a while. I wound up the Bass and Volume until the bass strings on the Tele sounded a bit too boomy ( using the neck pickup ). Screwed the backplate back on - played with the exact same settings on amp and guitar - this reduced the bass boominess. I have the 2x10" cab standing close to a wall - there's maybe 10/12 inches between the wall and backside of cab? I was expecting the exact opposite - must check this one more time. "iggs" Yes I will try out the tubes - I just need to solder a new dp-switch on/off switch onto my BiasRite. Cheers: Dixiechicken
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Post by taswegian on Oct 11, 2007 16:33:45 GMT -7
Hey DC, I left my Groove tubes KT66's in there for a while too even though I had GEC's. I wanted to get used to the tone and feel before I put the GEC's in so I could get an impression of the difference. Dave Ulbrick actually biased mine with the GEC's. He generally knows how I like things so I don't even know where it's biased but it sounds great. He kept saying, "They don't make tubes like that anymore" with his little magnifying glass around his head.
Those tens will take a little while to settle too. My Z best did. Better just play as much as you can! ;D
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Post by zdogma on Oct 11, 2007 16:35:17 GMT -7
Do you have a 1X12 or a 2X12 to try it through?
My 210 has Weber alnico 10's, they are pretty warm and don't have a ton of bottom, and they work well. It does sound better to me with the Z best or an open back 112, however.
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Post by Joey Beverages on Oct 11, 2007 16:40:42 GMT -7
Hey DC, glad to see that you finally got your '66 ;D the pics are very cool please turn it up a bit ... I still can't seem to hear ya yet Joel
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Post by tritone6 on Oct 11, 2007 20:19:01 GMT -7
hey dc - congrats on yer 66. its been quite a wait! try some different combos on those tone controls. trele at 3 o'clock, bass at 9, volume at 11 0'c reverse em, for tour tele... guitar volume...pedals...there aint a bad tone in that amp! ;D best of luck - tommy
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Post by Dr.T on Oct 11, 2007 23:24:37 GMT -7
DC I see now you're EU like me, congrats for finally recieving one of the best amp ever. It will took a little to appreciate every tonal colour you can get from different settings but then you'll love that sound. My tele is bright too, but I feel it when I 'm playing alone, in the mix I found it has the right treb to come out. Do you have like me a step down transformer for the different EU voltage?
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Post by dixiechicken on Oct 12, 2007 2:38:00 GMT -7
"zdogma" - Yes I have a sort of hornloaded enclosure with an EVM 12" I tried it briefly yesterday laying sideways flat on the floor - but didn't like that as much. A bit too much bass and boominess - but I know it sounds better standing up - like in the picture - so thats what I'll try next. Cheers: Dixiechicken
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