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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 16, 2006 0:30:01 GMT -7
...Is now mine!!! Purchased from a very nice guy who wasn't really using it for the last 3 years. I'll post some pics when I stop playing the amp for a minute ;D. It is black-on-black with a huge white Z on front. Quite a large-sized head (Marshall-sized). I really like the reverb. Really makes the amp sound attractive clean. (In addition to its predictably wicked dirty tones.) Also has effects loop, which I've not yet experimented with. Overall, the amp looks exceptionally well cared for and sounds killer. Maybe some tube tweaks are in order, but it sounds great for now. As I said, I'll take some snaps of this beast and post them real soon. Cheers, Blair
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 16, 2006 2:37:00 GMT -7
I've poked around inside (tubes are as far as I'm comfortable exploring) and here's the tubes that came to me in this puppy:
(from right to left)...
Power Tubes
2 Tesla (not JJ) EL34s (with 37 printed under)
Rectifier
1 Sovtek 5AR4/GZ34 (H3B3)
Preamp and Reverb Tubes
2 Sovtek 7025/12AX7 WB
1 12AT7 (unbranded and bearing a code I can't make out)
2 Sovtek 7025/12AX7 WB
(Yes, a total of 4 of these Sovtek 12AX7 tubes)
Any thoughts/comments?
Cheers, Blair
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Post by DaSkip on Oct 16, 2006 4:27:11 GMT -7
Congrats Blair, nice find. Sometime after the first of the year I will know your joy.
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Oct 16, 2006 4:36:23 GMT -7
Congrats from me, too. I'm jealous! Please post pics when you get a chance.
PDW also waiting on SRZ
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 16, 2006 9:46:59 GMT -7
Ok, I'm going to give this photo thing a try - hopefully this works! Here's one:
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 16, 2006 9:52:41 GMT -7
And some more...
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 16, 2006 9:59:15 GMT -7
And one of the back showing the effects loop and the handwritten serial #:
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 16, 2006 10:02:06 GMT -7
One more of the reverse. You can make out the reverb tank, which is mounted directly onto the underside of the top of the head:
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Post by myles on Oct 16, 2006 10:42:00 GMT -7
If you love the amp now keep in mind that with those Sovtek 12AX7s in there it is like your speaker cab has a felt grill cloth. If you replace V1 and V2 with anything else at all the amp will sound better and use a long plate 12AX7 in the phase inverter such as a Sovtek 12AX7LPS as it is much smoother than the WA or WB short plate.
If you think the amp sounds great now just wait until these changes are made.
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 16, 2006 10:51:23 GMT -7
If you love the amp now keep in mind that with those Sovtek 12AX7s in there it is like your speaker cab has a felt grill cloth. If you replace V1 and V2 with anything else at all the amp will sound better and use a long plate 12AX7 in the phase inverter such as a Sovtek 12AX7LPS as it is much smoother than the WA or WB short plate. If you think the amp sounds great now just wait until these changes are made. Hi Myles, From reading your advice on some other threads, I thought the Sovteks in V1 and V2 would be where great improvement could be made. Just to make sure, V1 & V2 are the 2 far left 12AX7s (furthest from the power tubes)? And which one is the PI? Cheers, Blair
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Oct 16, 2006 11:44:01 GMT -7
Blair, Thanks for the pics! Your SRZ looks like it means business. And it's big! I didn't realize that the Doc's early heads were almost as wide as the Zbest is tall!
PDW
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SG123
Full Member
Posts: 221
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Post by SG123 on Oct 16, 2006 12:53:31 GMT -7
Hey Blair, I own SRZ-65RH #33 from '95. My reverb tank was hard mounted to the top of the cab as well, and I had some "issues" with it being too sensitive to vibration. I put the tank into a double thickness Tolex bag [ I believe I got it from www.tubesandmore.com as bag and inner liner, or some such ] and re-fastened the ends of the bag to the top leaving a little slack so the tank can swing a bit. As long as it doesn't rest on top of the EL34s you'll be OK. I believe the 12AT7 tubes in mine were Chinese. Sounded fine so I left them in. I did change out the GZ34 Sovtek because it rattled badly and put in a Mullard that I had. The EL34 Teslas were shot, so there's some stout JJs in there now. For the preamps, I used old stock RCA 7025. My effects loop has a level control for Send and Return and had an extra 5814/12AU7 Philips for the buffer. I'm surprised your Z-Best has grille cloth and piping. My Z-Best, that was purchased with the amp has a completely sealed back, the speakers [ both Vintage 30s ] are front mounted and my "grille" is expanded metal. Does yours have a fan and metal guard in one end of the head box? There's some pictures of mine in the "Special" thread by Myles about 2/3 down the page here. Welcome to the SRZ club !! Karma to ya !
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SG123
Full Member
Posts: 221
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Post by SG123 on Oct 16, 2006 12:58:38 GMT -7
PDW, I gave you Blair's Karma by mistake. :-)
No worries, soon as things "reset", Blair will get his.. ----------------------- And I just noticed Blair already owned a Z-Best. It wasn't purchased with the '93 head..
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 16, 2006 13:03:42 GMT -7
Hey Blair, I own SRZ-65RH #33 from '95. My reverb tank was hard mounted to the top of the cab as well, and I had some "issues" with it being too sensitive to vibration. I put the tank into a double thickness Tolex bag [ I believe I got it from www.tubesandmore.com as bag and inner liner, or some such ] and re-fastened the ends of the bag to the top leaving a little slack so the tank can swing a bit. As long as it doesn't rest on top of the EL34s you'll be OK. I believe the 12AT7 tubes in mine were Chinese. Sounded fine so I left them in. I did change out the GZ34 Sovtek because it rattled badly and put in a Mullard that I had. The EL34 Teslas were shot, so there's some stout JJs in there now. For the preamps, I used old stock RCA 7025. My effects loop has a level control for Send and Return and had an extra 5814/12AU7 Philips for the buffer. I'm surprised your Z-Best has grille cloth and piping. My Z-Best, that was purchased with the amp has a completely sealed back, the speakers [ both Vintage 30s ] are front mounted and my "grille" is expanded metal. Does yours have a fan and metal guard in one end of the head box? There's some pictures of mine in the "Special" thread by Myles about 2/3 down the page here. Welcome to the SRZ club !! Karma to ya ! Hey there, A saw the pics of yours - very nice indeed! I also read about the mod you made to the reverb - I'll have to keep an eye out to see if it mine has issues. Did yours have audible problems, or were you worried the vibration would eventually have detrimental effect so you took action? My Z-Best is very recent (maybe '04 or '05) and was not purchased with the amp. Yes, my amp head also has a fan mounted in the side of the box with a chrome metal circular grill covering it. My effects loop has no level controls. I'm not much for effects, but just now I tried to run a Vox Brit Boost through the effects loop and when I powered up I got a bunch of loud popping and cracking noises, so I quickly shut down and left that alone. Don't know what's up with that? Is there always a "preamp" tube for the effects loop? (I'm trying to figure out why I have 4 12AX7s. Could it be that one of these is for the effects loop and someone put in a 12AX7, which is the wrong tube? Could that have caused the popping, etc? Oh and thanks for the karma! Cheers, Blair
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SG123
Full Member
Posts: 221
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Post by SG123 on Oct 16, 2006 15:23:05 GMT -7
The reverb feature requires *at least* one more tube than the standard SRZ-65 which does not have reverb. I know a common circuit uses both halves of a 12AT7 as a driver on the input side of the pan, and one section of a 12AX7 [ each 12AX7 and 12AT7 has two triode sections ] on the output, or "recovery" side of the tank - but I'm not sure what the good Doctor does.
I don't believe the "standard" effects loop requires a tube. They're normally just an "insert" point between the preamp and the power section. A "buffered" effects loop with level controls does require tubage for isolation/amplification. I have heard of effects loop jacks that have not been used for a while (if ever) developing problems with the switching feature that is part of the jack and redirects the signal. I'm not sure if that's the problem you were experiencing or not. I had some nasty cutting out on mine and a new preamp tube corrected it.
I DID have problems with the hard mounted reverb tank with the head sitting on the cabinet - even with people walking across the stage. Every tank is a bit different, mine may have been more sensitive than yours - or some gain/tube related difference.
Once you're tweaked, you'll love it !
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 16, 2006 15:35:44 GMT -7
Blair, Thanks for the pics! Your SRZ looks like it means business. And it's big! I didn't realize that the Doc's early heads were almost as wide as the Zbest is tall! PDW Yup, this is one big rig! It is about 2" less across than the Z-Best is tall. Actually looks pretty cool that way, I think! Not sure when after '93 the SRZ went to a smaller head size? Cheers, Blair
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 16, 2006 15:37:44 GMT -7
Congrats Blair, nice find. Sometime after the first of the year I will know your joy. I feel your pain...the wait must be difficult...but I know it will be worthwhile!!! Cheers, Blair
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SG123
Full Member
Posts: 221
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Post by SG123 on Oct 16, 2006 16:00:45 GMT -7
"Not sure when after '93 the SRZ went to a smaller head size?"
Still got the big head in '95...
The way the rubber feet are located on mine, you can put it on top of an upright Z-Best, but it will overhang the sides !
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Oct 16, 2006 16:45:27 GMT -7
That's a very cool catch there! On the cab size, I'd be happier with the same size as the SR and MAZ case - That would be perfect for me...
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Post by myles on Oct 16, 2006 17:38:12 GMT -7
If you love the amp now keep in mind that with those Sovtek 12AX7s in there it is like your speaker cab has a felt grill cloth. If you replace V1 and V2 with anything else at all the amp will sound better and use a long plate 12AX7 in the phase inverter such as a Sovtek 12AX7LPS as it is much smoother than the WA or WB short plate. If you think the amp sounds great now just wait until these changes are made. Hi Myles, From reading your advice on some other threads, I thought the Sovteks in V1 and V2 would be where great improvement could be made. Just to make sure, V1 & V2 are the 2 far left 12AX7s (furthest from the power tubes)? And which one is the PI? Cheers, Blair V1 is most close to the input jack - farthest from output tubes. The PI is the closest preamp tube to the power tubes.
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Post by dock66 on Oct 16, 2006 21:44:08 GMT -7
...Is now mine!!! Purchased from a very nice guy who wasn't really using it for the last 3 years. I'll post some pics when I stop playing the amp for a minute ;D. It is black-on-black with a huge white Z on front. Quite a large-sized head (Marshall-sized). I really like the reverb. Really makes the amp sound attractive clean. (In addition to its predictably wicked dirty tones.) Also has effects loop, which I've not yet experimented with. Overall, the amp looks exceptionally well cared for and sounds killer. Maybe some tube tweaks are in order, but it sounds great for now. As I said, I'll take some snaps of this beast and post them real soon. Cheers, Blair Congrats on your new SRZ 65.Nice early model with reverb.Welcome to the club.You are going to love that amp for a very long time. dock66
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 17, 2006 1:46:26 GMT -7
V1 is most close to the input jack - farthest from output tubes. The PI is the closest preamp tube to the power tubes. Thanks Myles! Just ordered an RFT 12AX7 for V1 and I had an unused EH12AX7-EH that I plan to put into V2. Now I just need to pick up a balanced long plate for that PI. Thanks again for the help! Cheers, Blair
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 17, 2006 1:51:22 GMT -7
Congrats on your new SRZ 65.Nice early model with reverb.Welcome to the club.You are going to love that amp for a very long time. dock66 Thx dock! Already lovin' it...even before I've made the tube changes Myles suggested. Just played a 3 hour band practice and the boys were really digging the classic hard rock gain from this amp. With better preamp tubes, its all upside from here! Cheers, Blair
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Post by myles on Oct 17, 2006 18:20:17 GMT -7
V1 is most close to the input jack - farthest from output tubes. The PI is the closest preamp tube to the power tubes. Thanks Myles! Just ordered an RFT 12AX7 for V1 and I had an unused EH12AX7-EH that I plan to put into V2. Now I just need to pick up a balanced long plate for that PI. Thanks again for the help! Cheers, Blair The RFT is a GREAT tube in the SRZ and in any Marshall amp. On the EH .... get it from a vendor that can assure that it has a transconductance of at least 1500-1600. 1600 is spec but most I test are <1400 ... sometimes way less. A great phase inverter is a Sovtek 12AX7LPS and Tube Depot sells them for $11.95 + $2.00 for balanced triodes at www.tubedepot.com/so-12ax7lps.htmlMike at KCA has them too, balanced at $13.00 so you have two great vendors. kcanostubes.com/content/estore_details.asp?category=&product=22
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Post by dock66 on Oct 17, 2006 19:31:45 GMT -7
Ohhh,Yehhhh.
dock66
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 18, 2006 14:06:17 GMT -7
I'll definitely track one of those down! Thanks again, Myles. Cheers, Blair (PS. Karma to you for all the great tube advice!)
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Post by myles on Oct 26, 2006 18:21:16 GMT -7
I'll definitely track one of those down! Thanks again, Myles. Cheers, Blair (PS. Karma to you for all the great tube advice!) You are more than welcome and thanks for the karma
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Post by Don on Oct 26, 2006 21:07:22 GMT -7
rhythmeister -
Very, very nice find. And with Myles' help in selecting tubes, that's gonna be one heck of an amp! Good luck with it!
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Post by rhythmeister on Oct 27, 2006 9:49:05 GMT -7
rhythmeister - Very, very nice find. And with Myles' help in selecting tubes, that's gonna be one heck of an amp! Good luck with it! Thanks Don, And you, sir, are a lucky man to have one of those LTD SRZs coming your way - man that amp looks HOT! Cheers, Blair
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