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Post by sonicgator on Jan 31, 2007 12:19:21 GMT -7
Initial Impressions: Wow, Doc you hit a Grand Slam with this one. Very Cool amp. I bought the Z-Best with it, so I'm expecting the tone to get only better with time as the amp and speakers break in a bit. As for the gain, easily into the G'N'R or early Metallica range, though for my playing, I'm keeping it around 10 o'clock right now. Humbuckers, Single Coils, Mini-Humbuckers are all sounding great through it.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Jan 31, 2007 14:14:25 GMT -7
Wow... mine can't be far behind! <phew> the anticipation is killing me!
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Post by myles on Jan 31, 2007 19:42:02 GMT -7
Initial Impressions: Wow, Doc you hit a Grand Slam with this one. Very Cool amp. I bought the Z-Best with it, so I'm expecting the tone to get only better with time as the amp and speakers break in a bit. As for the gain, easily into the G'N'R or early Metallica range, though for my playing, I'm keeping it around 10 o'clock right now. Humbuckers, Single Coils, Mini-Humbuckers are all sounding great through it. Congrats and happy playing! A hint ..... with weaker single coils run the gain about one or one and a half steps over where you might like it with a humbucker. That is .... if it was a 10:00 with a humbucker bring it to 11:30 with a vintage Tele as an example. PLAY AROUND with the presence and master. They do a lot more than you normall expect from what you find on other amps. As far as the Doc hitting a grand slam with this one .... remember that the amp came out many years ago .... it was just ahead of it's time. Now to come close to this amp you have to spend twice as much and still not be all the way there as his prices did not rise much over the last decade. Have a blast!
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Post by sonicgator on Jan 31, 2007 19:57:05 GMT -7
Thanks for the advice Myles; I'll have to check that out. One thing I have noticed...this amp loves Single Coils...just eats them up and spits out great tone.
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Post by dock66 on Jan 31, 2007 20:03:45 GMT -7
I've always thought that Doc does good justice with his prices....I don't have to sell my house,car ect ....to own Z products.
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Post by myles on Jan 31, 2007 20:11:42 GMT -7
Thanks for the advice Myles; I'll have to check that out. One thing I have noticed...this amp loves Single Coils...just eats them up and spits out great tone. Listen to Carl Verheyen's last CD that just came out ..... "Take One Step" .... Strat and SRZ-65 all over the place.
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Post by myles on Jan 31, 2007 20:13:55 GMT -7
I've always thought that Doc does good justice with his prices....I don't have to sell my house,car ect ....to own Z products. I still cannot figure how he does it. The chassis part alone is about 8 times more pricy than a typical tack welded bent steel chassis that you find in $3000+ amps and many of those amps are not hand wired to boot.
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Feb 1, 2007 5:08:44 GMT -7
I was thinking the same thing about Dr. Z's incredible prices. I don't know of any parallel in the music industry or any other industry, for that matter. I'm pretty sure I paid $750 for my Z-Best back in 1998 or 1999, and the price is still the same!! How's that for holding the line? All I can say is, thanks Doc!!! I'm dying for my SRZ too. It's on the way! It'll be here tomorrow!
PDW
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Post by dock66 on Feb 1, 2007 8:24:35 GMT -7
I've always thought that Doc does good justice with his prices....I don't have to sell my house,car ect ....to own Z products. I still cannot figure how he does it. The chassis part alone is about 8 times more pricy than a typical tack welded bent steel chassis that you find in $3000+ amps and many of those amps are not hand wired to boot. Myles, I still don't know how he can do that...but I know one thing,he makes killer goods for bargain prices. Doc,you just keep on doing excellent work Sir. Thank you for all the fine products you put out. JB
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Post by sonicgator on Feb 1, 2007 8:53:10 GMT -7
Doc could definitely sell his amps for more and people would buy them, but it does make you wonder why other amps sell for so much more when they don't offer anything else over a Z.
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Post by iggs on Feb 1, 2007 13:40:35 GMT -7
Doc could definitely sell his amps for more and people would buy them, but it does make you wonder why other amps sell for so much more when they don't offer anything else over a Z. Because Dr. Z is way too honest to put a 300% markup on his products. He charges exactly what he thinks they are worth ... and every single one is worth every penny.
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Post by myles on Feb 1, 2007 18:20:01 GMT -7
Doc could definitely sell his amps for more and people would buy them, but it does make you wonder why other amps sell for so much more when they don't offer anything else over a Z. Because Dr. Z is way too honest to put a 300% markup on his products. He charges exactly what he thinks they are worth ... and every single one is worth every penny. 300% ? Not even close by most standards. The standard is .... you take your total BOM (bill of materials) that includes all your parts, labor, and anything else to make the product. You multiply it by 5. (500%) That is the projected retail price. So .... and amp that costs $250 to build would have a $1250 projected retail and that applies to most production amps out there. That allows for the amp to be an "A" mark (50% to dealer) or a "B" mark (40% off retailer is dealer cost). That gives the dealer room to discount as well. The Doc does not go by these standards ... he sort of beats his own drum in his own way. If you just add up the parts such as the chassis, tube sockets (there are none better out there at any cost), the transformers, cab work, and look at things, with no labor in the picture at all included, the SRZ-65 should retail at well over $2,000. When I bought my first Carmen Ghia I was just amazed at the hardware for the dollar. That is when I first got into discussions with the good Doctor. It made no sense to me. I think my first opening questions to him after establishing how pricy the bare chassis alone were things like .... "well, you must not pay any rent for the factory. Was it left to you by your father?" "I guess you own your house and car free and clear and have no expenses". It just did not make sense even after he explained that he wanted to offer great amps at fair prices and he may have eluded to the fact but did not flat out say it, that many other people in the business overcharge if I read between the lines and try to take his point of view. I finally gave up trying to figure it out. Now when I have somebodies amp opened up to do a bias adjustment such as one of the class A/B amps for example, I will usually have another amp from somebody else opened to show them differences in construction and parts. I have just learned to stop trying to figure it out and just play the thing and smile a lot.
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Post by iggs on Feb 2, 2007 7:21:53 GMT -7
300% ? Not even close by most standards. The standard is .... you take your total BOM (bill of materials) that includes all your parts, labor, and anything else to make the product. You multiply it by 5. (500%) That is the projected retail price. Well, whatever the markup is, the good Doc seems to charge way less then what others do!
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Post by Lefty on Feb 2, 2007 9:03:29 GMT -7
What good is an amp you can't afford? You "basically" buy in bulk, sell in bulk. By keeping the prices down, he sells more amps. By keeping the quality up, means less down time, more sales, more word of mouth. I think Doc's prices are right on the "money", everyone else's are out of whack. Z amps is not a corporation out to get rich, coming out with a new flavor every month, cutting corners to stay in the rat race.
Z amps are the amplifiers for the working man, well built, sound great, and affordable. I wonder what the sales ratio is in the average year between Z and Carr? Carr makes great amps but they priced themselves out of of range for the everyman. I think Z found the business ratio all amp makers are looking for but can't live with the consequences.
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Post by iggs on Feb 2, 2007 9:37:11 GMT -7
Exactly ... I would challenge anyone, even with sound being as subjective as it is, to convince me that any of the other "booteek" amps are 200% better then any Dr. Z amp, because they are twice as much money. At best, I'd say there is a 2-5% objective difference. I think in that case, bragging rights are worth way more then the difference in sound.
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Post by skydog958 on Feb 2, 2007 13:50:09 GMT -7
It's funny, but if I wasn't led by the powers that be to Z amps, I would probably own either one (and just one) boutique amp from another company or I would have bought a "high end" amp from the major manufacturers. I find my luck incredulous that I ended up finding and owning some of the best amps on the planet, but also the best priced amps as well. Maybe someone up there IS watching out for me. I think it will be hard for me to ever buy or use a non-Z amp again.
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Post by dock66 on Feb 2, 2007 14:00:34 GMT -7
Hey Matt,
It is the Z force you're feeling. ;D
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Post by myles on Feb 3, 2007 12:09:32 GMT -7
Exactly ... I would challenge anyone, even with sound being as subjective as it is, to convince me that any of the other "booteek" amps are 200% better then any Dr. Z amp, because they are twice as much money. At best, I'd say there is a 2-5% objective difference. I think in that case, bragging rights are worth way more then the difference in sound. I don't agree with the 2-5% In the case of a Carmen Ghia, I have not found an amp at ten times the price that I thought was better in any way for what a Ghia brings to the table. In a 4xEL84 Vox type amp, there is little that can compare to a Stingray at any price. And ... find another "Marshallesque" amp with a duet of EL-34's that gives anything more than the SRZ-65 or is better built at even 3x the price.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 3, 2007 12:55:17 GMT -7
Exactly ... I would challenge anyone, even with sound being as subjective as it is, to convince me that any of the other "booteek" amps are 200% better then any Dr. Z amp, because they are twice as much money. At best, I'd say there is a 2-5% objective difference. I think in that case, bragging rights are worth way more then the difference in sound. I don't agree with the 2-5% In the case of a Carmen Ghia, I have not found an amp at ten times the price that I thought was better in any way for what a Ghia brings to the table. In a 4xEL84 Vox type amp, there is little that can compare to a Stingray at any price. And ... find another "Marshallesque" amp with a duet of EL-34's that gives anything more than the SRZ-65 or is better built at even 3x the price. Heh... with a bit of luck, and some side jobs, I'll have that trilogy filled out before the end of 2007. I agree with you on the Stingray Myles - never played ANYTHING like it. It is world class in every way.
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Post by iggs on Feb 3, 2007 13:43:54 GMT -7
I don't agree with the 2-5% LOL!!! I was just trying to be nice ... ;D ;D ;D
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Post by myles on Feb 4, 2007 11:53:22 GMT -7
I don't agree with the 2-5% LOL!!! I was just trying to be nice ... ;D ;D ;D .... and THAT is one reason this forum is so cool ... prople actually go our of their way to be nice and helpful. Thanks!
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Post by sonicgator on Feb 4, 2007 14:41:24 GMT -7
I don't agree with the 2-5% In the case of a Carmen Ghia, I have not found an amp at ten times the price that I thought was better in any way for what a Ghia brings to the table. In a 4xEL84 Vox type amp, there is little that can compare to a Stingray at any price. And ... find another "Marshallesque" amp with a duet of EL-34's that gives anything more than the SRZ-65 or is better built at even 3x the price. Heh... with a bit of luck, and some side jobs, I'll have that trilogy filled out before the end of 2007. I agree with you on the Stingray Myles - never played ANYTHING like it. It is world class in every way. Hahaha, you just tink you'll be done! The Evan's coming out, then you know a Mini-Z is gonna call you!
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 4, 2007 14:45:17 GMT -7
Heh... with a bit of luck, and some side jobs, I'll have that trilogy filled out before the end of 2007. I agree with you on the Stingray Myles - never played ANYTHING like it. It is world class in every way. Hahaha, you just tink you'll be done! The Evan's coming out, then you know a Mini-Z is gonna call you! I don't think so. Not because I think Evan will be bad, I've just had that, been there, done that, I'm ready to move on.
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Post by LeftyLang on Feb 19, 2007 18:40:48 GMT -7
Initial Impressions: Wow, Doc you hit a Grand Slam with this one. Very Cool amp. I bought the Z-Best with it, so I'm expecting the tone to get only better with time as the amp and speakers break in a bit. As for the gain, easily into the G'N'R or early Metallica range, though for my playing, I'm keeping it around 10 o'clock right now. Humbuckers, Single Coils, Mini-Humbuckers are all sounding great through it. Wow is that ever nice with that cab!!! I should really sell another amp to get one
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Post by Gregg White (aka stratbrat) on Feb 20, 2008 22:50:45 GMT -7
She has a new owner!
And her owner is very happy!
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Post by brad737 on Apr 23, 2008 20:54:38 GMT -7
Hey, my amp is famous!
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Post by hogridr on Apr 24, 2008 8:18:12 GMT -7
Congrats man, crank it up and wake the neighbors. Have fun.
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Post by Gregg White (aka stratbrat) on Apr 25, 2008 18:26:18 GMT -7
I don't know about famous, but she sure gets around!
I dug the red front. I think I'll redo my Ray and RX with that.
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Post by brad737 on Apr 25, 2008 23:22:35 GMT -7
The best ones do, Brother! I don't know about famous, but she sure gets around!
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Post by brad737 on Apr 25, 2008 23:24:43 GMT -7
What are you talking about, Scott? This is one of my quiet amps. Congrats man, crank it up and wake the neighbors. Have fun.
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