gene
Full Member
Posts: 115
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Post by gene on Jan 5, 2013 6:32:11 GMT -7
Dear Scott, I just got my Maz18nr (a head with Dr Z 2x10 cab) and this is my first post on the forum. Although I am still in the process of discovering its capabilities, I just wanted to thank you for your thread that really helped me in making my choice. When I went to my music store to try the 18 out (and others) I was prepared for the experience! Again thank you (and the other members) for compiling this. Very helpful forum!
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Post by doctorice on Jan 5, 2013 7:29:15 GMT -7
Welcome, gene, and congrats on getting a MAZ. Feel free to post pics, playing impressions, tone settings you like, gig reports, etc.
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Post by gitaryzt1985 on Mar 7, 2013 6:19:37 GMT -7
After reading much of this thread, I realized how little I know about tubes. I tend to go back and forth between Tung Sol and JJ tubes, and occasionally I get bit by the Mullard bug. Everything I've used has been new production since I don't know jack about NOS tubes and wouldn't know where to begin. The info here at least gives me a starting point to try what others have. As long as my Maz 18 sounds great out of the box, I will probably leave it that way for a while. I will definitely pick up a spare ECC83 and EL84, but I don't plan to do a lot with the tubes unless I get bored and run into some extra cash
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Post by doctorice on Mar 7, 2013 9:18:18 GMT -7
^^^
Make sure you have a matched pair of spare EL84s.
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Post by gitaryzt1985 on Mar 13, 2013 11:50:53 GMT -7
Thanks!
I read through a lot of this thread, and it's very helpful. From what I've read, I've gathered that I'd like to try some new production Mullard EL84's because of the decreased high end. I do agree that the Maz is a brightly voiced amp, and I run my treble at 11 oclock and my cut at 9 oclock or lower depending on the guitar.
But, has anyone tried new Mullard ECC83's in their Maz 18, or at least in V1? I have never been able to discern much of a difference in tube swaps before, is it more apparent in the Maz? I want to soften the Maz's top end some, but I'm not having an issue with the top end by any means. I'd just like more useable range in the cut.
My go to is usually Tung Sol, but I'd be interested in your thoughts on new production Mullards in the preamp section.
Also, if someone could recommend a NOS tube for the rectifier, that would be awesome! I know nothing of NOS tubes and want something that will give the amp a little better feel and last a long time.
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Post by rbushee on May 24, 2013 11:30:20 GMT -7
Im sure this is a dumb question. I order tubes from the Tubestore...I just usually order the recommended set for my MAZ 18 (with Reverb).
The power tubes I receive are EH EL84s...they are a matched pair.
Are the matching numbers (plate voltage) supposed to be consistent from set to set?
I have received sets with 46 and 58. IS this number usually required to be within a certain range or a specific reading?
Thanks!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2013 15:08:01 GMT -7
^^^ As I understand it those numbers don't mean a lot w/out knowing what equipment they are using to test the tubes.
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gene
Full Member
Posts: 115
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Post by gene on May 24, 2013 15:41:05 GMT -7
I ordered Mullard new production EL84s from Dougtubes. They are matched. The sticker on one box says "plate current 33.5" and on the other one "plate current 33.3"
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Post by ev3guitar on Aug 10, 2014 3:16:57 GMT -7
Dear Scott, I just got my Maz18nr (a head with Dr Z 2x10 cab) and this is my first post on the forum. Although I am still in the process of discovering its capabilities, I just wanted to thank you for your thread that really helped me in making my choice. When I went to my music store to try the 18 out (and others) I was prepared for the experience! Again thank you (and the other members) for compiling this. Very helpful forum! I just got my Maz 18 NR head this week from Humbucker Music. Still haven't been able to crank it up yet. It's killing me.
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Post by digs57 on Aug 10, 2014 7:23:43 GMT -7
youll love it...only way to really dial er in...youll like forum as well
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Post by dergit (Markus) on Mar 8, 2015 11:11:32 GMT -7
Great thread, thanks for this. I'm by no means an expert like some of the helpful folks here but I got my hands on some lamps recently and figured someone might care: First off... I probably like my MAZ cleaner than most people. I'm not really into heavy rock, I play in a post-pop kind of band with another guitarist and a bunch of synths so I do a lot of things with FX (strymon timeline and bigsky) and need to cut through pads and chords a lot. Think for instance Death Cab for Cutie if you need a Z-playing reference guitarist! What I'm after is for the amp to react to my playing as much as possible from almost clean to almost too dirty just by how I hit the strings. I want definition in complex chords and a warm, woody sound to balance the electronic sounds in our whole arrangement. The MAZ is a relatively new amp for me. I bought it exactly one month ago and have been touring with it pretty much ever since. It has spent more time on stage than in a rehearsal room so far. The limited time I did have it to myself, though, I have been tinkering a lot! The Philips 5751 is a fantastic preamp tube. It tames the amp a fair amount and dissolves chords into a lot more detail despite losing some treble which is easily compensated thanks to the fantastic Cut control. To me, the amp felt a lot more roomy than with the stock JJ ECC83S. It was a somewhat similar difference to the 1x12" vs 2x10" combo comparison I was able to do before opting for the 2x10" combo. It just feels a bit more like you can touch those guitar sounds in the room. I use them in both V1 and V2 although I might swap either or both out for recording if I need higher gain sounds with more grit and bite. The Russian military 6p14p-EW is simply spectacular. I can't comment on longevity yet but the Doc himself put it like this recently: "Hold on, it is mid February so 4 .5 month X 30 days per X 5 hrs. a day is 675 hrs. on a mismatched pair of EL 84's. A good mid-ranged matched set of JJ 84's will last twice that, an a set of matched 6n14n will easily triple that." This is the main reason I went for these tubes. Like I said, I'll be taking the MAZ on tour a lot and I'd like to avoid it dying during a set. I have a microphone pouch with replacement tubes velcroed to the inside of the combo but still, durability is an issue with cathode biased EL84 amps, I hear. Sound-wise they have a similar effect to the 5751s in V1 and V2: They make the amp quieter and cleaner. If you turn up the master more, you're pretty much back to where you were with a little less brittle high end but some more detail in the upper mids which I like a lot. As you can see from the picture, I stocked up on 6 of these to last me a while. If the Doc is correct, they should last about 2.000 hours a pair which should put my paranoid mind (OMG WHERE TO BUY ZE TUBES?!) at rest for a while. I might order another half dozen soon, though. I love them. As for rectifiers... I'm not settled yet. As far as I can tell, JJ and Sovtek are the only current production 5AR4s with Sovtek being the clear favourite. No one seems to make decent 5V4s anymore. So I went NOS again. The cheapest one I got was a Russian 5V4GA at 7,54 EUR (less than 10 bucks). Ecstatic after that bargain and out of curiousity, I spent 114 EUR (~125 bucks) on a Mullard GZ34 and, to justify that insanity, a reasonable 20,88 EUR (~23 bucks) on a USA GE 5V4GA. I'm not sure which one I like best just by playing them, so I set up my Metric Halo 2882 and a Sennheiser e606 to reamp a simple little bit of guitar through all four of them... you be the judge. I haven't messed with the PI yet... I only got the 3rd and 4th 5751 yesterday but I think they'll take away too much gain in that position, so one stock tube might stay.
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Post by deltone on Mar 8, 2015 19:47:00 GMT -7
Great post. Thanks for sharing your findings. Looking forward to hearing what you end up with in all tube slots.
Btw, watched one on your band vids. Wow!
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Post by dergit (Markus) on Mar 10, 2015 12:13:06 GMT -7
Thanks, mate! Unfortunately those were recorded before I got the MAZ... New stuff to come soon!
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Post by Scott on Oct 3, 2015 14:13:33 GMT -7
I deleted a few dead video links, and added some info under the FX Loop section... Pro tip from Greenblues58 and dnicholas100: To preserve the most of your tone when using the FX loop, use a short patch cable going out of your FX send, then use a T1M buffer, then a long cable to your pedalboard. You may also want to use a T1M buffer leaving your pedalboard, right before your long patch cable to the FX return. Info on the T1M buffer: this1smyne.com/shop/mb-mini-buffer/Thanks for the info boys... Fine job! P.S. I still love Maz 18 Jr. videos. If you have any that you like, feel free to post them up.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Nov 8, 2015 5:42:55 GMT -7
Excellent post and music, dergit! Tone starts at the rectifier tube. Please let us know when you get some clips recorded with the MAZ.
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Post by zpilot on Jun 25, 2016 7:44:37 GMT -7
Im sure this is a dumb question. I order tubes from the Tubestore...I just usually order the recommended set for my MAZ 18 (with Reverb). The power tubes I receive are EH EL84s...they are a matched pair. Are the matching numbers (plate voltage) supposed to be consistent from set to set? I have received sets with 46 and 58. IS this number usually required to be within a certain range or a specific reading? Thanks! Mike Zaite (Dr. Z) has stated several times that he does not like EH EL84's in MAZ amps. They don't hold up well.
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Post by buckaroo on Sept 12, 2016 3:28:39 GMT -7
My "little" experience about the NOS tubes on my Maz 18 Nr : I was looking for a clean sound 'cause i use my Maz with pedals, and i was searching for a warmer and "less bright" sound too. V1 : The most effective change : as a lot of people i use a 5751 tube to "clean" the amp (a 5751 JAN PHILIPS), the sound is so much smoother. V2 : i use a 12ax7 RFT which give me a ot of dynamics, "punch" and gain. The sound is less bright and fatter (sorry..that's the only words i i found to describe). V3 : i tried a lot of NOS tubes (12 ax7, 5751)..and at the end, came back to the Sovtek 12ax7 lps .. V4/V5 Power tubes : i use a set of EL84 PHILIPS for many years...i've ordered a set of 6n14h El84 tubes last month to compare 'cause my PHILIPS tubes are getting old. I found the power tubes don't influence the texture of the sound as much as the preamp tubes do. V6 : i use a 5V4G BRIMAR instead of the standard Sovtek 5AR4. The sound seemd (to my ears !) smoother, but its very "subtle". The influence on the sound of the V6 is not as evident as V1, V2, V3.
Conclusion :
For me NOS tubes (V1, V2, V3) really improve the sound of the Maz. It's not as evident with the power tubes and the rectifier one (to my ears) I know, to mix the 5751 and the RFT could appears paradoxal, but the result is really great : lots of dynamics, a fatter and less bright sound loved by my pedals !! (ps : sorry for my english language..i'm french)
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Post by zpilot on Sept 13, 2016 7:32:07 GMT -7
My "little" experience about the NOS tubes on my Maz 18 Nr : I was looking for a clean sound 'cause i use my Maz with pedals, and i was searching for a warmer and "less bright" sound too. V1 : The most effective change : as a lot of people i use a 5751 tube to "clean" the amp (a 5751 JAN PHILIPS), the sound is so much smoother. V2 : i use a 12ax7 RFT which give me a ot of dynamics, "punch" and gain. The sound is less bright and fatter (sorry..that's the only words i i found to describe). V3 : i tried a lot of NOS tubes (12 ax7, 5751)..and at the end, came back to the Sovtek 12ax7 lps .. V4/V5 Power tubes : i use a set of EL84 PHILIPS for many years...i've ordered a set of 6n14h El84 tubes last month to compare 'cause my PHILIPS tubes are getting old. I found the power tubes don't influence the texture of the sound as much as the preamp tubes do. V6 : i use a 5V4G BRIMAR instead of the standard Sovtek 5AR4. The sound seemd (to my ears !) smoother, but its very "subtle". The influence on the sound of the V6 is not as evident as V1, V2, V3.
Conclusion :
For me NOS tubes (V1, V2, V3) really improve the sound of the Maz. It's not as evident with the power tubes and the rectifier one (to my ears) I know, to mix the 5751 and the RFT could appears paradoxal, but the result is really great : lots of dynamics, a fatter and less bright sound loved by my pedals !! (ps : sorry for my english language..i'm french)You've figured out some good information there. Sadly, it took me many years and a lot of money to do that. Most of it was by trial and error because it was before the internet. Yes, those preamp tubes do make more difference than the others assuming they are all working properly. The main reason the 5V4G seems to be smoother is the plate voltage will be a little lower than with a 5AR4. And there is very little wrong with your English.
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sagebrush
New Member
Learning to play again after 20years, searching for the perfect Dr. Z amp.
Posts: 6
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Post by sagebrush on Oct 19, 2017 7:55:21 GMT -7
Anyone know where I can order a custom quilted maple blue front plate for a Dr. Z Maz 18 jr, NR?
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Post by purpletele on Oct 19, 2017 8:33:30 GMT -7
Anyone know where I can order a custom quilted maple blue front plate for a Dr. Z Maz 18 jr, NR? Harvey is the culprit.
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Post by zteamnewbie on Dec 11, 2019 7:37:15 GMT -7
I am now a first time owner of the Z Maz 18 jr combo amp from 2001. Had this thing for less than a week and I love it so much and of course I went to the inter-web to see what its all about. Then I found the Z-Talk and had to join in with all the other tube amp geeks. Tons of information here and I must say that I was having an issue with mine until I started looking here.
Was getting what I thought was some kind of vibration at a low B note with lots of bass? Last night I did some investigating and I ended up taking the wire "tube clamps" may not be what they are called off the EL 84's and all was good. I also found another thread with pictures of the Maz 18 with these little ring things around the tubes with the clamps on! Im guessing I need to get me some of them "Tube Damper Silicone Rings" for the Power tubes. Put the clamps back on an give it a try.
Btw I found them on Amazon Prime for much cheaper then other sites.
So Thank You all for the great information and now its time to "Crank It Up!"
Thanks,
Zteamnewbie.
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Post by doctorice on Dec 11, 2019 19:22:23 GMT -7
Welcome aboard, zteamnewbie. Great community here and congrats on your MAZ. It was my first Z also. I still own it.
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Post by zteamnewbie on Dec 16, 2019 9:40:15 GMT -7
Thanks, I'm loving the MAZ 18 and the Tube dampers sure helped with the vibration I was having with the EL84's.
Now I can spend some time with my MAZ and try the Amp Setting from your link. Looks like lots of cool settings to try, I may never come out of the basement?
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Post by kcmichael on Sept 16, 2020 8:26:19 GMT -7
I'm in the process of assessing what Dr. Z amp to purchase. I'll be looking at used ones. I can't find a used Mark II version, at least in my price point. There's many pre-Mark II versions available. Do you recommend the pre-Mark II versions? Also looking at used Prescription options, 18 watt and 45 watt. I'm in the EL 84 zone, having owned a Matchless Lightening 15 years ago ... what an amazing little and loud amp! I'd like to find something in this zone. Help?
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Post by doctorice on Sept 16, 2020 10:13:06 GMT -7
I'm in the process of assessing what Dr. Z amp to purchase. I'll be looking at used ones. I can't find a used Mark II version, at least in my price point. There's many pre-Mark II versions available. Do you recommend the pre-Mark II versions? Also looking at used Prescription options, 18 watt and 45 watt. I'm in the EL 84 zone, having owned a Matchless Lightening 15 years ago ... what an amazing little and loud amp! I'd like to find something in this zone. Help? I suggest you re-post this on its own (as a new post) in the MAZ 18 Jr section. I think you'll get more responses.
Welcome to Z Talk.
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