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Post by erock on Dec 13, 2005 11:25:32 GMT -7
Someone pointed to this board, so I thought I'd stop by and say hi. Can't wait to fire up the Z, but I've got like 7 weeks to wait Anyway, how many of you are gigging with the Z? What style of music? I'd love to hear your Z tales of tone.... peace -e
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Post by rpavich on Dec 13, 2005 12:42:01 GMT -7
Erock, If I had 7 weeks to wait for my Z28 I think I'd go insane!!!
You're gonna love it... Get ready to buy a Ghia next...trust me on that..
bob
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Post by UnclePat on Dec 13, 2005 13:29:08 GMT -7
Way cool...the 28 is one danged versatile amp. Much more than those two knobs, kinda' like the "poker face" of amps. One word of caution, however...don't be surprised if your first few sessions as a new Z owner leave you scratching your head and saying "I sound like CRAP!" These amps give you everything back that you're putting in, and then some. You'll hear stuff you've never heard before in you're playing, and that includes shi**y technique, fingerscrapes on string windings, you name it. But as a trade-off, you'll improve...a LOT. And you'll sound so much better than you ever have up until now. My first Z amp experience was not real pleasant 4 years ago. I had to really analyze why I sounded bad. Only then did I realize it was my bad (translation: sloppy) technique. I just wasn't hearing it through the lesser amps I had played. Go forth and conquer! ;D
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Post by erock on Dec 13, 2005 15:07:16 GMT -7
Cool, thanks guys. Just curious, what kind of music do you guys play? I play a lot of trippy rock, funk, jam band stuff. Although, one of my bands has taken to doing some country flavored stuff. I imagine the Z28 will kick arse for all of it! I'm mostly a Strat guy, but the LP does come out once and a while Do you guys use any OD or distortion in front, or just the amp overdrive? I've been playing an old Bassman for awhile now, with stomp box overdrive (OCD, Keeley TS9). I'd like to keep them in the lineup, and I've heard the Z28 takes pedals well. Man, I'm stoked!!!!
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Post by UnclePat on Dec 13, 2005 19:04:52 GMT -7
Mostly rockin' blues for me, with some alt. country and rockabilly/pyschobilly thrown in to break up the monotony...with Strats for the biggest part and a PRS SE Soapbar. If I have the room to crank the Z-28, I usually just plug in a delay pedal and leave it at that. If I have to watch the volume I'll use a VS Route 66 pedal with the compressor pretty much on all the time to slam the front end a little more and give me clean sustain for slide stuff. Every now and then I'll hit the distortion side of that pedal, but not very often. This is my fourth, different Z and every one of them is a pedal'ers dream.
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Post by Curt on Dec 13, 2005 19:26:00 GMT -7
Welcome erock, gonna be a long 7 weeks friend !!
Yep, gig mine, To me the Z-28 sounds best when hit with a Les Paul, I played a '67 Bassman head for quite awhile, and really liked it as a platform to flavor with pedals, you'll find the same thing with the Z-28. I use a Keeley modded BD-2 and TS-9 chained ,wonderful rig IMO.
We play Roots music (i.e. blues, blues rock, alt. country, southern rock, etc) Strat, Tele's and Lester.
As stated above, start saving for your Ghia, plug that Strat into the Ghia, get the volume above 11:00, big grins Pal !!
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Post by terryg on Dec 13, 2005 23:11:19 GMT -7
Hi and welcome. I feel for you - 7 weeks is a long time, but congratulations! What's your speaker situation? I've had my Z28 for 2-3 months now, and I'm loving it. I play anything with it. I gig in a covers band, from the Beatles to the Stones to Zeppelin to Carly Simon to The Pretenders to the Go-Gos to Pete Yorn to Neil Young to blah blah blah. Heck, now I'm playing Winter Wonderland and Here Comes Santa Claus If I were really honest with myself, I'd get rid of my distortion pedals. I don't need any of them with this amp. I'm using a Heritage "Blues Deluxe" (think 15" ES-335) with SD Pearly Gates (neck)* and SD Distortion (bridge)* and an Airbrake, driving a Z 2x10 cabinet. When I go to the pedalboard, it's to use some chorus, some delay, and some compression. I'll rock a wah if I'm bored or particularly animated. The Airbrake is actually a key factor to me - over the course of the last month or so I've observed that I run the amp hotter and hotter. It just sounds better to me. I seem to be playing in small or narrow places, and I'm often sitting on setting #2 on the AB. I roll back my guitar and/or split the pups and sometimes add compression for clean. This doesn't get me Twin clean...err, KT-45 clean...but I like hair to my clean. Kind of a 3-day-no-shave clean. I recommend considering getting in touch with Mike Kropotkin at KCA (at at some point. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the stock tubes, and the stock bias makes for a particularly nice warm crunch. I really like the Dario/5751/GT6V6R config, but I've "upgraded" to the GEC EF86, and I've found fatness (phatness?) with a nicely balanced GT12AX7M. I'm driving RCA 6V6GTYs, rectified by a JAN Phillips 5AR4. Geez, there go all my secrets Finally, get some pictures of it and send them to Myles Rose (search here for him, he's a highly regarded expert who is amazingly generous with his time, knowledge, and stuff). He has several excellent pages dedicated to Z amps on his encyclopaedic website at www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com. I too am deeply tempted by the lure of the cute little Carmen Ghia, but I'm not easily swayed. (That's a lie!). If I could ever convince myself to play the Z28 clean, I'd be hard-pressed to find a "dirty" amp that I'd gig other than the Ghia. Bang for the buck is amazing. If I were in your band, I'd totally show up with this amp. No question about it. Take it easy, and again congratulations! *I'm replacing these pickups, after all the goodness I have with them. I'm putting a pair of Bartolinis in. I may be nuts, but I love the Bartolinis I have in my ES-175.
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Post by taswegian on Dec 14, 2005 1:37:24 GMT -7
Hey TerryG, sounds like I would enjoy watching your band play, especially with the cranked Z28 with the Heritage If you have any desk tapes or sound bytes, I'd love to hear 'em. I need to ignore yours and Tele62's posts for a while!
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Post by terryg on Dec 14, 2005 9:55:03 GMT -7
heh...what you need is a Z28....don't even try to ignore us It seems people enjoy the band most at about 2AM, after quite a lot of beer has been sold. I have yet to hear a recording that I think is reasonably representative....that or we just suck. Either way, I'm not putting a lot of effort into taping at this point so quality is really not distributable, especially if I want to maintain any self-respect here My bartolinis just arrived. Nice black chunks of epoxy, mean looking. gives me the chills! Yeah - the Z28 cranked (airbraked or not) with a humbucker guitar is something we should all strive to experience at least 100x in a year.
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Post by groovergeorge on Jan 2, 2006 7:16:04 GMT -7
Hey guys,what's the average price a Z28;4x10 and 2x10 goes for 2nd hand on the Bay'? I just can't stand it anymore! I must have read every thread on this thing and I've turned into a z28 junkie that just can't wait for his next score. I've considered buying a Route 66 but I think this just might be too much amp, although the tones on that thing sound like heaven. I already own a Maz 38 and want a second amp to gig with. My main axe has been a strat over the years, but it has been taking a break and I have started using a Fralin loaded Tele and my new acquisition a P90 double cut LP TV Special which has the most rightous tone. I used to own a gem series LP that was a really great axe a couple of years ago and sold it and have regretted that big time. Why more people don't use P90's really amazes me-such a versatile pickup. Since I don't play in any big venues (100 or so patrons,indoor,small clubs, pubs,beer gardens etc, I don't need any big wattage but in saying that I just love the sound of my Maz with the volume dimed to around 2 o clock and the master as high as I can get away with without being told to turn down! Im not a big fan of master volume amps but the Maz seems quite acceptable on the 38'. Styles I play include country rock Eagles,Dire straits-Mark Knopfler etc,roots and blues stuff with a little pop/rock thrown in, middle of the road 70's tunes and good ol fashioned stuff like Led Zep and AC/DC when i really just want to rock out!
Ok I'm starting to "ramble on" (laugh),so if anyone could help me on prices and maybe even an alternative opinion to my decision to get a Z28 I would greatly appreciate it.
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Post by rcrecelius on Jan 3, 2006 9:58:42 GMT -7
Welcome erock! I just bought a Z28 myself as a second Z(1st being a Maz 38) and I should have it this week. I'll be posting with my thoughts/impressions on the 28 after I play a gig r two with it.
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Post by rpavich on Jan 3, 2006 13:13:36 GMT -7
there is a Z28 4 x 10 combo on the gear page that I'd love to get..it's very reasonably priced but my wife would shoot me..lol...
bob
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Post by terryg on Jan 5, 2006 8:11:21 GMT -7
yeah - arniez on this forum has a 4x10 combo. Seems like a lot of amp there!
groovergeorge, the Z28 is a fine amp for lots of styles of music. I've been using mine lately with my ES-175, and I'm really happy with the tone. This is through the Z 2x10 cabinet. I normally use a Heritage 335-"ish" guitar with this amp, but I'm opening my eyes to a P-90 guitar as well. I don't know about the price used, but I'd suspect in USD an amp/cab like mine could be in the $1500 range or so...used for less, I'd assume.
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