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Post by deepsouth1 on Feb 6, 2011 14:24:01 GMT -7
I've had my EZG 50 head & 1x12" cab (g12-65) for about a year now. Here's my experience. I play Telecasters w/ no more than 5 pedals at a time, sometimes 2-3. Mostly want clean headroom to build on as I'm predominantly a country player. It seems that after the speaker broke in, I lost all of my headroom. I know, alot of you are thinking: "Crap, he's playing really loud!" Sometimes I do, according to the drummer/bass players' volumes. I've gone direct, used good power supplies, changed all cords, with/without back panel in the convertable cab etc. I got a house gig two months ago, playing classic country at a 500 seat capacity honky-tonk w/soundman every weekend. Playing Bob Wills, Ray Price, Buck Owens, Haggard...and the EZG will not clean up. I've sent it back to the Z camp for a check-up, & was told it was fine & sounded on par w/another EZG 50 head there at the shop. I've got pre/post volumes at 3 o'clock to keep up w/the band. Yep, technically, she's cranked. But no clean headroom. So, my opinion is that it's a great sounding amp; it will do what it's advertised to do which is a 50 watt blackface w/attitude & 'verb. However, it is not a replacement for an older Twin, if you're going for CLEAN. Unfortunately, I'll have to finance a decent Twin for this gig & leave the EZG for more "organic", Americana-type gigs. Once again, still a great amp!
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Post by mfirst on Feb 6, 2011 17:52:00 GMT -7
Having some experience with an ezg 50, I'm surprised to hear that. Have you tried other speakers? I'm also surprised to hear that you have to run it that loud. Seems like something is up.
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Post by deepsouth1 on Feb 7, 2011 9:44:52 GMT -7
Thanks for your response, mfirst. I must admit I'm mystified. I've tried the head w/a 100 watt celestion, replaced the speaker cord for a better quality one, tried various guitar cables, played w/out pedals, added one pedal at a time, use George L's for patch cords on my pedalboard, tried different power sources; just about any variation I can think of. When I first received the amp/cab, I was blown away at how loud & clean this amp was. Now...not so much.
Again, after sending it back to Dr. Z's repair team a few months back, it got a clean bill of health. Call me crazy, but it ain't the same amp. Sounds good, but no head room.
If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears... Thanks
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Liquids
Junior Member
Electronics!
Posts: 88
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Post by Liquids on Feb 7, 2011 11:48:24 GMT -7
Blown speaker? Friend of mine had a speaker that started sounding good, then suddenly, it kind of froze - it lets out sound but now it's about 1/3 the volume of the replacement. does happen now and again....
Are you sure you got the impedance correctly matched?
Are you sending it too hot of a signal now, not accounting for said changes?
Scientific approach...simplify, isolate all the variables individually, then test to see what factor it causing said issue, across the board. And try a solid state rectifier?
Can't think of an amp that would be clean with pre and post on 10 (3 o'clock)!
If you do decide you need something ultra loud, find an ampeg V4. In good repair, you'll be destroying your hearing by the time it breaks up, and it's got twice the tone and 3x the versatility of any twin reverb.
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Post by deepsouth1 on Feb 7, 2011 12:07:17 GMT -7
Thanks liquids. I've considered the speaker as the first issue after the head checked out OK. Plugged directly into the head w/successful head-room at lower volumes. The only reason I crank both vols. to 10 is to keep up w/ over-all band volume. But the band isn't any louder than a hundred other bands I've played with, given the room size.
I'll recheck the speaker. However, to me, the amp still didn't have satisfactory headroom when played thru a 1x12" celestion 100 watt loaded cab. And I'm def using 8 ohm speaker loads. Maybe this G12-65 has bit the bullet...
much thanks for your input
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Post by thecryingstrat on Feb 7, 2011 13:53:21 GMT -7
before giving it a go go or wanting to get another amp for that gig, i would consider running another cab.... a 2x12 with efficient speakers or a 4x10 for the matter will give you much more clean headroom. i have a celeston g1265 and i have the ezg50, i don´t think that speaker is a great clean headroom speaker. And by the way, it´s not the most efficient celestion speaker. I think it´s rated at 97db. A speaker like an eminence swamp thang or something of the sort might give you the headroom and clean authority you need. Remember that it´s the construction of the speaker which determines the speaker break up characteristics, not the wattage.
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Post by mtlrecords on Feb 8, 2011 7:18:17 GMT -7
DeepSouth1:
I had a very similar experience with the EZG-50. I asked my local dealer which Z had the most clean headroom. They steered me towards an EZG-50 with 1x12 cab. I loved the tone and am still happy with my purchase.
However, one of the first things I noticed about the EZG-50 was that while it was a pretty loud amp, it didn't have a ton of clean headroom AT THE VOLUME I was using it at.
I came to realize though, that part of it is the amp-if you have both the pre and post @ 3 o'clock it breaks up nicely at high volumes- and part of it is the speaker. The EZG-50 paired with a single G12-H65 seems to have substantially less headroom than when paired with say two greenbacks or two 75-watt Celestions. Also, You might considering miking your amp and adding some of that mic into your stage monitor...that works when I am at an outdoor show.
My "2cents"
Also, I have mentioned it before, but if you want the loudest clean amps out there I would check out a Fuchs Clean Machine (150w, verb, EQ).
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Feb 8, 2011 11:01:54 GMT -7
I'll second the trying different speakers recommendation. I'd think my EZG with the Z 4X10 could keep up with almost any drummer in a 500 seater with clean headroom. It's not a Twin but it's pretty darn loud.
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kfkm
Full Member
Revelator 61
Posts: 162
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Post by kfkm on Feb 12, 2011 1:34:26 GMT -7
I've had my EZG since it first came out. I originally played it through a 1x12 and a 2x10 cabinet. For the past six months I have owned a 4x10 Z-cabinet and it definately has much more clean headroom and is much louder through this pairing. When I used to play through the 1x12 it definately broke up much earlier.
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Post by deepsouth1 on Feb 21, 2011 14:57:47 GMT -7
I do believe the way for me to go is via a different speaker cab. Either a 4x10 or 2x12. That makes total sense to me. Thanks everyone for your input. I knew I could rely on your experiences...
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