beano
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Posts: 17
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Post by beano on Oct 18, 2012 2:00:41 GMT -7
Just here to share the excitement...
It's been over a decade since I bought my last "serious" guitar amp (I've been mainly playing bass in bands for the past 10 years), which was a second hand red-knob Fender Twin. It was a nice sounding amp, lots of clean headroom, decent reverb and huge volume but the quality is really not there, the jacks sockets are plastic, the tube holders were flimsy and the knobs were very cheap looking to say the least, but then I was only in highschool at that time and that amp seems to have cost me a fortune, which of course is peanuts looking back today.
So fast forward some 15 years, a month ago, I found a dealer in Hong Kong (where I live now) selling Dr. Z stuff so I decided to go to the showroom. They had some stuff on display (including the one on the attached picture) so I started trying out some of them. After two visits I had tried the Maz 18, Maz 38 and EZG-50, with both 2 x 12 and 4 x 10 standard cabs.
Being a strat only player and attracted to anything red, after my second visit I decided to go for am EZG-50. Perhaps it's just the memory of that old twin, but I kept feeling attracted to the EZG with 2 x 12 conbination, the 4 x 10 sounded just too harsh in the low end, where the 2 x 12 was much warmer and better suited to my ash strat, which I brought along on my third visit.
Now that the deposit has been paid for a red head and cab set with tan grille, I'm soaked with excitement every time I think about that tone. It's everything I dreamt my twin could ever do, but with the knowledge that this thing is made to completely different standards than those production line Fenders. I guess some things just stay with you, like a first kiss, that tone of the 6L6 and 2 x 12 is burned into my mind and will be what I'll consider the best tone for the rest of my life.
I so look forward to that amp, just wanted to say thank you to the Doc for creating this product, which strikes a very sentimental note for me personally and I look to many years of enjoyment of owning this piece of kit.
I'll check back when I receive the amp, ETA is said to me end of Nov. ;D ;D
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Post by jlc on Oct 18, 2012 19:25:21 GMT -7
I have the same head, play it through several different speakers, cabinets. I agree to the comparison, but with more shaping, a great amp, with single coils or humbuckers. truthfully a fender twin reverb was my main amp for about 10 years, so i know about the tone, sometimes i can't quite describe it, but we know it when we hear and feel it. It is good to know that you have a great amp on the way, and welcome.
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Post by 22watts on Oct 18, 2012 19:52:35 GMT -7
You're going to love the EZG50. I had a twin back in the 60's, but it got destroyed in a club fire. The EZG50 will do that and more. I've had several amps since then, and this amp is my favorite by far.
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beano
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Posts: 17
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Post by beano on Oct 19, 2012 20:24:00 GMT -7
Hi guys, thanks for re-assuring my choice!
BTW, some questions regarding getting a more dirty sound at home. I now live in one of those pigeon-holes they call an apartment in HK and you can imagine if I unleash 50W of tube power, the troops will be here in a matter of minutes.
So I've got two things in mind, one is the obvious Air-Brake and the other of course is an overdrive pedal. I'm a huge SRV tone fan, so you can imagine I like the "just over the edge" tone a la El Mocambo, and since I've heard a clip of the EZG being pushed on youtube I have no worries I'll get there at large volumes, but would it be possible to get close to that tone using the Air-Brake at bedroom volumes? Or is just using an overdrive pedal easier? I've got my eyes on the Fulltone OCD.
Cash is not an issue for these items, I could get them both (actually planning to get both, but the Air-Brake is hard to find in HK). Any advice from you more experienced buys? Any suggestions are welcome, thanks in advance!
BB
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Post by 22watts on Oct 20, 2012 1:59:41 GMT -7
I have no experience with a Brake-Lite, but have heard good things. The EZG50 takes just about any pedal you put in front of it. The OCD works quite well with the EZG50. I have xotic pedals that I really love also. In fact, I have yet to hear a pedal that doesn't work with the EZG50.
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Post by mtlrecords on Nov 2, 2012 7:56:45 GMT -7
Dig deeper into the EZG-50 section and you will find quite a few posts regarding which pedals Dr. Z owners prefer through this wonderful amp.
The EZG, in my opinion, takes gain/overdrive/fuzz pedals better than just about any amp out there. For example- my SRZ-65 loves my Wren & Cuff Tall Font Russian fuzz and my JHS Morning Glory but I've had less than stellar results pushing my Field Effects Acceleron fuzz and JHS Angry Charlie through it.
No such issues with the EZG-50. It like EVERYTHING I've thrown at it. Fulltone OCD included...but my love affair with that pedal is over. It didn't stack as well as I hoped and could sound very "muffled" at settings that I otherwise would have liked. Try an Xotic AC or a Catalinbread WiiO instead. Different beasts entirely, but 2 of my faves at the moment.
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Post by rjc1811 on Nov 3, 2012 16:32:21 GMT -7
Great choice, I love my EZG-50! I run it through an Avatar 4x10 and it sounds sweet. At just over bedroom volumes it's still full and fat. I can't say I have ever taken it to true overdrive on it's own. Like everyone has said it takes pedals great, better than any other amp I have owned. What am I saying?!? it does everything better than any other amp I've owned. My favorite dirt pedal is a Keeley modded Sparkle Drive. I also own an OCD and like that as well. For fuzz I have a SD Tweak Fuzz and although it's not the greatest fuzz pedal it still sounds great through the EZG. You really can't go wrong. One word of caution, you will be getting calls from the neighbors. It's just too much fun to turn it up. Bob
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perry
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Posts: 104
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Post by perry on Nov 3, 2012 19:18:41 GMT -7
Great choice, I love my EZG-50! I run it through an Avatar 4x10 and it sounds sweet. At just over bedroom volumes it's still full and fat. I can't say I have ever taken it to true overdrive on it's own. Like everyone has said it takes pedals great, better than any other amp I have owned. What am I saying?!? it does everything better than any other amp I've owned. My favorite dirt pedal is a Keeley modded Sparkle Drive. I also own an OCD and like that as well. For fuzz I have a SD Tweak Fuzz and although it's not the greatest fuzz pedal it still sounds great through the EZG. You really can't go wrong. One word of caution, you will be getting calls from the neighbors. It's just too much fun to turn it up. Bob What speakers are you running in the Avatar? I'm wanting to get another EZG-50 with an Avatar with either Rajun Cajuns or Celestion Golds.
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Post by rjc1811 on Nov 4, 2012 10:42:15 GMT -7
Great choice, I love my EZG-50! I run it through an Avatar 4x10 and it sounds sweet. At just over bedroom volumes it's still full and fat. I can't say I have ever taken it to true overdrive on it's own. Like everyone has said it takes pedals great, better than any other amp I have owned. What am I saying?!? it does everything better than any other amp I've owned. My favorite dirt pedal is a Keeley modded Sparkle Drive. I also own an OCD and like that as well. For fuzz I have a SD Tweak Fuzz and although it's not the greatest fuzz pedal it still sounds great through the EZG. You really can't go wrong. One word of caution, you will be getting calls from the neighbors. It's just too much fun to turn it up. Bob What speakers are you running in the Avatar? I'm wanting to get another EZG-50 with an Avatar with either Rajun Cajuns or Celestion Golds. I got a good deal on the cab used. It has Celestion G10C-30's in it. They were bottom of the line Celestions, I don't think they make them anymore. I had the intention of swapping them out for some Webers but after playing it for a while I can't find anything wrong with them. Maybe I would be shocked if I A/B'ed them with better speakers but I really think they sound good. I'm not currently playing out due to my work schedule and our drummers health issues. I haven't had the chance to see how they sound in a full band setting.
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perry
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Post by perry on Nov 4, 2012 17:53:35 GMT -7
What speakers are you running in the Avatar? I'm wanting to get another EZG-50 with an Avatar with either Rajun Cajuns or Celestion Golds. I got a good deal on the cab used. It has Celestion G10C-30's in it. They were bottom of the line Celestions, I don't think they make them anymore. I had the intention of swapping them out for some Webers but after playing it for a while I can't find anything wrong with them. Maybe I would be shocked if I A/B'ed them with better speakers but I really think they sound good. I'm not currently playing out due to my work schedule and our drummers health issues. I haven't had the chance to see how they sound in a full band setting. Thanks Bob, I'm not too up with Celestion's offerings but i think Avatar still uses them? The Emi RC's are a little more American voiced but I think I'd like the Golds chime. I had the Z 4x10 but didn't think the 10" Z's were a good match with the EZG for me. Joe
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beano
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Post by beano on Nov 7, 2012 19:38:16 GMT -7
Thanks to mtlrecords, Bob and Joe for the feedback.
When I tested the EZG in the shop (it was a smalle room with the cabs standing on the floor (no fligth case or wheels), I A/B's between the 2 x 12 and the 4 x 10 standard Dr. Z cabs, I found the 4 x 10 much more louder than the 2 x 12 and the bass sounded much warmer on the 2 x 12, I guess since I actually play bass in my band, I am relating the 4 x 10 too much to a bass cabinet. The bass was just too tight and harsh for me (that is compared to the 2 x 12).
Having said that, I doubt I would have found any issues if listening to the 4 x 10 by itself, in fact if that was the only cab available I would have probably taken it (partly because it also looks so damn good under the EZG, whereas the 2 x 12 is less of a looker with that partly vinyl covered front, just personal taste...).
Anyway, almost 20 days passed, I'm still waiting and have no confirmed delivery time yet, I must say, I'm getting more and more hyped up. Guess I'll go look at some pedals now just to keep busy :-)
Will go and try the Tim and Timmy sometime soon, heard a batch arrived in Hong Kong...
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beano
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Posts: 17
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Post by beano on Nov 7, 2012 19:56:17 GMT -7
BTW, any of you more experienced guys can tell me how to work the two volumes and what it does to the tone. Since I was only able to test the EZG in a very small room where I couldn't turn it up I felt no real difference between different settings (i.e. the "pre" all the way up and "post" at 1 or the other way round sounded pretty much the same to me).
And all the air-brakes were sold out so obviously I could not try that out either. Is it my ears or am I missing something?
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Post by mtlrecords on Nov 8, 2012 8:30:46 GMT -7
Glad to be of assitance.
The Pre cranked up and Post way backed down vs Pre barely on and Post cranked are very similar sounds, in my rig. I don't usually run them like that...It doesn't push either gain stage within the amp very hard and sounds kind of nice, clean but a bit vanilla to me.
If you have to use this setting because of volume concerns you will want a couple pedals.
If you have an air-brake or can crank things up a little bit more you will here some real juicy and somewhat more diverse tones. I switch things around depending on the venue, but I currently like the pre up around 1 o'clock and post around 11 o'clock. This gets a little bit of crunch but lots of headroom when I play lightly or turn down the guitar. Check the EZG thread for other users preferred settings
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Post by SuperSonic on Nov 8, 2012 13:43:22 GMT -7
Pre down post up playing alone around the house, rich, warm, wet and open. Playing out, bring the pre up and use the post as your volume control. Gives a tighter more focused sound to cut through the mix. Wet your appetite.
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Post by rjc1811 on Nov 12, 2012 18:56:35 GMT -7
Pre down post up playing alone around the house, rich, warm, wet and open. Playing out, bring the pre up and use the post as your volume control. Gives a tighter more focused sound to cut through the mix. Wet your appetite. Cool Jam and some nice playing.
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beano
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Posts: 17
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Post by beano on Nov 20, 2012 20:41:56 GMT -7
Brrrrr, waiting for 5 weeks already...still no clue when the delivery is...starts to look more and more like a Xmas present for myself :-)
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beano
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Posts: 17
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Post by beano on Jan 2, 2013 2:26:05 GMT -7
Oh man, almost 3 months and still no sign of delivery...*sigh*....
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Post by SuperSonic on Jan 2, 2013 5:33:53 GMT -7
They are in stock and available here in th states? You might want to try Humbucker music.
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Post by rjc1811 on Jan 5, 2013 19:22:34 GMT -7
The pre and post don't act like a regular pre and post where if you crank the pre and turn down the post you get a ton of preamp distortion. I still can't say I understand how they interact even after owning it for a year+. I find they are interactive and give lots of tonal options as you vary the settings. My favorite right now is to run them parallel, both at 10:00 or both at 1:00. It seems to give me a fat sound with a lot of meat (I never was very good at discribing sounds). Pretty hard to dial up a bad sound on the EZG.
Hope you get your amp soon! It will be worth the wait.
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beano
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Posts: 17
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Post by beano on Jan 9, 2013 1:26:47 GMT -7
They are in stock and available here in th states? You might want to try Humbucker music. Thanks, but I've already paid a 30% deposit at Z's official HK dealer, so there's no getting out of it. I'm just a little frustrated because this was supposed to be a Xmas present. I'm not really playing in a band now, so actually there's no hurry, but you know it would be nice to have, right? The pre and post don't act like a regular pre and post where if you crank the pre and turn down the post you get a ton of preamp distortion. I still can't say I understand how they interact even after owning it for a year+. I find they are interactive and give lots of tonal options as you vary the settings. My favorite right now is to run them parallel, both at 10:00 or both at 1:00. It seems to give me a fat sound with a lot of meat (I never was very good at discribing sounds). Pretty hard to dial up a bad sound on the EZG. Hope you get your amp soon! It will be worth the wait. Thanks man, that's a good suggestion, indeed I'm eager to try it out once it arrives!
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beano
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Post by beano on Feb 14, 2013 22:44:08 GMT -7
Just a quick update, my EZG-50 and 2x12 has arrived in my local music shop in HK today morning. Finally after 4 months of waiting I have my originally inteded as a Christmas present to myself. I'm excited again, haven't tried the amp out yet, they're going to deliver the thing to my home tomorrow, will update the post by then!!
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Post by 22watts on Feb 15, 2013 1:02:40 GMT -7
Can't wait to hear back from you Beano. I love my EZG50. Of all the amps I've had in the 50 years that I've played guitar, the EZG50 has been my favorite.
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beano
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Post by beano on Feb 15, 2013 1:16:44 GMT -7
Aw man, just got bad news from the store, apparently the 2x12 I ordered together with the head came in the wrong color covering, it's black instead of red, now they're giving me a loaner 4x10 until they can send a new 2x12 in the correct color, bummer...
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Post by zaddn on Feb 15, 2013 8:06:11 GMT -7
That 410 should still sound great in the mean time! Hope the 212 gets back to you quick tho!
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beano
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Post by beano on Feb 20, 2013 23:52:09 GMT -7
I wrote this mail to the Dr. on his facebook page but didn't get any response, hope he sees it if I posted it here:
Dear Good Doc.,
Sorry to bother you with this, but I have a small request.
I live in Hong Kong and I've ordered an EZG-50 head in red / tan grille with matching standard 2x12 through Guitarsofa, your dealer in HK on 13th of Oct 2012, but after 4 months waiting it finally arrived today with a mismatching 2x12 covered in black.
Now the guys at Guitarsofa offered me a loaner 4x10 with salt & pepper grille until the correct 2x12 delivers, which I think is fair. My request is just, can you please help shorten the lead-time for my 2x12?
This was supposed to be a Xmas present from my wife to me, which turned into a Valentine's gift, which didn't really work out...
Please help!
Thanks & Regards,
BB
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Post by DRZ on Feb 21, 2013 3:15:40 GMT -7
Didn't see your FB post. Not sure what happened as we haven't heard from Guitar Sofa expect to say the shippment arrived in time before the New Year shut down. We filled the order as placed, sorry for your disapointment. We'll do our best to get you a new cab, but our lead times have grown to at least 12 weeks, so be patient. Thanks, DR.Z
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beano
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Post by beano on Feb 28, 2013 18:18:06 GMT -7
Didn't see your FB post. Not sure what happened as we haven't heard from Guitar Sofa expect to say the shippment arrived in time before the New Year shut down. We filled the order as placed, sorry for your disapointment. We'll do our best to get you a new cab, but our lead times have grown to at least 12 weeks, so be patient. Thanks, DR.Z Thanks Doc., I'll check again with Guitar Sofa since they said they received the wrong cabinet in the first place, I have no idea what really happened. Guess I'll have to sit out another 3 months...
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beano
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Post by beano on May 19, 2013 19:56:11 GMT -7
Didn't see your FB post. Not sure what happened as we haven't heard from Guitar Sofa expect to say the shippment arrived in time before the New Year shut down. We filled the order as placed, sorry for your disapointment. We'll do our best to get you a new cab, but our lead times have grown to at least 12 weeks, so be patient. Thanks, DR.Z Thanks Doc., I'll check again with Guitar Sofa since they said they received the wrong cabinet in the first place, I have no idea what really happened. Guess I'll have to sit out another 3 months... 3 months passed, still waiting...
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beano
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Post by beano on Jun 14, 2013 6:36:35 GMT -7
Finally received the correct speaker on 31st of May...after seven and a half months.
Anyway, thanks again doc, the amp sounds fantastic!
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Post by nmz on Jun 14, 2013 12:47:17 GMT -7
Hong Kong, far out, amazed that there is a dealer there. Enjoy your Z!
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