Post by 20000roads on Jun 7, 2013 8:29:34 GMT -7
I made a post in the Z28 section of the forums yesterday and I've had great responses. But to keep things unbiased I wanted to give the Route 66 fans a chance to speak their case!
I've been reading that the Z28 and RT66 are quite similar. Is this true? What initially drew me to the RT66 was (obviously...) its warm, fat, rich sound. Also, it doesn't hurt that Nels Cline has used a RT66 nearly exclusively on his last two recordings (non-Wilco recordings), as he and I have extremely similar taste in tone. If that's what I'm ultimately looking for, would I be pleased with a Z28? Or would I just end up wishing that I had purchased the RT66 instead?
On to another point... One of the reasons I've been considering the Z28 over the RT66 is the fact that I also play country and rootsy stuff quite a lot -- anywhere from old country rock in the style of Clarence White and James Burton to modern traditional country in the style of Brad Paisley. Since the Z28 is sometimes described as "Fender-y" but with more body and warmth, it's made me wonder if it might be -the amp- for me. But dammit... the richness and fullness of the RT66.... (I'll own them both eventually, but I can only swing one of them this year!). To summarize: would I be able to get great country cleans out of a RT66? (I don't use much treble. On my Tone King Imperial it's usually dialed back to around 3 when I play country, and 2 for everything else).
AND one more thing... I realize that both the Z28 and Route 66 have more volume on tap than I could foreseeably need. Which is fine, because the "cleans" are what I am after. I say "cleans" because I, like most of us, want the harmonic content that comes along with pushing a tube amp just a little bit. So that's my only remaining question. How does the RT66 do at low/moderate volume levels? I practice a lot at home, and I don't use what most people think of as "home" volume (I live in an apartment, but it's well insulated and nobody seems to give a damn!). It would be a shame if I didn't get much use out of my Z28 or RT66 at home!
Regardless of which amp I go with, I'll be getting an Air Brake to keep things manageable. But I am curious about the quality of the low/medium volume un-attenuated sound.
I've been reading that the Z28 and RT66 are quite similar. Is this true? What initially drew me to the RT66 was (obviously...) its warm, fat, rich sound. Also, it doesn't hurt that Nels Cline has used a RT66 nearly exclusively on his last two recordings (non-Wilco recordings), as he and I have extremely similar taste in tone. If that's what I'm ultimately looking for, would I be pleased with a Z28? Or would I just end up wishing that I had purchased the RT66 instead?
On to another point... One of the reasons I've been considering the Z28 over the RT66 is the fact that I also play country and rootsy stuff quite a lot -- anywhere from old country rock in the style of Clarence White and James Burton to modern traditional country in the style of Brad Paisley. Since the Z28 is sometimes described as "Fender-y" but with more body and warmth, it's made me wonder if it might be -the amp- for me. But dammit... the richness and fullness of the RT66.... (I'll own them both eventually, but I can only swing one of them this year!). To summarize: would I be able to get great country cleans out of a RT66? (I don't use much treble. On my Tone King Imperial it's usually dialed back to around 3 when I play country, and 2 for everything else).
AND one more thing... I realize that both the Z28 and Route 66 have more volume on tap than I could foreseeably need. Which is fine, because the "cleans" are what I am after. I say "cleans" because I, like most of us, want the harmonic content that comes along with pushing a tube amp just a little bit. So that's my only remaining question. How does the RT66 do at low/moderate volume levels? I practice a lot at home, and I don't use what most people think of as "home" volume (I live in an apartment, but it's well insulated and nobody seems to give a damn!). It would be a shame if I didn't get much use out of my Z28 or RT66 at home!
Regardless of which amp I go with, I'll be getting an Air Brake to keep things manageable. But I am curious about the quality of the low/medium volume un-attenuated sound.