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Post by guitarman1 on Jul 11, 2013 11:10:53 GMT -7
I stopped at a music store a few weeks ago to specifically listen to an EZG 50 for the first time and had high expectations for getting some big & fat clean headroom. Much to my surprise, the amp started breaking up heavily when either the pre or post volume controls went no higher than 9 o'clock. The treble & mid controls were set around 10 or 11 o'clock & bass around 8 o'clock. The sales person wasn't familiar with it, so he couldn't help much, but was also surprised at how much breakup there was at such low volumes. I was playing an Anderson, Les Paul style guitar with low output humbuckers.
I had just played an old Super Reverb the day before and got WAY loud with out any breakup. All of the Zs I've own (Maz Jr., Maz Sr., Stingray & Prescription ES had much more headroom. Is this normal for that amp? I asked the sales man if there might have been a problem with a bad tube, but he didn't know. My old Maz Jr. got twice as loud before it broke up.
I really wanted to like that amp and was looking for an extremely clean Blackface sound to use as a pedal platform.
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Post by Ridgeback on Jul 11, 2013 13:21:36 GMT -7
That doesn't sound right to me. I returned one after a week due to what I considered excessive bass I couldn't adjust out (since corrected, I understand). I played several HB guitars through it during the week I had it and there was no shortage of super\twin\Ray level clean headroom that I remember. I'm sure that others who've owned one for more than a week will give their opinion. Was it new? Loose\damaged tube during shipping perhaps?
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Post by mtlrecords on Jul 11, 2013 14:51:20 GMT -7
Lots of factors involved here, so it may not be one thing. My guess is there is something going on with a preamp tube or some part of the amp is damaged. Perhaps a bad speaker or speaker cable, etc.
On my EZG-50 w/ Z 4x10 cab, and a pair of classic 57's on a Gibson Les Paul, I don't get even a hint of breakup with the Pre at 9 o'clock and the post anywhere on the dial, even cranked.
I will concede that the gain on the EZG does come on sooner than I expected, based on some descriptions and reviews online, but we're talking more like the pre around 11 o'clock and post around noon or higher. And that is just a bit of grind, edge of distortion- not crunch, which is had at 3-5 o'clock.
By the way, the controls are not gain (pre) master (post) like it might seem. They are interactive and if, for example, you crank the pre but keep the post low, you might assume you would get some serious grind. You don't, for the most part, unless you are hitting it with high output pickups.
As to the description you are giving, sounds like something weird is going on. The EZG-50 is a certifiably loud, clean amp, but with the ability to do slightly overdriven tones and even full on "Fender style" distortion/fuzz at max settings. It's got more clean headroom than a MAZ 18 by quite a bit though, so it seems like something is off with that particular amp.
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Post by Jaguarguy (Mike) on Jul 11, 2013 15:44:47 GMT -7
I stopped at a music store a few weeks ago to specifically listen to an EZG 50 for the first time and had high expectations for getting some big & fat clean headroom. Much to my surprise, the amp started breaking up heavily when either the pre or post volume controls went no higher than 9 o'clock. The treble & mid controls were set around 10 or 11 o'clock & bass around 8 o'clock. The sales person wasn't familiar with it, so he couldn't help much, but was also surprised at how much breakup there was at such low volumes. I was playing an Anderson, Les Paul style guitar with low output humbuckers. I had just played an old Super Reverb the day before and got WAY loud with out any breakup. All of the Zs I've own (Maz Jr., Maz Sr., Stingray & Prescription ES had much more headroom. Is this normal for that amp? I asked the sales man if there might have been a problem with a bad tube, but he didn't know. My old Maz Jr. got twice as loud before it broke up. I really wanted to like that amp and was looking for an extremely clean Blackface sound to use as a pedal platform. After reading this I went down to the man-cave and gave it a listen. Played my 1973 Les Paul on bridge pick-up at 10. I found out (again) that the sound of this amp is highly dependent on speakers. I ran it through my stock Z-best 2x12 cab and it didn't start breaking up until after 11 or so with pre and 3 on post. As a matter of fact it didn't seem to really matter where I kept the post it was really pre that determined when it broke up. (I ran the treble and mid at about 11 - they can really make a difference. A lot of headroom and fat cleans - I forgot how good this amp can sound! I then switched to a 1x12 G12-65. Same guitar settings but the speaker starting breaking up at 9-10 on pre-amp. I was able to dial in a cleaner sound by dialing down guitar volume and/or treble and mid as well as dialing down pre and dialing up post.
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Post by bikedude on Jul 11, 2013 20:14:03 GMT -7
Sumtingwong, I'm guessing. I have to have my pre at least noon, and the post past 2 to get a hint of hair when digging in with single coils. This was last weeks gig with my stock Z-Best. Oh, and it was pretty loud , bass was almost off, treb, mids around 11-12. Great amp eh?
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