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Post by bloozeman on Apr 12, 2014 14:06:06 GMT -7
tell me more about the route 66. Im thinking of picking one up. I already have a maz jr and an EZG 50. Im seriously considering the route 66. I play blues/rock, and I love clean platforms and use pedals for overdrive/dirt. is the route 66 good/great for blues/rock ala Hendrix, Kenny wayne shepherd, etc..? would this be the best choice for a 3rd Z amp?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2014 14:27:40 GMT -7
Great amp for exactly what you need. Inhales pedals. Sounds great without them.
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Post by Jaguarguy (Mike) on Apr 12, 2014 14:32:03 GMT -7
Definitely works for bluesy/rock type music. When Doc designed it he had the JTM 45 Bluesbreakers type sound in his mind. Here's a couple of GMD videos with HB and one with Strats. Fits in on the low end of the KT45, Antidote, Delta 88 spectrum of amps.
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Post by southmusic70 on Apr 12, 2014 14:51:24 GMT -7
Blooze,
I'm visiting my mother out of state right now, but will be back, probably before Easter, and I'm going to sell my Route66, re-tubed/rebiased in December 2013, gigged once since then, with a clamshell cover.
So look for it on BST.
South
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Post by nmz on Apr 12, 2014 18:17:37 GMT -7
I do not own one but own a ef86 front end Z (28). I think the ef86 amps in the Z line up are probably the best pedal amps he makes. I could not believe until I heard it, truly amazing.
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Post by southmusic70 on Apr 12, 2014 18:31:32 GMT -7
Nmz is absolutely right about the ef86 front-end Zs
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Post by savage8190 on Apr 14, 2014 9:09:31 GMT -7
Love the EF86 Z's...and the Route is no exception. OOZES thick blues tones! Gotta crank it up to get that natural overdrive though and the Route can be a loud amp.
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Post by edoetsch on Apr 14, 2014 9:30:35 GMT -7
tell me more about the route 66. Im thinking of picking one up. I already have a maz jr and an EZG 50. Im seriously considering the route 66. I play blues/rock, and I love clean platforms and use pedals for overdrive/dirt. is the route 66 good/great for blues/rock ala Hendrix, Kenny wayne shepherd, etc..? would this be the best choice for a 3rd Z amp? IMO, the only slight drawback of the Route 66 WRT pedals is that bass-centric fuzz pedals can lose their characteristics as the 66 begins to breakup. For example I never play my Big Muff through it. I go with the KT-45 which mainatains the Muff's characteristics. However, boosters (treble especially), overdrives and Fuzz Faces (especially with the volume slightly backed off) are THE BOMB in the Route
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Post by jb on Apr 15, 2014 14:41:22 GMT -7
I find it to be the best amp I have for my telecaster due to the strong mids. Great amp.
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Post by dixiechicken on Apr 20, 2014 7:32:37 GMT -7
DC here!
Yes it's a fantastic amp with a Telecaster guitar. I get kudos for that combo on every gig I do.
It gives the Telecaster a fuller body to carry the twang out to the audience.
Cheers: Dixiechicken!
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Post by jb on Apr 20, 2014 10:09:24 GMT -7
That's what I meant to say, that fuller body twang thang:)
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Post by gplayer1965 on Apr 20, 2014 15:24:07 GMT -7
there is a nice one for sale at the BST
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Post by bloozeman on Apr 20, 2014 15:27:09 GMT -7
does it have a big mid hump? because if it does, that just completely turned me off from it.
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Post by southmusic70 on Apr 20, 2014 17:35:22 GMT -7
I think it adds a good bit of girth to guitars with single coil pickups, but I wouldn't call it a "big mid hump." We all hear differently, and I personally like the thickness that it gives a Strat or Tele; I would call it "more authority." I'm about to put mine on BST not because I don't like it, but because I just don't get many calls where I use a Strat, and I can get a good sound out of my Tele through my KT45. I've found the Route 66 excellent for use with archtops for jazz, by the way.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2014 22:18:09 GMT -7
It's not a hump. It does the lower mid thing very nicely. That and the ef85 front ent help give it that milkshake thickness!
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Post by gplayer1965 on Apr 22, 2014 0:55:01 GMT -7
It's not a hump. It does the lower mid thing very nicely. That and the ef85 front ent help give it that milkshake thickness! yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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Post by kc on May 9, 2014 13:22:49 GMT -7
Here's the text from Guitar Player mag's review of it in 1999. They reviewed both the Route 66 and Soldano SLO 100, only the 66 text is below.
Dr Z Route 66
Guitar Player Magazine
January 1999
Working guitarists are constantly looking for ways to arm themselves with better sounding, more compact amplifiers. The Soldano SLO 100 combo and Dr Z Route 66 are no frills machines designed for maximum tone rather than myriad features. The Soldano brings the power of the legendary SLO 100 head into a combo format, while the Route 66 is a small head that provides an astonishing range of "big amp" sounds.
High End Hardware / Dr Z Route 66
Sporting treble, bass and volume controls, the Dr z Route 66 head ($1499 as tested with hardwood front; $1399 with grillecloth front) is about as simple as an amplifier can get. The single channel, 32 watt amp uses a pair of Groove Tubes KT66 output tubes - new productions versions of the tube found in various British amps of the '60's, most notably the Marshall model 1962 that was immortalized on John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton. The Route 66 is a unique design, however, that uses an ultralinear output stage (think vintage hi-fi and no negative feedback a la Vox AC30).
Under The Hood
Inside the Route 66's brushed aluminum chassis is neat point-to-point wiring, a glass epoxy turret-style board, proprietary coupling caps, chassis-mounted phenolic tube sockets and carbon-comp resistors. The Route 66's preamp uses a 12AX7 phase inverter (which drives the output tubes) and an EF86 for the input stage, a 9-pin pentode that, thanks to its higher output, allows for a simpler circuit design. The rectifier is a GZ34. Three 1/4" jacks are provided for 4 ohm, 8 ohm and 16 ohm speakers.
Get Your Kicks
We tested the Route 66 through a variety of cabinets, including an open back Marshall JCM 2000 2x12 loaded with Celestion Vintage 30's, a Vintage-30 equipped 4x12 Marshall straight cabinet and a Buzz Feiten closed-back 2x12 equipped with 25-watt Celestion Greenbacks. Our test guitars included a PRS McCarty, a '61 Les Paul Jr, a Fender American Standard Strat and a '62 Re-issue Tele Custom.
The Route 66 is one of those rare amps that radiate tonal magic from the get-go. It delivers an abundance of smooth punch at high volume levels and is so responsive that dialing in clean and dirty tones requires little more than the appropriate twist of your guitar's volume knob.
The Route 66's sensitivity and dynamic response allows performance nuances to be replicated with remarkable musicality. Clean tones sparkle with a sweet brilliance that is wholly distinctive. Couple that with the pronounced midrange character of the KT66's and the amps complexity is nothing short of amazing. As you push the Route 66 towards breakup, it stays smooth and rich, never resorting to harshness. The bass frequencies also remain tight and focused, even with the volume fully cranked.
The Route 66 sounds exceptional with a variety of overdrive, delay and modulation stompboxes and the amps eq is voiced in such a way that I was unable to dial up a bad sound. Plugging into a 4x12 cab only increased the Route 66's machismo factor, producing significantly more midrange punch and low end.
End of the Road
The Route 66 delivers the sonic equivalent of a five-course meal on a low-calorie platter and its diminutive size and weight (28 lbs) eases the burden of lugging a two-piece rig. It's no easy feat for a single channel amplifier to provide stellar clean and distortion tones, but the Route 66 steps up to the plate and hits a McGwire-esque homerun. What a cool amp -- and it comes with a lifetime warranty!
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Post by ghostdriver on May 12, 2014 17:34:13 GMT -7
I found one for sale about a year ago for a very low price and it was local. I passed it up. What was I thinking! I think I'll hunt for one again because it sounds like something I'd like.
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Post by Mark (Basement Enthusiast) on May 12, 2014 19:51:26 GMT -7
I think the Route would be just what you're lookin' for, blooze. Plus, for your 3rd Z, I think you should really have one of Doc's EF86 T-B-V amps. There's something so simple yet amazingly versatile about that preamp.. just awesome.
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Post by bloozeman on May 12, 2014 20:03:13 GMT -7
The route 66 will be my next amp. Ive been gasing so bad for a 52 hot rod telecaster for the past year and I finally made a decision to buy one on ebay last night and put the rt 66 on hold for a while but it will definitely be my next Amp
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Post by gplayer1965 on May 13, 2014 14:41:06 GMT -7
RT 66 is the way to go...I am letting mine go cheap just because I have to
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Post by Baconator on May 15, 2014 11:09:45 GMT -7
The route 66 will be my next amp. Ive been gasing so bad for a 52 hot rod telecaster for the past year and I finally made a decision to buy one on ebay last night and put the rt 66 on hold for a while but it will definitely be my next Amp The Route is perfect for teles. Of course it's also great for pretty much any other type of electric guitar as well. I'd love to get a Z-Wreck, but that would force me to sell my Route 66 and I don't think that's going to happen.
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Post by jb on May 15, 2014 14:51:25 GMT -7
If you can handle the volume that the Rt 66 delivers, its an amazing sounding amp. When I crank it up, it just gives me goose bumps and makes my pant legs shiver:) I also have a Ghia, which I love, but its not as in your face as the Route when cranked.
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on May 22, 2014 8:47:58 GMT -7
Keep in mind that there's two different versions of the Route 66 out there. The ones made from 1998-2000something (2001 maybe? I Forget.) have lower power supply filtering. They have more of the overtone/old Free sound Paul Kosoff was getting back in the early '70s. The ones made after that to the present have a little harder, brighter sound like a little KT45 DNA was spliced in. Either one sounds great, just different.
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Post by bloozeman on May 22, 2014 9:03:36 GMT -7
Keep in mind that there's two different versions of the Route 66 out there. The ones made from 1998-2000something (2001 maybe? I Forget.) have lower power supply filtering. They have more of the overtone/old Free sound Paul Kosoff was getting back in the early '70s. The ones made after that to the present have a little harder, brighter sound like a little KT45 DNA was spliced in. Either one sounds great, just different. which is the better sounding of the 2 in your opinion phil? are the older ones the ones that have problems with "ghost notes" that Ive read people complaining about?
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on May 22, 2014 13:57:10 GMT -7
Keep in mind that there's two different versions of the Route 66 out there. The ones made from 1998-2000something (2001 maybe? I Forget.) have lower power supply filtering. They have more of the overtone/old Free sound Paul Kosoff was getting back in the early '70s. The ones made after that to the present have a little harder, brighter sound like a little KT45 DNA was spliced in. Either one sounds great, just different. which is the better sounding of the 2 in your opinion phil? are the older ones the ones that have problems with "ghost notes" that Ive read people complaining about? Well, you asked for my opinion so I'll give it to you That's all it is...one man's opinion. To answer your second question first, yes, the early ones did have "overtones" or ghost notes and yes, some people on the Internet complained about it. The lower-filtered amp with the overtones is the same amp I fell in love with (my first Z, serial #8, pre-ordered from the Doc in June of 1998), the same one Mike Fuller praised, and the same one that Guitar Player gave its first ever Editors Pick award to. Doc designed it to have that fat, screaming sound that lower-filtered Marshall amps produced. (That's one of the amp design secrets: many amps are too tightly regulated. That nice loose broken-in feel comes from a correctly designed power and filtering section). It pretty much sounds exactly like this...check out the solo after the 2:00 mark: Some people on the 'net complained that it sounded atonal or dissonant and the Doc ended up adding some capacitance to the filtering section. The result is that the overtones were eliminated and the amp sounds a little harder and to my ears a little brighter but that may be differences in tubes which are very readily shown by this amp due to its short circuit path. I'll admit that the overtones are unique and may not be appreciated by all players. I think that if you like Peter Green, early Mac, Bluesbreakers, early Free, Bad Co. etc. the early ones, well, rock I don't think you can go wrong with the newer ones (especially for rock or blues) but the old ones have a certain thick "thing"...almost like playing two amps at once. Also if all the older ones are like mine they've got a really cool pick attack/transient...very supple feeling like the amp is reading your mind and adjusting like a fantastic compressor. I called it "hitting a velvet pillow with a metal glove" It's a really round sounding amp that makes Strats and Teles sound like Eric Johnson's thousand pound violin. FWIW my Delta 88 has almost the exact same attack...aggressive but non-fatiguing at the same time.
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Post by eliot1025 on May 22, 2014 22:34:39 GMT -7
I had this amp for a while. To me the most important things to know about it are -
It's dark - there's very little sparkle or chime going on here. It's not a mistake, this amp is intended to sound that way. I think it's a fantastic Jazz guitar amp (especially when paired with a clean, bright speaker i.e EVM12L, or a JBL).
It's an excellent platform for pedals.
The breakup is on the smooth side - less crunch than a classic Marshall, less raw grit than a tweed or blackface Fender.
The headroom is average.
It's unique, the Doc gave it a voice all it's own, so don't expect it to sound like something you've already heard (unless you've heard a Route 66).
Personal note - It's beautiful in it's own way but I didn't keep mine - too smooth and way too dark for me. If I wanted a Jazz amp I don't think I'd even shop around, I'd go straight for this amp. If you're looking for lots of headroom in the Z lineup check out the KT45. It has the 2nd most headroom (the EZG50 has the most). It has a Vox-ish tone so it's different than your other two Zs.
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Post by bloozeman on May 23, 2014 4:47:12 GMT -7
which is the better sounding of the 2 in your opinion phil? are the older ones the ones that have problems with "ghost notes" that Ive read people complaining about? Well, you asked for my opinion so I'll give it to you That's all it is...one man's opinion. To answer your second question first, yes, the early ones did have "overtones" or ghost notes and yes, some people on the Internet complained about it. The lower-filtered amp with the overtones is the same amp I fell in love with (my first Z, serial #8, pre-ordered from the Doc in June of 1998), the same one Mike Fuller praised, and the same one that Guitar Player gave its first ever Editors Pick award to. Doc designed it to have that fat, screaming sound that lower-filtered Marshall amps produced. (That's one of the amp design secrets: many amps are too tightly regulated. That nice loose broken-in feel comes from a correctly designed power and filtering section). It pretty much sounds exactly like this...check out the solo after the 2:00 mark: Some people on the 'net complained that it sounded atonal or dissonant and the Doc ended up adding some capacitance to the filtering section. The result is that the overtones were eliminated and the amp sounds a little harder and to my ears a little brighter but that may be differences in tubes which are very readily shown by this amp due to its short circuit path. I'll admit that the overtones are unique and may not be appreciated by all players. I think that if you like Peter Green, early Mac, Bluesbreakers, early Free, Bad Co. etc. the early ones, well, rock I don't think you can go wrong with the newer ones (especially for rock or blues) but the old ones have a certain thick "thing"...almost like playing two amps at once. Also if all the older ones are like mine they've got a really cool pick attack/transient...very supple feeling like the amp is reading your mind and adjusting like a fantastic compressor. I called it "hitting a velvet pillow with a metal glove" It's a really round sounding amp that makes Strats and Teles sound like Eric Johnson's thousand pound violin. FWIW my Delta 88 has almost the exact same attack...aggressive but non-fatiguing at the same time. Thanks Phil for the detailed info, I appreciate it. gives something to think about
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on May 23, 2014 9:24:19 GMT -7
You're welcome bloozeman. I also agree with what eliot1025 said above. The 66 is definitely a "darker" amp than amps like the KT45 or RxES. Having said that I have never wished for more highs from my 66 or 88. It doesn't have the "cut" that some amps have (especially certain Marshalls) but it has plenty of harmonics and "piano-like clarity" as the Doc once said. It doesn't sound dull at all. It makes bridge pickups sound fat. Also there's an older lower-filtered "Interstate" 66 on the Buy, Sell, and Trade board right now. ztalk.proboards.com/thread/62089/interstate-rt66-950-sale-till
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Post by Brimstone on Jul 17, 2014 18:13:49 GMT -7
Match the 66 with a Z-Best cab. Killer combination ! I plug my LP or SG straight in and get taken right back to the '70's. A word of caution, it is one loud beastie !!
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