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Post by doctorice on Apr 20, 2014 8:34:42 GMT -7
The blues/rock group I'm in performs regularly at a relatively small place. It's a challenging room acoustically: the shape (roughly an L) and varying ceiling heights cause the band's mix to shift as one moves around the room. We have to keep the volume down. We've probably played there a dozen times. We’ve settled in on how to set our gear up, and we have a feel for how we sound in the room. I've been using my 1x10 Ghia combo with the Red Fang for this gig, along with my LP (the one in my avatar). Tried and true.
Having recently been playing the Z Wreck combo a lot at home, I decided it was time to try it in a live band setting. I brought it to last night’s gig.
It worked out really well. I pretty quickly settled on keeping the volume knob around 10:30, using the Comfort setting; this was how I had it set at home. I had the Brake Lite on 2, whereas at home the BL is on 4. The tone wasn’t really very different, although it certainly was nice to let the amp open up more. A couple of guitarist friends were there, and they thought the amp sounded great. Both of them have seen us before in this venue, so hearing their comments reassured me that my ears weren’t deceiving me.
As you know, the amp is very touch sensitive. I was able to exploit that a lot. Light touch and rhythm chords stayed clean; dig in and single-note fills in the same song popped right out. All without touching the guitar volume. I did have a full complement of dirt pedals and used them extensively since my Wreck settings were pretty clean. I think as I become better acquainted with the amp I could drop some of the pedals and use a higher volume knob setting coupled with working the guitar knobs even more than I already do.
We’ll be back at the same venue next month. I plan to use the Wreck again, although I may set it on Speed this time, at least to start.
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Post by wubberdubber on Apr 20, 2014 8:48:22 GMT -7
Good report. Makes me want one of these even more...I ALREADY really crave the new combo quite a bit, just can't afford it without selling pretty much everything else I have, and I'm not quite willing to part with the MAZ or the Remedy yet! What's your take on how different this amp is from your other Z's?...completely different animal, or similar to anything else?
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Post by markT on Apr 20, 2014 9:46:57 GMT -7
We’ll be back at the same venue next month. I plan to use the Wreck again, although I may set it on Speed this time, at least to start. Woh!! Gonna take a walk on the wild side huh, Mike!?? Glad you put it into live action. I used mine yesterday for the fist time as well. (see: I played my first funeral thread in the lounge)...lol Such a sweet little amp. Glad it worked well for ya. Can't wait to use mine in a band setting.
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Post by Dannydny on Apr 21, 2014 8:05:53 GMT -7
Nice report Mike. The volume at 10:30 is very usable in a small club. I've had my head/1x12 cab in a few situations at that volume with no break lite and it just smoked the room.
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Post by muZician on Apr 22, 2014 10:57:26 GMT -7
great report. after having played for a while with your combo: which are the major differences to your head/cab?
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Post by nicholas on Apr 27, 2014 11:56:27 GMT -7
Nice report. Glad it worked well for you.
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Post by doctorice on Apr 27, 2014 12:00:50 GMT -7
great report. after having played for a while with your combo: which are the major differences to your head/cab? I keep meaning to get this, but other stuff has intervened.
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Post by doctorice on May 2, 2014 11:54:56 GMT -7
We’ll be back at the same venue next month. I plan to use the Wreck again, although I may set it on Speed this time, at least to start. Woh!! Gonna take a walk on the wild side huh, Mike!?? I'm also thinking about cranking the Volume, Mark, after watching Dave Baker's demo. Glad the BL is installed.
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Post by markT on May 3, 2014 4:11:37 GMT -7
Woh!! Gonna take a walk on the wild side huh, Mike!?? I'm also thinking about cranking the Volume, Mark, after watching Dave Baker's demo. Glad the BL is installed. Go get'em Mike! Crank that thang!
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Post by doctorice on May 18, 2014 7:33:25 GMT -7
Played my second gig with the amp last night. I did go with Speed and adjusted the tone and cut knobs some. Ended up with T at noon, B at 11 and Cut around 2. Sole guitar was the Corsa-modded Les Paul.
I liked it even better than the first time out. Sat really well in our mix. I did use pedals since the base tone was pretty clean. (I tend to not run the guitar volume full up, keeping that in reserve if I need a bit more push for a solo.) I did have a delay on throughout. It was a modest slapback, mixed fairly dry; just enough to add a little ambiance around notes. All guitar controls, including pickup selector got a good workout!
It is a very rewarding amp to play, I must say.
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Post by LT on May 18, 2014 13:44:04 GMT -7
Next weekend is first gig with mine…..really looking forward to it.
On gig 2 where did you have that Volume knob set Mike? I'm thinking like you are…..maybe crank that up to noon or so (higher?) and use the BL. Roll back the GV for cleans and start to reduce dependence on ODs.
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Post by doctorice on May 18, 2014 14:09:52 GMT -7
^^^ Lou, I ended up with the volume around 10:30 and used a batch of ODs for different flavors, boost, etc. BL on 2. I think it's very feasible to go with volume around noon and work the guitar knobs even more, but I was lazy
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Post by simpleton on May 18, 2014 14:17:14 GMT -7
great to hear how much your enjoying it. don't let the ol' Ghia collect to much dust now
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Post by doctorice on May 18, 2014 17:40:01 GMT -7
^^^
The little CG has been neglected lately.
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