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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2014 12:50:44 GMT -7
Greetings to all Z fanatics! I recently became the owner of a 2000 Maz 38 Invasion (serial K-5165). Thus far I am very satisfied with the amp's performance, tone, and playability. However, it's hard not to notice the fact that it weighs around 180 pounds!! I'm so used to more "standard" amp adjustments (Fender BF, Vox, etc.) that learning the "Z" system of finding the perfect tone took a moment. When I found it though...WHOA! I am so impressed with this thing.
Some of the issues I am having appear to be related to the boutique nature of the amp:
1) There seems to be ZERO wiring diagrams available for the Maz 38 Invasion 2) Is the stock tube layout for an Invasion the same as the 38 SR? -Side note - all of my preamp tubes are testing below spec...so this information may be immediately helpful. The EL84's are within spec. 3) I have read a few threads about minor differences between the SR and the Invasion era...but just how different are they? 4) What are the stock speakers for this amp? (I have a Red Coat and a Celestion Vintage 30)
I removed the chassis to take some internal pictures for my dad (an amp tech) and we were both very impressed with the simplicity of the wiring. I have played a variety of PCB amps that never quite held up to the PTP sound to my ears, and I am so happy to have a PTP amp that sounds as beautiful as this one does. I'm hoping some new tubes will brighten my life up even further!
Thank you all for having me. I have so much to learn in this world it's mind-numbing.
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Post by strat59 on May 6, 2014 13:13:42 GMT -7
Welcome aboard. I would contact Dr Z with tube layout questions although I'm sure there are plenty of knowledgeable folks here that will be glad to answer your questions. I have a Maz 38 sr but I'm not familiar with specs on Invasion. You'll find great people here.
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Post by detuned on May 6, 2014 13:18:37 GMT -7
Welcome in, new Z brother!
The Invasion is one of Doc's earlier, classic designs, which I unfortunately don't know a lot about.
But as I understand it, it *is* basically a Maz 38. Enjoy your new Z!
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Post by fishman on May 6, 2014 14:22:19 GMT -7
Unless I miss my mark, the MAZ38,MAZ Studio, MAZ Invasion, Super Z, Bluesman etc are pretty much the same thing.. there were some changes I believe but I am no amp tech...but the core amp is pretty much the same I believe..They all have controls that work in strange cool ways..HA.....forget the fender vox marshall standard...does not apply to the MAZ...small adjustments can do big things and the controls are very interactive...usually they have alot of bottom end so a speaker that can handle that is key...I have had good results with several..Tonker comes to mind as well as RedFang, G12H, amp can sound good with a wide variety of speakers, 10's-12's...I never have used a 15" but I had a Chris Duarte Rivera with a 15 in it and it sounded great...hmmm...anyone got an empty 15" cab/"....HA, see how a innocent conversation can turn into GAS....sickness it is..welcome to Z land...there are a whole lotta people here who have forgot more than I will ever know...great amp...enjoy it...worry of nothing, cause believe it or not, Z actually fixes his own amps...right, better than before and the first time...I find that totally amazing...you can talk to the people who built it....sorta like this, MAZ is a "simple uncluttered circut" so is the Fender Deluxe...so you would think that most anyone could work on them...my point is, why send it to Bolt Upright to fix it, when you can have Leo Fender/Dr Z work on it? I use Z in the same breath as LF as a compliment to Z'z product..in 50 years of playing I have had em all...the only ones I have now are my old Fenders and my Z'z.....no one touches my Z amps except Z guys...just want you to know that you have the best customer service dept in the industry behind that amp...thats huge...if you have ?? call em up...get the info straight from the people who built em...and you may just get Dr. Z himself...happened to me one night at midnight, sent an email to the service dept and in 2mins I get an answer from Z himself, I explained the issue, he told me "send it to me I will make it right" for us amp guys thats the 1st Commandment...thats not to mention the amount of people on here who really know what their talking about...there is NOTHING that can go wrong with that amp that cant be taken care of...its so cool to put that part of it to bed...I was always stressing that one of my Fenders would crap out and I had 1 guy only that could do the work and get me the sounds that I wanted..I did find one other so now I have 1 for sure and 1 maybe...I like the Z way much better...non issue...You bought into a whole lotta stuff besides a MAZ when you picked up yours...all of it good..do things go wrong, sometimes for sure but you have a safety net the size of Texas....throw care into the wind and find out just what this amp can do...I tell folks it took me a year to really get inside of the amp...I got great sounds right off the bat...but now I have MY sound, I know how to get whatever I want out of the amp...endless options for tone...I have had many Z amps all good....FWIW the MAZ38NR is the Top of the Heap....it can do alot of what the others can do, it can do its own thing, it can do your thing...at the end of the day, its the MAZ38 for me..Welcome to Z
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Post by bluzman on May 6, 2014 16:33:21 GMT -7
Call em up and you'll get answers.
Congrats on your first Z-Amp!
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2014 5:12:16 GMT -7
My first??? Uh oh...I think my wife would have issues if I developed GAS again!
Also...in your professional opinions...does the fact that I didn't buy this new affect the excellent customer service that you guys speak of?
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Post by Rik on May 8, 2014 6:05:38 GMT -7
Absolutely not. The Doc stands behind all of his amps . Welcome aboard!
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Post by strat59 on May 8, 2014 7:28:57 GMT -7
My first??? Uh oh...I think my wife would have issues if I developed GAS again!
Also...in your professional opinions...does the fact that I didn't buy this new affect the excellent customer service that you guys speak of? You'll get better service than any other amp out there. I just e-mailed a question to DR Z amps yesterday expecting one of the Doc's top notch guys to answer. A little while later I got my question answered by the Doc himself. How's that for customer service? I am confident that even though Z's designs and build quality are bulletproof, should anything go wrong with one of my Z's he'll be there to get it like new again. You have made a wise choice.
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Post by mickey on May 9, 2014 1:04:12 GMT -7
These guys speak wise and true words. I've emailed the Doc with a number of questions re my Maz over the last few years, some of them bordering on stupid, and got a quick and to-the-point reply each time. Mr. Z. stands by his amps and looks after his customers like no other. Congrats on your "new" amp!
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