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Post by JeffG on Jun 8, 2014 22:30:37 GMT -7
I'm careful with all of my gear but we all know that accidents happen. I was just wondering what's the worst thing that has happened to your Rem? Did it keep working afterwards? What kind of a beating can it take and still keep pumping out great tones?
I certainly don't want anything to happen to mine, and I'm not throwing it down a flight of stairs to "test" the toughness. But I don't have a backup amp and am wondering whether I'm living dangerously by not having one.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Jun 9, 2014 5:19:30 GMT -7
You should at least carry a minimum of a couple fuses, a set of matched 6V6's, and a couple of 12AX7's. That said, I gigged my Remedy steady for a year and a half without incident.
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Post by John on Jun 9, 2014 6:09:13 GMT -7
99% of the time, if something goes wrong....it's the tubes. Carry spares like Benttop said.
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Post by iluvpunz on Jun 9, 2014 6:47:28 GMT -7
If you gig out there will come a time when any tube amp has a problem. When I initially got my Remedy it would make a strange oscillating sound every once in a while. Couldn't figure it out and I ended up sending it in for the mods. I got it back from the factory and it went out in the middle of a festival gig in Cheyenne. Doc was awesome and had me take it to a service rep instead of having to send it in to the factory because I was in the middle of a busy gig schedule. I was able to stand there and help the tech find the problem. There was a weak solder joint on a cap that would separate intermittently. Ever since then the amp has been rock solid. Even the tech commented on how well the amp was built and how difficult it was to find that bad joint.
If you are a gigging musician you really should carry a backup. Tubes and fuses are good, but it takes a long time to troubleshoot problems with a bad tube. I always have an EHX 22 Caliber sitting close to my amp head in my gig bag. If something goes wrong I can pull it out, plug it in and make through the set in just about a minute. It's a life saver. I think they now make a 44 watt unit called the 44 Magnum. If you dont run a dual head rig these little pedal sized micro amps are a great way to keep your gig from going bad real fast.
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Post by BritInvasion on Jun 9, 2014 7:21:45 GMT -7
^^ I always carried an E-H 44 Magnum in my gig bag. Excellent back-up amp , size of a stomp box.
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Post by bryan0418 on Jun 9, 2014 7:52:23 GMT -7
I carry a 22 caliber little amp as well. The Z amps are built well. It is the tubes and fuses that I worry about. The little power amps will get you to the end of the set and will save the day.
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Post by Pete aka shouldb on Jun 9, 2014 8:21:49 GMT -7
there was a guy on here, a few years back, who had his Remedy dropped down a flight of steel or concrete outdoor steps by a security guy "trying to be helpful" after a gig. The tolex was bashed about a bit, but I believe he turned it on when he got home and it worked perfectly!
I wouldn't recommend trying this at home, but DrZ builds his amps like tanks!
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Post by lowbudget on Jun 9, 2014 14:01:52 GMT -7
Hey guys, I'd been thinking about one of those little 44s or 22s.
How do they sound, and are they loud enough to sit in a small-medium club mix?
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Post by iluvpunz on Jun 9, 2014 15:01:08 GMT -7
Hey guys, I'd been thinking about one of those little 44s or 22s. How do they sound, and are they loud enough to sit in a small-medium club mix? I've used my 22 Caliber a couple of times in a pinch. It's no Z but it sounded just fine and cooperated with my pedals. Had plenty of power to get me through the gig and nobody in the audience noticed. The 44 caliber has more power from what I understand, just haven't had a need to upgrade.
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Post by wubberdubber on Jun 9, 2014 15:27:48 GMT -7
Don't know how much of "a beating" the Remedy will take, but it's been my experience that hand-wired, steel-chassis amps are pretty much impervious to jolts and hits and such. I've had old Fenders and Marshalls that took plenty of that over the years and never seemed to affect them. I was loading in at a club last year and my MAZ combo fell off the dolly and went face-down on a concrete sidewalk. I made sure the tubes were still seated, otherwise it's worked fine ever since. I've never really had many issues with amps that weren't simply tube related.
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Post by JeffG on Jun 9, 2014 21:19:35 GMT -7
Looks like we're all super careful with our precious Rems! I appreciate the advice to pick up a 22 cal or 44 mag. I do like to be prepared.
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Jun 10, 2014 13:19:31 GMT -7
The things that give lesser (mass produced) amps a bad mane for reliability are things like thin circuit boards with the tube sockets soldered directly to them, thin traces on said cheap circuit boards, cheap resistors and capacitors, board mounted potentiometers, cheap filter caps, poor circuit board mounting with too much flex, trannies that barely make spec, etc.
You're not going to find any of that in a Dr. Z amp.
Doc's at the mercy of the quality of today's available tubes just like everyone else...especially rectifiers...so as others have said it's good to carry a spare set of tubes and fuses. Other than that failures of Z amps are very rare. The factory tries to give us the best tubes in each amp they ship but Russian and Chinese tube quality is still not up to the "good old days".
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Post by Maddog on Jun 10, 2014 15:12:13 GMT -7
The things that give lesser (mass produced) amps a bad mane for reliability are things like thin circuit boards with the tube sockets soldered directly to them, thin traces on said cheap circuit boards, cheap resistors and capacitors, board mounted potentiometers, cheap filter caps, poor circuit board mounting with too much flex, trannies that barely make spec, etc. You're not going to find any of that in a Dr. Z amp. Doc's at the mercy of the quality of today's available tubes just like everyone else...especially rectifiers...so as others have said it's good to carry a spare set of tubes and fuses. Other than that failures of Z amps are very rare. The factory tries to give us the best tubes in each amp they ship but Russian and Chinese tube quality is still not up to the "good old days". Phil....wasn't it you who had a child turn your Ghia (?) on under an amp cover with no speaker hooked up for a few days with no ill effects???
That's a "beating" in its own way.....
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Jun 11, 2014 3:01:12 GMT -7
The things that give lesser (mass produced) amps a bad mane for reliability are things like thin circuit boards with the tube sockets soldered directly to them, thin traces on said cheap circuit boards, cheap resistors and capacitors, board mounted potentiometers, cheap filter caps, poor circuit board mounting with too much flex, trannies that barely make spec, etc. You're not going to find any of that in a Dr. Z amp. Doc's at the mercy of the quality of today's available tubes just like everyone else...especially rectifiers...so as others have said it's good to carry a spare set of tubes and fuses. Other than that failures of Z amps are very rare. The factory tries to give us the best tubes in each amp they ship but Russian and Chinese tube quality is still not up to the "good old days". Phil....wasn't it you who had a child turn your Ghia (?) on under an amp cover with no speaker hooked up for a few days with no ill effects???
That's a "beating" in its own way.....
Yep. That was my 1998 Carmen Ghia.
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Post by kc on Jun 22, 2014 12:16:35 GMT -7
I saw this post before, but had nothing to add to the conversation .... until last night.
Here comes Mr overly-enthusiastic-air-guitar-virtuoso up on stage, he's gonna assist with the licks I'm trying to play. All's well until he loses his footing when he backs into my pedal board and proceeds to fall backwards, landing rear-end first on my Remedy. The Remedy flipped up on it's face (knobs down) and ...... nothing ..... the amp didn't flinch, kept working flawlessly and I kept playing. Coupla other folks helped him up and we finished the song. I righted the Remedy and played the rest of the night, no prob.
kc
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Post by John on Jun 22, 2014 14:30:30 GMT -7
That sounds like one of MY gigs!
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Post by JeffG on Jun 23, 2014 7:48:29 GMT -7
Oh! I cringed when I read that kc!! I'm so glad your Rem was ok! That's the kind of stuff I was curious about.
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Post by Sean on Jun 25, 2014 7:11:58 GMT -7
Sure, z amps are tough but fuses and tubes aren't. Any it is usually easier to swap over to a backup in the middle of a set/song/gig than it is to diagnose a problem on stage.
I have an old crate powerblock that is never far away during gigs. It is also useful for breaking in speakers as it has RCA inputs for cd/mp3 player.
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Post by gotmojo on Jun 29, 2014 5:06:01 GMT -7
Um .... I been playing out with the Remedy. Carry a Wreck as a backup. Never had to use it, though.
If I was gonna use the Wreck, I'd carry the Rem as backup. My Rx for no bad gigs.
jj
but .... do i need a therapy?
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