|
Post by Maddog on Sept 13, 2014 17:59:04 GMT -7
Man..... Brothers.... I have been all over the map with this amp in the last three days: (note: playing the new, stock Therapy head thru a Dr Z Convertible cab 1 x 12 with a very well-Broken-in Celestion Gold 12" 8 ohm speaker).
My initial response: "Waaaaay too much gain!...Period!!!" Who needs a 30 watt Monza!!!! (except Billy Gibbons)? But you have to remember guys, I'm used to playing a Z-Wreck, and (mostly) a pair of old 1958 5F6A 4 x 10 tweed Bassman amps, a '57 Fender Bandmaster 3 x 10 tweed, an occasional '61 Fender Bassman, and the Dr Z M12 (now gone :0( .....Read this as, "I am NOT used to a Master Volume amp at all".....
Also: Granted, I was breaking it in with a HOT Collings I-35 (hot 335-type) guitar with Thro-baks which are punchy/ballsy pups!....
But the Therapy was just mush. Even with my partscaster Tele with Klien's Broadcaster pups, I wasn't able to get CLEAN; Period! And I NEED clean!
"Dammmm," I thought! "18 Ben Franklins for another mushy hi-gain amp....I've bought many Mesa Boogies before, and sold them quickly for the same reason".... I thought, "Doc's gonna be pissed at me when he sees this brand new amp in the BST"......
So ....disappointedly.....I thought, "well, screw it, I'll just go to the extreme and see if this baby can deliver anything I like." So, I maxxxed out the MV and zeroed the (pre-amp) Volume. Slowly increasing the Volume.......Shockingly, I found a BF Twin Reverb hidden in this amp. Incredible Power and beautiful uber chimey cleans without ANY distortion/overdrive/ break-up. As the Volume was increased, the gain (Narrow Panel Tweed 5F6A) came up and I got into a NICE crunchy range (me likey!). I said to myself, "Oh shxx, THAT'S what MarkT was talkin' about!!!!"
A giant smile came across my face as I brought the amp's "V" knob up to about 1/4 (9:00) with the Master maxxed (or even later found at 1/2 to 3/4) . The single Celestion Gold could barely handle it, but I kept cranking the juice to the amp. The Therapy gave up the goods as I hoped and held up until the 50 watt Celestion began to distort. LOUD!
I changed guitars to a "calmer" Gibson CS SG with Burst Bucker 1&2's and the amp settled back down nicely. Played for an hour or so, and then grabbed my tele and tweaked the "V" and the tone knobs and enjoyed another hour of Z-Nirvana (the feeling, not Kurt's band).
My take: It's all in the "V" knob, Brothers. The amp has plenty of grunt. I got into playing some nasty leads and the amp just kills at grunge and Tony Iommi leads, as well as Jethro Tull rhythm, but I also calmed the amp down and played some Susan Tedeschi / Trucks Stuff (we have a female vocalist) and the Therapy just excels at providing a powerful, but melodic timber to support a quiet, expressive country-style vocalist.
I found some awesome settings for clean bluesy/jazzy stuff (think Eva Cassidy / Nina Simone stuff). This amp is just incredible once you spend some time with it. The Master Volume / Volume relationship is where it all happens. The TMB tone stack is as good as all of Doc's previous amps, but to me, the secret is in the "V."
Good luck "Tone Harvestors"....If you want to take a Bold Dr Z plunge, this is a GREAT one!
Maddog!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Sean on Sept 13, 2014 18:23:46 GMT -7
Great write up. This is an amp to check out for sure.
|
|
|
Post by Baconator on Sept 13, 2014 18:32:06 GMT -7
Thanks for the honest report Lee! It took you three days to figure out that amp? Heck, it took me about 3 years to figure out how to use my Music Man properly and I don't know if after 10 years with my Boogie I know how to properly dial it in YET. Glad that you persevered and figured out what really was in there. I have yet to try a Z amp with more than 3 knobs and there's a good reason for that - I'm the idiot that can "outsmart" idiotproof. Anyhoo, I was just talking with Jimiata today about the Therapy and although I likely won't be getting one in the near future I appreciate the heads up that it might take me a while to hone in on the possibilities.
|
|
|
Post by djcakadave on Sept 13, 2014 20:26:12 GMT -7
Great post Lee, I have to say the first five paragraphs scared me. I thought what is he seeing that I have not? Then you found the Volume secret and low and behold its there its all there! This my friend is the easiest to dial in amp I have ever played. Carry on with your tone quest brother carry on
|
|
|
Post by Traumatized (Eric) on Sept 13, 2014 20:27:11 GMT -7
haha...as i started reading your account and your dissatisfaction with the gain of the amp, i was like noooooo...reverse the volumes!!! lol.
i've found that both volumes can be used interchangeably depending on if u want gain or clean. i haven't had a great amount of time to work with it yet, but found that there are a ton of tones available with the integration of those volume knobs. add the eq on top of it, and the sky's really the limit.
|
|
|
Post by pcns on Sept 13, 2014 20:44:52 GMT -7
Glad you stuck with it Lee, I told you guys the cleans were glorious! Clean to mean! Love it! Todd
|
|
|
Post by simpleton on Sept 13, 2014 20:53:43 GMT -7
I was hoping you didn't like it so I could finally say, " Well if Lee doesn't like it then I probably won't, he's so classy and all "...but alas .....I'll go take a couple of tums. When you went from BF to Tweed i whimpered quietly while wishing I could sell some stuff BUT NOTHING IS SELLING.
Awesome report brother, keep rockin' in the free world.
|
|
|
Post by Pete aka shouldb on Sept 14, 2014 0:21:53 GMT -7
"The Master Volume / Volume relationship is where it all happens. The TMB tone stack is as good as all of Doc's previous amps, but to me, the secret is in the "V." " AMEN brother Lee - you've discovered the heart of this wonderful amp
|
|
|
Post by brayks on Sept 14, 2014 6:23:41 GMT -7
Nice report Lee... or should I say Dr. V?
|
|
|
Post by doctorice on Sept 14, 2014 6:39:43 GMT -7
Excellent report, Lee. So much you can do with this amp without pedals just from twisting a few knobs.
|
|
|
Post by markT on Sept 14, 2014 7:05:04 GMT -7
Dr V!!...I mean maddog.. Why didn't you just ask me bro?? Oh, I know, I know, I'm gonna break this horse myself, Ma! Funny, you mentioned all those classic, non-master volume amps. I've never been lucky enough to play through any of them! I did play a blonde bassman once. Awesome!! Anyway, I cut my teeth on a Music Man HD-130 so have always known the " secret of the V" I dug this amp from the first note and that "raw" video I did was the first day I got the amp. Again, the Therapy my favorite Z amp to date for my needs. The ONLY thing I would change would be the range of the bass control. It's basically unusable above 10 o'clock with the cab's I've played it through. And like with other V-MV amps as the volume knob goes up the bass needs to come down. Avoid the mush. That said, I don't have any problem keeping the low end in check, and what a glorious low end it has!! Love that thump. Glad you dig it Brother Lee!! That's a tall feat for you to find a keeper new amp with all those classic amps in your barn. I'd hate to be you trying to decide between all those sweet amps, which to take to the gig!
|
|
|
Post by LT on Sept 14, 2014 9:52:06 GMT -7
DANG IT!!! You guys are killin' my feeble retirement account! I thought I was done buyin' Zs….and now this. Sounds like the Therapy is the real deal.
I just gave my son my Remedy as he's amp-less since he put everything he had into opening up his craft brewery. Maybe the Therapy is the future replacement……hmmm
|
|
|
Post by doctorice on Sept 14, 2014 10:23:32 GMT -7
^^^
I think so, Lou. Wreck + Ghia + Therapy covers a lot of bases.
|
|
|
Post by nmz on Sept 14, 2014 10:26:02 GMT -7
The volume relationship kind of reminded me of the Maz volumes. Totally agree with Mark on the bass.
|
|
|
Post by Traumatized (Eric) on Sept 14, 2014 15:32:42 GMT -7
^agreed!
|
|
|
Post by bigplay on Sept 14, 2014 19:20:51 GMT -7
Mark, I hear you on the bass. Took me a while to get use to all I needed was about 8- 9:00 worth and thats with my tele. I love this amp my Maz is not seeing much love right now.
|
|
|
Post by TBox on Sept 14, 2014 19:49:18 GMT -7
Glad you stuck with it Maddog. I'm using my MV and V the same. MV anywhere from 3:00 to Max and V around 9:00. I've never had as many complements on my sound as I've had since I started to use the Therapy. I'm using the Creamback 12 H 75 which imo is a great match for the Therapy.
|
|
|
Post by Traumatized (Eric) on Sept 15, 2014 16:40:59 GMT -7
I have to try it with the creamback, though I have the 65. I also need to try it with the gold. All I've had time to play it through so far, is a 2x10 with Z10's and it sounds phenomenal.
|
|
|
Post by gotmojo on Sept 18, 2014 5:05:37 GMT -7
Whooo! Ya scared me too, in that first paragraph. But I'm glad you twiddled those dials and found it. I'm gonna have to go back and twiddle the MV/V a bit more now. I've been pretty much running the volume at 1:30-2:00 (pretty gainy) and then dialing the MV to whatever room volume I need - never get it up more than 11:00 or so, usually running 9-10:00. Gonna have to play with those cleans a bit more ......
jj
|
|
|
Post by benttop (Steve) on Sept 18, 2014 5:20:13 GMT -7
Whooo! Ya scared me too, in that first paragraph. But I'm glad you twiddled those dials and found it. I'm gonna have to go back and twiddle the MV/V a bit more now. I've been pretty much running the volume at 1:30-2:00 (pretty gainy) and then dialing the MV to whatever room volume I need - never get it up more than 11:00 or so, usually running 9-10:00. Gonna have to play with those cleans a bit more ...... jj Push the master up over 2 o'clock - there is some magic in there.
|
|
|
Post by markT on Sept 18, 2014 6:06:31 GMT -7
^^^ True! However, I've found that anything noon and up on the MV gets into the real tone zone~ And true to Dr Z's ideas, sounds great below noon too....but seems to open up more in the afternoon time/tone zone. ps...this is with NO attenuation. I have not found the need for my AirBrake with this fine amp. So....maddog....waiting on your thoughts after several days acquaintance...
|
|
|
Post by mjm123 on Sept 18, 2014 18:43:57 GMT -7
I agree with you guys. I keep the MV at 2 pm all the time and it really opens up the amp. I do use an Aracom attenuator at home which works well with the amp. I prefer running the MV at 2 pm with an attenuator vs. using the MV to keep the volume manageable at home.
Mike
|
|
|
Post by Pete aka shouldb on Sept 19, 2014 8:14:51 GMT -7
I want the ROAR! MV to taste, V at 2 o'clock or higher for me!!
|
|
|
Post by thatstatuemoved on Sept 27, 2014 17:06:53 GMT -7
Nice report Lee--glad you found it to your liking. I too like a bunch of clean headroom and run my MV amps with master just about pegged and volume to taste.
I was wondering where on the volume knob the crunch started creeping in. Is the clean loud enough to gig with? Thanks.
|
|
|
Post by Pete aka shouldb on Sept 28, 2014 1:48:50 GMT -7
Nice report Lee--glad you found it to your liking. I too like a bunch of clean headroom and run my MV amps with master just about pegged and volume to taste. I was wondering where on the volume knob the crunch started creeping in. Is the clean loud enough to gig with? Thanks. Noon on the V is the spot, as usual with DrZ amps - above noon, gain is added, not so much volume. At 35 Watts it is plenty loud for just about any gig I can think of! Put it through a 2x12 or a 4x12 if you need to push more air.
|
|
|
Post by schultz on Oct 3, 2014 15:54:10 GMT -7
I have a Therapy head incoming and am taking notes...thanks guys!
|
|