Post by batfish on Sept 27, 2014 10:13:53 GMT -7
Hi Folks,
I ordered a Maz 18 NR about a week ago and it just arrived. It sounds good, but I'm ambivalent, and unfortunately, the retailer I bought it from has a pretty limited return policy ( 5 days ), so I need to make a quick decision on whether or not it's a keeper.
First, a little context. I a hobby player, I play out once/week with a hobby band and I average about 1 very low key gig about every 1-2 months. I haven't gone through too much gear, so I'm not always an expert on getting a great sound out of my equipment in any context, without a lot of trial and errors.
I bought the Maz on the strength of it's reputation and figured it would be a nice choice given the music I typically play (typically roots rock, old school and modern 'alternate' country, early british rock (stones, kinks, that kind of thing). I seem to prefer 'british' voiced amps and like a lot of chime and kerang. I usually go for clean to mildly overdriven tones, but don't often play with a lot of overdrive.
Ok, my other amp is a 65Amps London Pro that I bought used several months ago. I had a hard time bonding with it, but now that I figured out how to use it, I really love it, so that's the basis of comparison with the Maz.
Long story short, initial impressions are that I prefer my London Pro and am considering returning the Maz, but want to make sure I'm giving it a fair shot.
With my London Pro, I've found that I like it best with the Master Voltage (kind of like an attentuator) turned all the way up and I turn the volume to about 2 o'clock and use my guitar volume knob for volume level and a combination of guitar volume and pick dynamics for getting in and out of grit. The amp has two channels, one with an ef86 preamp tube and the other with a 12AX7. I mostly use the ef86 side and prefer it to the 12AX7 side. Like the Maz, it has EL84 Power tubes and a Celestion G12H30 speaker.
Because I dime the master voltage on my London and turn the volume up pretty high (and use my guitar volume knob), I tried doing the same with the Maz. This doesn't work so well as when I turn the master up I get an annoying static noise with an intermittent 'beep'. The noise is influenced by both the volume and master. This probably won't matter when playing with my band, but at home, it's a drag. But perhaps this is just a dumb way of setting up the amp for low volume use? I've tried playing around with setting the master and volume at low levels, and it's definitely quieter that way and still sounds pretty good, but not as sweet (to my ear) as the London at low volume levels.
Is this static hiss and beeping normal when the master and volume are turned up? The London is very quiet on either channel, so that's what I'm comparing it too. In fairness, though, the London Pro has a setting that 'combines' the channels, and when I do that, I get a similar level of static hiss, so perhaps it's more a high gain thing and to be expected?
In any case, I find the Maz Jr to have a harsher, less 'warm' sound than my London Pro and I can't seem to find a setting that I love. It sounds good, don't get me wrong, just not as good (to my ear, and again, in my living room) as my London.
Possibilies are that I just prefer the tone stack and preamp tube I'm using with the London, perhaps the London's speaker's broken in given that I bought it used and the Maz will 'warm up' over time? Most likely, I'm just clueless on how to dial in a master volume amp like this at low volume.
My concern is that I'm selling it short, and that perhaps it will come into it's own while playing with the band, but again, have to make a pretty quick decision!
Thanks for any advice, and sorry for the length, just trying to get everything out there.
ETA - I mostly play a telecaster with traditional single coil pickups, and then usually on the bridge or middle position.
I ordered a Maz 18 NR about a week ago and it just arrived. It sounds good, but I'm ambivalent, and unfortunately, the retailer I bought it from has a pretty limited return policy ( 5 days ), so I need to make a quick decision on whether or not it's a keeper.
First, a little context. I a hobby player, I play out once/week with a hobby band and I average about 1 very low key gig about every 1-2 months. I haven't gone through too much gear, so I'm not always an expert on getting a great sound out of my equipment in any context, without a lot of trial and errors.
I bought the Maz on the strength of it's reputation and figured it would be a nice choice given the music I typically play (typically roots rock, old school and modern 'alternate' country, early british rock (stones, kinks, that kind of thing). I seem to prefer 'british' voiced amps and like a lot of chime and kerang. I usually go for clean to mildly overdriven tones, but don't often play with a lot of overdrive.
Ok, my other amp is a 65Amps London Pro that I bought used several months ago. I had a hard time bonding with it, but now that I figured out how to use it, I really love it, so that's the basis of comparison with the Maz.
Long story short, initial impressions are that I prefer my London Pro and am considering returning the Maz, but want to make sure I'm giving it a fair shot.
With my London Pro, I've found that I like it best with the Master Voltage (kind of like an attentuator) turned all the way up and I turn the volume to about 2 o'clock and use my guitar volume knob for volume level and a combination of guitar volume and pick dynamics for getting in and out of grit. The amp has two channels, one with an ef86 preamp tube and the other with a 12AX7. I mostly use the ef86 side and prefer it to the 12AX7 side. Like the Maz, it has EL84 Power tubes and a Celestion G12H30 speaker.
Because I dime the master voltage on my London and turn the volume up pretty high (and use my guitar volume knob), I tried doing the same with the Maz. This doesn't work so well as when I turn the master up I get an annoying static noise with an intermittent 'beep'. The noise is influenced by both the volume and master. This probably won't matter when playing with my band, but at home, it's a drag. But perhaps this is just a dumb way of setting up the amp for low volume use? I've tried playing around with setting the master and volume at low levels, and it's definitely quieter that way and still sounds pretty good, but not as sweet (to my ear) as the London at low volume levels.
Is this static hiss and beeping normal when the master and volume are turned up? The London is very quiet on either channel, so that's what I'm comparing it too. In fairness, though, the London Pro has a setting that 'combines' the channels, and when I do that, I get a similar level of static hiss, so perhaps it's more a high gain thing and to be expected?
In any case, I find the Maz Jr to have a harsher, less 'warm' sound than my London Pro and I can't seem to find a setting that I love. It sounds good, don't get me wrong, just not as good (to my ear, and again, in my living room) as my London.
Possibilies are that I just prefer the tone stack and preamp tube I'm using with the London, perhaps the London's speaker's broken in given that I bought it used and the Maz will 'warm up' over time? Most likely, I'm just clueless on how to dial in a master volume amp like this at low volume.
My concern is that I'm selling it short, and that perhaps it will come into it's own while playing with the band, but again, have to make a pretty quick decision!
Thanks for any advice, and sorry for the length, just trying to get everything out there.
ETA - I mostly play a telecaster with traditional single coil pickups, and then usually on the bridge or middle position.