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Post by bloozeman on Feb 7, 2015 18:55:13 GMT -7
I havent really totally bonded with my therapy yet and have had it packed away for quite some time. Last night I pulled it out and started playing on it and still wasnt totally pleased with its tone. tonihgt I started playing on it again and noticed that If I keep the master volume up full and the regular volume at about 3, and bass at about 9, mids at zero and treble at 1 it sounds pretty rich and smooth. I kept playing with that setting with my pedals and it sounded good as well, but as soon as I started turning up my mids it sounded harsh and bitey to me and not as smooth. is that my imagination or does that really happen? Im finding that most photos i see with people with their therapys, most have their mids at about noon or 1 oclock, Im finding it to be smoother and more pleasing with a strat with no mids so far. does this make sense? its more clear and defined that way. I havent tried it in a band setting yet. but with mids turned off Im actually kind of happy with the therapy today, the first time in a while. I may hold off now on dumping it off
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Post by 22watts on Feb 8, 2015 0:57:39 GMT -7
I have to keep my master at 3 o:clock or more to have body to the note, other wise it's thin. With master low, there is a thin high end character to the sound when I play my Strat, that I can't get rid of unless I turn my treble nearly off, and the mid extremely low. With master at 3 o:clock and up, it fills out, but sounds best with master wide open.
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Post by gplayer1965 on Feb 8, 2015 3:10:30 GMT -7
So far I have not experienced any of that and I have the MV around 9 O'clock or noon with mids at noon, T between noon and 1 O'clock and V at 1 O'clock to 3 o'clock
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Post by doctorice on Feb 8, 2015 7:13:25 GMT -7
Not sure this will help anyone, but when I was first using the Therapy and trying out various guitars, I'd do this: set Master and Volume around noon, with the eq knobs all fully off. (No sound will come out of the amp.) Then I'd bring up the Mid first to somewhere that sounded like a decent starting point. I'd then add Bass and Treble to shape the sound to what I was looking for. That could lead to Mid being raised or lowered.
I've also had to adjust where V ends up in conjunction with specific guitars and the guitar volume settings I tend to use. I sometimes got too thin a tone and it seemed to have some harsh preamp distortion.
Of course, speakers make a big difference. Amp settings that sound great on, say, a Z Best may not be so appealing on a different speaker.
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Post by bloozeman on Feb 8, 2015 7:41:31 GMT -7
I have to keep my master at 3 o:clock or more to have body to the note, other wise it's thin. With master low, there is a thin high end character to the sound when I play my Strat, that I can't get rid of unless I turn my treble nearly off, and the mid extremely low. With master at 3 o:clock and up, it fills out, but sounds best with master wide open. thats what Im finding as well
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Post by schultz on Feb 8, 2015 9:01:07 GMT -7
I start with everything at about 3:00 (including Volume and Master and adjust from there. Typically turning the Volume back to 2:00 and the Master up a bit. I like the Mid's up on mine when playing at higher levels.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 8, 2015 10:08:06 GMT -7
The mids will be defined by your speaker choice, for sure. But that said, I'm using a Gold here (lively mids) and have been running my mid control full up with my Strat's neck pup. However, I prefer to keep the master up around 2 o'clock, and the preamp volume up there at 2 o'clock as well. If I turn down the master and put the Airbrake to through, at the same volume it does not have the same character. I love the sound of hard working power tubes - just not the added volume.
Also, playing live is entirely different, especially with respect to midrange. You might find you have a whole different set of conclusions once you try that.
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Post by schultz on Feb 8, 2015 12:15:04 GMT -7
Yeah I meant 2:00 all across to start. I'm here now and have it set that way with the Volume at 2:30 and the Master at 2:00
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Post by Pete aka shouldb on Feb 8, 2015 15:01:55 GMT -7
SPEAKERS - that's the thing I'm discovering. Like many Z amps, it' san entire signal chain thing and speaker choice makes a HUGE difference.
I have moved away from Celestion speakers altogether as there's a highish "spike" in them I just can't dial out, and it's particularly noticeable with the Therapy. I've gone to an Eminence Governor and the spike is gone (a new one too).
Okay My settings are WAY different than most here due to the music I'm mainly playing, but if anything, my settings exaggerate the spike (MV - to taste, around 10 o'clock; B - noon; Mids - maxed; T - noon; V - 3 o'clock)
My fav Celestion is the G12 65; the V30 is taking WAY too long to break in - but the Governor trumps them both by miles - IMHO.
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Post by nmz on Feb 8, 2015 15:13:41 GMT -7
Typically I have been running (left to right) 9-9-11-2-11. But I was inspired by Pete the other night and started with the mids maxed. I backed them off to 3 and settled with 9-10-3-1-11. With my Les Paul it was killing it!!!! For OD I was hitting a KOT and if I needed more I unleashed the flying dragon:)!
There is a funky relationship with the MV-V-B. When turning he MV up I usually end up dropping the bass. As I clean it up I usually have to add bass back into it. But the thing that I think makes the most impact is the Mid adjust. It is so dynamic kind of reminds me of a Ghia's tone knob, not doing the same thing but the impact it has.
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Post by gplayer1965 on Feb 8, 2015 15:35:12 GMT -7
SPEAKERS - that's the thing I'm discovering. Like many Z amps, it' san entire signal chain thing and speaker choice makes a HUGE difference. I have moved away from Celestion speakers altogether as there's a highish "spike" in them I just can't dial out, and it's particularly noticeable with the Therapy. I've gone to an Eminence Governor and the spike is gone (a new one too). Okay My settings are WAY different than most here due to the music I'm mainly playing, but if anything, my settings exaggerate the spike (MV - to taste, around 10 o'clock; B - noon; Mids - maxed; T - noon; V - 3 o'clock) My fav Celestion is the G12 65; the V30 is taking WAY too long to break in - but the Governor trumps them both by miles - IMHO. As mentioned, speakers can make that final soundscape adjustment. The only celestion speaker I truly like is the gold, I have switched to WGS and Eminence and I am liking it Them Texas heat speakers are nice and all around
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Post by bloozeman on Feb 8, 2015 16:07:07 GMT -7
Im using eminence texas heats speakers
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Post by gplayer1965 on Feb 8, 2015 18:51:32 GMT -7
With the antidote they kill for sure. Awesome with the Therapy as well, no issues I still run the gold with the Therapy
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Post by bloozeman on Feb 8, 2015 18:54:41 GMT -7
im finding that the more the master volume is pegged up the therapy really starts to bloom and become huge. Im running mine now at full master volume and regular volume at about 9 with a brake lite at 2 clicks and its frickin loud with my pedals
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Post by gplayer1965 on Feb 8, 2015 19:31:58 GMT -7
That setting yields a nice thick clean sound
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 8, 2015 19:38:18 GMT -7
im finding that the more the master volume is pegged up the therapy really starts to bloom and become huge. Im running mine now at full master volume and regular volume at about 9 with a brake lite at 2 clicks and its frickin loud with my pedals Yeah baby - when those power tubes come on line you get the real deal, fo-sho!
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Post by doctorice on Feb 8, 2015 20:12:06 GMT -7
im finding that the more the master volume is pegged up the therapy really starts to bloom and become huge. Im running mine now at full master volume and regular volume at about 9 with a brake lite at 2 clicks and its frickin loud with my pedals I think master all the way up pretty much takes it out of the circuit, which is a nice feature. Loud -- yeah, that seems right
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2015 15:05:39 GMT -7
The mids will be defined by your speaker choice, for sure. But that said, I'm using a Gold here (lively mids) and have been running my mid control full up with my Strat's neck pup. However, I prefer to keep the master up around 2 o'clock, and the preamp volume up there at 2 o'clock as well. If I turn down the master and put the Airbrake to through, at the same volume it does not have the same character. I love the sound of hard working power tubes - just not the added volume. Also, playing live is entirely different, especially with respect to midrange. You might find you have a whole different set of conclusions once you try that. This made me go from debating about keeping the Amp to loving it. Thanks Steve, I still think I need a Remedy or Maybe a maz for that different OD tone.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 9, 2015 19:18:57 GMT -7
The mids will be defined by your speaker choice, for sure. But that said, I'm using a Gold here (lively mids) and have been running my mid control full up with my Strat's neck pup. However, I prefer to keep the master up around 2 o'clock, and the preamp volume up there at 2 o'clock as well. If I turn down the master and put the Airbrake to through, at the same volume it does not have the same character. I love the sound of hard working power tubes - just not the added volume. Also, playing live is entirely different, especially with respect to midrange. You might find you have a whole different set of conclusions once you try that. This made me go from debating about keeping the Amp to loving it. Thanks Steve, I still think I need a Remedy or Maybe a maz for that different OD tone. You definitely need a Remedy AND a Maz - they are all quite different and all quite wonderful.
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Post by nicholas on Feb 10, 2015 7:24:15 GMT -7
My amp seems to be happy with the master at or above 1:00. I really like it around 3:00 with the volume around 9:00. I noticed an oddity while messing around with the knobs the other day.
I had my guitar plugged in and guitar volume up. I wasn't playing and I turned up the master. I noticed when I swept past 1:00 or so with the master the background noise ( normal noise ) increased quite a bit right at that spot. I swept back and forth with the master and sure enough right at 1:00 the background noise ( and amp volume ) kick up a bit. As long as the master is at or above that point it sounds great. I also noticed OD pedals sound better with the M past 1:00.
Anyone else notice this when sweeping the master? Do you hear a kick up in normal background noise and amp volume at or around a certain point? Is the increase at the same spot in your amp?
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Post by doctorice on Feb 10, 2015 15:00:08 GMT -7
Yes, on the Therapy and on some other Zs also, such as my Ghia. On the Ghia it's around 2 o'clock: the volume picks up and the tone changes character a bit. I think it might be connected to what's described in this thread: ztalk.proboards.com/thread/21989/ble-sound
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Post by Pete aka shouldb on Mar 26, 2015 12:01:10 GMT -7
Okay, another variation of settings I'm going to try at the next gig: MV - as high as the venue will let me! B - 11 M - 3 T - noon V - maxed Now this has been a fun experiment, but I have to say, the usability of these settings in a covers band requires diligent use of the GV as well, so for those who just max the GV and forget it, this may be a bit OTT for you. Also, for extra drive, I am using my trusty BB, BUT with the Gain OFF and the V MAXED (T at 11, B at 1) - now this gives the amp a thick, juicy boost in Gain and a little bit more volume, but the tone matches the Therapy surprisingly well! It's like an extra 3 notches on the V of the amp.......... So, these settings are also very alive to what pups you use - it sort of exaggerates the natural sound of the pup - I'm using a bucker loaded guitar with coil taps, and by switching off the BB, selecting single coil, and rolling back the GV to about 6, I get a very usable, bright clean......... go back to buckers, max the GV and I get a very aggressive mean! Part of the reason for emphasising the GV is for solos...... at these settings, a clean boost on its own (EP in my case) will not boost the volume very much as the pre-amp s pretty saturated, but kicking on the EP or the BB, and boosting the GV, give enough volume lift, cut through to get a very passable solo lift. Interesting stuff for all us rockers out........ and with the GV about 8, no BB, I get a classic Jimmy Page Whole Lotta Love sound....... cool!
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Post by walt on Apr 25, 2015 16:00:35 GMT -7
Here's a clean setting I have been enjoying this week MV-9 B-12 M-11 T-9 V-7-8
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Post by walt on Aug 26, 2015 15:34:17 GMT -7
to update,slightly override that post up there-
the last few weeks my settings are staying the same,I have found my sound on this amp.My main guitar is a G&L s-500 which is an updated strat and has G&L's MFD pick up's which are very powerful and bright. Master 2:45 Bass 11:00 Mid noon Treble 11:15 Volume is the only thing I am changing-my basic grit setting is 12:45,clean is 8:30. The clean is stunning-open back Z 1X12,Z-12 speaker,it is what I was looking for when I bought this amp.I play clean more than not these days and it is sloppy,but still sounds great.I was looking for Dave Alvin's tone,and I have it.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Aug 29, 2015 9:23:19 GMT -7
I know for myself, one of the selling points of the Therapy was it's Master Volume. I found when I checked it out in the store that it worked well, and I could get a really nice tone at low volume. The same's true at home with my own Therapy. I'm not sure what speaker it was plugged into at the store, but I went through several speakers here at my home, ending up with the Z12 speaker. It has the clarity that the Therapy needs (I find that I need to crank the Treble control up to at least 1:00, usually more like 2 to 2:30). I get a great tone with the bass at 9:30 or so, mids at noon, and Treble around 2. Volume and Master as required. It really likes the new Z-Drive! Therapy Volume at 11:30, Z-Drive adds two more channels of fun.
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