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Post by mike11b on Feb 22, 2015 12:57:43 GMT -7
Ok so after going back and forth between which amp to buy, I decided the Stangray was for me. I ordered a Z best 2x12 cab and I'm wondering whether I should go with Celestion golds or a combination of Gold and Blue?
I bought the airbrake since I'm gonna have to crank this baby to get the tones I'm gonna be going for. I play country so I really just want a killer clean and slightly overdriven tone which I can get from pedals.
Think it's important for me to say that I'm a hard rock convert that has always played Mesa rectifiers, so V30s were pretty standard for me and I'm guessing I'll have to throw out everything I thought I knew about tone-stack with this head. lol
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Post by John on Feb 23, 2015 8:36:11 GMT -7
Welcome to the forum.
Wow...going from Mesa Rectifiers to a Stangray....that's going to be quite a change!
In general, alnico speakers don't get along with closed back cabinets. (but there are many exceptions to that rule) There is such a small difference in tone between a blue and gold. I don't think you could go wrong with either combo you've mentioned.
Yes, your knowledge of Mesa tone stacks isn't going to help you here. I would suggest setting both cut and tone somewhere between 10:00 and noon. Then close your eyes and make adjustments from there. I would start with the tone knob. Cut second.
Turning the tone knob clockwise adds bass and treble. Personally, I had both the tone and cut at about 10:00. You want killer clean? This amp is IT!
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Post by mike11b on Feb 23, 2015 9:24:12 GMT -7
Thanx for the response John! I'm actually thinking about asking the store that I bought from if it's too late to switch to the 1x12 convertible cab with a celestion gold. I just purchased about a week and a half ago, but I've already had to have them send a couple emails to Dr Z regarding tolex and grill colors. I'm afraid their going to get ticked and say no, but it's my frickin money you know.
I def don't need 2x12 for any reason and I'm guessing the 1x12 with a gold is going to be plenty loud for anything I'm ever going to do.
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Post by Baconator on Feb 23, 2015 9:49:52 GMT -7
Thanx for the response John! I'm actually thinking about asking the store that I bought from if it's too late to switch to the 1x12 convertible cab with a celestion gold. I just purchased about a week and a half ago, but I've already had to have them send a couple emails to Dr Z regarding tolex and grill colors. I'm afraid their going to get ticked and say no, but it's my frickin money you know. I def don't need 2x12 for any reason and I'm guessing the 1x12 with a gold is going to be plenty loud for anything I'm ever going to do. If you can switch to a 1x12 I'd say that's probably a fine idea. I've got a Z-Best and it's a fantastic sounding cab, but it is really loud and a bit of a pain to lug around. A 1x12 with a gold should be plenty loud enough for most places you'd play with a Stangray and if you can't hear yourself with that setup you'd want monitoring anyways IMO.
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Post by mike11b on Feb 23, 2015 10:22:37 GMT -7
Dude. I love bacon. Anyway.... Yeah I'm gonna just tell the store to contact Dr Z and ask if I can make the switch. The price for the 1x12 with upgrade to a gold speaker is almost the same as the Z best anyway as far as price. Otherwise I'll just have to stick with the Z best.
I just wish I would have known more about speakers going into this purchase. If it's not a Mesa traditional or a 1960a cab I haven't played through it. I also wish I knew that this forum existed.
Thanx for the help yall
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Post by John on Feb 23, 2015 11:27:41 GMT -7
Here's another idea....I really liked my 'ray with a 1x12 Creamback M.
Creambacks/greenbacks/gold/blue...to me, are all similar in tone. Yes, there are some differences, but at 97db...I really liked the inefficient/less volume of the creamback....less attenuation and more amp volume. The 'ray seems to sound best with these speakers.
I used to have a stangray combo with a gold. It was SO loud. The gold at 100db is a very efficient speaker. They didn't make a creamback back then.
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Post by captainron (Ron) on Feb 24, 2015 8:20:36 GMT -7
Hey Mike11b, and welcome to the Z family! There is a lot of great people on here...and loads of info! I got my first Z last year...The StangRay 1x12 combo with the gold! I love it! I play country/southern rock...and Contemporary Christian/Christian rock. The gold spk takes the longest to break in....but it is glorious even out of the box. I can not imagine you needing ANYTHING louder than a 1x12 gold!(unless your like Brad Paisley and play for 100,000) I just picked up a Stangray head and matched it with a Z 1x12 cab with the Cream back "M". The cream sounds good...it is just not broke in yet! The Ray sounds really great in my Avatar 2x12(same speaker combo as Zbest V30 and 70th ann H). You can't go wrong with the gold, blue, Cream back "M", or even green backs...IMO. The combo I have is 66lbs...so I got the head and 1x12 to make it lighter to haul in and out...plus I think heads sound better to my ears. Congratulations on picking a TONE machine! You hit a home run with this amp!
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Post by mike11b on Feb 24, 2015 12:41:41 GMT -7
Yea I'm stoked. I actually talked to my sales guy today and he hadn't placed the order with DRZ yet so I was able to switch to the 1x12.
Here's what I'm getting: -Stangray head / black with tan grill -Matching 1x12 convertible cab with celestial gold -Zairbrake
Also ordered my first telecaster... 52RI. I can't wait to tear my fingers up.
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Post by Jaguarguy (Mike) on Feb 24, 2015 14:22:13 GMT -7
You're gonna have a lot of fun with that rig Welcome to the forum!
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Post by stormin on Feb 24, 2015 19:29:46 GMT -7
Ok so after going back and forth between which amp to buy, I decided the Stangray was for me. I ordered a Z best 2x12 cab and I'm wondering whether I should go with Celestion golds or a combination of Gold and Blue? I bought the airbrake since I'm gonna have to crank this baby to get the tones I'm gonna be going for. I play country so I really just want a killer clean and slightly overdriven tone which I can get from pedals. Think it's important for me to say that I'm a hard rock convert that has always played Mesa rectifiers, so V30s were pretty standard for me and I'm guessing I'll have to throw out everything I thought I knew about tone-stack with this head. lol I have plenty of experience with Rectos and V30s, so maybe I can help here (I also play a 52ri). The Stangray is a very loud amp that cuts thru amazingly well. I chose to run my head thru an open 2x12 with a pair of a Greenbacks. The 97db efficiency of G12M helps tame the Ray just a bit and the Greenback tone feels very welcome in a classic rock kinda way. It made the EL84 transition a lot easier for me. I still think the amp can twang with the best of them like this, but it feels very familiar when I wanna get my Skynyrd or ZZ Top going by using an AC Booster. I can even get it into Marshall territory if I crank up my BB Preamp. Hope this helps...
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Post by mike11b on Apr 15, 2015 5:56:12 GMT -7
Sooooo its April and I have no amp yet. Is it normal for these to take this long to be built?
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Post by imyurhuckleberry on Apr 23, 2015 17:00:57 GMT -7
Not to my knowledge, you could order one off Humbucker right now and have it in a couple days.
ps...I second the Gold, or a 2x12 open back with a Gold then a blue in series. Let the Gold take the main wattage hit first.
Whatever you run it through its going to be amazing. Even at this long, I promise you will think it was worth the wait.
Congrats!
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