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Post by bubs42 on Feb 25, 2020 5:05:57 GMT -7
I am one of those guys that have a sensitive ears to highs. I have found that not all Z's are my thing, even with a speaker change some of them just have a character that some may not be able to handle. The C Rex is a great speaker, but smooths things out too much, I love it in a room, but in a band with another guitar player. they will cut your head off and you will not be heard. I would suggest the CV65, the ET65, ET90, Even maybe a 55hz Celestion 30. They are all smoother but not without character. Generally in a band setting the other guitarist is running a Creamback and I ran an ET65, we sounded similar but still separate and able to carve out your own sonic space.
Good luck, I hope you figure it out or find the right Z for you. I'm absolutely in love with the Ghia.
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Post by dougguy on Dec 17, 2020 19:46:30 GMT -7
This is an old thread and OP hasn't logged in since mmm 2017 so I reckon he has his issues sorted. I got a nice MAZ 18 Jr 2x10 Mk1 with the Z speakers. I did notice that the peaky high end in the Z speakers tends to grow on you, your ears aren't offended by it b/c the amp is SO multi dimensional and it takes a while to let all the killer tones set in, but once it does, and you work with the amp and different guitars/pickups, you begin to notice that certain frequency that tends to hang around no matter what setting you use, it's almost as if the former in the voice coil has a voicing all it's own and it makes the high end just ring to the point that it's close to obnoxious. The longer you play the amp, the more it catches your ear.
Allen Collins used to drive JBLs so hard in the Mace amps they used that you can hear "cone cry" in his solos on the live album, and it was told to me once that even the tubes made an audible groaning/ringing sound if you were close enough to the back of the amp. I'm not translating the peaky nature of the Z speaker to something in the tone stack or the settings, it's almost like an artifact that is built into the speaker by it's design.
I use vintage alnico JBLs in almost everything I have here, I am a BIG fan of the 3" voice coils that the D110 has and I love the same magnet and voice coil and curvilinear cone of the D123, which Harvey Gerst (JBL guru and longtime engineer) said was the most overlooked guitar speaker in the world. I have to agree. The MAZ Jr. sounds KILLER through a pair of these 12" D123s, the highs are smooth and defined, sparkly and yet warm. I can run the amp's controls all over the globe and it never sounds flabby, I can use the volume and tone on the tele throughout the whole sweep with no ice pick to the ears, it makes the whole top end of the amp much more user friendly and totally usable. Not much difference in the D123 and the D110 as far as the MAZ goes, a little fullness lost but the same basic tone and response, alnico JBLs are VERY transparent and between the 10" D110, the 12" D123 and the 12" D131, the biggest difference is volume and that's it. The tone doesn't change between the models it's always right where you think it ought to be once you get used to JBLs.
The issue I am having now is finding suitable alnico 10s beside the JBLs because they are about dried up and when you do find a pair they are way proud of them money wise. Modern high powered alnico 10s all lack the bottom end, many of them roll off about 100Hz which leaves the low E on the guitar falling off in volume as you play the lower 5 frets. The only 10" alnico that sounds like it might fill the bill is the Weber "Michigan 10" alnico which they claim it goes to roughly 40Hz - 45Hz I am anxious to try one.
I have been listening to a ton of 10" alnico shootouts and frankly none of them sound like they would compare very well to the old JBL. At $194 each for the Michigan 10, I am pretty much fence sitting and holding back buying a pair, I'd like to hear one compared to the D110 JBL and haven't found a youtube of these two.
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Post by telejas on Dec 25, 2020 11:59:05 GMT -7
I had a similar concern with my Mk.1 Maz 18..... Sent it off for the Mk.II update and asked Don to check that out. He said the new, updated, circuit took care of most of it, but the 6N14N tubes did the biggest job of taking care of those highs. I'd try those. You can contact perryr here on Z-talk for a set.
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