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Post by frankie on May 12, 2017 12:28:09 GMT -7
Hi everyone, as with any new amp, we will get a lot of questions. I hope everyone got their newsletter today. Ordering is now open and amps will begin to ship on June 1st. Here is the product page with spec, pics, and demos: drzamps.com/product/ems/We are excited to share this amp, and it has a sound particularly on the nose to my taste so I'm happy to help answer and questions. Here is one I answered on facebook today: "Hello, I read the EMS manual, and it mentions that it has the cascaded gain of the JCM 800. This would imply the use of diodes to increase preamp gain. Please confirm that the EMS does or does not contain solid state diodes clipping."Diodes can be used to clip the ends of the waveform thereby making more audible distortion. "Gain cascading" refers to directing the signal coming from one half of the 12ax7 triode to the second half, thereby cascading the signal to increase the amplification of the signal, aka gain. There is no diode clipping circuitry in the EMS. There is gain cascading. The diode clipping circuitry did not appear in the 800 series until the Silver Jubilee and the later dual channel switching 800 heads (2205 and 2210). Thanks for inquiring.
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Post by frankie on May 15, 2017 10:21:58 GMT -7
Another great question from facebook:
"Hello again, I noticed the welcome addition of parallel speaker jacks on the EMS. That combined with the impedance selector helps accommodate the various speaker impedance scenarios. Is there a difference in sound, or performance when running the transformer at 4, 8, or 16 ohms, especially 4 vs 16 ohms?"
"From the amp, there should not be an audible difference using different output taps. However, a set of speakers in series configuration (16 ohms) will sound different that a set of speakers in parallel (4 ohms). This is the different many people hear when using two different output impedance jacks. It's more about the speakers than the amp. Series configuration will have a slightly smoother sound with a little more compression. Parallel will result in a more immediate response with a brighter, punchier sound."
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2017 10:30:25 GMT -7
How's the Master Volume on this bad boy???
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EMS FAQ
May 17, 2017 11:11:48 GMT -7
Post by frankie on May 17, 2017 11:11:48 GMT -7
How's the Master Volume on this bad boy??? It works great! Especially with the hi sensitivity up and the gain up. The gain is a little goosed up from the amount you would find in a typical 800, but not overly compressed like you see in so many "hot rod" Marshall-type amps, so there is still a good amount of thickness and richness in the preamp at low volumes.
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EMS FAQ
May 17, 2017 11:34:28 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on May 17, 2017 11:34:28 GMT -7
How's the Master Volume on this bad boy??? It works great! Especially with the hi sensitivity up and the gain up. The gain is a little goosed up from the amount you would find in a typical 800, but not overly compressed like you see in so many "hot rod" Marshall-type amps, so there is still a good amount of thickness and richness in the preamp at low volumes. Can't wait to play one. That's one of my main gripes about hot rodded JCM type amps. Way too compressed!!!
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EMS FAQ
May 17, 2017 12:23:04 GMT -7
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Post by brightlight on May 17, 2017 12:23:04 GMT -7
Kind of in line with irreversal's question here. Would you say that an attenuator is not as necessary with the EMS as it would be with traditional high gain marshalls because of a better built/sounding master volume circuit?
Does the EMS give up the goods at tolerable volumes or is cranking the master and preamp together a requirement to get into modern heavy tones?
And last, I know the brake lite is rated for amps 45 watts and under, but would it withstand the 50 watts of the EMS?
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Post by frankie on May 18, 2017 9:13:47 GMT -7
Kind of in line with irreversal's question here. Would you say that an attenuator is not as necessary with the EMS as it would be with traditional high gain marshalls because of a better built/sounding master volume circuit? Does the EMS give up the goods at tolerable volumes or is cranking the master and preamp together a requirement to get into modern heavy tones? And last, I know the brake lite is rated for amps 45 watts and under, but would it withstand the 50 watts of the EMS? It depends on what you consider "modern" tones. In all honesty, this amp isn't going to approach the levels of gain found in multi-channel modern Marshall inspired amps like Bogners or Friedmans. It's not going to even give the amount of saturation of current production Marshall's (DSL/TSL). That wasn't exactly the point in the design, it was to take the classic Marshall-inspired sounds from what most consider their pinnacle (JTM/JMP/JCM), and make that range of tones available in one box, plus make some tweaks to the circuit to make the amp even more pleasing tone-wise (more punch, less fizz, more tactile response, a bit more gain available at use-able volumes). The EMS will get you into 80s thrash and hair metal type tones, but you will need to integrate some power tube push to get there. If you review the Dave Baker demos, you will note that he has the master around 11:00 and the preamp at max. I would say Dave is just pushing the power section hard enough to make the amp open up, but I wouldn't say there is a lot of compression or distortion coming from the power section at this point. So if this amount of distortion isn't enough for you, then yes, I would see an attenuator would likely be necessary to utilize the full range of available distortion. Either that or hot pickups. Dave is definitely using low output, vintage style pickups in all of this guitars. His LP is definitely in the PAF range of output. Something with hot or active pickups I could see really pushing the gain, and getting a player into more "modern" tones. I would not recommend using a brake-lite on this amp. Amp wattage ratings are typically determined before clipping has occurred, so at full-on the EMS is undoubtedly pushing more than 50 watts.
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Post by doctorice on May 18, 2017 9:44:14 GMT -7
^^^
Very helpful, frankie. Appears Air Brake will be appropriate for this amp if one wishes to crank the knobs.
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EMS FAQ
May 18, 2017 15:15:26 GMT -7
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Post by brightlight on May 18, 2017 15:15:26 GMT -7
Kind of in line with irreversal's question here. Would you say that an attenuator is not as necessary with the EMS as it would be with traditional high gain marshalls because of a better built/sounding master volume circuit? Does the EMS give up the goods at tolerable volumes or is cranking the master and preamp together a requirement to get into modern heavy tones? And last, I know the brake lite is rated for amps 45 watts and under, but would it withstand the 50 watts of the EMS? It depends on what you consider "modern" tones. In all honesty, this amp isn't going to approach the levels of gain found in multi-channel modern Marshall inspired amps like Bogners or Friedmans. It's not going to even give the amount of saturation of current production Marshall's (DSL/TSL). That wasn't exactly the point in the design, it was to take the classic Marshall-inspired sounds from what most consider their pinnacle (JTM/JMP/JCM), and make that range of tones available in one box, plus make some tweaks to the circuit to make the amp even more pleasing tone-wise (more punch, less fizz, more tactile response, a bit more gain available at use-able volumes). The EMS will get you into 80s thrash and hair metal type tones, but you will need to integrate some power tube push to get there. If you review the Dave Baker demos, you will note that he has the master around 11:00 and the preamp at max. I would say Dave is just pushing the power section hard enough to make the amp open up, but I wouldn't say there is a lot of compression or distortion coming from the power section at this point. So if this amount of distortion isn't enough for you, then yes, I would see an attenuator would likely be necessary to utilize the full range of available distortion. Either that or hot pickups. Dave is definitely using low output, vintage style pickups in all of this guitars. His LP is definitely in the PAF range of output. Something with hot or active pickups I could see really pushing the gain, and getting a player into more "modern" tones. I would not recommend using a brake-lite on this amp. Amp wattage ratings are typically determined before clipping has occurred, so at full-on the EMS is undoubtedly pushing more than 50 watts. Hmm interesting, thanks for the reply Frankie. I'm definitely not looking for that 6505 sound, death metal isn't my thing. But from the sounds of it my TC Electronic Spark Boost is going to get a lot of use with the EMS.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 16:59:06 GMT -7
That's all you need, my man.
I used to love the modern and higher gain amps. Now, a solid foundation of crunch is all I need, and I get the rest from a variety of boosts, OD's and fuzzes...
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Post by Norrin Radd on May 20, 2017 19:43:50 GMT -7
That's all you need, my man. I used to love the modern and higher gain amps. Now, a solid foundation of crunch is all I need, and I get the rest from a variety of boosts, OD's and fuzzes... So much this! ^^^^^^ The foundation Tone is SO important. It was amazing how much better all my pedals started sounding after I began playing them into Z amps, too.
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EMS FAQ
Jun 4, 2017 14:59:36 GMT -7
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Post by brightlight on Jun 4, 2017 14:59:36 GMT -7
Are the Hi/Lo, Touch, and Solid state/tube rectifier switches all safe to switch while the amp is fully turned on?
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EMS FAQ
Jun 6, 2017 11:46:25 GMT -7
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Post by frankie on Jun 6, 2017 11:46:25 GMT -7
Are the Hi/Lo, Touch, and Solid state/tube rectifier switches all safe to switch while the amp is fully turned on? Yes, no issue.
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EMS FAQ
Jul 7, 2017 17:55:25 GMT -7
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Post by brightlight on Jul 7, 2017 17:55:25 GMT -7
Just curious, with the matching head and cab which speaker is which?
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EMS FAQ
Jul 10, 2017 11:55:12 GMT -7
Post by frankie on Jul 10, 2017 11:55:12 GMT -7
Just curious, with the matching head and cab which speaker is which? H30 on top, Creamback 65 on bottom.
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EMS FAQ
Jul 13, 2017 21:31:50 GMT -7
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Post by brightlight on Jul 13, 2017 21:31:50 GMT -7
Thanks for the reply, Frankie! My next question is what is the actual function of the presence knob?
In some cases a presence knob seems to increase the "high" treble frequencies and others it seems to shape and boost upper mid range. What's the case for the EMS?
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Post by zpilot on Jul 15, 2017 22:12:15 GMT -7
Wow. It's too bad my days of needing this kind of amp are behind me. It looks like so much fun.
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EMS FAQ
Jul 16, 2017 16:51:20 GMT -7
Post by benttop (Steve) on Jul 16, 2017 16:51:20 GMT -7
Wow. It's too bad my days of needing this kind of amp are behind me. It looks like so much fun. Yeah, I coulda used this thing a bunch of times in the last 50 years...
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EMS FAQ
Jul 17, 2017 9:12:06 GMT -7
Post by frankie on Jul 17, 2017 9:12:06 GMT -7
Thanks for the reply, Frankie! My next question is what is the actual function of the presence knob? In some cases a presence knob seems to increase the "high" treble frequencies and others it seems to shape and boost upper mid range. What's the case for the EMS? There is more high mid/presence as the dial moves to 10. Classic Marshall negative feedback operation.
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Post by Russell B on Sept 27, 2017 14:02:02 GMT -7
Frankie,
I have a video comparison request. Can we see the EMS in JTM 50 mode vs. the Remedy? Perhaps through the 2x12 backline cab? Maybe even the “small box” JMP vs. the Remedy?
Thanks.
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EMS FAQ
Mar 4, 2018 19:23:59 GMT -7
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Post by gonzobananas on Mar 4, 2018 19:23:59 GMT -7
I am wondering if a 2x10 running G10 greenbacks in series would be able to safely handle this amp? They are rated individually at 30watts as is the H30 so I would think so but I wanted a professional opinion. Also, is there any chance of being able to get one of these with a bypassable effects loop?
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