|
Post by Darwin Hoel on Jun 8, 2017 12:43:10 GMT -7
Hello all, I just joined the group yesterday. I've been looking at Dr. Z amps for about a year now, listening to sound clips, reading reviews, pouring over amp specs trying figure out which one would be the best for me. I have had only a couple of amps over the past 40 years, currently I have a 1997 Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12 (too much for the house) and a newer Fender Blues Jr. MIM, not the III(that I really don't care for).
So, at this point I'm not gigging and I don't need a very loud amp. I play alone, in my living room for my own pleasure. I play along with CD's or a looper and might do some home recording for the fun of it this year. My kids are grown and gone, my wife works and I have the freedom to crank it up if I feel like it, and I always feel like it!
I have not been able to play any Dr. Z amps yet, but will probably make a run up to Austin in the next few weeks and have a listen. After hearing that Z amps are louder than most, per watt, and reading opinions of those who "over purchased" power wise, I am undecided. So here is the question. Which amps listed below are good choices? I want some clean and I want some crunch. I don't want more hearing loss. I'm not afraid of moderate volumes, but it's all relative eh?
My first pick was the Carmen Ghia. Small, simple controls, 18 watts, sounds good... Then I started to look closer at others.
Maz 8 stands out as the front runner here... Z Lux has my attention at 20/40 with trem and verb Maybe the Cure at 15 Maz 18 sounds great Remedy has the balls I want at 20/40 - Too much? Z-28 peaks my interest but... too much headroom?
Problem is, I have no reference on the headroom on any of these amps. What's it going to take to get power amp grind? Am I about to over buy if get any other amp than the Maz 8?
All opinions welcome.
|
|
|
Post by "Z" Steve on Jun 8, 2017 13:02:55 GMT -7
I would vote Maz 8 for what you are describing. Between the Pentode and Triode settings you can get any volume or tone you want. Plus, you have a master volume which the Ghia doesn't. There is also the option of lower rated speakers re dB's to help you achieve what you are after. And BTW, welcome to the forum!!!!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2017 13:17:53 GMT -7
For playing at home.... I'd say MAZ 8 or Cure. I have both of them. You wouldn't need a Brake Lite for either one. Headroom? You are playing alone at home. I'm sure you could get either of these amps to go clean to mean with the controls that they provide. Both the Cure and the 8 allow you to access either pre-amp grind or power tube grind. Hopefully you can go to a place that has both of them in stock. All the others are gonna be mighty loud for what you want to do.
|
|
|
Post by zed on Jun 8, 2017 13:33:51 GMT -7
Welcome to the forum!
I have a Maz 8 head and it's perfect for at home, it can get loud! I'll always be keeping this one though, forever.
The Cure may be one to look at too, that level control looks to be a great feature.
|
|
|
Post by dcarver on Jun 8, 2017 13:58:29 GMT -7
Hi Darwin. Welcome aboard. I was basically in the same situation you're in. Never had a Z amp before I bought a Maz 8. I spent about 6 months reading and listening to everything I could find on the interwebs about Dr.Z amps, and other brands. I play at home too, at moderate volumes. When I bought the Maz 8, my only guitar was a was a LP Studio, so I wanted an amp that sounded really good with humbuckers. The Maz 8 being an EL84 amp sounds great with HB's. I recently bought a G&L ASAT, and the Maz 8 works great with single coils too. The Pentode/Triode feature is really cool. It's very useful in shaping the tones you can get from the 8. It kinda makes it 2 amps in 1. As you can probably tell, I'm really happy with the Maz 8. It's an incredibly versitle amp. A long-time forum member by the name of Markus has posted some really good info on the Maz 8. One of the tips I picked up from him is, even though the MAZ 8 has a master volume, it's very useful to get a Brake Lite attenuator. That way you can use the volume to control preamp distortion, the master volume to control output tube distortion (which to me sounds like a smoother, creamier type of distortion), OR combine both volumes to get a different flavor of distortion, and still play at living room levels. The Variable Boost Foot Switch is also a great feature. You can set it to give a wide range of volume boost. It can be used to just give a small boost and fill out the mids, or kick the amp into a great overdrive tone that's as good as any OD pedal I've tried. If you get a Maz 8, another suggestion, besides getting the Brake Lite, would be to pick up a NOS 5AR4 rectifier tube. I bought one of these from KCA Tubes : NOS JAN Philips/Sylvania 5AR4 (Mislabeled 5V4GA) They've gone up a few bucks, but I think a good NOS rectifier is money well spent. The difference in tone from the stock Sino rectifier was quite noticeable. It really opened up the amp. The sound became stronger, clearer, more authority.... like it all of a sudden grew a pair. I got mine with a G12M 65 Creamback. I'm very happy with the way the Creamback sounds with the Maz 8. I'm really happy with the Maz 8. But if I had it to do over again, it would be tough to decide between the Maz 8 and the Cure. The Cure's level control eliminates the need for an attenuator, and the price makes it very attractive. As far as the other amps you listed, I can't really speak about them as I've never had chance to try them. You can't go wrong with any Dr.Z amp, but for playing at home, IMHO the Maz 8 or the Cure would be the best fit. Good hunting. Let us know how it works out. Cheers DC
|
|
|
Post by Easyrom on Jun 8, 2017 14:25:56 GMT -7
Hi guys and welcome Darwin.
I'm not familiar with the Cure (yet), but I've had a Maz 8 for quite a long period (it's actually the amp I kept the longest and the one which introduced me to Dr Z) and I second what dcarver just said about using a Brake Lite with it. I would have been very frustrated at home without my Brake Lite in my Maz 8, in order to enjoy the fabulous shades of grit you can hear from this amp. My BL was on the second click most of the time, sometimes the third, so I could set the Master quite high.
The amps you listed are probably all great (I only know the Maz 8 and the Z-Lux from direct experience), so I think you first need to decide if you want to go to the British side of the force (Maz, Remedy...), or the American side of the force (Z-Lux, Cure, Z-28...)
|
|
|
Post by zpilot on Jun 9, 2017 3:14:40 GMT -7
Welcome. For what you are doing you absolutely can't go wrong with a MAZ 8. Order it with the stock Z-12 speaker.
|
|
|
Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Jun 9, 2017 7:08:27 GMT -7
Welcome to the best corner of the web...and as a longtime owner of a Maz 8 I agree with all the positives. It was my first Z amp and it's surreal how well it cuts through and mixes with the band. Very versatile with the pentode/triode switch on back. It's really like having two amps in one.
|
|
|
Post by Darwin Hoel on Jun 9, 2017 7:17:12 GMT -7
Thank you all for the input. It's nice to have some clarity in a purchase like this. I really appreciate all the comments.
|
|
|
Post by lowbudget on Jun 9, 2017 10:22:15 GMT -7
Welcome. For what you are doing you absolutely can't go wrong with a MAZ 8. Order it with the stock Z-12 speaker. Mine came with the H30 from the mothership. I guess I thought that was the stock speaker. Sounds great in any event.
|
|
|
Post by helmi on Jun 9, 2017 11:29:05 GMT -7
welcome to the forum.
|
|
|
Post by Stephen on Jun 9, 2017 19:29:39 GMT -7
The Maz 8 is my favorite of all the Dr Z amps. I have used it more than any others I've owned. I have one of the newer models with the improved master volume and reverb.
|
|
|
Post by zpilot on Jun 9, 2017 21:31:53 GMT -7
Welcome. For what you are doing you absolutely can't go wrong with a MAZ 8. Order it with the stock Z-12 speaker. Mine came with the H30 from the mothership. I guess I thought that was the stock speaker. Sounds great in any event. It was for a long time until Doc made the Z-12 available.
|
|
|
Post by prspastor on Jun 10, 2017 5:25:44 GMT -7
Well, it is the "do it all" amp in my small collection. The MAZ amps can achieve a wide variety of tones. I agree that triode/pentode switch is really nice and I like the single-ended harmonics that only an amp with one output tube can deliver. I tend to leave mine on triode, but YMMV. I like a compressed clean tone and it'll do that. It'll get harmonically rich output tube overdrive as well. Nice onboard reverb. I've not played the Cure, but I tend to like British tones better. I will say, the Ghia is loud, as is the Z-28 or other 20 and 40 watt amps. With an efficient speaker, they can be as loud as a 100 watt amp, without some of the headroom. So, I've found that amps in the 5 watt range are great for applications like you describe. And if you gig again, mic your amp! I've learned a lot from watching the pros, who put big Marshall stacks on stage for the effect, but play through a miced 5-15 watt amp that gives up the goods behind stage. (Jeff Beck comes to mind)
Go with the 8 or the Cure and you'll be really happy. Just choose American (Cure) or British (8) tone.
Welcome to ZTalk!
|
|
|
Post by mudman on Jun 10, 2017 17:52:02 GMT -7
I tried out the Maz 8 today. It's much more polite than my maz 18. Very similar sound. A bit less crunch. Reverb is a bit nicer and it runs very very quiet. You can turn it up without killing your ears. The one I tried had a creamback in it stock from the factory.
|
|
|
Post by zpilot on Jun 11, 2017 1:40:00 GMT -7
I tried out the Maz 8 today. It's much more polite than my maz 18. Very similar sound. A bit less crunch. Reverb is a bit nicer and it runs very very quiet. You can turn it up without killing your ears. The one I tried had a creamback in it stock from the factory. I think you are right about it being more "polite". Especially more so than the MAZ 18 NR. A MAZ w/reverb is a little closer to the MAZ 8. I can always push the front end of my MAZ 8 with a clean boost of some sort if I want it to be nastier.
|
|
|
Post by "Z" Steve on Jun 11, 2017 13:30:35 GMT -7
I play my 8 Sundays at church. I've had it on the Triode setting for 6 months or more, but this morning I switched it to Pentode to get some more clarity and fullness at the lower volume with my Legacy, and man, I forgot what other tones I had on tap with just the flip of a switch (With the amp off of course)!
|
|
|
Post by Easyrom on Jun 11, 2017 14:16:05 GMT -7
This famous triode/pentode switch is really a great feature indeed!
|
|
|
Post by doctorice on Jun 11, 2017 14:29:30 GMT -7
I'll add my $0.02 as I have both amps. Either will do the trick for home use but if you want a cranked amp sound out of the MAZ 8 without pedals you'll likely end up wanting an attenuator. It can get very loud at home, especially in pentode mode. The Cure's level control basically gives you continuously variable attenuation. You can crank everything and still dial it back to bedroom level.
I echo the comment regarding "British" tilt vs. "American", adding that the British is more Vox than Marshall with the MAZ. For me, this means I tap the MAZ if I'm doing early to mid-1960s British Invasion tunes and the Cure for blues/blues-rock. To be sure, either amp covers multiple styles. I should add that my MAZ has a Cel Blue, so it's even more tilted to that Vox thing.
Fwiw, and this is my opinion, the MAZ 8 is fairly priced and the Cure is a steal. I haven't seen many Cures on the resale market so far, but it's likely you can locate a MAZ 8. I've not had a problem with buying a used Z from a reputable seller, including numerous folks on this forum.
|
|
|
Post by Darwin Hoel on Jun 12, 2017 7:47:26 GMT -7
Any preference on the studio sized or full size cabinet? I'm guessing the full size might sound a bit different?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2017 8:01:35 GMT -7
Any preference on the studio sized or full size cabinet? I'm guessing the full size might sound a bit different? Not enough to justify the extra weight for me.
|
|
|
Post by zpilot on Jun 12, 2017 10:35:45 GMT -7
I special-ordered the lightweight version of the full-size cab before it became standard. I don't mind the extra weight. It's not much difference and I was used to larger and heavier combos anyway so this feels very light to me. I'd say the main difference is size which might be good if you are hauling it in a compact car with other gear. If it's going to stay mainly at home I'd go with the full-size cab. I know from other amps I've had that there definitely is a difference in sound. That is the size cab that Doc designed originally for his first amps-the CG and MAZ 18-so he could tell the difference.
The only way I'd opt for the studio cab is if hauling it was a real issue. You know, carrying it down the sidewalk in the city or up/down stairs.
|
|
|
Post by Stephen on Jun 12, 2017 16:54:38 GMT -7
I've always had the studio combo. But I can tell you, it's much easier on my back than my Maz 18!
|
|
|
Post by dcarver on Jun 13, 2017 13:50:51 GMT -7
My Maz 8 Studio Combo weighs in at 35 lbs. on my bathroom scale. That includes an on board Brake Lite.
I've never heard a full sized combo so I can't really tell you if there's a difference in sound. If I was to venture a guess, I'd say that if you had a slew of different speakers to try in both cabinets, you might hear a small difference with some speaker/cab combinations.... others not so much. If there was a significant difference in cabs, somebody would have posted that. Also, I don't think Mike Zaite would put out a cab/speaker combination that didn't sound great, so I think you're safe going with either the studio or full size cab.
|
|
|
Post by zpilot on Jun 13, 2017 14:29:34 GMT -7
A new guy comes along and asks questions that make the rest of us reexamine our choices. It's all good. I benefit from exchanges like this.
|
|
|
Post by Darwin Hoel on Jun 13, 2017 15:08:41 GMT -7
As always I appreciate all the opinions given. My thinking, as a player that has never even seen the inside of a studio, was that an amplifier being recorded with a close mic wouldn't really benefit from a larger speaker baffle as much as an amp in a live or open situation would. However that's coming from a guy with very little experience in different settings.
|
|
|
Post by zpilot on Jun 13, 2017 16:04:53 GMT -7
Yes, if that's the only mic. If you use an additional mic farther away and then blend them, which is a normal technique, then the cabinet size comes into play.
|
|
|
Post by purpletele on Jun 13, 2017 16:25:21 GMT -7
I think that the New studio Cabs are terrific.
I don't think the standard 112 cab is too heavy, I think it is very manageable. However, I really like the size of the studio cab. I think it sounds great.
|
|