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Post by zpilot on Jun 26, 2017 11:33:19 GMT -7
I've had two other MAZ amps, a 38 and an 18, so I sort of assumed I would run the EQ on my MAZ 8 close to the same. It's taken me awhile to figure out that this amp seems to work much better with my Strat and Nocaster with the Bass control almost maxed. It's a much rounder tone and it keeps the overdrive tones from being harsh. It seems to work better than turning down the Treble. I have an aversion to turning up a Bass control because of my many years playing BF/SF Fenders which causes them to fart out. Not so with the MAZ 8. At least not with those guitars. I know I'll have to turn it down with humbuckers and P-90's.
Anyone else running that control that way? My Treble and Mid are both at 11:00. Cut is around 9:00.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Jun 26, 2017 14:02:31 GMT -7
Yep, me too. I find that the 8 needs the bass cranked at least to 2:00, for starters. Usually more like 3:00, and I play P-90s and humbuckers more than my Strat singles. Glad I'm not alone! My Maz 18 needs a lot less bass to get the same throatiness, 10:00 to 1:00 or so.
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Post by dcarver on Jun 27, 2017 0:00:30 GMT -7
Hmmm... interesting. Lately I've been running pretty much the opposite with my G&L ASAT Classic Alnico S (3 single coils). Treble is at 3:00, Mid at 12:00, Bass at 9:00. Volume at 11:00, MV at 12:00, Cut at 1:00, Triode mode, BL on 1.
My Maz 8 has an M65 Creamback, with a NOS Mullard 12AX7 in V1, and a current production Mullard 12AX7 in V2. I also switched to a CP Tung-Sol 12AU7 in V3. I think the EQ is very well balanced with this set up, no lack of bass. And the reverb sounds good all the way up to max.
I'm using a Blue Note and a Gain Changer separately and together for OD. I can flip the Hot switch up or down on the Blue Note and it sounds great without touching any knobs.
The cool thing about the Maz 8 is you can find a sweet spot, then change a few settings and find another sweet spot, and so on. There are several ways you can set up this amp with the same guitar that sound really good. Definitely a swiss army knife.
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Post by zpilot on Jun 27, 2017 5:32:16 GMT -7
There was no lack of bass when I was running it similar to you, about 10:00. I agree it sounded balanced. When I turned it up to around 4:00 though it just seemed to be fuller without being "boomy" and it removed the harshness when pushed. I understand how tone controls interact and that's what is going on here. Also, I'm using the stock Z-12 speaker which may be rolling off the lows at a point that minimizes the effect of the bass control.
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Post by Jaguarguy (Mike) on Jun 27, 2017 6:43:09 GMT -7
This is one of the reasons you have to set your controls using your ears and not your eyes!
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Post by doctorice on Jun 27, 2017 7:37:37 GMT -7
I've been running Bass quite high on my MAZ 8 since I got it. It's been almost exclusively paired with a Tele.
Quite distinct from my MAZ 18, Z-Lux and (my now sold) JAZ settings.
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Post by dcarver on Jun 27, 2017 11:57:13 GMT -7
There was no lack of bass when I was running it similar to you, about 10:00. I agree it sounded balanced. When I turned it up to around 4:00 though it just seemed to be fuller without being "boomy" and it removed the harshness when pushed. I understand how tone controls interact and that's what is going on here. Also, I'm using the stock Z-12 speaker which may be rolling off the lows at a point that minimizes the effect of the bass control. I agree... sounds like the Z-12 and the Creamback would probably account for the difference in bass. Above 2:00 or 3:00, the Creamback in my amp starts to get pretty boomy. Another thing I've noticed has to do with the foot switch. Seems like engaging the F S (bypassing the tone stack) adds quite a bit of mids and lower mids. If I set up the amp with the Mid control at like 9:00, when I hit the FS, a lot of mids come back, there's a pretty big change in tone. On the other hand, if I set up with the Mid knob around 12:00, I don't notice a big change in overall tone when I hit the FS, just a volume boost. Lately I've been running the foot switch with the boost knob at about 9:00... so I'm just getting a small increase in volume and mids. It seems balance well with the OD pedals. The G&L I picked up has a 5 way switch and a push-pull volume knob. So there's 7 different combinations of pick up I can get. Getting all the PU combinations to sound good with 2 OD pedals and the VBFS on or off has been a lot of fun.
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Post by Stephen on Jun 27, 2017 17:35:07 GMT -7
I've always run mine at noon, but I'm gonna try it higher. Thank you.
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Post by zpilot on Jun 27, 2017 20:47:51 GMT -7
I've been running Bass quite high on my MAZ 8 since I got it. It's been almost exclusively paired with a Tele. Quite distinct from my MAZ 18, Z-Lux and (my now sold) JAZ settings. Good to know it's not just my imagination.
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Post by dcarver on Jun 27, 2017 20:54:35 GMT -7
Good idea. I think it's time to try some new settings too. One of the coolest things about the Maz 8 is, it's taught me not to settle on one set up.
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Post by zpilot on Jul 4, 2017 19:49:50 GMT -7
Another bonus to setting the Bass control rather high is it makes the Bypass much more usable since there is not as much of a difference between the EQ when having it off vs on.
I have found that when using a neck pickup with the Bass turned up it does get boomy to the point where it is unusable. My fix for that? I have an Xotic RC that I run with the Bass control at about 9:00. The cutoff frequency of that control is 500Hz so that cleans things up. Running that pedal like that with a Strat neck pickup also helps when trying to cop a Texas Blues/SRV tone when I don't want the OD effect of a TS type pedal.
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Jul 19, 2017 13:02:55 GMT -7
Most likely due to the fact that the 8 is single ended class A and the 18 is push-pull. You generally sacrifice some low end with single ended designs but gain harmonic content.
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