|
Post by schwang on Jan 16, 2018 0:56:45 GMT -7
Proud new owner of a Maz 38 Sr NR. Immediate thanks to this group and this forum - I learned a lot from everyone here in the last few weeks.
I wanted a grab and go combo, and my choice in this instance was between an M12 and the 38. The former was probably the sensible choice as I play at home and fairly small gigs, but I’m also a pedal fan and like headroom, so I plumped for the latter in the end.
I’ll be running it solo and as a wet / dry rig with a Jackson Scarlett 30 or Newcastle 30. I know I should really be pairing the Jacksons with something less Voxy more Fendery, but the Maz was available and I have wanted a Dr Z for some time. It will also be the amp I take to gigs.
I notice that the supplied boost is a ‘big’ boost in volume - it seems too much when playing at home but I assume that with a full band that kick in volume and mid-frequencies will be great for leads.
Also notice that my drive pedals need some tweaking from their usual settings that I have with the Jackson. I will be experimenting whether to use the Maz as my main sound, clean and dirty, with the wet effects (and a bit of the drive) through the Jackson, or vice versa. The Jacksons are very chimey, so my instinct was to try them with the wet effects first.
Any thoughts from this group on wet / dry setups gladly welcomed. I’m using a Radial Bigshot II, with compression, drive and boost into the front of one amp, and the full chain including delay and reverb into the front of the other amp.
Thanks again to everyone for making this forum such a great resource and friendly place to learn / help others.
|
|
|
Post by Maddog on Jan 16, 2018 7:04:21 GMT -7
Does your tone stack bypass foot switch (boost switch) on your new 38 have a control knob on one side? If it does, you can lower the volume of the effect so its not so loud. The original footswitches didnt have them and the effect used as a lead solo boost was not easy to use because it was so much louder than the unaffected sound. Then Doc started putting volume controls on them, and the feature became very useful even for home players.
|
|
|
Post by schwang on Jan 16, 2018 8:18:02 GMT -7
Thanks Maddog. Mine is the old one without the volume control, but your post reminded me to check the Z website - and sure enough I’m now going to order the variable one from them.
|
|
|
Post by Jaguarguy (Mike) on Jan 16, 2018 15:11:55 GMT -7
Great sounding amp - Buddy Whittington used to play one - a jack of all trades kind of amp. Welcome to the Forum - as you've already found out a lot of great info and people here!
|
|
|
Post by daveyk on Jan 17, 2018 23:12:51 GMT -7
Killer amp! The 38 is my one and only and has been for the last 3-4 years. Turn the mids all the way down and it can do Fender cleans all day!! Really amazing amp. For me it took me a while to figure it out and dial in "my sound", since it really can do so much. Anyway, congrats on a killer amp!
|
|
|
Post by schwang on Jan 17, 2018 23:49:06 GMT -7
Killer amp! The 38 is my one and only and has been for the last 3-4 years. Turn the mids all the way down and it can do Fender cleans all day!! Really amazing amp. For me it took me a while to figure it out and dial in "my sound", since it really can do so much. Anyway, congrats on a killer amp! Thanks daveyk - that’s good to know, because I’m having exactly the same issue. I’m struggling to get it to play nice with my drives. I’ve only had a it a few days and I’m only running at “apartment volume”, rather than rehearsal or gig volume, so it’s down to me to do the tweaking, but I’m not really getting the best out of my drives. For comparison, I’m running it either next to or with (wet / dry) my Jackson Scarlett 30, and the Jackson is absolutely killing it tone-wise, clean and dirty. Obviously just my ears and YMMV etc, but the Scarlett - and my existing Newcastle 30 - hardly needed tweaking at all (I’m also not using the power scaling feature on the Jackson, just very low volume). I’m using a tele > Cali76 compressor > drive > EP Booster / Kingsley Squire > set effects. Drives I’ve tried include three different ThorpyFX pedals, a Shins Dumbloid, a Fire Carpe Diem and a couple of others that I had lying around. Mostly playing bluesy, rocky, lowish gain stuff (next gig will mainly be Tom Petty songs as a little tribute) and using the pedals for drive, rather than the amp. When I first plugged a guitar straight into the amp and dialled up a clean sound, it was crisp, fat (dare I say, “phat”!) and fab, but not so much through my board. I’m using a Strymon Ojai power supply, which is all isolated 500ma outputs, great patch cables, Pete Cornish guitar cables and I’ve tried adding a buffer pedal (to compensate for tone loss through the Radial Bigshot ABY). Am I missing anything else or is it just a case of keep tweaking? I definitely get the point about using ears not eyes and being quite bold with eq tweaks - like daveyk ’s suggestion to drop the mids. I’m used to recognising the sound of tubes actually failing, but is there an impact of them starting to wear out?
|
|
|
Post by daveyk on Jan 18, 2018 0:45:10 GMT -7
Killer amp! The 38 is my one and only and has been for the last 3-4 years. Turn the mids all the way down and it can do Fender cleans all day!! Really amazing amp. For me it took me a while to figure it out and dial in "my sound", since it really can do so much. Anyway, congrats on a killer amp! Thanks daveyk - that’s good to know, because I’m having exactly the same issue. I’m struggling to get it to play nice with my drives. I’ve only had a it a few days and I’m only running at “apartment volume”, rather than rehearsal or gig volume, so it’s down to me to do the tweaking, but I’m not really getting the best out of my drives. For comparison, I’m running it either next to or with (wet / dry) my Jackson Scarlett 30, and the Jackson is absolutely killing it tone-wise, clean and dirty. Obviously just my ears and YMMV etc, but the Scarlett - and my existing Newcastle 30 - hardly needed tweaking at all (I’m also not using the power scaling feature on the Jackson, just very low volume). I’m using a tele > Cali76 compressor > drive > EP Booster / Kingsley Squire > set effects. Drives I’ve tried include three different ThorpyFX pedals, a Shins Dumbloid, a Fire Carpe Diem and a couple of others that I had lying around. Mostly playing bluesy, rocky, lowish gain stuff (next gig will mainly be Tom Petty songs as a little tribute) and using the pedals for drive, rather than the amp. When I first plugged a guitar straight into the amp and dialled up a clean sound, it was crisp, fat (dare I say, “phat”!) and fab, but not so much through my board. I’m using a Strymon Ojai power supply, which is all isolated 500ma outputs, great patch cables, Pete Cornish guitar cables and I’ve tried adding a buffer pedal (to compensate for tone loss through the Radial Bigshot ABY). Am I missing anything else or is it just a case of keep tweaking? I definitely get the point about using ears not eyes and being quite bold with eq tweaks - like daveyk ’s suggestion to drop the mids. I’m used to recognising the sound of tubes actually failing, but is there an impact of them starting to wear out? In my experience, new power tubes makes a big difference in this amp, but also my drives usually only sound good when I get the master up around 11 o’clock or more and the volume at around 10 o’clock or more. Also, if you don’t have a brake lite or air brake attenuator, I’d say stop everything you’re doing and get either. For home use and gig use it is by far the most important tool for this amp because of its crazy volume and because in my experience it likes to be ran a little hot. I think edge of break up is key for making this amp sound awesome, especially with drives. I’ve been running all JJ’s from Eurotubes with a JJ 5751 in v1 since I’ve found it makes the volume more controllable.
|
|
|
Post by schwang on Jan 18, 2018 1:19:41 GMT -7
In my experience, new power tubes makes a big difference in this amp, but also my drives usually only sound good when I get the master up around 11 o’clock or more and the volume at around 10 o’clock or more. Also, if you don’t have a brake lite or air brake attenuator, I’d say stop everything you’re doing and get either. For home use and gig use it is by far the most important tool for this amp because of its crazy volume and because in my experience it likes to be ran a little hot. I think edge of break up is key for making this amp sound awesome, especially with drives. I’ve been running all JJ’s from Eurotubes with a JJ 5751 in v1 since I’ve found it makes the volume more controllable. All noted - thank you for the guidance, daveyk. I’ll look at the attentuators, and have a look at tubes. Many thanks again.
|
|
|
Post by schwang on Jan 18, 2018 9:20:54 GMT -7
Quick follow up. I took your advice, daveyk, and dialled out the mids completely. Transformed the sound and my drive pedals all suddenly started sounding great (having been too nasal and honky). It never would’ve occurred to me, even when tweaking, to totally chop out the mids. I’m that age where the mid-scoop = metal, and even with clean tones, I’ve been schooled to embrace mids for touch sensitivity and lead tones especially. Anyway, the Maz sounds good by itself with that tone structure, and also great as the wet side of a wet / dry with Jackson Scarlett 30, where it still gets some of the drive pedal along with the delay and reverb. Thanks again for the input. Much appreciated.
|
|
|
Post by daveyk on Jan 18, 2018 12:12:21 GMT -7
Quick follow up. I took your advice, daveyk, and dialled out the mids completely. Transformed the sound and my drive pedals all suddenly started sounding great (having been too nasal and honky). It never would’ve occurred to me, even when tweaking, to totally chop out the mids. I’m that age where the mid-scoop = metal, and even with clean tones, I’ve been schooled to embrace mids for touch sensitivity and lead tones especially. Anyway, the Maz sounds good by itself with that tone structure, and also great as the wet side of a wet / dry with Jackson Scarlett 30, where it still gets some of the drive pedal along with the delay and reverb. Thanks again for the input. Much appreciated. Ya I think the mids knob is where the magic is at with this amp. If I’m playing cleaner/softer stuff I’ll often roll the mids almost all the way down. In a band setting I’ll bring the mids up a little and for more heavier rock tones I’ll get the mids up anywhere from 11-2 o’clock. I’ve also found if I’m running the amp a bit quieter, I like to bump the mids up quite a bit since it thickens up the tone from what I can hear.
|
|
|
Post by daveyk on Jan 18, 2018 12:14:33 GMT -7
BTW, what speaker(s) are you running?
|
|
|
Post by schwang on Jan 18, 2018 17:09:55 GMT -7
BTW, what speaker(s) are you running? Celestion G12 Gold 1x12. Ref the mids: at apartment volume I’m definitely happier with them out. I’m putting a bit of mid frequency back with the pedals, and the whole sound is still full, without being noticeably scoopy. It goes to show how we are creatures of habit in terms of making one small EQ tweaks. Or I am, anyway! On the subject of pedals, I’m getting the best low volume sound running at least one boosts always on - either a standalone (Wampler db+ or the old EP Booster) and / or one on a drive + boost pedal that has seperate footswitches for both. At gig volumes I probably won’t need both.
|
|