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Post by TNTall on May 25, 2018 15:04:06 GMT -7
Has anybody made a mod to your amp where you run a wire back and forth to a pot pedal that will replace the volume knob on your amp? My Maz 8 has a Volume knob that mostly only affects gain with little effect on volume. If I could control that drive with a pedal that would be awesome. I'm not an electrician, but it seems simple. Maybe someone can tell me adverse results that I'm not thinking about.
Thanks.
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Post by zpilot on May 25, 2018 15:40:58 GMT -7
Back before the bypass switch pedal was available with a control pot that allowed a variable setting I experimented with using an Ernie Ball volume pedal for that function. It worked really well but I found that I was mainly setting it to one position and leaving it so the variable switch just made more sense. It required me to make a custom cable using low-Z mic type cable with two conductors and a shield. The two conductors are wired in series through plugs with the pot and terminated at the other end to the bypass jack. A tech could figure this out for you. That might be what you need instead of messing with the Volume pot since the Bypass jack is already there. I would discourage you from doing it that way.
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Post by TNTall on May 25, 2018 16:49:58 GMT -7
Back before the bypass switch pedal was available with a control pot that allowed a variable setting I experimented with using an Ernie Ball volume pedal for that function. It worked really well but I found that I was mainly setting it to one position and leaving it so the variable switch just made more sense. It required me to make a custom cable using low-Z mic type cable with two conductors and a shield. The two conductors are wired in series through plugs with the pot and terminated at the other end to the bypass jack. A tech could figure this out for you. That might be what you need instead of messing with the Volume pot since the Bypass jack is already there. I would discourage you from doing it that way. So you're saying this did work, but you decided to use a footswitch instead of a rocker pedal? I don't understand what you are discouraging me from doing. I don't use the eq bypass much because of the tone and noise.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on May 25, 2018 17:22:58 GMT -7
I think Zpilot is referring to the feature on some Z amps that disconnects the tone stack and gives a big boost in volume and gain. Your Maz 8 has a jack on the back for it, and it may have come with the old style pedal with only a switch on it. In the last couple of years Doc has changed it and you can buy one from Dr.Z amps for a very reasonable cost. It's a pedal with a control that allows you to dial in the ratio of tone stack control and the raw amp sound with the tone stack completely out of the picture. If I'm understanding your question right, you want to physically bring the amp's Volume control out to your pedal board? If that's the case...it's a whole new can of worms. Engineering wise, the problem you have there is that you're going to introduce a lot of hum and your your tone is going to suffer. You know how some effects loops really suck tone? That happens for the same reason as extending the wiring of your volume control outside your amp (and changing the sound of the amp because of cable capacitance and impedance) and the fact that you're working with low voltages that are going right into a gain stage when it gets back to the amp. It would be a noise magnet! What you're wanting to do is a challenge that's far from trivial. I can't think of a way to do it without really altering the tone of your amplifier. If you designed a clever input and output buffer circuit I suppose it could be done but still it's going to be a whole lot of work for questionable results. EDIT: You would probably get the same results or better if you use a simple boost pedal like an EP Booster or an RC Boost, plugged in just before your amp's instrument input jack.
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Post by TNTall on May 26, 2018 4:32:11 GMT -7
My amp has the variable gain eq bypass, but the tone with the eq bypassed just isn't nearly as good, and I get a loud hum.
I was afraid of what you said... the long wires affecting tone and noise. I guess the solution would be to put a relay in the head that switches switches in a resistor. Thanks for the answer.
I've been messing around with the Full Drive 3 boost and other pedals, but it seems everything like that takes away from the better tone I get just using the amp controls when I have the guitar plugged right into the input jack.
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Post by zpilot on May 26, 2018 5:49:03 GMT -7
I was discouraging modifying the volume pot. Both for the reason (Dave) pointed out and that it would void the warranty. Also I don't like to see the possibility of modded Dr. Z amps making their way back to the marketplace. There isn't much that can be done to make them sound better or more reliable. We occasionally get inquiries here on the forum from people who have purchased a used amp that have a failure of some sort. Sometimes those are related to unauthorized mods.
And yes, I agree that going straight into the amp really shows what it can do. I run all my modulation and delay/reverb effects at the effects loop. Anything that goes into the front end is true bypass and SELDOM on except for a buffer for long cable runs.
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Post by TNTall on May 27, 2018 3:18:44 GMT -7
Yeah relays are not the most reliable devices, but at least if one failed here it isn't a critical function. I had considered one to switch the reverb on and off too and have wondered why relays are not used in amps. Maybe the switching would be noisy. Cable runs could be much more simple when all you need is a ground wire.
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