DrT
New Member
Posts: 4
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Post by DrT on Jul 10, 2018 12:49:53 GMT -7
Hi all,
A couple of months ago, I got my 18 NR, first version. My previous amp was a Tweed deluxe clone, which I loved with just the guitar, but when using a lot of fx, and I do use a lot, itjust lacked headroom. So, I looked for something manageble both in weight and volume, and the Maz 18 seemed to tick those boxes, so I got one secondhand.
I immediately enjoyed the headroom and bass, but since as it is almost the opposite of the Tweed, I did miss mids, sag and character. It also sounds really bright to me, so suggestions I read here about pushing cut and treble boggled me. Still do.
I have been using it with a Gold until this week, when I switched to a Cream. I still run treble at 10 and cut at 9 o clock. Plenty of bright still. I play it as clean as possible, and use lots of verb and delay, and it is a great platform for that, and it takes my od's perfectly too. So, not planning on ditching it, but I am curious about the brightness. Is it the alnico speaker, or that it is the first version....
I use a LP junior style axe , with tv jones classic plus mainly.
Best
Jan
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Post by gbowman on Jul 10, 2018 12:54:43 GMT -7
I have a reverb model Maz jr, but I found it bright as well. My cut is 9 my treb is 11. I went to a WGS ET-65 speaker and it has been fab ever since. Don't get too sucked into where the knob is pointing, set it and enjoy.
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Post by Jaguarguy (Mike) on Jul 10, 2018 13:42:21 GMT -7
Like most Z amps, as gbowman said, listen with your ears not your eyes! Did you get the tone sheet from Doctorice (mike)? Has some great tone settings you might also want to try. Here's the link. michaelgiliberto.com/Page_2.htmlAs usual Mike, thanks for keeping this alive for all to use!
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Post by headshrinker (Marc) on Jul 10, 2018 14:01:34 GMT -7
I run all my tone and cut controls at 10:00. If I put in a British sounding speaker, ala, creamback, blue, gold, etc. I would run the cut and treble even lower. As Mike says above, set those controls with your ears. Don't worry about where you are on the dial. If running the treble all the way off sounds good, do it. There are Marshall guys who run the treble all the way off on 100 and 50 watters with 4 inputs.
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Post by digs57 on Jul 10, 2018 14:13:24 GMT -7
I also use warehouse guitar speaker et-65...and run cut 8 live let the guitar tone do most of trimming,amp treb-10 ish?
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Jul 10, 2018 16:00:17 GMT -7
The Maz has the ability to be a much brighter amp than any tweed could ever be due to several design parameters to include: its voicing, full tone stack, and EL84s in the power section. Alnico speakers will accentuate this to some degree, but remember these are two very different designs. Use the cut, treble, and mids to get what you want out it. It’s in there, trust me.
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Post by zpilot on Jul 11, 2018 9:43:30 GMT -7
Don't be afraid to use that cut control. It sounds to me like you should have it past 12:00. They put knobs on those those things for a reason. I've had a real tweed Deluxe and a clone I built. Great little amps for recording and playing at home. However I did gig with one for awhile A/B'd with another amp for clean headroom. My feeling was that the Deluxe only sounded right with the controls at ONE setting. Your MAZ has MANY, MANY more variations. The balance between where the Volume and Master controls are set will have some effect on the tone since the B/M/T controls and the Cut control are in different locations in the circuit.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Jul 11, 2018 12:52:16 GMT -7
Don't be afraid to use that cut control. It sounds to me like you should have it past 12:00. They put knobs on those those things for a reason. I've had a real tweed Deluxe and a clone I built. Great little amps for recording and playing at home. However I did gig with one for awhile A/B'd with another amp for clean headroom. My feeling was that the Deluxe only sounded right with the controls at ONE setting. Your MAZ has MANY, MANY more variations. The balance between where the Volume and Master controls are set will have some effect on the tone since the B/M/T controls and the Cut control are in different locations in the circuit. I built a 5E3 about 9 years ago, from scratch. Got good iron, great components, and it came out beautifully. But zpilot is so right, it's got one great sound that works for me. The Maz really has a bucket load of different tones in there, and when I got into Z amps I really had to train myself from setting the EQ with my eyes instead of my ears. Crank those knobs to places that might not "Look" right and you'll wring out some great tone. The Cut control (and Mid) is really key to opening it up.
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DrT
New Member
Posts: 4
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Post by DrT on Jul 13, 2018 14:10:52 GMT -7
Thanks for the help, all
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Post by gbowman on Jul 13, 2018 15:22:26 GMT -7
Once you get the tone stack all figured out, then you can noodle with the Vol and Master combinations.... For gigs I use about 10-11 on Vol and 1 o'clock on Master. High input.
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Post by easyed on Jul 13, 2018 15:49:23 GMT -7
You didn't mention the year of your MAZ's manufacture.
If it doesn't have the tone stack lift/boost feature, then I'd recommend sending it in for that mod. Taking the tone stack out of the signal will give you lots of mids and more volume. The tone controls send selected frequency ranges to ground - non are addditive, they all remove part of the signal.
You will still have a "tone" control labeled CUT.
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Jul 13, 2018 16:09:25 GMT -7
Yes, see above for sure!
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Jul 13, 2018 18:23:16 GMT -7
You didn't mention the year of your MAZ's manufacture. If it doesn't have the tone stack lift/boost feature, then I'd recommend sending it in for that mod. Taking the tone stack out of the signal will give you lots of mids and more volume. The tone controls send selected frequency ranges to ground - non are addditive, they all remove part of the signal. You will still have a "tone" control labeled CUT. If you do send it in, have it brought up to the MKII specification. The Master Volume is much improved, as is the loop and the voice is sweetened a little, but it still cranks like a beast if you push it. I really am glad I did mine. There's a post floating around here about the serial number that the change was made.
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