underdog
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Post by underdog on Jan 22, 2019 17:14:28 GMT -7
Ive had my z lux for awhile now and try to coax a srv blackface type tone out of it. It does it quite well for the clean Lenny type, but i still consider myself unsuccessful for the medium gain tones. Always seems kinda fizzy and harsh to me. Ive been thru plenty of boutiqe ts type overdrives and still not happy. Is a mid pushed overdrive wrong for this amp? And do most crank the master and dial the volume to their desired levels? Not a big fan of preamp overdrive tones. Thanks, Underdog
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Post by Maddog on Jan 22, 2019 19:11:33 GMT -7
I usually run the master around noon and the volume around 9-10 o'clock. I use a Wampler Clarksdale Delta OD for tubescreamer-type mid bump and an Xotic AC for a more British flavored OD...
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underdog
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Post by underdog on Jan 23, 2019 4:05:56 GMT -7
Thanks for the response.Tube screamer type drives sound best with blackface mid scooped amps, so curious as to where you set the mids on your z lux?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2019 8:49:49 GMT -7
The Lux is a bright-ish amp, though nowhere near the brightest of the Zs I’ve owned. I find that with OD pedals it helps to roll the T and M back to about 11:00, and also to set the tone on the pedal about the same. I also typically roll off the tone on my bridge pickup a bit if It’s a single coil. I think you’ll like the tones you get, but it does complicate moving from clean to dirty a bit. Not a problem for me, though, as I almost never play completely clean.
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Post by Maddog on Jan 23, 2019 8:52:53 GMT -7
Thanks for the response.Tube screamer type drives sound best with blackface mid scooped amps, so curious as to where you set the mids on your z lux? Interestingly, this is just a random pic, but the knobs are pretty close to my favorite settings....OBTW, with Dr. Z amps....adjust the controls with your eyes shut and ears open....conventional settings for other manufactures don't always serve you well with Z's amps....Use your heart...
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underdog
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Post by underdog on Jan 23, 2019 13:51:51 GMT -7
Thanks man. I pretty much have mine set like you do. I do set with my ears, thats what kinda makes me go nuts, maybe they change every day or pedal to pedal. In fact i just looked over at mine at its kinda uncanny how close it is set to yours. I should take a pic right now to show ya, lol.
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underdog
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Post by underdog on Jan 24, 2019 5:52:06 GMT -7
Does anyone have a clip or could make one using a z lux and going for a srv, kws, philip sauce type tone?
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perry
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Post by perry on Jan 24, 2019 8:16:53 GMT -7
I haven't heard any clips but I wonder if running 5881's would give you a little more of that lead tone? I'm in a similar boat. I've been interested in a Z-lux with running the 5881's and a Z 4x10 with the Z legend option.
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Post by scottunzicker on Jan 24, 2019 8:27:41 GMT -7
As one who has been running 5881s in his Z-Lux for over a year now, I can attest that many fellow guitarists have commented on how well it nails the blackface tone, which was a big part of SRVs early signature sound. I'll see if I can find some clips somewhere.
Edit:
Here's some pretty mellow stuff from a gig at the Skylark here in Austin last July. Not my finest effort (hey, it was late, and there might have been some alcohol involved), but the guitar comes through pretty nicely, so you can hear a 5881 equipped Z-Lux in flight. You see me turn on the tremolo a few seconds into the song (a cover of Valerie), which you can hear really well during the quiet passages and breakdown (with harmonics) a few minutes in.
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perry
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Post by perry on Jan 24, 2019 10:24:21 GMT -7
Sounded great Scott! Thanks for sharing! I've watched a couple of your other videos of your band. You guys sound great. The one above was shot a little further away but you "looked familiar" to me. Upon the closer shot one from Antone's it dawn on me....Did you do the Grammatico ATX demo? You knocked that out of the park also. I'm also a huge JLV (& SRV of course)fan.
Would you say with the 5881's it can get that sound like the Magic Sam tremolo stuff you did?
Thanks, Joe
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Post by scottunzicker on Jan 24, 2019 11:41:42 GMT -7
Sounded great Scott! Thanks for sharing! I've watched a couple of your other videos of your band. You guys sound great. The one above was shot a little further away but you "looked familiar" to me. Upon the closer shot one from Antone's it dawn on me....Did you do the Grammatico ATX demo? You knocked that out of the park also. I'm also a huge JLV (& SRV of course)fan. Would you say with the 5881's it can get that sound like the Magic Sam tremolo stuff you did? Thanks, Joe Joe, Thanks for the kind words. To answer your first question, yes, indeed, that was me demoing the Grammatico ATX, which is a KILLER amp! John takes his work very, very seriously, and it shows in his products. To answer the second, yes, I can get great Magic Sam tones out of the Z-Lux, with the tremolo cranked... not all the way, mind you, but it gets quick and deep enough to do that sort of work. I actually ape some of those tones on a Soul Supporters tune called "Mattie Mae." Cheers! Edit: I gotta say, though... in a town full of guys like Derek O'Brien, Johnny Moeller, Mike Keller, Dave Biller, Denny Freeman, Josh Fulero, Alan Haynes, Brad Stivers, and oh, yeah, Jimmie Vaughan (who you can see most Fridays and Saturdays for $10-15 in a club smaller than a lot of living rooms) etc., ad nauseum, I'm absolutely nothing special. Austin really is an incredible town. If you don't know any or all of those guys, go check them out on YouTube.
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underdog
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Post by underdog on Jan 24, 2019 16:13:17 GMT -7
You do have a good tone! I have 5881 in my Z lux as well. Id just love to hear someone doing the texas blues with a z lux one time. I bought mine while i had a day job and now i dont. Im keeping it. Love the cleans but would like to hear someone loud and proud with a tube screamer kicking one time.
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perry
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Post by perry on Jan 24, 2019 21:09:53 GMT -7
Thanks Scott,
Yes, I've seen most of them. I'll check out some of the others that I haven't. I'm a huge Texas blues fan. I was lucky to see Anson Funderburgh a couple times when he he came to Pay. I'd love to spend a week in Austin just seeing bands.
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perry
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Post by perry on Jan 24, 2019 21:18:32 GMT -7
You do have a good tone! I have 5881 in my Z lux as well. Id just love to hear someone doing the texas blues with a z lux one time. I bought mine while i had a day job and now i dont. Im keeping it. Love the cleans but would like to hear someone loud and proud with a tube screamer kicking one time. Maybe a TS type that has a few different modes like a Kingtone Duelist? Although that has a second Blues Breaker side also. Have you ever heard a Love Pedal Super Six Stevie mod? Not a TS exactly but gets a great overdriven Texas blues tone.
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Post by Patrick B on Jan 24, 2019 22:42:06 GMT -7
I don't have a Z-Lux but I have an EZG-50 and the Maz 38. Since you mentioned tube screamers I just wanted to recommend Wampler's tube screamer the Clarksdale. It has 3 band EQ over the original Tube Screamer's 1 band and I love it. It can do everything a regular tube Screamer can do plus a lot more. With the 3 band EQ you can get really close to a clean boost or boost the mids like a regular tube screamer and everything in between.
Oh, I also have the Lovepedal Super Six Stevie Ray mod and it's pretty cool too. I highly recommend it but I'm not sure how easy they are to find. I have two of them but since getting the Wampler Clarksdale and Wampler Tumnus deluxe (Klon Centaur clone) I haven't been using the Super Sixes.
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underdog
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Post by underdog on Jan 25, 2019 4:59:49 GMT -7
You do have a good tone! I have 5881 in my Z lux as well. Id just love to hear someone doing the texas blues with a z lux one time. I bought mine while i had a day job and now i dont. Im keeping it. Love the cleans but would like to hear someone loud and proud with a tube screamer kicking one time. Maybe a TS type that has a few different modes like a Kingtone Duelist? Although that has a second Blues Breaker side also. Have you ever heard a Love Pedal Super Six Stevie mod? Not a TS exactly but gets a great overdriven Texas blues tone.
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underdog
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Post by underdog on Jan 25, 2019 5:01:08 GMT -7
I currently have a duellist and have owned lovepedal super six srv mod too (actually a couple times) Okay lets say I know nothing about settings, and i know that i should go with my ears and not numbers, but need a starting point. You come over to my house and want to achieve the best srv tone possible with what i have available. I have a srv sig strat, a kingtone duellist, and a Z Lux sitting there. (which I have all 3). After i hear you ,or me pull of some stevieisms and it sounds great, and its at band type volumes, not bedroom. What do i see the settings look like on my Z Lux, and the Duellist. Some respond on other forums "get a tube screamer and turn it up and you should be pointed the right direction". To me thats like , How to i bake an apple pie? and someone says id use granny smith apples. I need more than that, cause i been playin for 30 years messing around with amps overdrives guitars and i still dont feel I am where i wanna be tone wise. I am definatly no SRV, but i have copped his style fairly well and when i play out people say "you sound like SRV" so skill wise I am okay.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2019 6:57:16 GMT -7
I don't have a clip, but I was messing around with Strat, Z-Lux and a Jetter GS-124 last night and felt like I was getting some pretty bold, SRV-like tones. I think the key is getting the Volume and Master controls above 12:00 in 40-watt mode, rolling off the treble and mids a bit and running the bass a bit higher than you'd think for that really big SRV thing. As far as the pedal goes, years ago I was talking to one of the techs at Keeley and he said the secret to SRV's Tubescreamer was to turn the drive/gain almost all the way off, and crank the volume--so it's a boost more than a dirt pedal, and you're driving the front end of the amp pretty hard. Did that last night for a bit until my wife came upstairs and said the kids were in bed and hey buddy knock it off, and I think I was in the ballpark pretty much, jamming along with a Sky Is Crying backing track. Hoping to tack another whack today when everybody's out of the house.
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underdog
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Post by underdog on Jan 25, 2019 9:16:58 GMT -7
ya, i think i am getting there and obsessing a little to much(who me, cant be true,lol) I was doing the same today while i had the house to myself, and still in the 20 watt mode. I turned the master up 3/4s and volume to about 11 oclock ,cranked the volume on the tube screamer (duellist) almost all the way, gain about 9 oclock and it was sounding pretty damn good. I host two open jams a month and feel like i get a better tone than anyone else, but i keep striving for that ultimate tone, maybe to much. Thanks to everyone on here, it has helped.
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perry
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Post by perry on Jan 25, 2019 10:24:43 GMT -7
haha, Obsessing over that last 5% of tone is the most fun and the reason we are all here!! That is a killer setup so I'm sure you are just being hard on yourself. If you don't mind me asking....
Do you feel it's better to the SRV vibe with the 5881's rather than the 6V6's? Which mode do you use on the Duellist? FAT, Stock or glass?
I do agree with FleaLux about using a TS more as a boost, having the drive down. A lot of people go for more of an over the top driven harsh tone with them going for SRV. This I why I think (for now) that I prefer the Super 6 Stevie over the duellist (I also have both). Anthony Stauffer from Texas blues Alley uses one with the small Wampler Klon type pedal and sounds really good.
Now I'm really itching to get a Z-Lux and Z 4x10!!
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Post by Maddog on Jan 25, 2019 12:00:51 GMT -7
Love the cleans but would like to hear someone loud and proud with a tube screamer kicking one time.
Definitely not one of my better performances, but you can def hear the tube screamer (Wampler Clarksdale Delta OD) and the Z-Lux here as I was playing waaaay too loud.
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Post by Maddog on Jan 25, 2019 15:51:31 GMT -7
While were posting videos heres one of me doin a little bit of srv . This was an open Jam so not my band. Cool! Good stuff.... What leslie-type effect are you using?
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underdog
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Post by underdog on Jan 25, 2019 16:40:59 GMT -7
Thats a dls rotosim. Wish it had a mix control to mix in the guitar tone back in, but its fun. I couldnt find any videos of some more meaner tones. My gf might have some on her phone ill try to get.
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Post by bourgeoisboy (Josh) on Jan 30, 2019 17:24:01 GMT -7
Maybe you could try a Dumble type pedal to get you there. Wampler Euphoria, JRockett “Dude”, LovePedal Zendrive, etc.
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underdog
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Post by underdog on Jan 31, 2019 11:11:48 GMT -7
Yep, i do need to try one, never really have.
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Post by Rhythmark on Feb 11, 2019 14:40:35 GMT -7
I always heard srv and others use multiple amps. To get the tones they wanted. Many artists do that. But its much easier to just find one amp thats close enough!
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