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Post by zseelye on Feb 2, 2019 12:53:05 GMT -7
I've got a Maz 18 210 from 2011, and I love it.
Curious about the headroom on the Nova vs the Maz. I get what I want from the Maz without issue (typically using a tele...it struggles a bit with a 339, but still works). I'd love to be able to get cleans at a slightly higher volume.
For what it's worth, I'm thinking about a nova head & 212 cab OR a nova combo with a 112 extension.
Any insight? Thanks!
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Feb 2, 2019 17:42:55 GMT -7
Welcome to Z-Talk, lots of good friendly knowledge here!
I've got both amps, a Maz 18NR MKII and the Nova. The Maz has 18 watts, and the Nova is 32 watts, so it's got the advantage in power. It depends on how you define Clean Headroom. They'll both get plenty loud, but the cleans are different. The Nova has that Tweed 'clean' that is by nature a little bit hairy; on the other hand my Maz 18 gets dirty fairly quickly.
I'd give the edge to the Nova. It's a beautiful, sweet 'clean' tone. And the Overdrive mixes into the clean channel when it's kicked on which gives a really sweet, big sustaining OD tone that's totally addictive. I usually leave my pedal board at home when I gig the Nova. Really a great amp. I just love mine with my Firebird.
Help me out fellas, am I giving a good description here?
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Post by LT on Feb 3, 2019 15:46:41 GMT -7
I'll chime in Dave, although I don't have a Maz. I have a Nova head and a Cure. I use them both as a clean platform. The Cure gets most of the gigs based on pure portability. Dave is right in that the sheer power of the Nova gives it an edge, but it leans definitely toward the "tweed" tonal foundation.
Don't forget that the speaker choice is a BIG factor. When I had my 1-10 Ghia, it had a Red Fang (loud and clean). I tried a Gold based on the many positive comments here and away went the headroom (but the tone was very good). So keep the speaker choice in mind. If you want a great sounding "American" speaker that is efficient and lightweight, give the Em Lil Texas Neo a shot. I use it in my Cure and 1-12 cab with the Nova.
I second the welcome to the forum! This is best one on the internet. So many great folks on here!
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Post by tacklingdummy on Feb 6, 2019 22:53:48 GMT -7
I've got a Maz 18 210 from 2011, and I love it. Curious about the headroom on the Nova vs the Maz. I get what I want from the Maz without issue (typically using a tele...it struggles a bit with a 339, but still works). I'd love to be able to get cleans at a slightly higher volume. For what it's worth, I'm thinking about a nova head & 212 cab OR a nova combo with a 112 extension. Any insight? Thanks! I have both. Different cleans that are both amazing. Better comparison is the Maz 38, which I also have, for sure. Nova pulls off more of a Fender-y clean. The Maz(es) have more tonally versatile cleans.
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oowl
Full Member
Posts: 154
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Post by oowl on Sept 30, 2021 13:52:05 GMT -7
One of the tricks to maximizing the Nova's headroom, besides keeping the MV up, is to keep T & B below noon as they added gain like an old tweed amp would.
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Post by lowbudget on Sept 30, 2021 14:00:18 GMT -7
LT is right.
If you could locate 2 10” Red Fang Alnicos for your Maz you’d likely have more headroom than you could ever use.
‘Course, you may have to hire a roadie given that they’re nearly 8 pounds each.
Are you diming the master on your Maz and only bringing up the channel volume as necessary?
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Post by adam on Sept 30, 2021 15:32:34 GMT -7
Help me out fellas, am I giving a good description here? Sold!
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Post by adam on Sept 30, 2021 16:07:51 GMT -7
I've got a Maz 18 210 from 2011, and I love it. Curious about the headroom on the Nova vs the Maz. I get what I want from the Maz without issue (typically using a tele...it struggles a bit with a 339, but still works). I'd love to be able to get cleans at a slightly higher volume. For what it's worth, I'm thinking about a nova head & 212 cab OR a nova combo with a 112 extension. Any insight? Thanks! Welcome! I can't help with the Nova, but boy do some of those demos sound fantastic and makes me wonder too, so glad you asked. I have a 18nr2 and I always wished it had a smidge more headroom too, and particularly with humbuckers (and btw, my 335 is my hottest guitar which sort of exasperates the issue). One solution is push more air, like a Ghia 1x12 V30 could move to a 4x12 v30 cab and you'll probably be turning down the volume, yet have a similar sound. Someone already made reference to the speaker choice on the headroom thing. So onto "my" solution for more headroom on the 18, pick up a MAZ38nr2. I kind of thought I'd get the same amp with more power, but... and maybe I'm whacked, they sound and feel like completely different amp models to me. At first I was kind of bummed about that, but now I really appreciate that it's more like 2 completely different amps. They both sound fantastic, and I'd say sound more different from one another than similar. The technical person might think I'm nuts, but that's how I hear and feel them. On to the Nova, I'm guessing you'd get it and say "yes I can get more headroom, but I really like this other thing that it does which completely different than my 18". Maybe the Nova is an amp the wants live with some breakup, and you could get clean with your guitar volume (assuming it doesn't mud out like a lot of my guitars). I guess what I'm trying to say is I bet the Nova is a completely different beast and maybe you would be rethinking the whole chain if you got one. Lastly, I think there are "compromises" everywhere. Like an 18 watt amp is really sort of at a sweet spot for being able to compress the output section at a reasonable volume level. Obviously the tradeoff is if you want a hair more headroom, which you can get with more power, but then you lose the benefit of the power tube compression. There's a reason a lot of us have multiple Z's, even though we never intended to in the beginning.
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oowl
Full Member
Posts: 154
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Post by oowl on Nov 13, 2021 9:50:26 GMT -7
Welcome to Z-Talk, lots of good friendly knowledge here! I've got both amps, a Maz 18NR MKII and the Nova. The Maz has 18 watts, and the Nova is 32 watts, so it's got the advantage in power. It depends on how you define Clean Headroom. They'll both get plenty loud, but the cleans are different. The Nova has that Tweed 'clean' that is by nature a little bit hairy; on the other hand my Maz 18 gets dirty fairly quickly. I'd give the edge to the Nova. It's a beautiful, sweet 'clean' tone. And the Overdrive mixes into the clean channel when it's kicked on which gives a really sweet, big sustaining OD tone that's totally addictive. I usually leave my pedal board at home when I gig the Nova. Really a great amp. I just love mine with my Firebird. Help me out fellas, am I giving a good description here? ^^^ this sums it up perfectly. Might depend a bit on speakers though too. Nova combo ships with 12H30 which is efficient at 100dbs.
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