My Early Impressions on the Cure
May 6, 2019 9:29:09 GMT -7
Russell B, Alan M (aka 'Milky'), and 3 more like this
Post by skydog958 on May 6, 2019 9:29:09 GMT -7
Howdy folks! After a couple years without a Z in my arsenal, I picked up a Cure locally from esteemed Z-Talk member Chilly Gibbons (thanks Todd!).
Since I moved to the DC area I've been living in apartments so volume has become a constant issue. I bought a Rivera Silent Sister and even with low wattage vintage amps (see signature) I would need my Z-brake to keep the walls from rumbling. When I first heard of the Cure and it's new post-phase inverter master volume, I was immediately intrigued. I had also been wanting to move towards a more tweed Fender sound so it seemed like a perfect fit! Also I was in need of anything resembling clean headroom.
I've been primarily running my Collings 290 with Filtertrons>various pedals>Uncle Spot Spring Reverb>Amp>Silent Sister (with stock Celestion G12T-75)>SM57 & Beyerdynamics M 160 (50/50 mix)>RME UC>Logic Pro X (no plugins).
I've had the amp for a few weeks now so I am by no means completely familiar with it, but here are my early observations:
1. Wow, it's really something to have an amp with a stout output section again. I've gotten used to the squish of underpowered transformers.
2. After some fiddling, I find that I always want the mids cranked high (3 o'clock). Perhaps that might change when I start tracking guitar parts.
3. I'm not entirely sure why there is the Master knob. My guess is you would keep it lower than dimed if you want super clean output? I keep mine up at full and adjust the Volume and Level to taste.
4. In general, the bridge Filter sounds great but the neck is way too dark for my tastes. I found the same thing with my other amps but I was hoping the extra headroom would let the neck pickup stand out more tonally but I was wrong. Some tone circuit adjustments are in order.
5. The cab currently has a Celestion Blue in it. I tried it with my fuzzes (in the room, unmic'd, at low Level) and wasn't digging the breakup. I liked it better with the G12T, but that's not really a fair comparison. I have not tried the amp with the Z 12" although I do have it.
6. Even with the Volume at noon, adding the Boost at 100% really squashes the signal (not a bad thing per se). It's very noticeable because the spring reverb gets a lot louder as if I whacked up the Mix. (I have it set with Dwell at 4, Tone at 3, Mix at 4.)
7. Pedal-wise, I'm really digging the sound of the amp being pushed hard by the Buffalo Effects 18v Power Booster (Colorsound Power Boost clone). I do add lot more treble on the pedal because those Filtertrons are very polite (and the neck pickup specifically is very dark) and adding treble increases the bite in a way that is more aggressive than using the Treble on the amp. The transistor distortion/fuzz adds a thickness that the amp's natural gain does not (again, not a knock on the amp just a different flavor). It also seems to take well to my heavier hitters like the Frantone Peachfuzz and my v7C green Russian Big Muff. I'm not sure yet how I feel about running my Les Lius as my main overdrive as I have in the past--it sounds congested and lacking compression. I think my next purchase is going to be a compression pedal as an "always on" compliment to the amp.
I did give the amp a spin with my Zion S-style guitar and they played nice together. That axe is the brightest strat style guitar I have ever heard. The next test would be with my Tele, however that axe is in bad need of a new setup before I play it again. I would also need to get my Heritage cleaned up because the frets tarnished again.
Anyway, thanks for perusing my excessive ramblings. I'm very happy to be back in Z-Land!
Since I moved to the DC area I've been living in apartments so volume has become a constant issue. I bought a Rivera Silent Sister and even with low wattage vintage amps (see signature) I would need my Z-brake to keep the walls from rumbling. When I first heard of the Cure and it's new post-phase inverter master volume, I was immediately intrigued. I had also been wanting to move towards a more tweed Fender sound so it seemed like a perfect fit! Also I was in need of anything resembling clean headroom.
I've been primarily running my Collings 290 with Filtertrons>various pedals>Uncle Spot Spring Reverb>Amp>Silent Sister (with stock Celestion G12T-75)>SM57 & Beyerdynamics M 160 (50/50 mix)>RME UC>Logic Pro X (no plugins).
I've had the amp for a few weeks now so I am by no means completely familiar with it, but here are my early observations:
1. Wow, it's really something to have an amp with a stout output section again. I've gotten used to the squish of underpowered transformers.
2. After some fiddling, I find that I always want the mids cranked high (3 o'clock). Perhaps that might change when I start tracking guitar parts.
3. I'm not entirely sure why there is the Master knob. My guess is you would keep it lower than dimed if you want super clean output? I keep mine up at full and adjust the Volume and Level to taste.
4. In general, the bridge Filter sounds great but the neck is way too dark for my tastes. I found the same thing with my other amps but I was hoping the extra headroom would let the neck pickup stand out more tonally but I was wrong. Some tone circuit adjustments are in order.
5. The cab currently has a Celestion Blue in it. I tried it with my fuzzes (in the room, unmic'd, at low Level) and wasn't digging the breakup. I liked it better with the G12T, but that's not really a fair comparison. I have not tried the amp with the Z 12" although I do have it.
6. Even with the Volume at noon, adding the Boost at 100% really squashes the signal (not a bad thing per se). It's very noticeable because the spring reverb gets a lot louder as if I whacked up the Mix. (I have it set with Dwell at 4, Tone at 3, Mix at 4.)
7. Pedal-wise, I'm really digging the sound of the amp being pushed hard by the Buffalo Effects 18v Power Booster (Colorsound Power Boost clone). I do add lot more treble on the pedal because those Filtertrons are very polite (and the neck pickup specifically is very dark) and adding treble increases the bite in a way that is more aggressive than using the Treble on the amp. The transistor distortion/fuzz adds a thickness that the amp's natural gain does not (again, not a knock on the amp just a different flavor). It also seems to take well to my heavier hitters like the Frantone Peachfuzz and my v7C green Russian Big Muff. I'm not sure yet how I feel about running my Les Lius as my main overdrive as I have in the past--it sounds congested and lacking compression. I think my next purchase is going to be a compression pedal as an "always on" compliment to the amp.
I did give the amp a spin with my Zion S-style guitar and they played nice together. That axe is the brightest strat style guitar I have ever heard. The next test would be with my Tele, however that axe is in bad need of a new setup before I play it again. I would also need to get my Heritage cleaned up because the frets tarnished again.
Anyway, thanks for perusing my excessive ramblings. I'm very happy to be back in Z-Land!