Maz 18 Tone Chasing Results: Winner Winner
Dec 28, 2019 14:27:53 GMT -7
Jaguarguy (Mike), ME, and 1 more like this
Post by runninwiththerevil (Matthew) on Dec 28, 2019 14:27:53 GMT -7
Alright, I spent a lot of time over the last few days running down a couple issues and took the time to do some speaker and tube shoot outs. I'll share what I came up with, and I'm super happy. I got my Maz 18nr used about 1.5 ago. It came to me in a flight case, so while it had been used it had not been abused. It had the standard G12H Anniversary (that I assume was well broken in) and the amp sounded amazing. I went back and forth on weather to do the MKII update, but the amp was so good I looked forward to it being over the top. When I got it back it was good, but I didn't like it as much as I did before. I had been planning on putting the EL84's back in to see if that fixed it. I actually never touched the GN14N's, and I'm happy enough that I probably won't.
V3 getting a Sovtek 12AX7 is a must. I know that is what is suggested, but I had a JJECC83s in there and I was having issues with tone going flat when the volume was under 11:00. I think this was at the heart of the issue when I didn't care for the amp as much after the update.
V2 I didn't find a positive change by messing with this tube. The JJECC83s sounded best here.
V1 This was interesting. I liked it well enough with the JJECC83s, but tried a EH 12AX7 Gold, and a GE Jan 6072A. Both made a big difference in the highs. I had the EH from way back when I was first playing with tubes in a Blues Jr, I didn't like it there because it made the amp too hi-fi. I like what it does here very much. I don't think it did much to alter the gain, just crisped up the highs really nice. The GE was good too, but not as much.
Speakers. I had the G12H that came stock. I had a MojoTone BV-25M (Greenback clone). I ordered a Hempopotamus Alnico that I will include the description for below. I though both the MojoTone and the Alnico blew away the Heritage. This surprised me because that has long been my favorite speaker and the one I preferred over the V30's in other applications. Between the Greenback and the Alnico I went with the Alnico. The Maz sounds amazing.
If you want that OLD VOX/Celestion tonality, the tonality like Celestion alnico from the 60's, well... This is the sound you get with these....
In case you've never seen what an early celestion looks like, this is what it looks like under the hood, like when you would remove the bell... VOX, I believe was possibly the same speaker...
They were completely stripped, cleaned, and sent-to-paint, where they were coated intuit candy purple color..
Then- all new OEM components were used, so they are basically new units again,... only 45 years later, and 150 dollars cheaper..
new EVERYTHING- new litz wires installed, new spider assembly, new dust caps, new voice coils, new cone assemblies/etc/etc/etc EVERYTHING..
Tone-wise, Basically blue bell clones with the three brass bolt alnico magnetic structures..
MUCH cheaper option than the 350 blue bell versions.. 30 watts. /98dB/55-6.25KHz.
Hempopotamus Reverb Shop
V3 getting a Sovtek 12AX7 is a must. I know that is what is suggested, but I had a JJECC83s in there and I was having issues with tone going flat when the volume was under 11:00. I think this was at the heart of the issue when I didn't care for the amp as much after the update.
V2 I didn't find a positive change by messing with this tube. The JJECC83s sounded best here.
V1 This was interesting. I liked it well enough with the JJECC83s, but tried a EH 12AX7 Gold, and a GE Jan 6072A. Both made a big difference in the highs. I had the EH from way back when I was first playing with tubes in a Blues Jr, I didn't like it there because it made the amp too hi-fi. I like what it does here very much. I don't think it did much to alter the gain, just crisped up the highs really nice. The GE was good too, but not as much.
Speakers. I had the G12H that came stock. I had a MojoTone BV-25M (Greenback clone). I ordered a Hempopotamus Alnico that I will include the description for below. I though both the MojoTone and the Alnico blew away the Heritage. This surprised me because that has long been my favorite speaker and the one I preferred over the V30's in other applications. Between the Greenback and the Alnico I went with the Alnico. The Maz sounds amazing.
If you want that OLD VOX/Celestion tonality, the tonality like Celestion alnico from the 60's, well... This is the sound you get with these....
In case you've never seen what an early celestion looks like, this is what it looks like under the hood, like when you would remove the bell... VOX, I believe was possibly the same speaker...
They were completely stripped, cleaned, and sent-to-paint, where they were coated intuit candy purple color..
Then- all new OEM components were used, so they are basically new units again,... only 45 years later, and 150 dollars cheaper..
new EVERYTHING- new litz wires installed, new spider assembly, new dust caps, new voice coils, new cone assemblies/etc/etc/etc EVERYTHING..
Tone-wise, Basically blue bell clones with the three brass bolt alnico magnetic structures..
MUCH cheaper option than the 350 blue bell versions.. 30 watts. /98dB/55-6.25KHz.
Hempopotamus Reverb Shop