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Post by guitargeorge on Apr 20, 2006 12:12:06 GMT -7
I have a MAZ 18 for about 7 years now and I have had strats and pretty much never really got into them because I always played guitars with Humbuckers, I sold all my "stratoids" but one day in a music store I saw a Tokai strat (TST-62) hanging on the rack and thought I would give strats another try, at $200 for the Tokai I could'nt resist. I had this guitar for months and again could'nt warm up to it, the guitar played well but the sound was harsh and brittle. I had a Sebring strat copy around that I set up to play slide and my bass player one night commented that the pickups in that guitar sounded good so I installed them in the Tokai. what a world of difference, first the original tokai pups werent RWRP so I got hum in all positions so with the Sebring pups I had 2 quiet positions. I'm finally warming up to a strat and pretty much playing it through a Fender Princeton Reverb II which sounded pretty good, then last weekend I pulled out the MAZ18 and plugged in. This is the tone I've searched for for years, big fat powerful cleans and with pedals enough drive to play blues to hendrix. I never played a strat thru this amp and now that I have I am absolutely floored by the tone. When the statement is made "ultimate strat amp" the MAZ 18 is it. I finally get it, and I like it.
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Post by mazmaster on Apr 20, 2006 15:09:05 GMT -7
I have a MAZ 18 for about 7 years now and I have had strats and pretty much never really got into them because I always played guitars with Humbuckers, I sold all my "stratoids" but one day in a music store I saw a Tokai strat (TST-62) hanging on the rack and thought I would give strats another try, at $200 for the Tokai I could'nt resist. I had this guitar for months and again could'nt warm up to it, the guitar played well but the sound was harsh and brittle. I had a Sebring strat copy around that I set up to play slide and my bass player one night commented that the pickups in that guitar sounded good so I installed them in the Tokai. what a world of difference, first the original tokai pups werent RWRP so I got hum in all positions so with the Sebring pups I had 2 quiet positions. I'm finally warming up to a strat and pretty much playing it through a Fender Princeton Reverb II which sounded pretty good, then last weekend I pulled out the MAZ18 and plugged in. This is the tone I've searched for for years, big fat powerful cleans and with pedals enough drive to play blues to hendrix. I never played a strat thru this amp and now that I have I am absolutely floored by the tone. When the statement is made "ultimate strat amp" the MAZ 18 is it. I finally get it, and I like it. Couldn't agree more, my man! Try a GT-EL84-S #4 pair in there, Tung Sol 12AX7s, GT-5AR4, max the Cut, Mids at 1:30, Volume at 12:00, Treble and Bass about 10:00 (give or take on both), Master about 9:00, plug your Strat in an OCD into the Maz..and then stand back!
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Post by guitargeorge on Apr 20, 2006 18:26:43 GMT -7
I'm using a Klon and an Addrock Geranium Fuzz, the Maz 18 with the gain set about 12 oclock still produces a sweet clean tone then the Klon hits the preamp tubes to crunch it up a bit, then I rollback the guitars volume and kick the fuzz on and look out, with the guitar's volume lower I get singing rock overdrive and as I turn up the volume knob the notes begin to bloom. it way over the top. what amazes me is I can do sparkling powerful ringing cleans and then go to the full other extreme end with just this amp, it seems like every other amp I had I had to set my gain higher so the pedals and distortion sounded good and I lost the power in my clean tones, this amp does it all.
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Post by real oldster on Apr 22, 2006 4:20:52 GMT -7
So, guitargeorge, forgive me if this has been asked before but is it true, do you know all the chords?
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Post by BW on Apr 22, 2006 6:10:24 GMT -7
yeah, but its strictly rhythm, he doesn't wanna make it cry or sing....
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Post by billyguitar on Apr 22, 2006 6:34:45 GMT -7
he's got daytime job, he's gonna make it all right.................
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Post by mazmaster on Apr 22, 2006 8:59:31 GMT -7
I'm using a Klon and an Addrock Geranium Fuzz, the Maz 18 with the gain set about 12 oclock still produces a sweet clean tone then the Klon hits the preamp tubes to crunch it up a bit, then I rollback the guitars volume and kick the fuzz on and look out, with the guitar's volume lower I get singing rock overdrive and as I turn up the volume knob the notes begin to bloom. it way over the top. what amazes me is I can do sparkling powerful ringing cleans and then go to the full other extreme end with just this amp, it seems like every other amp I had I had to set my gain higher so the pedals and distortion sounded good and I lost the power in my clean tones, this amp does it all. Yes, this amp does do it all! With some pedals out front, I'm covering everything that my Hot Cat 30R does and people tell me the Maz 18 does it better.
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Post by taswegian on Apr 22, 2006 9:52:16 GMT -7
yeah, but its strictly rhythm, he doesn't wanna make it cry or sing.... Yeah, but he can play the HonkeyTonk like anything! (sorry, had to get in on the fun) They say an ole Tokai is all - he can afford ;D
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Post by garyh on Apr 22, 2006 20:15:09 GMT -7
So, guitargeorge, forgive me if this has been asked before but is it true, do you know all the chords? Man that made my day. Almost fell off my chair. I gotta give up some K for that, Oldster.
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Post by garyh on Apr 22, 2006 20:19:20 GMT -7
When the statement is made "ultimate strat amp" the MAZ 18 is it. I finally get it, and I like it. My PRS was my main guit for 10 years until I got my Maz. Now it's the strat 90% of the time.......even went out & bought a new, better strat for the amp.
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robt
Full Member
Posts: 138
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Post by robt on Apr 23, 2006 6:24:11 GMT -7
Ditto. I was mainly a Tele guy. Now the Teles sit in their cases and the Strat sits in a stand next to Jr, available at the ready. I dunno, an interesting phenomena, happened to me too, similar circumstances. And on top of it all, I was always a bridge pickup guy (Roy B as personal hero) and now it's the Strat on the neck pickup 90% of the time. I blame the doctor....
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Post by Greg G. on Apr 23, 2006 11:07:29 GMT -7
Man, I can relate. In my personal "dark ages" when I was playing Mesa Boogies, I would rarely play my Strat because it just sounded so thin compared to my Lester and other humbucker gee tars. But when I got my first Z, a Maz 38, I couldn't put the Strat down! It never sounded so thick and full of complexity. And now with the Maz Jr., I'll only play the Lester on rare occasion when I really need a big beefy and woody tone, but its Strats 99% of the time.
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Post by seaking on Apr 23, 2006 18:01:30 GMT -7
After years of not playing i got an acoustic guitar. Months later i wanted to jam with others so i installed a pickup system in it. Going electric was the next logical step and a strat was the only thing on my list, but what? Had my brother in law (Mr 5150) play every strat in the store and opted for a Mexican power house strat (the mid boost gave it versatility) which i played thru a Peavey C30. Loved the woody, acoustic quality of its sound and the spank and quack it would do to. I lost interest in it when a started using a Boss GT6 processor. It didn't fit with that rig and instead switched to a tele/buckers with coil tap. Bigger sound. I've since got rid of the GT6 and now find myself longing for my strat again, problem is i sold it. I don't like things laying about that don't get used. With all the strat endorsement with a Maz Jr rig, another strat is definitely moving higher on the short list. I'm thinking an EC one this time.
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robt
Full Member
Posts: 138
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Post by robt on Apr 23, 2006 18:47:37 GMT -7
Good luck with your search. I think that single coils sound better through the Jr than humbuckers, although I kinda like what happens when humbuckers drive it. With a Strat--in my opinion--you can get that such transparent almost acoustical tones and yet, with a pinky roll on the volume you can take it to the edge. A lot depends on picking hand technique too. I've owned some nice amps but nothing--nothing--that is as "touch sensitive" as this. It's the combination of that sensitivity, instant response, and tone that makes the amp stand out.
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Post by pjrhd28 on May 3, 2006 16:06:34 GMT -7
Have you ever played a Strat through a Vibro-King either with or without some type of pedal? Its probably a little "denser/darker" with the 6L6's rather that the brightness of the EL 84's, but it gives up an amazing clean tone and slightly distorted tone (without a pedal).
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