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Post by sonicbluepaisley on Mar 27, 2006 9:28:53 GMT -7
Hey Chad,
I was wondering if you knew if Brad was planning on making another live concert DVD. I would love to hear some of his new songs live on DVD and especially time warp. And I also want to hear how the stingray sounds in a concert. Thanks for looking.
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Post by pata320 on Mar 27, 2006 9:58:12 GMT -7
Chad... That would be awesome if Paisley did come out with another dvd of his live concert. Or at least be available to his fan club on his website or just even audio tracks of it. ESPECIALLY Time Warp and have him not talk about the cartoon so we can hear the guitar licks (hehehe  Just curious as sonicbluepaisley is also. Thanks Chad |
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Post by pata320 on Mar 27, 2006 12:57:04 GMT -7
Chad ...
Have one more question for ya...The Brad Paisley fanclub is just dyin to know what shop and brand name that black paisley sweater he is wearing in the "When I get Where Im Goin" video. Someone said he got in Califronia. But you see him more than any of us lol Much appreciated Chad!!!
-Pat
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Post by phooey on Mar 27, 2006 16:57:05 GMT -7
i haven't heard anything about a new dvd being in the works. sorry guys
pat, i see if i can find out where that sweater came from
sorry so short tonight everyone, i'll catch up with you all a little later
and by the way, the stAngray sounds HUGE live!
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Post by sonicbluepaisley on Mar 27, 2006 18:01:22 GMT -7
Cool, thanks for the response, I know how busy you must be. Thanks again.
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Post by pata320 on Mar 28, 2006 9:35:39 GMT -7
Thanks Chad!
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Post by myles on Mar 28, 2006 20:01:35 GMT -7
Chad ....
Look at my post in the new Ask Carl Verheyen experts column .... not my first post as much as the last post that is the most recent by me where I mention Brad and maybe show it to him if you get a chance. Maybe next time Brad is out here for a break?
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Post by zdogma on Mar 28, 2006 20:54:34 GMT -7
Hi again myles.
Could you explain the conjunctive filter in the ghia? I'm interested in both what it is and what it does. Peach mentioned that it helps with the great string balance in this amp, but that's all I know.
Sorry if we've covered this before.
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Post by myles on Mar 28, 2006 21:25:48 GMT -7
Hi again myles. Could you explain the conjunctive filter in the ghia? I'm interested in both what it is and what it does. Peach mentioned that it helps with the great string balance in this amp, but that's all I know. Sorry if we've covered this before. To keep it simple ... think of the control in a wah-wah pedal in a way. I really think that would be a Z question as it is his design and I do not know what is really considered proprietary or not and there are many components and interactions which are involved. |
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Post by zdogma on Mar 29, 2006 6:15:26 GMT -7
Fair enough. I'll ask him.
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Post by LeftyLang on Mar 30, 2006 22:37:06 GMT -7
Myles...how do I get max clean headroom from my Z-28 ??
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Post by myles on Mar 31, 2006 9:52:54 GMT -7
Myles...how do I get max clean headroom from my Z-28 ?? Turn the tone controls down in unison and the volume up with the stock tubes. If you want LOTS of clean headroom then use a 12AY7 in the phase inverter .... I have even used a 12AU7 at times which will give even more clean headroom. |
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Post by John on Mar 31, 2006 11:22:05 GMT -7
Myles,
We exchanged forum messages a while back, about my purchasing the Weber Bias Right tool.
I know from the Z website that the voltage for the KT-66 in a Route 66 is 475 volts.
However, from the Weber website:
"If you purchased the Bias Rite head only, set your voltmeter to read the lowest volts range. Then the meter will read directly in milliamps."
Based on this, I need to know what is the correct milliamp setting for the Route 66 w/ KT-66.
Also, based on this, will adjusting to a hotter (more milliamps?) bias cause the power tubes to overdrive sooner? Or is this an unrelated issue?
It would be my desire to have the power tubes saturate/distort earlier.
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Post by myles on Mar 31, 2006 14:21:33 GMT -7
Myles, We exchanged forum messages a while back, about my purchasing the Weber Bias Right tool. I know from the Z website that the voltage for the KT-66 in a Route 66 is 475 volts. However, from the Weber website: "If you purchased the Bias Rite head only, set your voltmeter to read the lowest volts range. Then the meter will read directly in milliamps." Based on this, I need to know what is the correct milliamp setting for the Route 66 w/ KT-66. Also, based on this, will adjusting to a hotter (more milliamps?) bias cause the power tubes to overdrive sooner? Or is this an unrelated issue? It would be my desire to have the power tubes saturate/distort earlier. If you truly have 475 volts on pin 3, then I bias at 32-36mA and figure the KT66 as a 25 watt tube (it is really a 30 watter) but I think the amp sounds best at this bias range. Read my articles on biasing .... underbiasing and making the amp run too hot gives little good result and has other problems. If you want faster break up in the output section drop from a #5-6 tube as stock and go with a 2-3 rating and bias at the same settings. You can also have faster break up with a softer phase inverter and this can me very effective, fast, easy, and needs no adjustment. |
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Post by billyguitar on Apr 1, 2006 15:07:11 GMT -7
Myles,
I want to retube my Maz 38 to fit what I want it to sound like. Is it possible to do that thru a dealer? I guess what I'm wanting to do is what you call blueprinting. I just don't know how to get this done. thanks for your time.
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Post by myles on Apr 1, 2006 20:09:45 GMT -7
Myles, I want to retube my Maz 38 to fit what I want it to sound like. Is it possible to do that thru a dealer? I guess what I'm wanting to do is what you call blueprinting. I just don't know how to get this done. thanks for your time. You really cannot do blueprinting through a dealer. When an amp is blueprinted, all the voltages are measured and recorded. Every tube is pulled out and measured, traced, so we know it's gain, current output, plate resistance, transconductance, etc. Then the process is very interactive. When I do this the amp cannot be dropped off and picked up at another time. The owner / player, sits with me the entire time and plays ... we swap out tubes, and fine tune a set of them and adjust the amp to his desires. I also give the end user additional tubes to swap in and out as the situation warrants. I head a group at GT called the SAG (special applications group). When I specifically select tubes for selected dealers or players there is a $10 per tube charge. This may seem pricy but you can go through 50 tubes or more to find one that meets the criteria. Tubes that come from my shop or the SAG have numbers on the boxes. These numbers let me know (and the player) the actual properties of the tube. It is no longer a crapshoot ... and considering that 90% of today's tubes can be as much as 50% below spec, that is one reason that at times you retube and amp just to find it worse than before. In any case ... we now have a KNOWN baseline. We can go up, down, gainy, pedal friendly, hard rock, compressed blues, clean jazz, etc. A selection of phase inverters is also developed. My normal blueprinting charge for the first time I see an amp is $165 for the labor for as long as it takes us. Parts are extra. After that it is $90 an hour. It is not cheap. If you know what you want you can get SAG tubes from GT or some GT dealers .... not all of them by a longshot. At least at that point you will know exactly what the tube does and have that documented so in the future you can replicate that tube or get one that is truly stronger or less gainy or whatever. I have two full drawers of tubes with Chad (Brad Paisley) that are all spec'd. There are probably over a dozen phase inverters alone. Then again, this is for a lot of amps. I do the same thing for all my GAB clients that are studio cats or on tour. Carl Verheyen has a metal briefcase of tubes for just one GT Soul-O Single amp that he takes to studio gigs ... amp in one hand, briefcase in the other. |
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Post by billyguitar on Apr 2, 2006 6:33:12 GMT -7
Wow! NOW I know what blueprinting is. I see why you call it that. I knew what it means to blueprint an engine and it would seem an amp is nearly the same. Since I'm nowhere near LA I'll settle for the SAG tubes. I'll do some checking locally and see if anyone is a SAG dealer. I'll be going for the compressed blues/jazz direction. Thanks for the thorough answer. I really appreciate it!
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Post by Buzz Fretwear (Ignatius) on Apr 2, 2006 19:02:26 GMT -7
Myles, I want to retube my Maz 38 to fit what I want it to sound like. Is it possible to do that thru a dealer? I guess what I'm wanting to do is what you call blueprinting. I just don't know how to get this done. thanks for your time. You really cannot do blueprinting through a dealer. When an amp is blueprinted, all the voltages are measured and recorded. Every tube is pulled out and measured, traced, so we know it's gain, current output, plate resistance, transconductance, etc. Then the process is very interactive. When I do this the amp cannot be dropped off and picked up at another time. The owner / player, sits with me the entire time and plays ... we swap out tubes, and fine tune a set of them and adjust the amp to his desires. I also give the end user additional tubes to swap in and out as the situation warrants. I head a group at GT called the SAG (special applications group). When I specifically select tubes for selected dealers or players there is a $10 per tube charge. This may seem pricy but you can go through 50 tubes or more to find one that meets the criteria. Tubes that come from my shop or the SAG have numbers on the boxes. These numbers let me know (and the player) the actual properties of the tube. It is no longer a crapshoot ... and considering that 90% of today's tubes can be as much as 50% below spec, that is one reason that at times you retube and amp just to find it worse than before. In any case ... we now have a KNOWN baseline. We can go up, down, gainy, pedal friendly, hard rock, compressed blues, clean jazz, etc. A selection of phase inverters is also developed. My normal blueprinting charge for the first time I see an amp is $165 for the labor for as long as it takes us. Parts are extra. After that it is $90 an hour. It is not cheap. If you know what you want you can get SAG tubes from GT or some GT dealers .... not all of them by a longshot. At least at that point you will know exactly what the tube does and have that documented so in the future you can replicate that tube or get one that is truly stronger or less gainy or whatever. I have two full drawers of tubes with Chad (Brad Paisley) that are all spec'd. There are probably over a dozen phase inverters alone. Then again, this is for a lot of amps. I do the same thing for all my GAB clients that are studio cats or on tour. Carl Verheyen has a metal briefcase of tubes for just one GT Soul-O Single amp that he takes to studio gigs ... amp in one hand, briefcase in the other. Thanks for that reply to Billyguitar's question Myles; I've been thinking of posting a similar question to his. Short of an actual blueprinting session, what would you suggest to make sure that I'm getting optimum tone from my Mazerati? I know this is subjective to a point, but are there general rules of thumb for us average joes who are unable to get a blueprinting session done? For example, I think I've seen you mention certain vendors who measure there tubes more accurately, etc. What kinds of things should we look for, or look out for? This may be too broad of a question (or answer), but I figured I'd throw it out there anyway. |
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Post by myles on Apr 3, 2006 8:29:46 GMT -7
You really cannot do blueprinting through a dealer. When an amp is blueprinted, all the voltages are measured and recorded. Every tube is pulled out and measured, traced, so we know it's gain, current output, plate resistance, transconductance, etc. Then the process is very interactive. When I do this the amp cannot be dropped off and picked up at another time. The owner / player, sits with me the entire time and plays ... we swap out tubes, and fine tune a set of them and adjust the amp to his desires. I also give the end user additional tubes to swap in and out as the situation warrants. I head a group at GT called the SAG (special applications group). When I specifically select tubes for selected dealers or players there is a $10 per tube charge. This may seem pricy but you can go through 50 tubes or more to find one that meets the criteria. Tubes that come from my shop or the SAG have numbers on the boxes. These numbers let me know (and the player) the actual properties of the tube. It is no longer a crapshoot ... and considering that 90% of today's tubes can be as much as 50% below spec, that is one reason that at times you retube and amp just to find it worse than before. In any case ... we now have a KNOWN baseline. We can go up, down, gainy, pedal friendly, hard rock, compressed blues, clean jazz, etc. A selection of phase inverters is also developed. My normal blueprinting charge for the first time I see an amp is $165 for the labor for as long as it takes us. Parts are extra. After that it is $90 an hour. It is not cheap. If you know what you want you can get SAG tubes from GT or some GT dealers .... not all of them by a longshot. At least at that point you will know exactly what the tube does and have that documented so in the future you can replicate that tube or get one that is truly stronger or less gainy or whatever. I have two full drawers of tubes with Chad (Brad Paisley) that are all spec'd. There are probably over a dozen phase inverters alone. Then again, this is for a lot of amps. I do the same thing for all my GAB clients that are studio cats or on tour. Carl Verheyen has a metal briefcase of tubes for just one GT Soul-O Single amp that he takes to studio gigs ... amp in one hand, briefcase in the other. Thanks for that reply to Billyguitar's question Myles; I've been thinking of posting a similar question to his. Short of an actual blueprinting session, what would you suggest to make sure that I'm getting optimum tone from my Mazerati? I know this is subjective to a point, but are there general rules of thumb for us average joes who are unable to get a blueprinting session done? For example, I think I've seen you mention certain vendors who measure there tubes more accurately, etc. What kinds of things should we look for, or look out for? This may be too broad of a question (or answer), but I figured I'd throw it out there anyway. Right off the bat make sure all your preamp tubes actually meet original spec for current output and transconductance for a start. Most new tubes are 50% down from these specs and in the first gain stage that is just awful as it is like cutting the basic drive of your amp in half at the least! You will need to find a vendor with a proper high end tube tester. The VTV unit will not do this in a proper manner as a side note ... it does not read current or TC. Fresh and matched output tubes. |
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Post by Greg G. on Apr 3, 2006 15:20:50 GMT -7
Hey Myles,
I have a question on my Maz Jr. that really applies to any tube amp. I was trying out different cabs the other day, and fired the amp up, let it warm up for about a minute and then fliped the stand-by switch to on to realize that there was no sound coming out because I forgot to reconnect the speaker to the amp's output. I shut the amp off immediately, let it cool down, connected the speaker and fired it up, no problems. Now, I know what I just described is a serious no no, and can fry a transformer. All seems okay, but any chance I did any damage I don't know about by running it like that for about a minute or less?
Thanks,
Greg
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Post by myles on Apr 3, 2006 21:32:35 GMT -7
Hey Myles, I have a question on my Maz Jr. that really applies to any tube amp. I was trying out different cabs the other day, and fired the amp up, let it warm up for about a minute and then fliped the stand-by switch to on to realize that there was no sound coming out because I forgot to reconnect the speaker to the amp's output. I shut the amp off immediately, let it cool down, connected the speaker and fired it up, no problems. Now, I know what I just described is a serious no no, and can fry a transformer. All seems okay, but any chance I did any damage I don't know about by running it like that for about a minute or less? Thanks, Greg Greg, You are lucky you did this with a Z amp and not a vintage Marshall. You are fine and dandy thanks to the Docs over engineered output transformers. |
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Post by Greg G. on Apr 4, 2006 10:18:45 GMT -7
Thanks Myles! Good to know. -Greg |
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Post by fishman on Apr 6, 2006 18:46:36 GMT -7
Myles,
is there any reall advantage that the normal person can hear by running my Stingray at 16ohms rather than 4ohms>?, I have the 2-12 combo w/blues..thanks
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Post by John on Apr 7, 2006 8:23:46 GMT -7
Myles,
I think I read somewhere in this forum you didn't think the Marshall 'vintage reissue' series was all that bad. Yes, there's a bit of printed circuit board, but nothing like many modern amps.
Any comment specifically about the 1987X? Do you know the difference between the "X" and XL" models? (the JCM800 100 watter is just too much power for the clubs I play)
I can pick up one of those on EBAY for a reasonable price. I can't afford a new 6545, or wait around for a used 6545 or SRZ-65. And even if I do find one used, they're still going for 80% of retail.
Thanks for any comments you may have.
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Post by myles on Apr 7, 2006 8:23:57 GMT -7
Myles, is there any reall advantage that the normal person can hear by running my Stingray at 16ohms rather than 4ohms>?, I have the 2-12 combo w/blues..thanks Some folks feel that using a larger or smaller portion of the output transformer core as in using different taps for the different windings has advantages. Trying to match the output tubes high impedance to the lower impedance of a speaker .... there is less disparity at 16 ohms than at 4 ohms. I personally do not take this into account and use the cabs I have with the amps I have and have never noticed anything strong enough to make me take it into account as a factor. Some may believe or feel otherwise that may have better ears than myself. |
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Post by LeftyLang on Apr 13, 2006 22:15:55 GMT -7
Myles...how do I get max clean headroom from my Z-28 ?? Turn the tone controls down in unison and the volume up with the stock tubes. If you want LOTS of clean headroom then use a 12AY7 in the phase inverter .... I have even used a 12AU7 at times which will give even more clean headroom. Thanks Myles....Karma for you & Ashley ;D |
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Post by hdahs143 on Apr 15, 2006 5:33:33 GMT -7
Hi Myles!
With Z amps and other tube amps you have a choice of 4,8, & 16 ohm output impedance options. IS one of the choices the optimum one to use that the amp was designed for?(using all of the output transformer windings?) Also is there any audible difference between using a parallel speaker wiring setup as opposed to a series wiring setup. I.e. my zbest has 2 16ohm speakers in parallel for an impedance of 8 ohms, but on the Stingray combos I notice they have 2 8ohm speakers in series for an impedance of 16ohms.
Thanks for your help!
Harold
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Post by myles on Apr 16, 2006 15:17:36 GMT -7
Turn the tone controls down in unison and the volume up with the stock tubes. If you want LOTS of clean headroom then use a 12AY7 in the phase inverter .... I have even used a 12AU7 at times which will give even more clean headroom. Thanks Myles....Karma for you & Ashley ;D Thank you |
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Post by myles on Apr 16, 2006 15:18:49 GMT -7
Hi Myles! With Z amps and other tube amps you have a choice of 4,8, & 16 ohm output impedance options. IS one of the choices the optimum one to use that the amp was designed for?(using all of the output transformer windings?) Also is there any audible difference between using a parallel speaker wiring setup as opposed to a series wiring setup. I.e. my zbest has 2 16ohm speakers in parallel for an impedance of 8 ohms, but on the Stingray combos I notice they have 2 8ohm speakers in series for an impedance of 16ohms. Thanks for your help! Harold Harold, Different folks have their own take on this but I feel it matters very little. |
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Post by billyguitar on Apr 16, 2006 15:32:58 GMT -7
Not that I'm an expert having only experimented one time, but here's what I noticed on my Bluesbreaker Reissue combo. It came with two eight ohm greenbacks wired for 16 ohms. Back when I used to gig that amp a lot I rewired it to 4 ohms for a while. It sort of tilted the frequency response lower, less highs and more lows. Actually very subtle. I rewired it back to 16 ohms. I've read either in Dave Funk's book or one of Gerald Weber's that at 16 ohms you are using the whole output transformer and at lesser impedance taps signal is only passing through that fractional amount of the transformer. i.e. 8 ohms would use 1/2 of the windings in the transformer. Who knows which sounds better? Might as well use the whole thing since we paid for it.
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Just curious as sonicbluepaisley is also. Thanks Chad
