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Post by bubs42 on Mar 1, 2008 11:09:24 GMT -7
I've seen and read a few of these post and you guys have came through for other members. I joined this group after stumbling on a few Dr. Z auctions on Ebay and I am very interested in Z amps do to the fact that I want an amp with a Soul and the Doc seems to put somthing personal in his amps...
So I like brittish voiced amps, I was drawn to the Srz65 and the 6545 because of the gain and the versatility in the controlls.I play HardRock/ClassicRock, and I like a good Marshall , Laney, Soldano but I don't want 100 watts and I don't want to lug around a 100lbs amp head or combo. I want the amp to supply the gain I don't want to have to carry a pedal. Guitar, Amp, Cabinet. I also play Humbucker and Strat guitar. Is there somthing in the current line up that fits me needs or somthing coming up? Also I am using a Mesa Tremoverb, great amp. I set both channels to Vintage but too darn heavy and 100 watts is just to much, this amp does not breath until it gets to 3 or 4 I spend most of my time playing and recording at home but play out a few time every couple of months. Any help would be appreciated
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 1, 2008 12:13:25 GMT -7
Welcome to the forum. You'll probably get a lot of opinions! You should look at the new Mazerati GT - lots of gain, but very dynamic, and cleans up just beautifully with your guitar's volume control. I have a few sound clips at www.gear.strayca.com/mazeratiGT.htm where I compare it to my SRZ-65, and demonstrate both its wide open gain and how it cleans up from the guitar's volume control. It's an amazing amplifier. The other one you're likely to get a few comments on is the Rt 66, but I can't help you there - haven't bought one of those yet. Both of the Maz amps (the Jr and the Sr) can get a fairly British voice, but it's a unique to Z voice as well. They are the most versatile of all the Z amps, so if you think you might want to do some British tones, but also sometimes want more of a Vox or Fender vibe, the Maz Jr or Sr is the way to go. Unfortunately we don't have the option of purchasing a new SRZ-65 or 6545 any more, but they do come up, both here and on eBay. I have sound clips of both of them as well: www.gear.strayca.com/6545.htm for the 6545 and www.gear.strayca.com/SRZ-65.htm for the SRZ-65. Check it out.
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Post by bubs42 on Mar 1, 2008 15:24:42 GMT -7
That was a great comparison, but I like the mid range of the Srz better.. Anyone else..
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2008 15:57:38 GMT -7
bubs42, Sounds like you need a SRZ-65. Every once in a while you'll find one in the buy,sell and trade or on the bay. Good luck and karma for joining the forum. Doug
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Post by bubs42 on Mar 3, 2008 17:38:31 GMT -7
Thanks, i've been listening to the Rt66 Sound clips on Dr Z website and that sounds awsome. I'm a bit hesitant about using overdrive pedal's and it sounds like it needs one for somethings. I'll think of it as my second channel. I do not want to use Distortion pedal's they are not for me. I need that controll and feeling that comes from me, the guitar and the amp. This mybe my alternative. It may be my less exspensive dive into Dr. Z amplifier as well. Must be careful the Evan sounds like it my be up my alley! Thank to everyone I'm getting closer to becoming a Z owner..
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Post by dixiechicken on Mar 4, 2008 8:49:24 GMT -7
OD-pedals in front of the Route66 really works very well. I have the "Carl Martin Hot Drive n' Boost3" - and can get a lot of flexibility on how I want to work it with my Route. Ask people here for recommendations on OD-pedals with the Route - you'll get a gazillion answers. With an Airbrake or Weber Minimass you can dime everything on the amp and get great OD & crunch. In the 70:s classic vein. (Not metall & thrash) Often run it this way in the rehearsal studio & live too. (the CM-pedal is the the first ever OD-pedal I actually bought - for 10 years or so I played my old Fender Blues DeVille with only built in reverb and my George Dennis GD-40 wah) With a few pedals you can actually cover a lot of ground with the Route66. (true of most Z's of course ) Cheers: Dixiechicken!
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 4, 2008 18:08:26 GMT -7
Hey guy, there is a 6545 just popped up in the buy and sell - SRZ-65 on one channel, KT45 on the other. Can't get much closer to a standard SRZ-65 than that.
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Post by kidmagic on Mar 5, 2008 13:16:12 GMT -7
bubs42
Hey I think I can help you here. I'm a rock player, not country, not blues - progressive rock / punk rock / indie rock.. I own a 6545, a Galaxie, and a Z28 combo amp - I've also owned the Mazerati (not to be confused with the Mazerati GT). I've also have played a Route 66, and a Carma Ghia, but couldn't comment on the Rx, Mazerati GT or the Maz senior or Junior. Skip the Stang Ray unless your ready to use pedals.
If you want heavy overdrive at bedroom levels, you may want to look for a different amp manufacturer. Dr Z's are amazing amps when cranked up. The lowly 15 or 22 watt Z amps cranked are loud! and well beyond most bedroom levels. The problem (or blessing) with Z's are most are not master volume amps. The SRZ-65 (and 65 side of the 6545), Rx jr., and Maz Jr / Senior are, but the others are not. Also everyone talks about rolling your guitar volume down to clean-up - yes that works well with many Z's, but you do lose volume- period - it's not the same. So if you like to go back and fourth from clean to overdriven you need a two channel amp - ala. 6545 or the Galaxie. Also Z's are famous for breathing - these things feel your fingers - it's really nice when your feeling it, but also tough when your bit off that day.. No hiding..
The 6545 is a rediculously sick rock amp. Power tubes are El34. The 45 side can be clean and crisp, beautiful or can be driven hard and have amazing rocking overdrive - add a boost to it and the EF86 screams. Downside - No master volume on the 45 side. The 65 side sounds like JCM800 (a really good one), has master volume. I use this amp with my rock band and love it. Downside is that this amp isn't made anymore, hard to find, and are pretty expensive - one just sold on Ebay for $1600. They're really loud too! 65 watts is fair amount of power - but great if your in a loud rock band. Also you won't get much of the magic at bedroom levels, but the 65 side sounds decent at low levels with the master volume. But gigging levels watch out - amazing amp.
The Galaxie is a very underated amp - that I think will get quite a following once the right people find it. It's a 6L6 amp. Channel 1 clean is beautiful, crisp, tweed tone, that can get pretty darn agressive - but really it's a great great sparkling clean w/vol. under 11 o'clock - also amazing tone with jsut a bit of hair on it - my favorite Dr.Z clean period. Channel 2 is a beast, and basically doesn't have a bedroom level. Quckly gets into serious distortion with volume over 10 oclock - kind of a big muff thing - not as crunchy as the SRZ65, more of fuzz/distortion feel. More distortion than the SRZ 65. Also people are dumping these for cheap!! Shocked to see one sell on Ebay recently for $1100. Balancing channel 1 and 2 levels is not possible at bedroom levels without an attenuator, but at gigging levels - this amp is amazing and no problem with vol levels. With an attenuator this is great all around amp. It's rated at 30/40 watts depending on mode.
Z-28, 6V6 amp. It's a single channel - 22 watts. This is an amp that I feel needs to be pushed by a pedal to bring out it's best overdrive But like most EF86 pre-amp tube amps, it sucks a pedal in like it's part of the amp. I use a Keeley Katan boost and this thing growls. On it's own it doesn't have nearly the overdrive the Galaxie or 6545 have. People talk about the sparkle of this amp, but to me it's clean is not as bright or beautiful as the Galaxie channel one - and with humbuckers it starts to get some hair fairly quickly. But at lower levels the clean is quite nice, very fendery. People say this is the ultimate strat amp - but I don't play strats so I don't know. To me this amp excels for a classic rock sound when cranked. Some will get mad at me here, but for my purposes, it's kind of a one trick pony. Great trick, but not nearly as versitle as the other two above. Doesn't have master volume. Not many around so sometimes tough to get a hold of a used one.
Ghia is similiar to the z28 to me, only a slightly loser bottom end feel, less volume, gets distorted much quicker and has a bit of a "taste" difference. They are available in abundance on ebay.
Route 66 - this is also similliar to Z28, only louder, fatter, moving more toward a marshall overdriven sound. 66 people can chime in. These are good rock amps - classic rock style - fat fat tone. Only one cannel - no master volume.
Maz Jr & Senior - These don't get enough overdrive for me. Remember most people talking aobut rocking out hard with these things are putting a pedal in front of it. And I don't think these take pedals as well as the EF86 based amps.
RX ES, and the Jr. Might be interesting - EL84 amps, so it's going to have that Vox chime. Not sure the overdrive is there in spades - but others can chime in.
Mazerati GT - sounds like it's got an amazing overdrive - but remember no master volume, and cleaning up by rolling down your guitar volume will reduce the volume fairly significantly (for me not useable in a live situation).
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 5, 2008 14:00:01 GMT -7
That's a great summary in a nutshell. I will disagree with only one point - when the Mazerati GT is blasting full out, rolling the guitar volume down doesn't start reducing apparent volume until the guitar is at about 4 on the knob (at least for my Strat) and by then you've got fairly into the clean mode of operation. Now I haven't done this in a live gig yet, so maybe my tune will change once I try it out at a gig, but playing pretty doggone loud in my studio I don't hear any volume difference till it's way into clean territory. YMMV.
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Post by kidmagic on Mar 5, 2008 15:35:47 GMT -7
That's a great summary in a nutshell. I will disagree with only one point - when the Mazerati GT is blasting full out, rolling the guitar volume down doesn't start reducing apparent volume until the guitar is at about 4 on the knob (at least for my Strat) and by then you've got fairly into the clean mode of operation. Now I haven't done this in a live gig yet, so maybe my tune will change once I try it out at a gig, but playing pretty doggone loud in my studio I don't hear any volume difference till it's way into clean territory. YMMV. Hey Benttop, I just listened to your clips for the first time linked above - awesome! Must have been a lot of work. Really cool though to show the amps like that - and nice playing...
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Post by bubs42 on Mar 5, 2008 16:49:46 GMT -7
As far as level's go, that's what they make the Z wreck for. Thanks for the reply's guy's, I am narrowing it down and my take a run to St. Louis this weekend to try a couple out first hand. I think the RT66 is an interesting amp and if Doyle likes it ! Also the sound clips are great, as well as the Galaxie hey if it's good enough for Joe! The Srz and the 6546 are up my alley but a steep investment on my first Dr. outing. Thanks for all the responses and if anyone has anything else to add bubs42 Hey I think I can help you here. I'm a rock player, not country, not blues - progressive rock / punk rock / indie rock.. I own a 6545, a Galaxie, and a Z28 combo amp - I've also owned the Mazerati (not to be confused with the Mazerati GT). I've also have played a Route 66, and a Carma Ghia, but couldn't comment on the Rx, Mazerati GT or the Maz senior or Junior. Skip the Stang Ray unless your ready to use pedals. If you want heavy overdrive at bedroom levels, you may want to look for a different amp manufacturer. Dr Z's are amazing amps when cranked up. The lowly 15 or 22 watt Z amps cranked are loud! and well beyond most bedroom levels. The problem (or blessing) with Z's are most are not master volume amps. The SRZ-65 (and 65 side of the 6545), Rx jr., and Maz Jr / Senior are, but the others are not. Also everyone talks about rolling your guitar volume down to clean-up - yes that works well with many Z's, but you do lose volume- period - it's not the same. So if you like to go back and fourth from clean to overdriven you need a two channel amp - ala. 6545 or the Galaxie. Also Z's are famous for breathing - these things feel your fingers - it's really nice when your feeling it, but also tough when your bit off that day.. No hiding.. The 6545 is a rediculously sick rock amp. Power tubes are El34. The 45 side can be clean and crisp, beautiful or can be driven hard and have amazing rocking overdrive - add a boost to it and the EF86 screams. Downside - No master volume on the 45 side. The 65 side sounds like JCM800 (a really good one), has master volume. I use this amp with my rock band and love it. Downside is that this amp isn't made anymore, hard to find, and are pretty expensive - one just sold on Ebay for $1600. They're really loud too! 65 watts is fair amount of power - but great if your in a loud rock band. Also you won't get much of the magic at bedroom levels, but the 65 side sounds decent at low levels with the master volume. But gigging levels watch out - amazing amp. The Galaxie is a very underated amp - that I think will get quite a following once the right people find it. It's a 6L6 amp. Channel 1 clean is beautiful, crisp, tweed tone, that can get pretty darn agressive - but really it's a great great sparkling clean w/vol. under 11 o'clock - also amazing tone with jsut a bit of hair on it - my favorite Dr.Z clean period. Channel 2 is a beast, and basically doesn't have a bedroom level. Quckly gets into serious distortion with volume over 10 oclock - kind of a big muff thing - not as crunchy as the SRZ65, more of fuzz/distortion feel. More distortion than the SRZ 65. Also people are dumping these for cheap!! Shocked to see one sell on Ebay recently for $1100. Balancing channel 1 and 2 levels is not possible at bedroom levels without an attenuator, but at gigging levels - this amp is amazing and no problem with vol levels. With an attenuator this is great all around amp. It's rated at 30/40 watts depending on mode. Z-28, 6V6 amp. It's a single channel - 22 watts. This is an amp that I feel needs to be pushed by a pedal to bring out it's best overdrive But like most EF86 pre-amp tube amps, it sucks a pedal in like it's part of the amp. I use a Keeley Katan boost and this thing growls. On it's own it doesn't have nearly the overdrive the Galaxie or 6545 have. People talk about the sparkle of this amp, but to me it's clean is not as bright or beautiful as the Galaxie channel one - and with humbuckers it starts to get some hair fairly quickly. But at lower levels the clean is quite nice, very fendery. People say this is the ultimate strat amp - but I don't play strats so I don't know. To me this amp excels for a classic rock sound when cranked. Some will get mad at me here, but for my purposes, it's kind of a one trick pony. Great trick, but not nearly as versitle as the other two above. Doesn't have master volume. Not many around so sometimes tough to get a hold of a used one. Ghia is similiar to the z28 to me, only a slightly loser bottom end feel, less volume, gets distorted much quicker and has a bit of a "taste" difference. They are available in abundance on ebay. Route 66 - this is also similliar to Z28, only louder, fatter, moving more toward a marshall overdriven sound. 66 people can chime in. These are good rock amps - classic rock style - fat fat tone. Only one cannel - no master volume. Maz Jr & Senior - These don't get enough overdrive for me. Remember most people talking aobut rocking out hard with these things are putting a pedal in front of it. And I don't think these take pedals as well as the EF86 based amps. RX ES, and the Jr. Might be interesting - EL84 amps, so it's going to have that Vox chime. Not sure the overdrive is there in spades - but others can chime in. Mazerati GT - sounds like it's got an amazing overdrive - but remember no master volume, and cleaning up by rolling down your guitar volume will reduce the volume fairly significantly (for me not useable in a live situation).
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 5, 2008 17:59:12 GMT -7
Hey Benttop, I just listened to your clips for the first time linked above - awesome! Must have been a lot of work. Really cool though to show the amps like that - and nice playing... Thanks. Actually once I figured out how to do the comparison clip thing, it's been relatively easy to repeat. I use a 2x12 cab wired stereo so I put one head into each speaker and stick a mic in front of each. Then I run my guitar through a Radial JX-2 A/B/Y so I can switch heads on the fly. This is how my live setup works, and for recording comparison clips it works great. Set the recorder to do a stereo recording and start playing!
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Post by John on Mar 6, 2008 6:01:52 GMT -7
OK, OK, OK....I'll jump in here for the Route 66. You can think of it as an old school Marshall. If you come from Mesa territory, you may not like it. So much of it is power tube driven. Pretty much the whole Mesa sound is designed around pre-amp distortion. The 66 gets it's crunch tone from the power section, and you have to drive the amp hard to get it to sound that way. But when it does...YEAHH!! It is the most articulate amp I've ever owned or played through. Any lack of technique when playing will be accurately broadcast by the 66. People who come from hi-gain amps will at first hate this. They're used to having a blazing pre-amp that will hide mistakes. With the 66, there's nowhere to hide. But it's made me a better player. Once you get used to it, you can't go back to the hi-gain amps....they sound muddy. The amp has the most fantastic dynamics. Between amp, pickups and guitar volume setting, you should be able to find a point where if you play lightly, it's clean, pick harder and you get crunch, pick real hard and it's really aggressive. So just by altering your attack, you've got three amps in one. I can't stress this enough about this dynamic playing. This is not a hi-gain amp. You may need an overdrive pedal in front for more modern rock.
Take a hi-gain Mesa-Boogie....set the controls for some real crunch/overdrive. Plug in a Les Paul, then plug in a strat. There is hardly any difference in tone. Then do the same thing with the Route 66. You'll be shocked at the difference in tone between the two guitars.
But given that, the GT, SRZ-65 and the 6545 will all be good at rock and classic rock. From these 4 amps, it's just a matter of taste and preference. All are top notch.
If you're going to try out a Route 66, set all three knobs to 3:00 o'clock for starters. Also, because of it's articulation, differences in guitars and speakers/cabinets also highly noticeable.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 6, 2008 7:47:10 GMT -7
Every time one of you speaks up about your Rt 66, I want one.
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Post by bubs42 on Mar 6, 2008 8:27:22 GMT -7
Tell me about it. The members hear have been great so far, I've had a coupld of offers out there and they are appreciated. I unexpectantly almost prefering going with the Rt66. I don't know why but maybe it's the price or the tonal possibility's that it takes with different pedal's. If I don't like it try another pedal.. Hum..
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Post by dixiechicken on Mar 6, 2008 10:03:02 GMT -7
DC here! I'll add some coal on the Route66 fire. It really is an outstanding amp -as is many other Z-amps of course. Imagine this: Set Volume at 1 o' clock, Treble at 9 o'clock Bass at 10 o' clock. Plug in your Tele with the bridge pickup and volumed dimed. First into your compressor for unity gain - even out the dynamics a little - into the Carl Martin Hot Drive n' Boost - activate boost side to push the Route a little - add a little hair - then into your T-Rex Room Mate reverb - add a little space to the sound. You will have very nice cleanish chicken picking sound - a fat warm spanky sounding amp - now you're all set to start practise your Danny Gatton licks. ;D Cheers: Dixiechicken!
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Post by amakitalo on Mar 6, 2008 13:55:46 GMT -7
Hey benttop, I just bought Curt's Stangray. May have to let my Route 66 go. It's the 15th anniversary one and in mint condition. PM me if you're interested. I am in Vancouver BC.
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Post by eliot1025 on Mar 7, 2008 2:39:24 GMT -7
For British voiced Z's I think of the Route 66 and the KT-45. Both great and very different from each other in spite of having the same tone stack. The Route 66 is much less bright than the KT, - it would not make a good country amp IMHO but it's super rich and warm sounding. I think of it as kind of dark, in a good way. Milkshake tones. Fantastic. KT-45 is rich and has a sweet brightness. It has chime. Doc describes it as in the family of a Vox AC30 and a Hiwatt. It's small and lightweight. It's discontinued but they're around. Listen to the clip on the Z site. More of a crunch than a saturated overdrive. But what a crunch! It's very clean until turned up high so you might want to swap out a tube or two to get it to break up at a moderate volume. There's a guy on this site named Myles Rose in the "ask the experts" dept. He knows what tubes would get it to break up earlier. Also, you can find some info about that in the KT-45 section. An Airbrake or some other attenuator might be an option for keeping the loudness at bay. You have to learn how to use the controls on both these amps. They operate a little differently than most other amps.
The Galaxie and Z-28 remind of two very different kinds of Fenderish tones. Great amps.
Cheers, Eliot
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