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Post by deacon on Nov 17, 2008 6:18:44 GMT -7
We played up at one of our semi-regular clubs in SE Michigan on Friday and Saturday night.
I was all set to take my Z-28 out for its inaugural public appearance ... but I got cold feet and decided to also take my SFDR along and use my Morley ABY pedal.
I took my '62VHR Strat and my Rocketfire relic Strat for both nights. For pedals, I had my OCD and my bandmate's Sparkle Drive.
Well, Friday night I'm guessin' I used the Deluxe a total of 5 minutes. The Z-28 sounded absolutely amazing. I rarely used the pedals ... just occasionally kicked the Sparkle Drive in for a little extra clean boost and jangle, and used the OCD when we were doing a heavier rawk type song.
I had the Z's volume set at about 3:00, the low EQ at about 2:00 and the High EQ around 3:00. Lordie, what a singing, huge tone those 22 watts put out. I could go from a fat Bassman type clean to a ballsy OD sound just by rolling my guitar's volume up or down.
The other guitarist was using his Custom Vibrolux Reverb with either a Strat or his Reverend Flatroc. The only thing other than vocals that we had miked was Jon's kick drum.
My Z-28 had no trouble keeping up. Actually, the power of this amp may be as close to perfect club level power as I've played. For rhythm parts, I often had my Strat's volume at about 4. The amp would clean up beautifully. As I turned the guitar up, I would get extra volume to about 6, and then the rest of the range just added progressively more saturation and grind.
I really had a blast. The band played great.
Friday night's crowd was decent sized, but very hard to read. We never got a feel for what songs would connect with the folks and which were not going to, but we got a respectible amount of dancing and cheering after songs. We got the most action from slow dancin' songs Friday night.
The crowd Saturday night was much more active and responsive, and wanted to rock out all night long. That was fun.
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Post by 6strang (aka Paul) on Nov 17, 2008 7:13:16 GMT -7
Glad to hear it! The Z28 sure is great in a club setting. It just has that mojo doesn't it? Glad your feet got warm...Let me know if you ever play in the central Michigan area. Paul
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Post by Bill on Nov 17, 2008 7:55:52 GMT -7
I agree the Z-28 is the perfect small to medium club amp. Also used mine outdoors at a very large outdoor festival in September, mic'd it, and had all the headroom I needed.
So many ways to set those three knobs, and it always sounds good. Normally I use a couple pedals, but plugging straight in works great too. Doc biases this amp hot at about 28+ mA, so it'll smoke with the knobs at 3:00 plugged straight in.
It's a jump up from a Ghia, and a jump down from the Rt66...take yer choice!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2008 9:44:44 GMT -7
I think this thread just convinced me to buy my friends Z28. I just tried settings close to what you used, plugged in my PRS SC-245, rolled the volume way down on my guitar, and it sounded great. All I have to do is order a 2x10 convertible cab to put under the 2x10 combo.
Thanks for posting how well the amp sounded at your gig. Add me to the list of SE Michigan guys who'll be gigging with a Z28!
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Post by deacon on Nov 17, 2008 11:06:08 GMT -7
Hey thanks. We're definitely trying to branch out regionally a bit next year, so central MI could be one of our target areas. Any recommendations about places I should send media kits to? Thanks! Deacon Glad to hear it! The Z28 sure is great in a club setting. It just has that mojo doesn't it? Glad your feet got warm...Let me know if you ever play in the central Michigan area. Paul
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Post by deacon on Nov 17, 2008 11:09:20 GMT -7
The bouncer at the club runs their open mic every Monday night. He just kept raving about how amazing the Z-28 sounded. He couldn't believe it was a 22 watter. ;D After one pretty searing lead, my bassist bandmate leaned over and asked me which OD pedal I'd used for that solo. I told him that was just the amp and me turning the guitar's volume all the way up. He couldn't believe it. I agree the Z-28 is the perfect small to medium club amp. Also used mine outdoors at a very large outdoor festival in September, mic'd it, and had all the headroom I needed. So many ways to set those three knobs, and it always sounds good. Normally I use a couple pedals, but plugging straight in works great too. Doc biases this amp hot at about 28+ mA, so it'll smoke with the knobs at 3:00 plugged straight in. It's a jump up from a Ghia, and a jump down from the Rt66...take yer choice!
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Post by deacon on Nov 17, 2008 11:12:23 GMT -7
Well, I think you'll enjoy the Z-28. We play pretty loud and only mic the two vocals and the kick drum. My Z-28 was pretty much the perfect volume level all night. This venue isn't a tiny place either ... not super wide but a very deep room that probably holds around 250 people. A couple of my musician friends went clear to the back of the room to see what the mix sounded like, and they said the Z was coming through loud and clear. I think this thread just convinced me to buy my friends Z28. I just tried settings close to what you used, plugged in my PRS SC-245, rolled the volume way down on my guitar, and it sounded great. All I have to do is order a 2x10 convertible cab to put under the 2x10 combo. Thanks for posting how well the amp sounded at your gig. Add me to the list of SE Michigan guys who'll be gigging with a Z28!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2008 4:56:17 GMT -7
This venue isn't a tiny place either ... not super wide but a very deep room that probably holds around 250 people. A couple of my musician friends went clear to the back of the room to see what the mix sounded like, and they said the Z was coming through loud and clear. I'm glad to hear it! I cut a check to my friend yesterday for the amp. A couple of the bars we've played at sound similar - not too wide, but real deep, and they get pretty loud. It's nice to know the Z28 can cut it.
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Post by deacon on Nov 18, 2008 7:51:34 GMT -7
This venue isn't a tiny place either ... not super wide but a very deep room that probably holds around 250 people. A couple of my musician friends went clear to the back of the room to see what the mix sounded like, and they said the Z was coming through loud and clear. I'm glad to hear it! I cut a check to my friend yesterday for the amp. A couple of the bars we've played at sound similar - not too wide, but real deep, and they get pretty loud. It's nice to know the Z28 can cut it. We're definitely not a quiet band at many of the clubs we play. We're not in the heavy metal massively thunderous loudness range, but when we're playing a rock gig we're respectibly loud. We were cranking pretty good this past weekend. For my rhythm parts, I would roll my Strat down to about 4 on volume. The Z-28 cleaned up great at that spot and the chords/comping was still right there in the mix while my bandmate solo'ed. For my leads I turned up to anywhere from 7 to 10 on the Strat's volume knob for different amounts of crunch.
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Post by mangoman on Nov 18, 2008 10:27:39 GMT -7
hey deacon,
can you give me an idea of songs you cover, etc? i am close to trading my rx jr for a z28
thx
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Post by deacon on Nov 18, 2008 11:37:39 GMT -7
hey deacon, can you give me an idea of songs you cover, etc? i am close to trading my rx jr for a z28 thx Hey MangoMan Here's a partial list: - Green River - CCR
- Sultans Of Swing - Dire Straits
- Kryptonite - Three Doors Down
- Money - Pink Floyd
- Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
- Keep Your Hands To Yourself - Georgia Satellites
- Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet
- Losing My Religion - R.E.M.
- Beverly Hills - Weezer
- Moondance - Van Morrison
- Mary Jane's Last Dance - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
- Sweet Home Alabama - Skynrd
- Thrill Is Gone - BB King
- Layla - Clapton (slower style)
- Pink Cadillac - Springsteen
- Pride & Joy - SRV
- Money (That's What I Want) - The Beatles
- Rain King - Counting Crows
- I Don't Need No Doctor - Ray Charles
- What Have I Done Wrong - Magic Sam
- Whipping Post - Allman Brothers
- Smoking Gun - Robert Cray
- You Really Got Me - The Kinks
- Family Tradition - Hank Williams Jr.
- Jambalaya - Hank Williams Sr.
- Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress - The Hollies
Hope that's helpful. Let me know if you've got any questions.
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Post by asattwanger on Nov 18, 2008 14:38:26 GMT -7
Are you switching between a Strat and the 137 to cover all of these tones? What pedals are you using?
Just lending a helping hand.
DAVE
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Post by deacon on Nov 18, 2008 17:33:23 GMT -7
My approach isn't to necessarily try to mimic a particular song's exact tone. My Strats are all set up so the 2nd tone knob works both the middle and bridge pickups. Those Strats can cover a pretty wide tonal territory. I rarely use different types of guitars at the same gig. I'll either take my 335 and Les Paul, or a pair of Strats. Deacon Are you switching between a Strat and the 137 to cover all of these tones? What pedals are you using? Just lending a helping hand. DAVE
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