|
Post by anacephalic on Feb 27, 2006 14:28:26 GMT -7
I have an original RX 2x12 combo and i love it but i wonder if it is really the best Z for me. I tend to use gibsons with humbuckers though i have the required strat as well. I play mostly blues but do a lot of finger picked stuff, especially partial chords and double/triple stops. The Rx is outstanding for this stuff and the feel and feed back from the amp actually got me playing that way more.
When i gig with the beast NEVER in about 6 yrs of owning it have i been able to turn up over about 10 o'clock and usually i'm stuck around 9. Tone is usually about 2:30 on mids, 12-1: on treble and 11-12 on base, bright down and boost engaged. just started using tilt backs thinking i could get the volume up without killing the front row...never stopped to consider my well being thus no volume increase.
What i dig is the open ness and harmonic complexity of the amp. I've been playing a bunch of other amps lately and none come close. It's the best amp i've ever played period. It's just way to loud. Since i never get to turn up into the saturated rock and roll/screaming blues zone i was wondering if another (read smaller) Z would give me everything i love about the RX and be quiet enough to let me turn the bugger up. seems like a real waste to have an amp that you can't use 2/3 of.
|
|
|
Post by anacephalic on Feb 27, 2006 14:35:18 GMT -7
one addition to the post above, i usually air brake on 2 or 3 to add insult to injury.
|
|
|
Post by JASON (aka jgleaton) on Feb 28, 2006 1:59:32 GMT -7
anacephalic,
I have an original strength RX, and I LOVE MINE.. If you like it don't get rid of it and nothing else sounds quite like it.....
I have the RX ES and I find I can get the original's sound (which is the sound I like after alot of experimentation) on the ES by plugging into the low input, EQ to taste, and volume at about 4 (or 11:00)... this setting is equal to the original on about 7!!! but theres is still a very slight difference in sound (more articulate vs little more sag) between the ES and the Original...
BTW I wouldn't worry about the volume 1/3 of the way up if you like the sound.... on my EX I don't think it REALLY gets any louder past 1:00, just more overdriven... so although I'm at 11:00 on the dial with the ES (tone set the way I like it on my original)... really I'm not that far over from 1:00 to be as loud as it really gets..... guess different amps have different volume curves/ sweet spots...
I guess if your wanting the original sound at a little lower volume, or break-up earlier, the RX ES might work for ya.... but I like cranking my old RX up to 2:00 with the airbreak set on 2 (bright up and expand up).... maybe even better than the ES...
just a note...but IMO I've noticed that basically the ES is like starting where the original left off (bright up/ expand up)... with the original tones from 9-11:00 and then going from there... the overdose on the RX ES is a boost and really is like a good boost pedal (different than the EXPAND on the original) and to me the ES is already set with that EXPANDED and BRIGHT sound of the original RX...
but The OTHER Z amp I'd recommend is the carmen ghia, it's not really the same as the RX but a really GREAT amp at lower volume (and THATS the key), fun and likes different guitars pedals... ya could just keep the old RX and add a ghia for a larger/ smaller amp combination??? good luck, I love my old RX...
Jason
|
|
|
Post by anacephalic on Feb 28, 2006 12:57:41 GMT -7
Thanks For the input Jason. I'm probably destine to lug the beast around long after i need to depend on youn-uns to lift it out of the trunk for me. unless i could reproduce that 3-D tone, touch responce and sence of air without giving anything up and also get into the power tube sat at a lower volume i can't see replacining it (Doc let me know if you ever come up with something will ya?). It is the most killer amp i've ever heard.
I was trying to get a vol reduction by taking one of the 12s out of use and a lot of the air went rite with it. The 2x12 combo is the bomb (a 500 pounder at that).
By bost engaged i was actually referring to the expand being on. I totally had forgotten about the boost switch since i depend on the guitar vol so much for control. Another sign of a great amp. most others wither and die when you roll off the vol.
|
|
|
Post by Tom the Guitar Guy on Mar 25, 2006 14:53:41 GMT -7
I was trying to get a vol reduction by taking one of the 12s out of use and a lot of the air went rite with it. The 2x12 combo is the bomb (a 500 pounder at that). Quick question - when you "took" one of the 12s out of use, did you merely just unhook the speaker, or did you unhook the speaker and change to a different output Ohms tap (i.e. 2x12 into the 8 ohm jack, 1x12 into the 16ohm jack). I was just thinking that if you just merely unhooked the speaker but didn't plug into a different ohms jack, you'd be basically putting the 8ohm output into a 16 ohm speaker, which would be a mismatch and result in a lower volume and loss of tone? Just my thoughts. Hope it made sense. tomtheguitarguy
|
|
|
Post by teleking36 on Mar 26, 2006 21:03:34 GMT -7
hey guys,
since we're on the topic of the volume of the RX/RXes...
myles told me that this was a split bias amp, so that out of the 4 EL84s that power the RXES, they are split down the middle and can be changed out in pairs instead of quartets.
does this mean that you could hypothetically pull out a consecutive pair of tubes to cut the power in half?
|
|
|
Post by JASON (aka jgleaton) on Mar 27, 2006 7:03:01 GMT -7
hey guys, since we're on the topic of the volume of the RX/RXes... myles told me that this was a split bias amp, so that out of the 4 EL84s that power the RXES, they are split down the middle and can be changed out in pairs instead of quartets. does this mean that you could hypothetically pull out a consecutive pair of tubes to cut the power in half? I was always under the assumption that, NO you couldn't do that... BUT you COULD use MISMATCHED tube pairs with the split bias amp.... for a different/ neat sound ( never tried either myself)... but I would defer to Myles or Doc for an official answer to the question.. and speak to one of them for I tried anything like that I THINK there was a thread way back where we discused this before?? ...might try goin back on the forum threads and doin a search? but I think there was... Jason to answer the original post again.... I'd get a CARMEN GHIA or a Maz 18 NR.... and keep the original RX for out door/ louder gigs if you ever needed it... if you got the smaller amp in a head version... you could use the speakers in your 2x12 as the speakers/ ext cab for the smaller amp and be able to use whichever amp suited the gig + you'd also have a back-up/ 2nd amp if a tube went south or something...
|
|
|
Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Mar 27, 2006 7:45:01 GMT -7
I'll second what Jason said... of all my Z's, my MAZ 18 JR NR comes the closest to the "original" RX sound with less volume. It's not the exact same sound, but it's got that same kind of "attitude".
PDW
|
|
|
Post by anacephalic on Apr 5, 2006 8:43:27 GMT -7
been out for a while thus the late reply. when i took the second 12 off line i did change the impedance. what is more likely the culprit is the second 12 passively pulsing in the sonic wind as it were casuing phase cancellation issues. i was considering making some beem blockers to try and then started thinking that those would cause the same issues. Reflected waves from the blocker would interfere with the original waves coming off the speaker to the likely detriment of tone.
Getting a ghia head and using it with the Rx " cabinet" has indeed crossed my mind. The maz suggestion is also worth looking into. THe only down side would be having the heaviest 2x12 in the world but it would probably be worth it
|
|
|
Post by billyguitar on Apr 5, 2006 10:34:29 GMT -7
No downside to beam blockers. No change to the amp sound at all just better dispersion. They won't reduce overall volume though.
|
|