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Post by DaSkip on Jun 16, 2006 19:44:40 GMT -7
I did some horse trading and I am awaiting the delivery of a Blonde, Walnut faced Route 66. I can't tell you how excited I am about this amp. I already own a MAZ 18 JR 1 x 12 with Reverb and love it. I have decent to good carpentry skills and want to build my own cabinet. How would a Weber Blue Dog and Silver Bell sound with the 66?
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Post by DaSkip on Jun 16, 2006 22:42:58 GMT -7
I guess I asked the wrong question.
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Post by taswegian on Jun 16, 2006 23:25:41 GMT -7
Well, no experience here with the 66 and blues type speakers but you would think it would be big, fat, and lotsa chime! Sounds like a good tone to me! ;D
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Post by billyguitar on Jun 17, 2006 0:47:07 GMT -7
Pretty hard to match any speaker with the Route 66 or any other Z amp that would sound bad. If it's a good sounding speaker it'll sound good with any Z.
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Post by kc on Jun 17, 2006 10:54:36 GMT -7
Like you, I had a Maz Jr when I bought my 66. The Maz Jr went into retirement pretty quickly and has since been sold.
In regard to speakers, with the 66 I began using a Z Best, but then decided to go with a 1x12 cabinet. I got a Celestion Blue and now the Z Best sits. Even tho the Blue is only rated at 15 watts, I haven't blown it yet (almost 2 years now). I also use an Airbrake and my volume on the 66 only goes up to about 9 o'clock -- but my pups are pretty hot too. Anyway, if you are going to use a 2x12 cabinet, I suggest one of the speakers should be a Blue or maybe one of the Weber clones.
Please post again once you've played the 66 a bit. What style of music do you generally play?
kc
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Post by rickbob on Jun 17, 2006 12:01:55 GMT -7
I got tired of the V30 in my ZBest, pulled it and put in an old Weber P12NB which is a 25 watt Blue with an "American" cone as best as i can remember (it's been years since i bought it...). I love it in the cab. The 66/Zbest are on loan to my buddy, so i can hear it from every vantage point, it's smoother and sweeter than the G12H30, though the H has cool punch/bite and low clarity, good combo, my bud's band plays original rock. Ideally i'd like to pull the H30 and put a Heritage H30 in it's place. I imagine the Blue and Silver will sound fantastic together.....also, as billyguitar said, it's hard to make a 66 sound bad!
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Post by DaSkip on Jun 17, 2006 16:35:11 GMT -7
Thanks for all the replies so far. The style of music I play is a mixture of Blues, jazz, rock and country. Here is a picture of the 66 that the seller had posted on another site. It should be here next Thursday. [ ]
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Post by billyguitar on Jun 17, 2006 19:08:01 GMT -7
Great looking head!
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Post by LeftyLang on Jun 17, 2006 21:48:08 GMT -7
Thanks for all the replies so far. The style of music I play is a mixture of Blues, jazz, rock and country. Here is a picture of the 66 that the seller had posted on another site. It should be here next Thursday. [ ] Very nice 66...Karma for a great amp. The blues sound great with a 66 and I think the Silver will give you a great old Marshall sound.
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Post by DaSkip on Jun 21, 2006 19:53:00 GMT -7
Okay people, I recieved the amp today. It seems to be perfect cosmetically. All the tubes were removed. Here is a list of what tubes came with the amp. Let me preface this with , I installed all the tubes turned it on to standby for twenty minutes, then turned it on. Something is wrong, it should be much louder than it is. I A/B'd it with the MAZ 18 of mine and it was about the same dimed.
The amps s/n is I-10011 built 8-17-98 signed by Dr.Z the walnut front is dated 3/5/99 and signed by the Dr. as well.
The tubes shipped with it are a; Svetlana EF86 (pins kinda bent) a GE12 AX7WA, two Chinese KT-66 and a GE 5V4.
I am willing to do what it takes to revive this amp.
Suggestions will be appreciated.
Skip
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Post by taswegian on Jun 21, 2006 23:30:22 GMT -7
Mmmm, not an expert on the 5v4 but I'm sure Myles could help you out on what difference it makes in place of the 5AR4. I'm betting that that, or the chinese power tubes are really old and had it, are the problems. Probably the power tubes but the 5v4 may have been installed for more sag and less output. It also may not have been rebiased for the 5v4... who knows. Ask Myles about it in the "Experts" section and maybe get some new KT66's anyway. Good luck, it will be smokin' soon enough I'm sure, nice lookin' amp.
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Post by Curt on Jun 22, 2006 7:05:36 GMT -7
Yep, that Rec is PART of it I'd say, Get one of Mike at KCNOS miss marked 5AR4's for $55 for your Rec, a feash set of Groove Tube KT-66's #7, set the bias 32-34 Ma....and some ear plugs
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Post by rickbob on Jun 22, 2006 16:24:25 GMT -7
Congrats! DaSkip, that's a cool amp.....mine is #12, it smokes, these early ones are looser with more ghost notes, i love mine. Yours probably has the Dixie PT as mine does, different than the most of the 66's as only a limited number got the Dixie...I don't think they could meet the Dr.'s demand if i remember correctly.....yeah the 5V4 is going to give you less headroom i've heard, that amp'll smoke with some 'new' tubes......
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Post by DaSkip on Jun 22, 2006 17:20:15 GMT -7
Thanks for the input guys. I went by a local guiter shop today and tested all the tubes. Bothof the KT-66 tested in the weak zone and the EF-86 tested ok, but the pins are splayed out and kinda in a spiral from removal. I am going to retube the amp at this point. I am open to suggestions on brands and the dealers of the tubes I need.
Thanks Ahead of Time,
Skip
btw....My 66 has the Dixie PT.
I am stoked ;D
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Post by billyguitar on Jun 22, 2006 18:12:59 GMT -7
I did some rectifier tube swapping on my Maz 38 recently. The 5U4 seemed to slow down the amp and the 5V4 cut the volume.
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Post by Telemanic on Jun 23, 2006 14:03:10 GMT -7
Hey skip, nice amp! Talk to Mike at KCA tubes and he'll hook ya up. There are a ton of cool EF86's (nos) to try, they all have different little characteristics, some gainy-er, some brighter etc. Personally i like the mullard, valvo, and the GEC that mike has. Since your retubing anyway, dont forget to get a balanced 12ax7 for the P.I., i'm running a Brimar and like it a lot, a balanced one will help to get all ya can out of the power section. For the kt's there's not a lot of options, either a $350.00 set of Genelex nos, or the GT hp's. Ive got a set of matched Grey glass Gen's that i'm kind of sitting on cause the stock Groove tubes sound so good!! Depending on your headroom requirements get somewhere bettween 5 and 7. I like the 5's feel when they'er cranked, but if you like a firmer feel go with the 7's. Next, as everyone has said go back to a 5ar4 recto, it'll give the most volume /headroom, and if you can, get an NOS one, it'll last forever, and wont squash down to far on ya when you crank. If not, i hear the JJ is about the best new rectifier, but .... it would be a well spent 50.00 - 125.00 to go with an oldie. And lastly have a good tech bias the amp, (or yourself if you have the set of probes, and are comfortable inside the chassis!) anytime you change the TYPE of recto, or power tubes brand or #, in the case of GT's, you have to re-bias. Thats a plus for the GT hp's, as long as you replace with another set of the same #, you shouldnt have to rebias. Do all that, and she should be nice and loud,..... + or - depending on your speaker cab and speaker choice !! Good Luck !
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Post by DaSkip on Jun 23, 2006 21:42:48 GMT -7
Dang it, I bought a set of tubes today before I realized I should've gone through Mike. The upside in Mike favor is that I own several tube amps. Sorry brother.
I'll post again after the new tubes are loaded and the bias is set.
; ^ )
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