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Post by mileseven on Dec 29, 2006 14:34:02 GMT -7
I just took home a brand new in-the-box Z-28, and to be quite honest I'm a little disappointed. The sound is not bad, by any means, but it's not the sound I feel in love with at the store on another Z-28 with some playing time on it. The highs are a bit icepicky, and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this and if it could be remedied by "breaking-in" the brand new tubes? Thanks!
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Post by Bill on Dec 29, 2006 15:10:21 GMT -7
Is it a combo? What speaker is in it? How do you have the bass and treble set? A Z28 is not the brightest in the line by any means, but is capable of the nice 6V6 sparkle.
If a combo, it may have a new Greenback, Vintage 30 or G12H-30 loaded, which will add to the bright factor. Either waiting for more break in, or sticking in a darker voiced speaker will certainly help. If you're playing quiet roll down the treble, if you're playing loud roll UP the bass and treble for more gain and warmer sounding natural OD. One more important thing a lot of folks seem to forget when testing a new amp...turn down the guitar tone a little. I almost always run my Tele at about 7 on the bridge pickup with a clean amp.
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Post by mileseven on Dec 29, 2006 15:31:37 GMT -7
Thanks very much for replying! It is a head, and I'm playing it through a cabinet that has always darkened the tone of any amp I've played through it. I'm playing with the volume between 1-3 o'clock, the bass at 3 or above, and the treble between 12-1 o'clock. The problem is that the treble is too bright between 12-1, and I can get close to what I want by rolling the treble back to around 8-9 o'clock, but then it loses the sweet gain that I'm looking for. The only thing I could think of was the tubes, because I demoed the other amp with the exact same setup (cabinet and guitar) and it was absolutely singing. I also always keep the bridge tone knob set to around 7 on my Eric Johnson Strat.
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Post by billyguitar on Dec 29, 2006 20:12:41 GMT -7
Tubes don't break in. They start at 100% and gradually wear down. Speakers do break in. Everybody but me seems to notice that.
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Post by sudsysul on Dec 29, 2006 20:43:13 GMT -7
Your mistake is rolling down the treble. Do this as an experiment.. just for yuck yucks, put the treble wide open and see what happens. It won't get brighter, it will get smoother and darker because you say you're running "with the volume between 1-3 o'clock, the bass at 3 or above," so the treble tone control will only add gain and thus fatten your tone once you go past 1PM or so. Lowering the treble cleans the amp up and makes it brighter. It took me a while to get that through my head too because it's just so intuitive to turn the tone controls down on any other amp you've ever owned.
Another thought - give the Z28 some time too. I know that every time I buy something new, there's a PPCD effect (post purchase cognitive dissonance), also known as buyer's remorse. In a few days you'll see things differently. It's a great amp!
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Post by taswegian on Dec 29, 2006 21:16:51 GMT -7
What speakers are in your cab. I agree with the Doc, I think it's the most important link in the chain.
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Post by mileseven on Dec 29, 2006 22:46:41 GMT -7
Yeah, maybe you're all right. Maybe it's just the room that is bothering me. Right now there is a 50 watt weber alnico blue dog, and a 50 watt weber alnico silver bell. I realize the "wattage" of the speakers is a little overkill, but unfortunately I am not in the financial position to start experimenting with speakers.
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Post by James on Dec 30, 2006 7:34:25 GMT -7
The z 28 should be able to handle that speaker combination just fine..........I know with my z best........the z 28 is a monster! Real smooth and nicely compressed with no "icepick"
Maybe you got ear fatigue from playing so much in one day??? I know that happens to me sometimes and my amps start to sound bad....... Put it away for a day and come back to it later.
Also...................the "showroom" always has a psychological effect on me that makes everything sound better.......and guitars play better than they do at home. Anyone else run into this phenomena? Maybe I's crazy!
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Post by billyguitar on Dec 30, 2006 8:54:21 GMT -7
The wattage is not overkill, it's safe. The only reason to have lower wattage speakers, generally, is if you want them to distort.
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Post by Lefty on Jan 1, 2007 14:22:32 GMT -7
Sounds to me like maybe you should take a peak at the brand of tubes in the "showroom" Z-28 and then compare to yours. V2 will make a big difference.
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Post by mileseven on Jan 1, 2007 14:50:08 GMT -7
Thanks for the suggestion Lefty. Fortunately, I think I'm really starting to warm up to it. Whether it was just psychological or there was actually something that improved with time, I'm really starting to like it! So who cares why, right?
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Post by billyguitar on Jan 1, 2007 15:10:19 GMT -7
depending on what you're accustomed to it's possible to need to time to adjust your head. I know it takes me a while.
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Post by Lefty on Jan 1, 2007 15:14:34 GMT -7
Billy is right, I went from Fender amps to Z's, and they sounded a little off to me as well. Now if I go back, the Fender amps sound off. I used to think my Super was the bee's knee's, now its just the ankles. And my Z's are the whole hive, honey and all!
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Post by groovergeorge on Jan 6, 2007 0:38:03 GMT -7
Well if you really don't like it I'm sure someone on the forum here will gladly take it off your hands. ;D
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Post by Tom the Guitar Guy on Jan 13, 2007 17:35:49 GMT -7
Well if you really don't like it I'm sure someone on the forum here will gladly take it off your hands. ;D I wouldn't doubt that at all!
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