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Post by bigjim on May 24, 2010 11:47:15 GMT -7
Might be swapping for a Mazerati, it will be my fist Z. Never played through his stuff, but have liked what I have heard from clips here and there. After playing every channel switcher out there (and being frustrated because of the lack of tone) I want to get back to a simpler platform for pedals.
I play in a classic rock cover band, mostly 60's and 70's stuff, but we do some newer 90's stuff too. I would say the heaviest we get is "Mississippi Queen", not too much gainy stuff. I also side for a singer songwriter dude.
I have a pedal board and a few OD's and boosts around. I want a "just of the edge" clean tone that I can boost for cleaner type solos and/or ad an OD pedal for heavier stuff. I play strats.
Most importantly, I like a bit of "sag" or "give" to an amp, to cover my sloppy phrasing, and allow for more dynamic solos. Played a JTM clone and Super Reverb for a bit, they both had the feel I like. I know the Mazerati is tube rectified, how does it feel???
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2010 12:07:30 GMT -7
The Mazerati is an amp that keeps surprising me. It has two knobs that do the job of twenty. I play through a Z Best 212 and it matches beautifully with her. Which version is the one in your sights? I own a version one it's the proverbial..."Sh%t" It can go from a Marshall to VOX. The only pedal I use for drive is Fulltone Full-Drive 2 MOSFET. The sustain is long and the the feel is tight, concise.
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Post by bigjim on May 24, 2010 12:19:56 GMT -7
Rev2.
I've never owned a class a, EL84 amp, so I'm kinda nervous about doing the swap. Listening to some awesome clips here and it may work for me...
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2010 12:31:02 GMT -7
I think you will enjoy the EL84 switch. I switched from 6L6 configurations and I won't go back. Here is a video of my version one fast forward to 3:30 to skip my jabbering.
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Post by bigjim on May 24, 2010 13:26:33 GMT -7
Cool, will look at that later tonight on my home PC with nicer speakers...
I mean, can I pull off SRV with this amp??
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2010 13:48:39 GMT -7
Cool, will look at that later tonight on my home PC with nicer speakers... I mean, can I pull off SRV with this amp?? DO DOUBT!!! ;D
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Post by bigjim on May 24, 2010 20:16:30 GMT -7
Bump for more feedback!!!
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Post by benttop (Steve) on May 24, 2010 22:10:19 GMT -7
Bump for more feedback!!! My first Z amp was a Mazerati, back in 2005. I made several clips of it, and they are still on my gear page if you want to give a listen.
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Post by Jacques Belanger on May 25, 2010 4:26:10 GMT -7
Here's my 2 cents to add to the pot... I've owned darn near every amp out there.... and my quest ended at Z.....go figure it's the end of the alphabet.. LOL but seriously, i had a 1968 super reverb...not the re-issue and i traded it for a Mazarati....and i don't miss it one bit. yes it doesn't have reverb....but i never use reverb live anyway. the tone of the mazarati is soooo full....sooo pure and alive that there's nothing else that touches it. It's my #1 go to amp. I use a ZVEX super hard on clone (i built) to drive the amp and just work the volume control for my gain. that's it. this thing, version 2 stays "clean" until around 12-1:00 on the volume...and by then...you've ticked off most soundmen... so if you want to run it on the edge of breaking up....you're probably going to need a booster or a drive pedal of some kind. and finally, right now i'm mainly a country player.....so i like it mostly clean, but i used to be a Satriani/Vai crazy shredder so i also do the rock stuff too and this thing really smokes it all. It takes pedals really well, actually, i've never heard a pedal it didn't like. Hope this helps... I'll try to post some sound clips later today or tomorrow. but if i don't benttop's sound clips are really good. hope this helps Jacques
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Post by Fiestared69 on May 25, 2010 5:21:23 GMT -7
Just get the Mazerati and you will never look back !!!! This is truely the working musicians amp!!!! Two knobs and the truth!!!!! YEAH BABY!!!!
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Post by bigjim on May 25, 2010 6:34:05 GMT -7
OK, I was up most of last night poring over reviews/clips here. One comment popped out a few times, "this is Z's stiffest amp". Any thoughts on this? My last few amps have been Marshall based, I wanted a more Fendery feel (Super Reverb, Deluxe etc) for my next amp.
I would just blow it off and try to snag something else, but I'm interested in the Z because it so much of departure from what I have been used to buying/selling/swapping lately...
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Post by bigjim on May 25, 2010 6:55:52 GMT -7
Bump for more feedback!!! My first Z amp was a Mazerati, back in 2005. I made several clips of it, and they are still on my gear page if you want to give a listen. Best clips I have heard of this amp, thanks for that. I'm a strat guy, and every clips I have heard or seen were Teles! The neck tones in those clips may have just sold me on the trade...
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Post by rcrecelius on May 25, 2010 8:32:23 GMT -7
One comment popped out a few times, "this is Z's stiffest amp". Any thoughts on this? Hmmm...IMO that is not a true statement at all...the Mazerati has a very nice sag/natural compression to it. Maybe the person(s) making that statement never turned it up?
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Post by Fiestared69 on May 25, 2010 8:35:11 GMT -7
The Mazerati is very sensitive to tube changes, That being said you can try different rectifiers to get the sag you are looking for ! I use about 4 different rectifiers for different venues , I'm tellin' ya just get the amp and don't look back you won't be sorry! Or you can tell me where the amp is and I'll buy it and you'll be sorry !!!!
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Post by bigjim on May 25, 2010 8:44:27 GMT -7
Thanks everyone, I'm going for it!!!!!
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Post by benttop (Steve) on May 25, 2010 9:44:44 GMT -7
Thanks everyone, I'm going for it!!!!! Cool! I had my first Mazerati (a 2x12 combo) in 2005 but it was too heavy for me, and traded it away for another model. But I always wanted another, and now I have a version 2 Mazerati head. It is a great amplifier!
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Post by bigjim on May 28, 2010 7:07:48 GMT -7
cmooooooooooooooooooooon fedex!
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Post by bigjim on Jun 1, 2010 21:07:16 GMT -7
Got the Mazerati out of the box finally, plugged it into my Trutone 2x12 and my pedal board and I was off...
At first the band lauged at the two knobber I brought in, especially since my last two amps had a ton of knobs (XTC, Marshall modern 3 channel amp) and then that it had only 30watts.
What a fun amp, very lively, big sounding, full. I was shocked how it filled the room, yet still cut when I jumped on it. The amp is very reactive to your playing, so you need to stay on top of things, but also has a squishyness that is very dynamic. Notes kinda pop out of it. Great with my strat, I had the volume shy of 10:00, tone up to 2:00.
Pedals were great with it too. I had a Hotcake in front of a Retro Boost, trem, vibe and delay. Some of the sweetness was sucked up by the pedalboard, but that was one of the pedals fault. I got great cleans, dirt and boost rollin' now. Rig was noticeably quieter too!
Gonna get a set of JJ's, and fiddle with preamp tubes next week.
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Post by Jacques Belanger on Jun 2, 2010 4:08:01 GMT -7
Welcome to the club!!! the mazarati was my first Z and i'll never be without one...ever. it's got such a phenomenal clean tone that it's an amazing platform to build your tone with. I hope you realize that you can never go back again.....to the world of "other" amps. If you try another amp maker....they all just seem kinda sterile, and dead. but it won't matter.....you'll still have dreams of other amps....... but, they'll all start with zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz lol Jacques
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Post by mtlrecords on Jun 2, 2010 8:39:04 GMT -7
Congrats! The Mazerati must be killer, strats probably sound perfect through it. I am still behind on the other Z amps I want to purchase (Remedy, Monza and MAZ 18 JR) but a Mazerati is on the list. Enjoy!
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dave1
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Post by dave1 on Jun 2, 2010 13:17:38 GMT -7
I too recently added a Mazerati to my amp collection. It pairs perfectly with a twin in that they fill each others voids. I use them both for recording and I amazed at how big they sound together. Amazing amp.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2010 6:53:40 GMT -7
Got the Mazerati out of the box finally, plugged it into my Trutone 2x12 and my pedal board and I was off... At first the band lauged at the two knobber I brought in, especially since my last two amps had a ton of knobs (XTC, Marshall modern 3 channel amp) and then that it had only 30watts. What a fun amp, very lively, big sounding, full. I was shocked how it filled the room, yet still cut when I jumped on it. The amp is very reactive to your playing, so you need to stay on top of things, but also has a squishyness that is very dynamic. Notes kinda pop out of it. Great with my strat, I had the volume shy of 10:00, tone up to 2:00. Pedals were great with it too. I had a Hotcake in front of a Retro Boost, trem, vibe and delay. Some of the sweetness was sucked up by the pedalboard, but that was one of the pedals fault. I got great cleans, dirt and boost rollin' now. Rig was noticeably quieter too! Gonna get a set of JJ's, and fiddle with preamp tubes next week. Cool good on ya brotha!!! I would stick with the recommended 5751, 12ax7 combo. I recently changed some tubes around and went back to the original configuration. JJ el84s would be great but from what I hear their 12ax7s leave something to be desired. I love my Mazerati more and more everyday...ENJOY. LET'S SEE SOME PICS.
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Post by bigjim on Jun 3, 2010 8:41:19 GMT -7
I have an NOS 5751 around somewhere, more worried about the 4 power tubes though...
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Jun 3, 2010 9:44:40 GMT -7
There it is - two knobs and the truth!
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Post by bigjim on Jun 3, 2010 9:57:08 GMT -7
There it is - two knobs and the truth! Love that line, used it at rehearsal the other night, as I was pulling the Marshall 3 channel off the cab, and plopping the 'rati down! Picking up a few OD pedals to go with this bad boy, so far I got a HBE Power Screamer (TS9 with a boost), Hotcake and maybe a Burriss Boostiest. Gonna go with one or two of them and see what happens....
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2010 13:05:42 GMT -7
There it is - two knobs and the truth! Picking up a few OD pedals to go with this bad boy, so far I got a HBE Power Screamer (TS9 with a boost), Hotcake and maybe a Burriss Boostiest. Gonna go with one or two of them and see what happens.... So much for the truth ;D
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Post by bigjim on Jun 3, 2010 13:28:23 GMT -7
Picking up a few OD pedals to go with this bad boy, so far I got a HBE Power Screamer (TS9 with a boost), Hotcake and maybe a Burriss Boostiest. Gonna go with one or two of them and see what happens.... So much for the truth ;D Yeah, I was gonna do the attenuator route and ride the volume knob, but I hate attenuators, never got along with them...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2010 13:38:23 GMT -7
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Post by bigjim on Jun 4, 2010 6:37:07 GMT -7
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Post by rcrecelius on Jun 4, 2010 7:07:36 GMT -7
Tubes are relatively new, but I want to have a backup set on hand. Also want to try mismatched pairs, and/or some sets with different ratings. Kinda fired up for this stuff, I have always stayed away from tube swapping, but I honestly feel that this amp is a great platform for experimentation. The simple signal path of this 2 knob wonder does make it a great platform for tube swapping...you'll hear a difference with almost every swap you make. I haven't done a lot of swapping but I like mine best with NOS 5751's in both preamp slots and GT #6 or equivalent power tubes...any GZ34/5AR4 will do but some say NOS is best.
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