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Post by solsurfr on Oct 26, 2005 15:54:17 GMT -7
Hey Guys,
I want to make sure that I'm maximizing the performance of the airbrake and not tapping out my (soon2be) Maz 38 and draining the tubes prematurely.
What do you guys recommend in terms of using the volume pedal/airbrake to manage your overall volume and volume for solos?
Just curious. Thanks.
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Post by charlienc on Oct 26, 2005 16:12:11 GMT -7
solsurfr,
this is how i do it:
turn the master completely up. then use the volume knob dial in the amount of overdrive i want for my main tone which is basically a nice ballzy dirty/clean sound with some crunch when i pick really hard. then i use an overdrive pedal as a gain boost for solos. it's so simple yet sounds so good. i've never been happier. in my case, i use the airbrake to just tame the volume of the overall sound.
congrats on the maz sr and let's us know when it gets in.
later, charlie
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Post by solsurfr on Oct 26, 2005 16:41:18 GMT -7
solsurfr, this is how i do it: turn the master completely up. then use the volume knob dial in the amount of overdrive i want for my main tone which is basically a nice ballzy dirty/clean sound with some crunch when i pick really hard. then i use an overdrive pedal as a gain boost for solos. it's so simple yet sounds so good. i've never been happier. in my case, i use the airbrake to just tame the volume of the overall sound. congrats on the maz sr and let's us know when it gets in. later, charlie Thanks, Charlie. Your tone description sounds like what I'm after. I'm hoping to get that classic british rock tone (jimmy page) with my les paul but also turn it around to do a killer silky smooth blues tone with my strat or tele. I'll try your technique and let you know. It looks like I'm 6 weeks out to getting mine delivered but it I'm hoping it will be worth the wait ;D
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Post by charlienc on Oct 26, 2005 18:14:00 GMT -7
it will be. also, i do have to say that before i could afford the airbrake that the master v. was quite usable. i essentially did the opposite of what i do now, but since i got the airbrake i just crank up the master to get that real power tube crunch thang happenin'. anyway, remember, good things come to those who wait and in your case, it will be a nice Z.
later
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Post by solsurfr on Oct 27, 2005 10:19:24 GMT -7
it will be. also, i do have to say that before i could afford the airbrake that the master v. was quite usable. i essentially did the opposite of what i do now, but since i got the airbrake i just crank up the master to get that real power tube crunch thang happenin'. anyway, remember, good things come to those who wait and in your case, it will be a nice Z. later As for as dime'in the master volume, does this technique wear on the tubes a little more you think?
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Post by charlienc on Oct 27, 2005 12:16:57 GMT -7
of course. the master controls the main output section of your amp which is basically the power tubes. naturally, the harder you run them, the quicker they will wear out but...
the airbrake really has nothing to do with that. the tubes will wear out at the same rate regardless of whether the Brake is on there or not. it is totally dependent on how hard you want to push them.
and as far as wearing the tubes, they are a disposable commodity. it's good to have spares anyway... i learned this the hard way a few weeks ago. so i wouldn't really worry about having to replace them too soon, it's just a part of the nature of the beast as far as tube amps are concerned.
but i just happen to like the master dimed. you might find you like it half-way. my settings are probably weird and work for my ham-fisted playing but i'm sure you'll find your own thing.
oh, and again, don't worry about the tubes. new production ones are cheap anyway. it's them NOS ones that get pricey.
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Post by solsurfr on Oct 28, 2005 17:20:07 GMT -7
of course. the master controls the main output section of your amp which is basically the power tubes. naturally, the harder you run them, the quicker they will wear out but... the airbrake really has nothing to do with that. the tubes will wear out at the same rate regardless of whether the Brake is on there or not. it is totally dependent on how hard you want to push them. and as far as wearing the tubes, they are a disposable commodity. it's good to have spares anyway... i learned this the hard way a few weeks ago. so i wouldn't really worry about having to replace them too soon, it's just a part of the nature of the beast as far as tube amps are concerned. but i just happen to like the master dimed. you might find you like it half-way. my settings are probably weird and work for my ham-fisted playing but i'm sure you'll find your own thing. oh, and again, don't worry about the tubes. new production ones are cheap anyway. it's them NOS ones that get pricey. totally makes sense, Charlie. I'm actually a tube-amp newbie. I previously owned 2 marshall plexis and quickly got a refund because neither of them lasted past one gig. The first one didn't even make it to the stage and it's replacement lasted a total of 3 hours at my last gig before IT failed. Needless to say, I've had it with Marshall. Before all this, I was (and still am) a Line6 guy. I know that name is a forbidden term in this domain but I actually loved the convenience and reliability of these amps. Being in a cover band, those amps fit the bill nicely but... I'm ready to move on and give tubes another try. I'm just hoping this time, my Maz-38 will give me more than 3 hours of life
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Post by charlienc on Oct 28, 2005 18:05:15 GMT -7
Whoa man. Actually, there are a lot of guys on here that are fans of Line 6 Stuff. 80% of the time, I play through a POD because I live in an apartment. And a Vetta? That is a serious amp. I would much rather play through one of those than A LOT of other amps out there. But, if given the choice between that and a Z the choice is a no brainer. I'm still a Dr. Z fanatic and when I play with a band, loud arse drummer and all, I'm rocking through a Z.
I feel your pain on mass produced tube amps though. I had a pretty sh*tty experience with Fender several years back. I bought one of limited edition HtRdDlx's with the brown tolex and jensen speaker. Had it for less than a month and it just died. Sent it to Fender and they took 4 months to repair it, in which time I bought a standard black model to replace it and have as a back up. The day I bought the backup/replacement, I got it home and it started smoking. Took it back to GC and exchanged it, no questions asked. That one worked okay. Eventually I got the brown one back from Fender and get this, it's fixed, but now for some reason both the high and low inputs sound the same, and the normal channel has a significant volume drop from the o.d. channel. So I put new tubes in it, had it biased and everything. It didn't break down again, but it never sounded right again. And that was Fender's warranty repair work, not to mention the shipping charges there and back.
Then the newer one started acted weird too. So I put the whole lot of them on Ebay, and sold them AS IS, took my money and bought a Z. Stu up at Fatsound was a great help. I've never been happier and it's nice when I go to change a tube and I don't feel like I have to jam it into a circuit board like on a newer Fender.
Yes, I'm sure the Maz 38 will not crap out on you, just go ahead and buy some backup tubes, ESPECIALLY if you use new production ones. For instance, I had a rectifier tube fail within a year of normal use, when my JJ power tubes were still going strong. You just never know.
Anyhow, good luck and there's a lot of good info on this board if you stick around.
Charlie
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Post by solsurfr on Oct 29, 2005 8:49:43 GMT -7
Whoa man. Actually, there are a lot of guys on here that are fans of Line 6 Stuff. 80% of the time, I play through a POD because I live in an apartment. And a Vetta? That is a serious amp. I would much rather play through one of those than A LOT of other amps out there. But, if given the choice between that and a Z the choice is a no brainer. I'm still a Dr. Z fanatic and when I play with a band, loud arse drummer and all, I'm rocking through a Z. I feel your pain on mass produced tube amps though. I had a pretty sh*tty experience with Fender several years back. I bought one of limited edition HtRdDlx's with the brown tolex and jensen speaker. Had it for less than a month and it just died. Sent it to Fender and they took 4 months to repair it, in which time I bought a standard black model to replace it and have as a back up. The day I bought the backup/replacement, I got it home and it started smoking. Took it back to GC and exchanged it, no questions asked. That one worked okay. Eventually I got the brown one back from Fender and get this, it's fixed, but now for some reason both the high and low inputs sound the same, and the normal channel has a significant volume drop from the o.d. channel. So I put new tubes in it, had it biased and everything. It didn't break down again, but it never sounded right again. And that was Fender's warranty repair work, not to mention the shipping charges there and back. Then the newer one started acted weird too. So I put the whole lot of them on Ebay, and sold them AS IS, took my money and bought a Z. Stu up at Fatsound was a great help. I've never been happier and it's nice when I go to change a tube and I don't feel like I have to jam it into a circuit board like on a newer Fender. Yes, I'm sure the Maz 38 will not crap out on you, just go ahead and buy some backup tubes, ESPECIALLY if you use new production ones. For instance, I had a rectifier tube fail within a year of normal use, when my JJ power tubes were still going strong. You just never know. Anyhow, good luck and there's a lot of good info on this board if you stick around. Charlie So you know my pain, man. Since I play my Les Pauls more than 60% of the time, I was really looking for that classic british rock/plexi tone. I really gave Marshall a fair chance and I'm sure I was unlucky but I need something that I can trust and not to have bring a backup amp for. As for Line6, I've owned a few of their amps on and off since 2001. I started with the Flextone II Plus and moved up to the Flextone III Plus and HD 147. I sold the 147 this year to fund the Plexi purchase. I did like it very much. It isn't tube tone but it's close and most audiences didn't even notice. The effects that were loaded into it were top-notch and it was built like a tank. Same with my Flex III Plus that I use for backup and small gigs. Now, I have the POD XTL (like a Pod XT but floor version). It saved my a$$ at my last gig when my plexi decided to go on vacation. I'll admit I wasn't too crazy about the tone of my Plexi with the XTL in front of it but also I haven't spent a lot of time tweaking the XTL to get the right sounds. So you have the POD? Awesome. Any recommendations on how to use the XTL as an effects modeler in front of the Maz 38? There's nuances like "level" control on the XTL that controls the output of the XTL to the power amp. Things like that, if pushed to hard, can really muck up the tone, if not push the amp beyond it's means. Things like this, I need to know about. I really don't want to go back to pedals.... call me lazy, I guess.
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Post by charlienc on Oct 29, 2005 9:06:46 GMT -7
have not had much experience with the XT or XT Live. i'm still using the 2.0 stuff... shows you how behind the times I am.
what i normally do with the POD 2.0 i have is just put it in manual mode and tweak the amp models to my liking. the one weird thing about it though, is i usually have some bizarre e.q. settings, such as: mid and treble jacked all the way up with NO bass and i usally add some prescence. that's the only beef i have with the POD, is that the bass response is s-h-i-t-t-y, so i usually just dial it out.
i have a buddy that has a boss gt-8 and he runs it in the effects loop with nice results. he is a real tap dancer though LoL. it's crazy how good he is at switching all those buttons;)
i'm sure you'll figure something out with the XT Live. the Z amps will bring new life to lots of toys you already have laying around i'm sure. i went through that when i first got my z. i was just amazed at how good it made my regular old boss and ibanez pedals sound. but now i'm getting rid of all that stuff too. i'm trying to simplify as much as possible. i had 9 stompboxes on the pedalboard at one point and that's just overkill so i know how you about trying to avoid that.
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Post by solsurfr on Oct 29, 2005 18:11:33 GMT -7
have not had much experience with the XT or XT Live. i'm still using the 2.0 stuff... shows you how behind the times I am. what i normally do with the POD 2.0 i have is just put it in manual mode and tweak the amp models to my liking. the one weird thing about it though, is i usually have some bizarre e.q. settings, such as: mid and treble jacked all the way up with NO bass and i usally add some prescence. that's the only beef i have with the POD, is that the bass response is s-h-i-t-t-y, so i usually just dial it out. i have a buddy that has a boss gt-8 and he runs it in the effects loop with nice results. he is a real tap dancer though LoL. it's crazy how good he is at switching all those buttons;) i'm sure you'll figure something out with the XT Live. the Z amps will bring new life to lots of toys you already have laying around i'm sure. i went through that when i first got my z. i was just amazed at how good it made my regular old boss and ibanez pedals sound. but now i'm getting rid of all that stuff too. i'm trying to simplify as much as possible. i had 9 stompboxes on the pedalboard at one point and that's just overkill so i know how you about trying to avoid that. The original POD is still awesome and many people still use it. The XT and XTL versions are just updates to 2.0. As you said, I'm really over pedals. I'm really into simple rigs that have killer tone. 2 or 3 trips to the car and back to setup would be ideal for me. The XTL is loaded with 128 effects, not to mention all the amp and cab models (i think around 64 or so). It's basically like your POD but in a floorboard version and it offers the same ability to plug direct in the soundboard and behave as an amp. It saved my a$$ in my last gig which makes it a nice little backup amp, when needed. So... I'm hoping the Maz 38 can bring to life some great sounds with my XTL. I'll be in tone heaven if it does and on top of that, I'll have a simple rig with TONS of flexibility!
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Post by billyguitar on Oct 30, 2005 13:42:57 GMT -7
You'll be thrilled with your Z when you get it. I've only had two Marshalls; a 1987X and a Bluesbreaker, both from the late 1980s. I gigged these amps a lot. The 1987X once blew a screen grid resistor (1/4 watt, what are they thinking!) and the Bluesbreaker once blew a fuse. I sold the 1987X 1/2 stack but kept the Bluesbreaker. Maybe Marshalls quality control has gone down because my amps were great. I think the Line 6 amps get a bad rap when people turn them up too loud. I don't think they're meant for that. I always say, solid state done right is better than tubes done wrong.
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Post by solsurfr on Oct 30, 2005 15:43:12 GMT -7
You'll be thrilled with your Z when you get it. I've only had two Marshalls; a 1987X and a Bluesbreaker, both from the late 1980s. I gigged these amps a lot. The 1987X once blew a screen grid resistor (1/4 watt, what are they thinking!) and the Bluesbreaker once blew a fuse. I sold the 1987X 1/2 stack but kept the Bluesbreaker. Maybe Marshalls quality control has gone down because my amps were great. I think the Line 6 amps get a bad rap when people turn them up too loud. I don't think they're meant for that. I always say, solid state done right is better than tubes done wrong. Yeah, I can't wait! As I mentioned, I've played my buddy's Rx and it simply rocked. I'm hoping my new Maz will deliver that same rich tone but with a little more diversity. Marshall? I wanted it to work but it didn't happen Line6? I've been playing live with my Flex III Plus and 147 now for a couple of years and I've had great success. Of course they don't bring that organic tube tone but that really isn't their purpose. Their purpose is versatility, ruggedness, and overall *good* tone ---not jaw-dropping tone, but good studio and live tone. Now... that my Z is finally ordered, I'm hoping to get that deep organic tube tone and have some versatility by adding the XTL to the signal.
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