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Post by tkingen on Feb 20, 2008 23:51:38 GMT -7
I love my Maz Jr when it's turned up and really singing - master cranked and volume somewhere between noon and 2 o'clock. I love the sound of guitar and cable straight into the Jr but that's too loud for most of the gigs I play.
My solution has been to turn down and use an RC Booster to add a little hair while goosing the input a bit. It does a nice job but I'm wondering if an Airbrake would be even better to get that opened up sound at lower volume. I don't have the opportunity to try one locally here in in Seattle.
Any thoughts on this? Would spending the coin actually make that much of a difference over what I have now?
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Post by ruger9 on Feb 21, 2008 4:47:14 GMT -7
The way I do it is...
I use the AMP for my base tone, whether it's overdriven or not. usually, to get into that tonal ballpark, I use the Airbrake. I don't use pedals (ODs or boosters) for my base tone, I just kick them on sometimes for "a little extra." I personally don't do the "always on" pedal thing... if a pedal needs to be "always on" for me to get my tone, then I've got the wrong amp. YMMV.
For what you're describing above, I'd go with an Airbrake instead of an OD pedal. The OD pedal thing can be very cool...especially if you play a "flavored" OD, something to make your Maz18 sound more Marshall-y or more Vox-y or whatever, but amp drive can NEVER be beat IMHO.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 21, 2008 6:50:00 GMT -7
Airbrake all the way. You can try them out at Emerald City Guitars - they usually have at least one in stock there. If not, there are a number of Z-Talk folks from the Seattle area (including me) that might be willing to meet up with you and let you try theirs.
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Post by wilhelm on Feb 21, 2008 10:46:10 GMT -7
MazJr master full, volume at 3 plus airbrake = better overdriven sound than MazJr at low volume plus RC booster. Nice overdriven sound and you get a nice clean sound by rolling back the guitar volume. Give the airbrake a try.
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Post by tkingen on Feb 21, 2008 11:40:39 GMT -7
Airbrake all the way. You can try them out at Emerald City Guitars - they usually have at least one in stock there. If not, there are a number of Z-Talk folks from the Seattle area (including me) that might be willing to meet up with you and let you try theirs. pm sent
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Post by tkingen on Feb 21, 2008 11:48:07 GMT -7
Thanks, guys for your responses. The Airbrake does seem like it would be a good solution. The RC Booster does a nice job but I do prefer the organic feel of guitar straight into the amp. I can hear and feel a difference even with true bypass switches.
My local Z dealer is out of stock. Anyone have a favorite store they like to buy from? There's a couple on ebay but I'd rather buy a virgin ;~)
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 21, 2008 15:26:27 GMT -7
In addition to Emerald City, I've bought from Wilcutts, and Fat Sound with superb response and great service. Of course you have to wait for them to ship across the entire planet, but they often have stuff in stock that is hard to find around here.
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bobh
New Member
Posts: 2
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Post by bobh on Feb 24, 2008 12:28:05 GMT -7
Call me Johnny Come Lately. I've had a Maz 38 for a number of years and never knew about this forum..(duh!). Any way in stead of getting a new amp that I can play "quitely" inside is the Airbrake something worth while? I'm trying to get the "tone" without the neighbors or wife shooting me. I have Strats, a Fat Tele and a PRS McCarty. Thanks.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 24, 2008 13:10:57 GMT -7
Call me Johnny Come Lately. I've had a Maz 38 for a number of years and never knew about this forum..(duh!). Any way in stead of getting a new amp that I can play "quitely" inside is the Airbrake something worth while? I'm trying to get the "tone" without the neighbors or wife shooting me. I have Strats, a Fat Tele and a PRS McCarty. Thanks. You can to a degree. It will depend on how much you want to attenuate. Most folks feel that at bedroom levels you lose a bit of tone and the amp gets a bit more squished, but I've been getting great results here. YMMV. I did a test a while back to demonstrate how great the Airbrake works - not the difinitive proof, but an interesting demonstration nonetheless. See it here: drzamplifiers.proboards41.com/index.cgi?board=soundfiles&action=display&thread=1183466889
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Feb 24, 2008 13:11:31 GMT -7
oh, and karma for your first post!
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bobh
New Member
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Post by bobh on Feb 24, 2008 14:03:29 GMT -7
Thank you.. I listened to your clips.. very instructive.. and again. thanks for the karma
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Post by tonesleuth on Mar 5, 2008 11:46:45 GMT -7
You can remove the fuse for the led in the hot plate and the treble attenuation goes away. With the led running, there is always some treble loss even with the EQ switch activated.
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Post by sutoman on Mar 20, 2008 12:50:49 GMT -7
I just bought an air brake. I've never used anything like it before. It works suprisingly well with my Maz 18. I'm going to try it with my Lonestar next. It is like a Master volume that doesn't thin out your tone. (Now I wish I didn't sell my Super Reverb!)...
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Post by hwyman on Mar 22, 2008 15:18:49 GMT -7
....Any way in stead of getting a new amp that I can play "quitely" inside is the Airbrake something worth while? I'm trying to get the "tone" without the neighbors or wife shooting me... I'm playing a Jr., not a 38 - but the Air Brake allows me to get volume levels that won't disturb the wife watching TV downstairs, without thinning the amp out and losing all that great tone. Doc does a great job on the MV controls on these amps, but I prefer to crank it up and use the Air Brake instead.
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