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Post by chefman on Sept 4, 2010 9:11:05 GMT -7
Hi everybody, I'm new here and wanted to introduce myself and ask a few questions. My name is Mike, and I won a RX ES head on eBay this weekend.
I have been reading a lot of guys concerns about how loud the amp needs to be to really hit the sweet spot. I've been going through the threads and found out about the master volume mod and thinking that might be the first way I go before getting an Air Brake or a Brake Lite.
One question I do have, would a stand alone Brake Lite work properly with the RX ES? I see that the Brake Lite is rated up to 45 watts. Do any of you run a Brake Lite with this amp or would you suggest going up to the Air Brake? Thanks in advance, and I'm glad to finally be a Dr. Z owner.
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Post by JASON (aka jgleaton) on Sept 4, 2010 11:28:43 GMT -7
Hi everybody, I'm new here and wanted to introduce myself and ask a few questions. My name is Mike, and I won a RX ES head on eBay this weekend. I have been reading a lot of guys concerns about how loud the amp needs to be to really hit the sweet spot. I've been going through the threads and found out about the master volume mod and thinking that might be the first way I go before getting an Air Brake or a Brake Lite. One question I do have, would a stand alone Brake Lite work properly with the RX ES? I see that the Brake Lite is rated up to 45 watts. Do any of you run a Brake Lite with this amp or would you suggest going up to the Air Brake? Thanks in advance, and I'm glad to finally be a Dr. Z owner. MASTER VOLUME MOD !!!!!! +100000000000000 best 100.00 bucks you'll spend if you like that amp... makes it VERY usable at club / mere mortal player volume levels. Use the Master to dial it in to hit the sweet spot @ club volumes... w/ master around noonish or just below... it will be on par with a really cranked Maz JR. Then if you need to really get it lower use an airbreak to keep the sweetspot but dial the overall volume down where you need it. and I personally prefer the FULL size air break on the 4 EL 84 / louder amps, but the Brake light WILL work just fine with the ES, the brake lite to me just dosen't seem to give you quite as much attenuation on that amp . I would prefer the Brakelight on the 2 EL 84 / lower wattage amps. YMMV MHO and if you ever need to crank it... you can get LOUD. ...using the above setup I can use my RX ES with Master volume mod and full size airbreak low input od OFF set for clean with hair; A/B'd with my Maz JR reverb low input set around noon on it's master set clean with some hair w/ no airbreak,and dial em in where they are identical volume wise. The RX JS will work great for the same or lower volume levels we're talking about, and may be the PERFECT amp for a lot of players. but if you think you'll EVER need to crank it / compete with loud instruments and / or also run unmiked... the RX ES will give you much more room to go up if you need to. Talk to Brent, and send it back to Doc for the mod. I highly recommend this NOT as a fix if you don't like this particular amp, thinking you'll then like it... but recommend this if you DO already like this amp, the way it feels and sounds BUT find yourself not being able to tame it / use it effectively volume wise. again, JMHO I just LOVE ALL the RX's and to me the Original RX may be the Poor man's Z wreck... jus sayin. ;D Jason
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2010 15:20:38 GMT -7
Congratulations "chefman" and Welcome to the forum... Sounds like you've got some cooking ahead of you with that RxES... Should be tasty... cheers - tom
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Post by chefman on Sept 4, 2010 17:36:14 GMT -7
Thanks for the replies, guys. I still don't have the amp in my hands yet, just won the auction yesterday, so with the holiday, I don't expect to see it til Thursday or Friday next week. I'm really looking forward to seeing how my guitars and pedals sound with this amp.
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Post by Tom the Guitar Guy on Sept 5, 2010 8:38:34 GMT -7
Welcome to the club!!!! It's a great amp - a real keeper in my book.
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Post by chefman on Sept 5, 2010 19:12:05 GMT -7
Hot damn..gonna score an Air Brake used for a great price tomorrow. I'll be able to play the amp in my house without blasting my spouse out of her chair while she's trying to work. I'll still be able to do the master volume mod too.
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Post by ormond on Sept 7, 2010 14:34:11 GMT -7
Does the Master Volume mod mean that the amp has to go back to Cleveland for the work?
I am just using the Big Air Brake right now and it seems to work fine for me - but I would do the mod if I did not have to pay to send the amp back and forth to Ohio.
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Post by chefman on Sept 9, 2010 19:56:14 GMT -7
From what I have read on the site, yes, you have to ship the head to Ohio. Several people I have talked to said the turnaround time was 5-7 days. I think it will be worth it for the versatility.
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Post by chefman on Sept 9, 2010 20:01:34 GMT -7
Another question...the head that I won has a toggle switch for the overdose instead of footswitch. That means this would be an early production head, correct?
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Sept 10, 2010 5:50:56 GMT -7
Another question...the head that I won has a toggle switch for the overdose instead of footswitch. That means this would be an early production head, correct? Yep. That's how mine is too. Dr. Z can mod that to use a footswitch, but I've always played mine with the OD on and used my guitar volume, so I never lusted for the footswitch mod. But that master volume mod has me thinking... ;D
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Post by chefman on Sept 10, 2010 10:38:09 GMT -7
Still waiting for the big brown truck..tracking says out for delivery, but I think I am last on the delivery list for UPS in Chattanooga.
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Post by chefman on Sept 10, 2010 18:34:14 GMT -7
It was after 6 pm EST before the UPS guy showed up. Had dinner and the wife and kid went to the grandparents house...so I am making some noise!! Sounds unbelievable. Still going through my guitars, had a lot of fun with my Strat and Tele. Now on to the semi hollows and humbuckers. Man, what tone! Head is in great shape, I dare say mint. Not a nick in the tolex, doesn't look like it was ever gigged. Oh yeah..It is LOUD!
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Post by chefman on Sept 24, 2010 13:58:56 GMT -7
Sweet. I just scored an Air Brake used. Now I can turn the volume past 9 or 10 oclock. Should be here in a couple days.
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Post by chefman on Oct 11, 2010 19:29:29 GMT -7
Well after having had the amp for about a month..and an Air Brake for about 2 weeks, it's plainly obvious that all of my other amps need to go away, because I don't need anything else. Wow. New owner gush, I guess, but man. I need to get a Z best now, working on selling some other gear to go to Humbucker and get one. My wife really appreciates the Air Brake too since I can play it at the bedroom level and still saturate the tubes without melting her face off. ;D She was listening to me play after I got the Air Brake and was asking questions about how it works, and was saying she can really hear the difference between it and my other gear. Same guitars, same fumble fingers, just better tone.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Oct 12, 2010 5:39:25 GMT -7
+1 - the RXES with an Airbrake is a formidable tone machine!
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Post by chefman on Oct 13, 2010 14:11:05 GMT -7
I'm trying to sell my Reverend amp and 4x10 cab so that I can get a Z best cab from Humbucker. I live right up the street from them. I had no idea for the longest time that they were such a big operation nationally..I thought they were just a local music store with some cool stuff.
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Post by love2play on Oct 29, 2010 22:08:19 GMT -7
I took my RX ES head in for a re-tube and the shop tried to buy it from me, they raved about how it was one of the best Dr Z amps they had ever heard. Love this thing, sounds great through my matching red tolex Dr Z open 212 cabinet. I use a pedal board, but I also run the air brake cuz it sounds great.
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Post by Tom the Guitar Guy on Nov 11, 2010 19:49:49 GMT -7
Just have to re iterate. . . the RxES is a definite keeper.!!!!
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