MeZadude, that is a cool setup. I have to check out those lunchbox amps: they seem to be pretty neat.
Do you still have your Mesa Boogie?
Also, any comments on the EZG-50? What factors, e.g., set list or venue, might cause you to bring it rather than one of the others? Or are you typically running a dual amp setup, which I've seen in some of your postings?
Thanks.
Well, first, I still have all 3 Boogies. A 1983 MkIIc, a 1991 MKIV & the 2009 MKV. Also have an original RoadKing head & cab.
The MKV gets used at every gig I play. It's really my main amp these days. I bring the Z's when there's room. I've used Boogies for so many years that I just can't get 'my' sound without one. The Z's definitely add some 'flavor' to the mix. I did gig a time or two with just the Stang-Ray or the EZG-50. And the gigs went fine. I just couldn't get that extra 'tone' that I'm so used to without a Boogie in tow. So, I always gig with one as the default amp, then add the others for colour.
Yes, I've used the EZG-50 off & on. I guess the way to describe its tone is that it is VERY stable. It creates this BIG, CLEAR tone that is unlike the Ray & Wreck. And the reverb on it is superb. Although, it took me trying a few cabinets to find the one which sounds the best with this head, which is an old Carvin Vintage 4x10 cab. Here's a pic of the EZG-50 on the 4x10 Carvin cab (alongside the Stang-Ray & Mesa Mark 5).
For some reason, that pairing is the one which really works with the EZG-50 head for me. I have the Dr. Z 2x10 matching cab for it, but it seems to colour the tone a little (kind of a choked tone) or something. By using that old Carvin cab, I believe I hear the amp's true voice coming through uncoloured. Anyway, this combo produces some sparkling, big cleans. No spankiness, just clean tone. I think of a big ice sheet going out to the horizon when I use this amp. Big, smooth, clear are the words I associate with the EZG-50.
I've used it often when I gig with my guitar synthesizer. It projects the tones produced with the GR-20 really well.
Most of the time lately, I've liked a bit of twangy-clean tone in my sound, so I'd been using the Stang-Ray in parallel with the MKV for that extra tone. Since I picked up the Wreck, I've been using it.
For me, the biggest drawback using the Wreck is that it does not have an effects loop. Often, with the Ray, I'd run a line out of my Mesa's EFX Out jack to the EFX In jack on the Ray, so that the Mesa's powering both its own & the Ray's power amp. That way, I can have the spanky clean, and have the Mesa's preamps running both amps. And when I kick into a lead mode on the Boogie, it also is coming out of the Ray. This technique works quite nicely live.
Otherwise, like I'm doing with the MKV & the Z-Wreck, I have to run a line from my G-system to 2 volume pedals, then into the front-end of both amps. This does allow for contouring of either amp on-the-fly.
If I have a screaming lead going in the MKV, the Wreck is still 'clean'. Having used the Boogies for so many years, I still use them for my lead tones for the most part, and not a fuzzbox. Although I do always hook up a fuzzbox of some sort, I don't use them very often during gigs. Maybe for one or two tunes. The sound is just not the same as a really overdriven amp.
But, I must say, that when the Z-Wreck, even when clean, is about the same volume as the Boogie, and I'm playing a lead using the Boogie, the Wreck almost sounds 'lead-like' as well. It clones its tone and kind of blends in with the other amp's sound, adding to it rather than detracting from it. It's quite interesting.
When I've gigged with either of the other Z amps, and have not run them from the Boogie's preamp, I have to turn them down (or off) when I'm playing in lead mode with the Boogie, as they're just too clean side-by-side. But the Wreck adapts its tone quite well while being side-by-side with a Boogie.
I'll tell you, it's really a blessing to have so many great sounding amps to use. And, every amp I own has its own personality (just like different guitars have differing personalities). Depending on the gig, and my mood at the time, I pick and choose what I think is going to work for me that night, and for the most part I'm usually right.
Oh geez, going "on and on". Must stop that! Hopefully this helps answer your questions, Doctorice.
Cheers, and Happy New Year to you!
MeZadude