|
Post by gregg on Dec 16, 2006 13:27:03 GMT -7
Afternoon all!
Well, it finally happened. After having "Z-envy" for quite some time now, I finally was able to get my hands on a Z. I picked up my new to me Carmen Ghia this morning.
Many thanks go to a member here - TexBlooz - for taking care of me! Also, he turned me on to this fourm and Buddy Whittington who I hadn't been aware of before (how did that happen?!?!).
TxBlooz was kind enough to drag a couple cabinets out so I could give it a listen. One word - mmmmmm! Unfortunately my work schedule over the next few days prevent me from giving it a thorough work out at home but it won't be long.
So, Merry Christmas to me! I suppose I'll have to put a bow on my Z and put it under the tree.
Looking forward to getting to know y'all and getting to know my new Z.
|
|
cosmo
Full Member
Posts: 156
|
Post by cosmo on Dec 16, 2006 16:33:32 GMT -7
Congrats on the Ghia and welcome to one of the best forums on the net! I just got my CG a month or so back, also from a forum member, and ain't she sweet!
|
|
|
Post by guitarboy02451 on Dec 16, 2006 16:42:24 GMT -7
Hey Gregg,
Welcome and congrats! You'll love the amp. What are you going to run for pedals?
|
|
|
Post by gregg on Dec 16, 2006 17:03:01 GMT -7
Thanks for the welcome guys! As for pedals, see the picture below of my board The signal runs as follows: Keeley Fuzz HeadBlackstone Overdrive 2Sv3Keeley Katana boost (my fave pedal - it's almost always on). Line 6 DL4Ernie Ball Volume pedal using the tuner out to a Boss TU-2 tuner. All powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus on a board I made myself. I've also got a collection of other amps. Left to Right: Deluxe Reverb Reissue (changed the speaker to a Ted Weber's version of the Celestion Vintage 30), Fender Blues Junior on top with a custom 1x12 cab below (designed to look like another Blues Jr), 1974 Fender Bronco, a Epiphone Value Junior 5w head, both atop an Avatar 2x12 partial open back ab which has one Celestion Vintage 30 and one Celestion G12H30 70th Year Anniversary Special. On the far right is a Fender Pro Junior that belongs to a friend but happend to be at my house when I took the picture. I may still stink as a player but I've got a hella lot of stuff to make lots of racket! And as I tell my wife, it's cheaper than collecting classic cars and much cheaper than a girlfriend . She's actually quite tolerant so I can't complain at all. Besides, between her shoes, purses and a stationery habit, she isn't an angel her own self.
|
|
|
Post by dock66 on Dec 16, 2006 17:38:32 GMT -7
Nice collection ;D
|
|
|
Post by tjstrat on Dec 16, 2006 22:09:26 GMT -7
The volume pedal AFTER the delay? I like to have the delay AFTER a volume to avoid cutting off the delay, but it's personal taste for sure...
Nice little bunch of amps, but the Z will make you feel like you've been playing with toys. Did it to me, and I'd been using Mesas and Buddas and Riveras for almost 20 years.
What do you think of the Blackstone?
|
|
|
Post by canes on Dec 17, 2006 0:28:01 GMT -7
Welcome to the Ghia club, you've got a great amp. Tell me about the Valve Jr. head, i've been curious; it has to be worth $100.. right? Jason
|
|
|
Post by gregg on Dec 17, 2006 8:43:41 GMT -7
Welcome to the Ghia club, you've got a great amp. Tell me about the Valve Jr. head, i've been curious; it has to be worth $100.. right? Jason I guess it depends on the buyer but here are my thouhts. Obviously you've got to be ok with the tone, which to my untrained ears sometimes can run a just a bit darker than I'd like. Not usually a problem with my Teles but on a Strat through the neck, sometimes... That said, for $100 I think it's a heck of an amp. The second versions (produced since last June or July) resolved an issue with excess noise so now it's pretty damn quiet. At 5 watts, it will still get loud enough to wake/disturb someone in a room just down the hall but I doubt it would ever piss off the neighbors even when dimed. It would be an understatement to say the amp has very limited headroom. It begins get some breakup around 11:30/noon and is in a nice grind/crunch at 2:00 (which is where I think it's at its sweetest). Beyond that, it's both loud and loses focus a bit. It's got 4, 8 & 16 ohm taps on the back so you're totally covered for whatever cab you'll plug it into. I've run it through the 2x12 and the 1x12 cabs shown above and it sounded great in both cases. It's certainly not built to stand regular giging but, it's more than ample for home/studio use. And, there's an epic 70+ page thread over on 18watt.com if you're into modding. I'm not much with a soldering iron so I don't aspire to pop the hood and tinker but from what I understand, you can spend around $40 or $50 and get a new Hammond OT, a few new resistors & capacitors and it's almost a new amp. The majority of the mods I've read allow the amp to stay clean a bit longer, play a bit louder and sound a bit clearer. S2amps.com even sells a kit with everything put together for you. I personally don't think the Mercury Magnetics kit at $300 is worth it. Others may disagree and I freely admit that I've never heard the mod live and in person so my opinion is based only on my personal economic values. But I can see how putting a total of 400 ish in a 5 watt head that becomes a go to recording amp might be just what some session players are looking for. Lastly, you're getting a head cabinet in all this too ... I figure that even if you hate it, you can use the head cab to house a custom PTP circuit ... I actually use the Epi and the Bronco quite a bit just because they're easier to keep quiet for practicing with others in the house. I say go for it ... $100 and if you hate it I bet someone with an itch to mod and a soldering iron will take it off your hands and you'll not be out too much $$. So in short, I'm not sorry one bit I spent the money on it so from me, it comes with an endorsement.
|
|
|
Post by canes on Dec 17, 2006 10:35:40 GMT -7
Thanks for the great review!
|
|
|
Post by gregg on Dec 17, 2006 11:29:15 GMT -7
What do you think of the Blackstone? I like it thus far. I haven't had it long so there's not as many hours on it so I think there's still a bit of "new pedal" awesomenesses to it that might distract me from reality. That said, from everything I've read about it (mostly from those on TGP), it's a pedal that takes a bit of time to settle in with. I agree with that - I've found settings that I like but am still experimenting. It was good enough out of the box to kick my Keeley modded SparkleDrive & Maxon 808OD off the board. The thing about the SparkleDrive and 808 are that I know exactly what I'm going to get sound-wise. That fact alone is neither bad nor good, just a well established fact. I don't have that comfort yet with the Blackstone. I LOVE the look of the pedal - it's old style art deco look is fantastic. The lack of knobs to turn is both good and bad. Makes random tweeking difficult (who wants to keep a tiny screwdriver on their board?) but also is great for keeping your settings where you like them, once you get there. I got home late last night from work and it was 10:30 before I could get the Z set up so I didn't get but 5 or 10 minutes (that's all I thought I could get away with before the neighbors got pissed) with it but I did try the CG with all my pedals. The Katana, as expected, just made everything sound fuller, the Blackstone sounded great, the Fuzz Head might need a bit of tweaking to reduce the level of fuzz and then the DL4 was its normal self. To get back to your question, one thing that I've heard about the Blackstone is that it's not as amp dependent, but more person dependent. Meaning, once you get it set to where you like it, you can move it from amp to amp and not have it change noticeably. Thus far, I guess I've found that to be true. I like it enough to keep it and I figure that since they're a low production pedal, there are enough folks who want to try it out that I can get a good portion of my $$ back if it falls out of favor with my ears. When I ordered mine, Jon was a bit backlogged and it took a couple of weeks to get mine built and shipped. I understand that he's back to a 2 or 3 day turnaround. Here's what I was most impressed with - his return policy. 10 full days - if you don't like it, return it within 10 days and you get your full $225 back less any Paypal fees and you pay shipping. As much as I like it, I wouldn't say no to trying an OCD. I've heard some tasty sounds out of an OCD and a Z ... I may not leave the Blackstone but I'd certainly flirt with the OCD ;-)
|
|
|
Post by tjstrat on Dec 17, 2006 12:49:13 GMT -7
OCD is very good. I opted for a Pharaoh Sweet Cheetah II and sold the OCD, although sooner or later I expect another OCD to occupy my board. The OCS is fat as all get out and really does clean up nicely with the guitar volume.
Right now I'm experimenting with lower priced and lower profile boutique pedals, like the Barge DB-1 and -2, the Pharaoh SCII, and Tim Jauernig's boosts and overdrives. Luxury Drive is definitely worth checking out, and his dual Diabolical Gristle Tone Manipulator is on my Ghia board. You can run each side singly or cascade them. very thick and fat, but you can toggle in bass boosts and TS style mids or a less compressed open sound. The Rust Driver is a pretty cool high gain box too, but it doesn't play well with others.
|
|