maction
Full Member
SRZ for me
Posts: 227
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Post by maction on Jan 25, 2007 9:36:02 GMT -7
My Carmen Ghia head arrived yesterday. Wow I’m floored. Amazing tone, touch, and sustain. I’ve played them before at dealers, but this time it was with my guitar, and through my Z-Best. Of course, I’ve got a couple of questions for you Ghia vets: 1. 18 watts? Are you kidding me? Through my Z-best w/ stock Celestions I could feel this thing through the soles of me feet! Does Dr. Z base his wattage ratings on clean power before breakup? 2. This is my first tube amp without a standby, and it’s making me nervous. Would a rectifier like this make sense in this amp, and perhaps extend the life of the EL84s that I’m smacking around? kcanostubes.com/content/estore_details.asp?category=31&product=3823. This amp really reminds me of Duane Denison’s tone when he was with The Jesus Lizard, even though he was playing through a cranked up HiWatt with some fancy compressors and EQs in front. Anyone other Denison Fans here? More recently, he’s played with Hank III and formed Tomahawk with Mike Patton.
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Post by drew on Jan 25, 2007 9:52:54 GMT -7
Welcome to the Ghia club Maction. What a great amp with 18 blissfull watts. See my responces below.
1) I don't know the exact metric scale but in my experience the Ghia's clean volume maxs at about 1:00 then as I crank the v knob the breakup increases but the volume is about the same, granted it's a bit louder but not so much that it would tip a decible meter. YMMV. Speakers can make a difference.
2) I've a thread from Myles that states the ghia's fine with no standby. By the time the rectifier tube warms up to start supplying the higher voltages the el84s are already there.
3) Sorry haven't heard of Duane Denison (sounds like a happening player) but when I heard the guitar riffs in the Becker sit com I think; smokin Ghia.
Enjoy the ghia!
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maction
Full Member
SRZ for me
Posts: 227
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Post by maction on Jan 25, 2007 11:43:38 GMT -7
thanks for the info, Drew.
yeah, I'm sure Dr. Z knew what he was doing when he designed the amp without a standby, but old habits die hard, you know?
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Post by johnnyl on Jan 26, 2007 15:04:24 GMT -7
Congrats on the new Ghia maction. You still got the SRZ?
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maction
Full Member
SRZ for me
Posts: 227
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Post by maction on Jan 27, 2007 8:14:31 GMT -7
thanks johnny! yeah, I still have the SRZ-65. I'll never sell that one. I let the Route 66 go because it was too thick sounding for my current situation, I wanted something with more slice. plus, I always had to use the Airbrake on at least two clicks with it.
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Post by myles on Feb 13, 2007 10:33:11 GMT -7
To make things a bit easier I will answer with my two cents worth in the body of what you wroteMy Carmen Ghia head arrived yesterday. Wow I’m floored. Amazing tone, touch, and sustain. I’ve played them before at dealers, but this time it was with my guitar, and through my Z-Best. The Carmen Ghia / Z Best setup is a great setupOf course, I’ve got a couple of questions for you Ghia vets: 1. 18 watts? Are you kidding me? Through my Z-best w/ stock Celestions I could feel this thing through the soles of me feet! Does Dr. Z base his wattage ratings on clean power before breakup? The amp is very deceptive for a number of reasons.
1. There is very little "junk" in the signal path. The entire gain and tone stage is just one single tube before the phase inverter is hit. There are not a bank of tone controls that put some of the signal slightly out of phase with the non EQ'd tone. The power supply is excessively over designed ... ot would power an amp at twice the Ghia's output. Look at the size of the power transformer and compare it to a MAZ 38 as an example. The output transformer is a very cool design from the tone greats of the past and has more focused low end then just about any amp on the planet. There could be an amp out there that I have not played that has better low end control but I have not found it yet. (Try the Carmen Ghia through a Marshall 4x12 cab and then listen to the low end with a Marshall Plexi 50 watter as one example).
So in the end, there is a lot more harmonic content and overtones than in other amps so the amp appears louder than it is and cuts through a live mix better than you would ever expect. Play the amp at 10:00 for a while. Then walk away. You will notice that you can still hear and your ears have not suffered at all.2. This is my first tube amp without a standby, and it’s making me nervous. Would a rectifier like this make sense in this amp, and perhaps extend the life of the EL84s that I’m smacking around? kcanostubes.com/content/estore_details.asp?category=31&product=382The 5Y3 rectifier warms up slowly. Think about this .... in the 50s and 60s many cars had their vacuum tube radios powered by a 6V6. There was no standby switch on car radios. There is not an issue with the 5Y3 at all.
But ... having a great rectifier is more reliable and will yield nicer voltage on the amp overall.
The Ghia has a small tube compliment. I will only use an NOS 5Y3 in my Ghia. In fact, rectifiers are either good or bad and really do not wear out. All the new ones barely meet spec. ALL the NOS ones exceed spec and are MUCH more reliable. Mullard GZ34's as one example are seen in Vox amps from the early sixties and still test better than ANY new rectifier you can buy and you would be hard pressed to find any newly produced rectifier more than five years old and many fail in less than a year. A few years back, Bad Cat was using Chinese rectifiers. When the amp arrived at the stores (in my case, Westwood Music), on more of them than less of them when you turned them on and took the amp out of standby the rectifier blew.
Any of the NOS rectifiers Mike at KCA can supply are a great investment in reliability and the output and feel of the amp.
While you are dropping by KCA for the rectifier get some sort of grand 12AX7 or V1. I actually have a Telefunken in mine. It is not a tube I generally like in other amps but love it in the Ghia. They may be pricy but being the heart of the amp and only needing one I think it is a great investment.
I love the Mazda in this amp. Mike has a link that actually has a comment that is labelled as coming from me but it may have been mixed up with a comment from somebody else. Maybe it was me but I do not recall the comment and it is not my normal style of rambling. In any case, the comment is a good one and the tube is a great one - www.kcanostubes.com/content/estore_details.asp?category=77&product=26The Raytheon .... this may be my favorite 12AX7 in most amps of all time. When Aspen Pittman at GT asked me what tube I thought we should try to re-create this was my call. He preferred them Mullard and he is the boss so the 12AX7M was born. But ... this is a killer tube in a Ghia -www.kcanostubes.com/content/estore_details.asp?category=66&product=42The Brimar is another amazing tube. Plus ... if you have an SRZ-65 it is amazing in V1 there as well or will do wonders in a Plexi Marshall as well or a JCM 800.www.kcanostubes.com/content/estore_details.asp?category=80&product=31Keep this thought in mind as well .... a good preamp tube as those mentioned above will last longer in the amp than you will be around to play it. The tube will be fine when your grandkids are playing the amp. This cannot, and I repeat .... CANNOT ... be said about ANY new production tube made today. Maybe down the road thing will be different but not todayIf you do not have a good NOS 5751 get one. Mike at KCA has a ton of them in all price ranges and they are all excellent. If you are just going to use it as the phase inverter grab anything he has for the most part as they are all better than most anything made today. If you think you may steal it from time to time for V2 of a Fender Black Face ala SRV or use it in V1 of a MAZ or another amp then get something he has over $50 or so. Again a great investment and will last forever.
As a side note, I had a package of four 5751's arrive at my house yesterday from Mike. I like to have spares and also have some on hand for other amps at times as well. In a MAZ Sr I love a 5751 PI and sometimes also use one in V1 as well in the MAZ.I generally refrain from NOS EL84's in most amps as they get eaten up quickly compared to a grid biased 6L6 or EL34 amps. Out on the road I retube most EL84 amps every ten shows! Yes, we hear a difference after about 10 hours of playing when a new output set is installed. I need tubes that can be gotten easily in quantity from a lot of places.
I love the JJ / GT #6 rating EL84S. But .... the Ghia is one amp that I would use NOS output tubes in because it is easier on output tubes than many of the other amps that run at higher plate voltages with the GZ34 / 5AR4 rectifier.These are some cool ones that I see Mike has now that will have a long life and amazing tone in the Ghia if you want to stray from the stock tubes or have a set for critical recording projects where you want 101% of as good as it can be.kcanostubes.com/content/estore_details.asp?category=87&product=183kcanostubes.com/content/estore_details.asp?category=87&product=175kcanostubes.com/content/estore_details.asp?category=87&product=176kcanostubes.com/content/estore_details.asp?category=107&product=183(As a side note .... if you can afford a matched quad of NOS EL84's when one is availble that gives you a spare duet that will sound and perform exactly the same after a tube change. For 6L6 and EL34 grid biased amps of 50 watts (two output tubes), I always buy matched quads for this reason.3. This amp really reminds me of Duane Denison’s tone when he was with The Jesus Lizard, even though he was playing through a cranked up HiWatt with some fancy compressors and EQs in front. Anyone other Denison Fans here? More recently, he’s played with Hank III and formed Tomahawk with Mike Patton. Well .... hope this helped in some way.
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Post by guitarboy02451 on Mar 3, 2007 13:55:34 GMT -7
Congrats on the CG. Myles stated everything perfectly as he normally does ;-) But I have tried my CG through a Marshall 4x12 with Greenbacks and I was floored! I too have a Z-Best and again I'm amazed.
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