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Post by tjstrat on Jul 15, 2006 3:22:11 GMT -7
I pulled the trigger on a Z Best with a Celestion Blue and a 12H30 yesterday here in the forum. As a long time high wattage speaker guy (over the years mostly EV 12Ls and 85 watt Celestions, with some 90 watt Black Shadows here and there) I'm wondering what sort of differences I should expect to encounter. Earlier speaker breakup is a given, but in terms of headroom what will I be running into. My Ghia seldom makes it above 10 o'clock at any given gig I've done, so will that be enough for a little purr from the Celestions in the new cab?
Here's the DUMB question: with a 30 watt speaker and a 15 watt speaker, will the Z Best handle both the Ghia or the Maz 38? It will effectively take 45 watts, right? Or should I plan on using the Mesa Heater cab with the Maz..?
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Post by billyguitar on Jul 15, 2006 6:02:11 GMT -7
Actually the cab will only take 30 watts, more or less. Each speaker will get 1/2 the power so that means cab can only handle twice the power of the lowest rated speaker.
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Post by tjstrat on Jul 15, 2006 7:30:16 GMT -7
Aiiiiieeee!
Not really the answer I'd hoped for...
But the Ghia will probably sound spectacular through it...
Thank you! Would have been a bummer to fry at least one very expensive speaker with the 38...
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Post by JASON (aka jgleaton) on Jul 15, 2006 8:16:23 GMT -7
I think the ghia would sound awesome through it... Billys right about the 30 watts... twice the power of the lowest rated speaker. But I think you could use your MAZ 38 too as long as you didn't really crank it... your gonna get to the speaker/ amp break-up way earlier, so with it's master volume ( I would think just don't turn the master past 1/2 way and be careful with the volume level too?) as long as you don't really air that thing out... I would think you could get some great results outta the Maz 38 too... probably get a great sound outta the MAZ at a little lower level...
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Post by tjstrat on Jul 15, 2006 9:16:15 GMT -7
...and if I piggyback the Texas Heat Mesa, following Billy's suggestion, I'd be pumping those 38 watts through four speakers and be well under the Blue's breaking point. Hmmm.
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Post by jimfla on Jul 15, 2006 19:13:36 GMT -7
I have a Z Best with a similar set up , 15 watt Weber Alnico Blue. I run it with a Rt. 66 or a JTM 45, the volume is between 10:00 and noon. I,ve never had a problem.
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Post by billyguitar on Jul 15, 2006 20:35:41 GMT -7
The Blues are alleged to handle more power. The recone kit costs the reconer $140, then he marks it up and charges for the work. Not meaning to be a spoil sport, just wanting to help.
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Post by stratdev on Jul 16, 2006 14:49:35 GMT -7
I pulled the trigger on a Z Best with a Celestion Blue and a 12H30 yesterday here in the forum. As a long time high wattage speaker guy (over the years mostly EV 12Ls and 85 watt Celestions, with some 90 watt Black Shadows here and there) I'm wondering what sort of differences I should expect to encounter. Earlier speaker breakup is a given, but in terms of headroom what will I be running into. My Ghia seldom makes it above 10 o'clock at any given gig I've done, so will that be enough for a little purr from the Celestions in the new cab? Here's the DUMB question: with a 30 watt speaker and a 15 watt speaker, will the Z Best handle both the Ghia or the Maz 38? It will effectively take 45 watts, right? Or should I plan on using the Mesa Heater cab with the Maz..? It's the guy who sold ya the Z-Best here! Everyone has offered some great advice. Here's my summary: A Blue/G12H30 Z-Best is indeed spectacular with the Ghia!!! It's spectacular with anything where you crave swirling Blue highs with the big, tight G12H30 bottom. It sounds great with a Z-28 as well and still way under it's power handling stipulations. The total wattage handling for the cab is 30 watts (2x the lowest wattage speaker rating) Running a Maz 38 intelligently will work (adhere to the caveats mentioned previously). Do you have a Maz 38 or thinking of buying one? You may want to dedicate cabs for each head since you have multiple cabs... Texas Heats will Fender-ize most any Z. By this I mean they will turn a Z-Best into a spectacular cab that oozes that warm Fender style tone. Keep it as it is (Blue/G12H30) and you're sitting smack dab in the Brit influenced speaker zone. The really big draw of the Z-Best is it's reinforcement of the low fundamental frequencies and it's very present punchiness. To that end I have loaded my other red Z-Best with Texas Heats...combined with a Z-28 to get a very punchy ultra blackface Deluxe sound with the advantage of Z dynamics and that great EF86 front end. Alan
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Post by stratdev on Jul 16, 2006 15:13:38 GMT -7
Sorry about asking if ya had a Maz Sr head...maybe I should read more carefully and pontificate less Alan
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Post by tjstrat on Jul 17, 2006 6:23:06 GMT -7
Pontification is fine... I'm the wordiest guitarist in Northern Illinois when it comes to this stuff. And listening is for bassists, drummers and keyboard players, not guitarists... ;-)
I already emailed you my thoughts... For the time being it looks like the Ghia will get the Z Best and the 38 (purchased mostly for the summer outdoor gigs we do) will get the Mesa Heat cab and the Nau Celestion 75.
Incidentally, I was able to crank this rig a bit Saturday in beautiful Rockton IL; soundguys miked the Heat, and with some air moving I finally got some of the Zen Drive's real voice coming out. NOT a pedal for bedroom volumes, but with a little breakup and some volume it loses the boxiness I was concerned about.
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