|
Post by stormin on Jan 21, 2015 18:37:59 GMT -7
Hey y'all, New member here and I have a Stangray head coming in on Saturday. This will be my first Z and I'm pretty stoked. Any recommendations where I fire her up as far as pedals, cabs, etx to try with her? I have a Klon, a BB, and some Fulltone pedals laying about and some V30s and G12Ms loaded in various cabs. i usually play my 52 Tele thru a Boogie rig with pedals (see pic) but I'm excited to try something new. i spent some time lurking here before my purchase and this looks like a great community. I recognize some you from TGP, BAM and TDPRI. Good to be here.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2015 19:05:54 GMT -7
Nice Boogie rigs! I'm seeing a dual amp rig in your future...Stang Ray for thumpy, powerful, clean low end...and let the Boogies do the screaming!
|
|
|
Post by Jaguarguy (Mike) on Jan 21, 2015 19:14:10 GMT -7
Welcome to the Forum - lot of good people and information here! I like my Stingray with a Gold - bell like chimey goodness! Inhales most pedals - I like the xotic bb with it and the SL.
|
|
|
Post by stormin on Jan 21, 2015 19:17:38 GMT -7
Welcome to the Forum - lot of good people and information here! I like my Stingray with a Gold - bell like chimey goodness! Inhales most pedals - I like the xotic bb with it and the SL. Good to know about the Gold. I have an open 1x12 with a Gold in it.
|
|
|
Post by Jaguarguy (Mike) on Jan 21, 2015 19:25:27 GMT -7
You'll love it with the Tele!
|
|
|
Post by Mark (Basement Enthusiast) on Jan 21, 2015 20:30:56 GMT -7
Yup! Celestion G12 Gold and a tele. Sounds so beautiful...
(BTW, that's the fewest knobs I think I've ever seen on a Mesa! What model is that?)
|
|
|
Post by stormin on Jan 21, 2015 20:49:53 GMT -7
Yup! Celestion G12 Gold and a tele. Sounds so beautiful... (BTW, that's the fewest knobs I think I've ever seen on a Mesa! What model is that?) They are both Mark I Reissues. I've had them since the mid 90's. They're really a single channel amp with a regular input and a higher gain cascaded input. No channel switching, no graphic, no nonsense - just 100 watts with a great master, decent reverb and the ability to run 6L6s, EL34s or 6V6s. The way I run that rig, it gets a very Old ZZ Top meets Tab Benoit type of sound.
|
|
|
Post by John on Jan 22, 2015 7:13:04 GMT -7
Going from a Mesa to a Stangray will be a WORLD of difference. The 'ray is a real clean amp. You'll have to use pedals for dirt. You won't believe the percussive difference.
Also, most 'ray owners will recommend an attenuator, especially the brakelite. You need to crank the amp to a certain degree to let all those rich harmonics out.
Golds and blues are fantastic speakers with the 'ray. However, they are very LOUD. These speakers are 100db. I just sold my 'ray, and I used a creamback M. It's a 97db speaker. Considerably quieter speaker for the same amp output. It allows someone to crank the amp more for the same volume.
Turn the tone and cut knobs with your eyes closed. I ran both of mine at about 10:00 o'clock.
Any speaker in the gold/blue/greenback camp (or clones) will work. A V30 will not be a good match. And the worst of all: Celestion G12H30
Your pedals will sound and react a little different because of that ef86 tube in V1. It takes pedals differently than the traditional 12ax7. You may have to adjust pedal settings a bit.
And welcome to the forum...
|
|
|
Post by stormin on Jan 22, 2015 8:55:10 GMT -7
Thanks for all of the advice!
|
|
|
Post by detuned on Jan 22, 2015 9:44:12 GMT -7
And lest it go unsaid: Welcome in, new Z brother!
|
|
|
Post by captainron (Ron) on Jan 23, 2015 23:08:15 GMT -7
Hello and welcome! Lots of great people and info on here! I checked this forum out a good bit before ordering my first Z! I have the Stang Ray combo with a gold...played with mostly Tele's. I love...love...love this amp. It seems to love most pedals I feed her. I especially love the Timmy and any JHS drive pedal with it. Great to have a new brother.
|
|
|
Post by trim450 on Jan 25, 2015 14:15:10 GMT -7
+ 1 for the Timmy with the ray, doesn't matter what guitar I plug in it sounds great . And I recommend the ep booster. I been redoing my board and wanted to try some new stuff so the ep has been setting , thought about selling it until I plugged it back in today and wow , it just adds some glass to everything , almost a stereo effect . Great little pedal for the money.
|
|
|
Post by captainron (Ron) on Jan 25, 2015 17:14:20 GMT -7
+ 1 for the Timmy with the ray, doesn't matter what guitar I plug in it sounds great . And I recommend the ep booster. I been redoing my board and wanted to try some new stuff so the ep has been setting , thought about selling it until I plugged it back in today and wow , it just adds some glass to everything , almost a stereo effect . Great little pedal for the money. I love the EP as well! I did the same thing... took it off to try other pedals...thought about selling...put it back on...and went...WOW. Stang + EP + Timmy = wonderful tone and flexibility.
|
|
|
Post by stormin on Jan 25, 2015 17:17:37 GMT -7
Well, I got it Friday afternoon but I've only had 15 minutes to play it. Here's where I'm at so far...
I played it very quickly with my '52 reissue thru a Mesa Thiele 1x12 loaded with a C90 and a 1x12 open back with a Gold. The only dirt pedal I tried with it was a KTR. First impressions are it's incredibly loud and can be bright, but with the tone at cut both between 9:00 and 10:00 it has a lot of solid bottom. With the KTR on, it generates a lot of grind and snarl and can get very plexi-like. If I dial back the guitar volume it really cleans up well. So far I thought the Gold was a bit too bright for me compared to the C90, but there's more to come...
I snagged a pair of Greenbacks last week and should have an empty Matchless open back 2x12 to throw them in by the end of this week. I also have an Xotic BB on the way too. If I can get the StangRay to ride the fine line between Plexi tone and Vox tone, this amp will be amazing! Something tells me I'll get there no sweat. I really see me running the BB as my main overdrive (with just enough grit for Plexi rhythms) and using the guitar volume to clean up and the KTR as a clean boost for leads. I may also investigate a reverb pedal thru the loop and a Brake Lite in the cab to knock it back a notch.
One thing I did notice is that this amp runs hotter than anything I've ever owned. I could swear I could smell something faint, but I had the head up against something and could have done a better job of venting it. Any thoughts to that?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 10:18:32 GMT -7
Welcome to the forum. I use a small fan with mine, and a Gold. Got a 2x12 w/Creambacks, which sounds excellent as well.
|
|
|
Post by telejas on Jan 26, 2015 17:19:10 GMT -7
Well, I got it Friday afternoon but I've only had 15 minutes to play it. Here's where I'm at so far... I played it very quickly with my '52 reissue thru a Mesa Thiele 1x12 loaded with a C90 and a 1x12 open back with a Gold. The only dirt pedal I tried with it was a KTR. First impressions are it's incredibly loud and can be bright, but with the tone at cut both between 9:00 and 10:00 it has a lot of solid bottom. With the KTR on, it generates a lot of grind and snarl and can get very plexi-like. If I dial back the guitar volume it really cleans up well. So far I thought the Gold was a bit too bright for me compared to the C90, but there's more to come... I snagged a pair of Greenbacks last week and should have an empty Matchless open back 2x12 to throw them in by the end of this week. I also have an Xotic BB on the way too. If I can get the StangRay to ride the fine line between Plexi tone and Vox tone, this amp will be amazing! Something tells me I'll get there no sweat. I really see me running the BB as my main overdrive (with just enough grit for Plexi rhythms) and using the guitar volume to clean up and the KTR as a clean boost for leads. I may also investigate a reverb pedal thru the loop and a Brake Lite in the cab to knock it back a notch. One thing I did notice is that this amp runs hotter than anything I've ever owned. I could swear I could smell something faint, but I had the head up against something and could have done a better job of venting it. Any thoughts to that? Yes, Dr. Z's EL84 amps run really hot! I was worried about mine when I first got it (was used to Boogies), but was reassured that was normal for Z's. I seriously thought I could fry an egg on the top grill... Works great as a hand-warmer at outdoor gigs that are chilly I also found Z's to be really bright after playing Boogies for years... But eventually you'll start turning that tone and cut up some and come to like the difference in the brightness vs Boogie or Fender type amps.
|
|
|
Post by drew on Jan 27, 2015 9:52:22 GMT -7
Welcome to the Z-Forum and congratulations on picking up a wonderful tone machine. It can be loud and bright but it can also be a smooth chimey rockin' amp with a tight low end punch. To tame the volume and smooth out the overall sound I like a weber blue dog 50w alnico speaker for blues, country, americana type styles. That speaker has a low efficiency rating and it kinda reminds me of super reverb tones. I know that's crazy sounding but I think the bold tight low end, and chime of the el84s helps with that comparison. For more of a rock amp response(think vox meets marshall) a Celestion G12-65 kicks it and has a low efficiency rating. The tone and cut controls are very powerful tone shaping tools. I like to run the amp's volume at noon to 2:00, depending on guitar, and use the guitar volume control for clean to crunch. Add pedals for OD and Distortion. It's nice to use an airbrake or brakelite on 1 or 2 clicks so you can take advantage of the el84 output tube's natural compression when pushed, hence the volume setting of noon or above. Not the norm for most folks using the Stangray but IMHO the Stangray can be more than a clean only one trick pony amp, speaker choice is critical. Although it's hard to find an amp that does clean better than the Stangray, only different.
|
|
|
Post by stormin on Jan 31, 2015 8:44:14 GMT -7
Just a quick update - I haven't had much time to spend with the StangRay yet, but I did get the whole rig put together at least. For now, I'll be going with the Ray into a Matchless ESD loaded with a pair of Greenbacks. For pedals, I've got a BB Preamp for my main OD and a Klon KTR set up as a clean boost. This should be a blast as soon as I can get time to crank her up. About the only thing I may eventually add would be an Air Brake to keep the volume manageable.
|
|
|
Post by drew on Jan 31, 2015 10:45:18 GMT -7
Excellent rig! Amp, cab, Speakers and pedals. The inefficient greenbacks will help to tame the volume and smooth out the highs. But you don't need me to tell you that as I'm sure your living it up! I've been wiring my 2 12 cabs in series lately and really like the results, seems a bit more open and looser feel, could just be my imagination but that's the best way to describe it.
|
|
|
Post by John on Jan 31, 2015 10:46:21 GMT -7
Nice lookin' rig....although the volume knob need adjusting!!
|
|
|
Post by stormin on Mar 6, 2015 20:23:43 GMT -7
I figured I'd give another update since I've had a few weeks to work with my Ray now. I did change the rig around a bit. I was having some issues controlling the volume while at home so I tried a Brake Lite but it really didn't work for me. I couldn't get enough attenuation without choking the life outta the Ray. What did work for me however, was to run a passive pedal with a volume pot in the loop. I wired it as a true bypass off the switch, so when engaged, I can throttle back the amount of preamp that the power section receives. When no one is home, I just press the switch and it's back to full bore hell raising. I also settled on a trio of Xotic pedals: a BB (for Marshally stuff), an AC (for lower gain) and an RC (to boost either for solos). So far it's pretty fun and flexible. So, the whole rig is: Tele -> Wah -> BB -> AC -> RC -> Ray (Wampler Verb and Volume Pedal in the loop) -> Matchless ESD with Greenbacks. I need to put a small board together at some point, but I'm really enjoying myself with this setup!
|
|
|
Post by teleplayer59 on Mar 22, 2015 2:52:37 GMT -7
New member here (I am "Teleplayer" on The Gear Page), so I am a bit late to this thread. IMHO, and in 40 years of playing (I used to gig all over Chicago), the Ray is one of the finest/coolest amps on the planet. It's also meant to be played with an open back cab loaded with Alnico speakers (I had a matching 2x12 open back Z cab loaded with nicely broken in Blues). The Alnicos give the Ray a beautiful, deep, open and airy sound. Gives the amp a ton of low end as well - like an EL34 footprint, but with the chime and glassiness of EL84s.
GREAT amp; it's clean sounding but in a really ballsy way. Oh yeah; I had an Air Brake with it. Liked the amp MUCH better without the Air Brake.
Guitar----->Lava Ultramafic Cable---->Ray. Also sounded great with an Xotic EP Boost in front of the amp.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2015 8:53:51 GMT -7
Ah yes, the infamous Xotic trio. That Ray in red looks great btw.
|
|
|
Post by stormin on Mar 24, 2015 10:56:57 GMT -7
Ah yes, the infamous Xotic trio. That Ray in red looks great btw. Thank you! I didn't start out with that in mind tho - lol. I had the BB, and heard great things about the AC and Z amps. Once that was working for me, I said "heck, I gotta get an RC now". Then I looked at all 3 pedals and thought "hey, they make a small footprint wah - why not?"
I will say, I'm sold on the BB, AC and RC with the Ray. The jury is still out on the Xotic Wah tho. I was really hoping it would beat out the 18 volt 535Q's that I've been using forever, but I'm not quite sold on it yet.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2015 13:48:50 GMT -7
New member here (I am "Teleplayer" on The Gear Page), so I am a bit late to this thread. IMHO, and in 40 years of playing (I used to gig all over Chicago), the Ray is one of the finest/coolest amps on the planet. It's also meant to be played with an open back cab loaded with Alnico speakers (I had a matching 2x12 open back Z cab loaded with nicely broken in Blues). The Alnicos give the Ray a beautiful, deep, open and airy sound. Gives the amp a ton of low end as well - like an EL34 footprint, but with the chime and glassiness of EL84s. GREAT amp; it's clean sounding but in a really ballsy way. Oh yeah; I had an Air Brake with it. Liked the amp MUCH better without the Air Brake. Guitar----->Lava Ultramafic Cable---->Ray. Also sounded great with an Xotic EP Boost in front of the amp. Though it was short lived, this was the best sounding rig I've ever had as well! It was just too much amp for the bars I was playing around Chicago last year. I would plug into the "LO" input and still barely got the amp above "2" on the volume in a live setting. I tried the Creamback's, but they just didn't have the mojo that the Blues had. Now with a 6 month old at home, I barely get the chance to turn up a 6W amp with an 8" speaker...oh well!
|
|
|
Post by teleplayer59 on Apr 11, 2015 11:17:53 GMT -7
New member here (I am "Teleplayer" on The Gear Page), so I am a bit late to this thread. IMHO, and in 40 years of playing (I used to gig all over Chicago), the Ray is one of the finest/coolest amps on the planet. It's also meant to be played with an open back cab loaded with Alnico speakers (I had a matching 2x12 open back Z cab loaded with nicely broken in Blues). The Alnicos give the Ray a beautiful, deep, open and airy sound. Gives the amp a ton of low end as well - like an EL34 footprint, but with the chime and glassiness of EL84s. GREAT amp; it's clean sounding but in a really ballsy way. Oh yeah; I had an Air Brake with it. Liked the amp MUCH better without the Air Brake. Guitar----->Lava Ultramafic Cable---->Ray. Also sounded great with an Xotic EP Boost in front of the amp. Though it was short lived, this was the best sounding rig I've ever had as well! It was just too much amp for the bars I was playing around Chicago last year. I would plug into the "LO" input and still barely got the amp above "2" on the volume in a live setting. I tried the Creamback's, but they just didn't have the mojo that the Blues had. Now with a 6 month old at home, I barely get the chance to turn up a 6W amp with an 8" speaker...oh well! I hear you brother. A good friend of mine was in a nu-country band that gigged all over Chicago. He used his Maz 18 for normal gigs and his Ray for festivals. When he played outdoors on large stages, it gave him a chance to open the amp up a bit.
|
|