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Post by tmakky103 on May 2, 2015 7:51:16 GMT -7
Hey guys. Just joined and this is my first post. Just bought my first Z, the maz38 with no eq bypass, and I can't stop thinking about the Therapy.
I had troubles finding a good comparison of the two, so once my therapy gets here, I will post some thoughts and some crappy videos and let me know what you think. I have time to return both amps for a full refund so I am only going to keep one.
I'm in a cover band that covers a lot of things. Petty, modern county, some blues, some R&B, and some rock stuff.
I like the voicing of the Maz as I like a lot of twang but I can already tell it's a tad "harsh" especially with a strat with a rail in the bridge.
Any other input would help!
Thanks
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Post by pcns on May 2, 2015 7:56:59 GMT -7
Welcome to the forum. What speaker are you using with your Maz 38? Will be interesting to hear what you think once the Therapy arrives. Maz 38 is a great stage amp, really cuts through. Todd
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Post by benttop (Steve) on May 2, 2015 21:16:47 GMT -7
The speaker is going to be the largest influence in your perception of how the Maz sounds. What speaker are you using?
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Post by Pete aka shouldb on May 3, 2015 4:59:18 GMT -7
Speaker choice, as has been said, will make a huge difference to that upper "spike". I may be in a minority here, but the Doc does tend to make bright amps, especially the Maz range, so combined with a bright speaker and a Strat, you could find it a bit much...... FWIW, I went through several Celestions and several Z amps, always struggling to dial out and upper spike. Got an Eminence Governor, PROBLEM SOLVED! ? I now know why the Doc gets Eminence to build his custom speakers ? YMMV of course.........
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Post by bloozeman on May 3, 2015 6:09:59 GMT -7
I use eminence texas heats and a weber silver bell with my Maz and Jaz 20/40. They both sound great and work well for me
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Post by tmakky103 on May 3, 2015 18:02:11 GMT -7
Welcome to the forum. What speaker are you using with your Maz 38? Will be interesting to hear what you think once the Therapy arrives. Maz 38 is a great stage amp, really cuts through. Todd I'm using one of two 212 cabs at a time. A open back with a celestion gold/creamback and a closed back with a vintage 30/gold. Chances are I don't want to be changing out speakers as I know these are all good. Rather pick the amp that fits them. Btw, have been testing the maz on the open back with the gold/creamback mostly. Thanks for the warm welcome!
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Post by benttop (Steve) on May 3, 2015 20:02:58 GMT -7
Well the Gold is somewhat more efficient (louder) than the Creamback if I recall. Yeah, there it is - Gold is 100db vs Creamback's 97db. That's 3db down from the Gold. You'll hear the Gold more prominently. Do an experiment and try the Creamback alone - you should hear quite a different tone-wise.
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Post by gplayer1965 on May 4, 2015 2:31:28 GMT -7
I use eminence texas heats and a weber silver bell with my Maz and Jaz 20/40. They both sound great and work well for me Texas heat speakers sound fantastic with the Therapy
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Post by nmz on May 4, 2015 3:14:48 GMT -7
WGS Vet. 30 sounds great with the Therapy.
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Post by tmakky103 on May 4, 2015 6:47:50 GMT -7
That's cool that it works well with multiple speakers. I don't hate the sound of the MAZ. Just a few little things that stick out about it. The therapy should be arriving by Thursday and I'll see if that solves any of it. If not, I'm pretty dang happy with the MAZ for a $1000 amp. I bet you I bought someone from this forums therapy from guitar center in Cincinnati.
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Post by tmakky103 on May 6, 2015 8:02:53 GMT -7
Does anyone have experience with both amps? Any tips right off the bat? Or opinions on versatility/usability? I play higher gain (new country) as well as cheesy (Mayer) cover tunes. I use pedals for most of my sound so I'm not too worried about when they start to break up. Unless the therapy's headroom is lacking. Which I doubt.
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Post by southmusic70 on May 6, 2015 8:30:00 GMT -7
Not to oversimplify, but with the Therapy start with everything at noon and go from there, with guitar controls NOT dimed (say about 7 for volume and tone), so that you have some room for options on the front end.
Then start tweaking.
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Post by gitaryzt1985 on May 7, 2015 8:05:49 GMT -7
I'm interested to see how this turns out. I too bought a Maz but have this itch for the Therapy that I just can't scratch without playing one, but scared to shell out the cash at the moment.
To me, the Maz sounds PERFECT once you dial out most of the cut and tame the treble. I've never thought the Maz was bright with buckers, but it can get bright with single coils. From the demos I've heard, the Therapy sounds like it hangs towards the bright side, but with 6L6s I imagine it can thicken up nicely...
Keep us in the loop!
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Post by bigplay on May 7, 2015 8:43:27 GMT -7
Welcome to the forum! I have both amps and it is hard for me to describe sound but here is what I have for you. I also use V30 speakers ( I do want to try a gold at some point). It seems to me the Maz is a better pedal platform and I think maybe a little more headroom. When I use my overdrive pedal with the Maz I adjust the tone on the pedal to take out some of the harsh spike. I also use a Keely Comp that helps. The Therapy is pretty simple I don't use hardly any pedals with it. I dial it in with just a little break up and cleans up nice by rolling the guitar volume off some. I use one overdrive for some lead boost and thats it. I can really get to any sound I need with the Maz with all my pedals and about any sound with the Therapy with some knob turning. So in short I couldn't make up my mind either so I kept both! Good luck with this decision you got a tough one! Ray
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Post by kc on May 7, 2015 9:11:46 GMT -7
Not to oversimplify, but with the Therapy start with everything at noon and go from there, with guitar controls NOT dimed (say about 7 for volume and tone), so that you have some room for options on the front end. Then start tweaking. Someone once suggested - close your eyes and then turn the knobs. This helps with avoiding preconceived ideas about where each setting "should" be. Good luck. kc
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Post by tmakky103 on May 7, 2015 9:51:53 GMT -7
Should be delivered Friday according to UPS. Hope to have some opinions by Monday night. I'm worried I'm going to want to keep both....which of course is not an option haha.
I rely on pedals for most everything so I have a sneaking suspicion the MAZ might win out. I do love the spanky-midrange from EL84. I've had issues with getting lost in a mix and I'm worried the therapy might suffer from this a LITTLE bit. At least compared to the MAZ.
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Post by tmakky103 on May 7, 2015 9:58:55 GMT -7
Welcome to the forum! I have both amps and it is hard for me to describe sound but here is what I have for you. I also use V30 speakers ( I do want to try a gold at some point). It seems to me the Maz is a better pedal platform and I think maybe a little more headroom. When I use my overdrive pedal with the Maz I adjust the tone on the pedal to take out some of the harsh spike. I also use a Keely Comp that helps. The Therapy is pretty simple I don't use hardly any pedals with it. I dial it in with just a little break up and cleans up nice by rolling the guitar volume off some. I use one overdrive for some lead boost and thats it. I can really get to any sound I need with the Maz with all my pedals and about any sound with the Therapy with some knob turning. So in short I couldn't make up my mind either so I kept both! Good luck with this decision you got a tough one! Ray Gun to your head, which amp do you keep?! Workhouse/versatility/etc
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Post by Mark (Basement Enthusiast) on May 7, 2015 10:09:41 GMT -7
Does anyone have experience with both amps? Any tips right off the bat? Or opinions on versatility/usability? I play higher gain (new country) as well as cheesy (Mayer) cover tunes. I use pedals for most of my sound so I'm not too worried about when they start to break up. Unless the therapy's headroom is lacking. Which I doubt. All of what I bolded above in your quote makes me think that the Therapy is totally the right amp for you. I own a MAZ (18 Jr., though, not 38 Sr.) and had a Therapy. Now don't take this the wrong way--because the Therapy is great and I think you'll really like it for your sonic needs--but overall I think the MAZ is more capable of doing a wider array of tones than the Therapy. (But you might not need or want that wider array, anyway.) What I mean by that statement is that, with a simple speaker swap (e.g., from a vintage American-style AlNiCo speaker to a big-ceramic-magnet British speaker) the MAZ will succeed greatly at everything from country twang to straight-ahead hard rock. Of course, having the footswitchable EQ-bypass also really helps in that regard. The Therapy, on the other hand, I found to excel in a narrower bandwith of "articulate, modern, mid-to-high gain rock." Yes, it'll do sparkly-clean, too, but I really liked it dialed-up, with practically all knobs at noon as southmusic70 had stated. I guess what I'm saying is--and it's just my opinion--that the MAZ is more widely-versatile, whereas the Therapy is more focused (literally and figuratively) in its sound. The good news is, though, that I think your "higher gain..country..Mayer cover tunes" and "I use pedals" is a perfect application for the Therapy.
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Post by bloozeman on May 7, 2015 10:11:06 GMT -7
I've had issues with getting lost in a mix and I'm worried the therapy might suffer from this a LITTLE bit. At least compared to the MAZ. Nope. you wont get lost in the mix with a therapy at all.
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Post by tmakky103 on May 9, 2015 12:45:33 GMT -7
Hey guys. First gig last night with both the MAZ and the therapy. Very different amps. I'm really surprised how different they are voiced.
The therapy: Great high gain sound with a good pedal going into it. Not as much headroom as I thought it would have. Did not sound great overdriven lightly. (BB preamp). Seemed to be a little thin sounding to me and lose that "Z" sound that really makes a strat nice and creamy. A little too much high end for me as well. Wish it had a cut knob. Started to break up with the master at 12 and the volume at 930. That's too early in my opinion.
The MAZ: Good cleans. Looser low end but I feel as if a few mods/fresh tubes could take care of it. The overdriven tones were great. A little too much midrange at times but thankfully that MID knob does a LOT. I found myself wanting to turn the cut UP a bit to let the front end bark a little bit more thus turning he treble down a little ways.
I've spent all morning today playing. High gain, low gain, clean, effects, twangy county, etc. I find myself able to dial in a lot of good things with the MAZ even if it does take some tweaking and some "unusual" EQ settings. I now know why people say the EQ is not plug and play always. The therapy is VERY good at certain things but it can't keep up with the MAZ on versatility and being able to dial something in.
I have a few more weeks to decide on which amp to keep but I'm the type of guy who makes decisions quickly so I'm sure I'll decide by the end of next week. Leaning towards the MAZ. I'll try to get some videos up but I'm sure you're all familiar with the heads anyways.
Feedback is welcome!
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Post by Pete aka shouldb on May 10, 2015 5:18:09 GMT -7
WOW! Isn't it great how we all hear things SO differently? It's what makes this forum SO interesting! I have never played a more versatile amp than the Therapy............ and I've had a Maz. Two observations: High End - speaker choice makes a huge difference - steered away from Celestions because of that high end. My Eminence has dealt with that nicely. Headroom - not sure what that means anymore. If you mean a high volume clean tone, and anything about noon on an MV would be loud for my gigs, then no the Therapy would start to break up, but that's EXACTLY why I love it! For what you seem to want, I would have thought the Maz 38 would be better, or an Antidote or even an EZG50............. even a Z Wreck would probably break up too much for you as well.
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Post by tmakky103 on May 10, 2015 8:10:37 GMT -7
It did sound really nice on that edge of breakup but doing the cover band thing primarily at this point, sometimes I need the loud clean. If I had the cash, I'd keep both and A/B them. It was a really great sound just not as all around as I was hoping. I wish I had the funds to try out different speakers but I have a few amps to run with these cabs and they sound great with everything else so a speaker change is not in my future unfortunately. I'd like to try the therapy with a Jensen speaker of some sort. Always been a huge fan of jensens. I've looked at the antidote and EZG but maz still seems to fit the bill the best.
I'm giving it some more time and letting myself turn some dials before I really make a decision. Who knows, maybe I'll crack the formula on how to run it better. I want to love it but we have to trust our ears I guess!
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Post by benttop (Steve) on May 10, 2015 9:57:40 GMT -7
That right there! I'm a long time user of two Z amps with a head switcher - definitely a great way to go.
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Post by Pete aka shouldb on May 10, 2015 12:15:03 GMT -7
I'm giving it some more time and letting myself turn some dials before I really make a decision. Who knows, maybe I'll crack the formula on how to run it better. I want to love it but we have to trust our ears I guess! Absolutely!! This is the sort of "tough decision" I've been going through for years now - "which of these glorious Z amps should I buy??" We are all spoilt for choice! I stopped worrying about this question when I got the Therapy, but that's just me I do covers band stuff, but thankfully, really clean tones don't figure in our music, so I'm a happy camper
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Post by tmakky103 on May 12, 2015 12:36:33 GMT -7
Update in case anyone cares! I had a limited time to return these amps for full price. So I decided to return both. The therapy didn't do it for me for the cost. The MAZ is the one I connected with more. But it was an older one. And I wanted the eq bypass and I HATE hard wired power cords. So I found a screaming deal on a 2012 MAZ 38 with reverb. I know the reverb is not seen as great on these but I got it cheaper than the older MAZ. So I had to give it a shot since it had all my requirements.
Probably an unpopular choice but it made the most sense. Modding the old MAZ would've been another 150 for eq bypass and another 85 to change the cord out for an IEC jack. New MAZ was 50 bucks cheaper!
If I really hate it, I can recoup the money easily down the road. But for now, MAZ sr with verb will be here in two days!
Thanks for listening. I'll post some thoughts on differences when I get it!
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Post by tmakky103 on May 12, 2015 12:38:35 GMT -7
Also, old MAZ was blonde which is cool. But the new one is red with a black grill cloth front. A little more interesting.
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Post by gitaryzt1985 on May 14, 2015 6:47:40 GMT -7
I think in the end you made the right choice. I just got a Maz and STRUGGLED with whether to get the Therapy or not. To me, the Dr Z sound in my head comes across with the Maz....love it.
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Post by tmakky103 on May 14, 2015 6:53:44 GMT -7
I think in the end you made the right choice. I just got a Maz and STRUGGLED with whether to get the Therapy or not. To me, the Dr Z sound in my head comes across with the Maz....love it. I agree with you. The therapy sounded like a really really nice amp. But not a dr z amp. That sparkly midrange was gone to me. Even that brad paisley demo with it doesn't sound as good to me. I think the el84 Zs are definitely a more unique and commanding sound.
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Post by tmakky103 on May 14, 2015 12:01:31 GMT -7
Well this isn't good.......... The new MAZ.
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