Carmen Ghia, other Z Amps, and "Z 'base tone'"

[supernaut]

Hello All.

I did not wish to hijack gitaryzt1985's thread with my question.  gitaryzt1985 made reference to loving the base Z tone.  I am on my 3rd Z--Mini, Monza, Ghia (25th Anni) and still have the Monza as well.

I too have noticed what seems to be a consistent "tone" out of at least those 3 (although to varying degrees) so my point of comparison is rather limited to say the least.  As a caveat, I only play straight into the amp with a hard/old school heavy sound.

Members of other forums have essentially said the same thing; that Z's essentially sound the same, and if you like the sound, you're in (tone) heaven.

How about it?  Is there a "base" Z tone? 

If there is, I know 1 thing:  I LOVE IT, every time I take a Z out of the box.

[Eddie]

While there is some overlap between models, I find a lot of Z's amps to be pretty distinct from one another.

The MAZ 18 and the Route 66 and the Z Wreck are pretty unique.

I guess if we were to take a sip of the sonic milkshake that would result from taking all of the Doc's amps and putting them into a massive blender, we'd say it was basically vintage, only louder and a bit more present.

Eddie

[supernaut]

I LIKE that "sonic milkshake" comparison, as well as your description, "basically vintage, only louder and a bit more present"

[southmusic70]

You are using some of the el84 Zs. I have some, too, namely the Rati v2 and the CG Anni, and there are similarities. If you look at some of the other Zs that have different tube configurations, you'll find real differences in tone and what I would call response. My other Zs are the Therapy (6L6), Z28 (6V6) and KT45 (EL34); the latter two have an ef86 in the front end that is very different from the 12ax7 front end in some of the other Zs.

There are a lot of options and not what I would call one Z sound.

[supernaut]

Indeed, the thought that all my Z's have been EL 84s and 12ax7s had certainly crossed my mind. Thanks southmusic

[simpleton]

All the Z amps I've played ( Ghia, Monza, Therapy, Maz ) have this similarity......balanced. I feel like in a mix somehow the Z's just sit in a more balanced way frequency wise. While feeling full they don't feel bass heavy and while bright they don't seem shrill.

[southmusic70]

Yes, simpleton, what you say is true, no matter what bandstand you're on.