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Post by Bill on Jun 25, 2006 6:23:49 GMT -7
Played a really festive party last night, LOTS O FUN, but man I was missing not having the Z! It's at the docs having some adjustments done, so I dragged out my sons Marshall half stack. I guess the Marshall does it roar thing well, but I need the spank, twang and PUNCH! The other guitarist was all smiles playing through his Maz Jr (was rubbing it in I guess ) So....if you happen to read this, doc....there's NO RUSH ;D
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Post by billyguitar on Jun 25, 2006 8:17:15 GMT -7
Did you say somewhere else that your amp is using up tubes too fast? In what way? Please report back on what Z says is the problem and fix. By the way, what speaker is in your 1 x 12 cab? Weber Silver? Used my Ray for the first time last night. By the time I got my sound dialed in it was very similar sounding to the way I set up my Maz 38. But, and big but, less edge which is what I wanted. If I had to play a Marshall instead of a Z I'd be missing mine too. Every other repair story I've read, the turn around is very rapid so you'll be smiling again soon!
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Post by Bill on Jun 25, 2006 9:57:10 GMT -7
The volume has been dipping up and down. Don't think its tube related, but who knows?...hopefully Z will find the cause. I'll get my sound dialed in, and in the middle of a song there's suddenly a loss of punch...and then it slowly rises back up. Sometimes I have to shut down and power back up, sometimes it does it on its own. Regardless, it doesn't make for a good situation either at home or on the stage.
My cabinet has a Weber Blue Dog, alnico 50w. I always use the amps low gain input, and dial my compressor hot. The Keeley RAT takes care of the drive, cause you won't get much from the amp...and I like it that way.
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Post by billyguitar on Jun 25, 2006 10:14:04 GMT -7
Sounds like a rectifier tube problem.
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Post by jakelefler on Jun 25, 2006 12:25:56 GMT -7
hey guys since yall are talking about tubes my ray has got a rattling tube in the first tube position of the el 84's. I just got the amp on friday and was wondering if the good doctor would send me a new one if I asked or if I would have to send the tube in or what. It doesn't effect the tone or the anything but whenever I first heard it I thought it might be the fan or just some loose screw but after checking the tubes found that it was the problem. Also, Man I gotta get some new pedals for this amp. The fulldrive that is on my board is not cutting it at all on this amp. It's so harsh and brittle sounding. It really doesn't do the amp justice, its very fizzy. I did try the effects loop though on the amp and man it really sounds great with the holy grail. much more natural than running the reverb in the chain. anyways, another question. whenever I hooked up the reverb into the effects loop I really just pluged my whole pedal board through the loop so I got a chance to try out all of my pedals through it. I tried an ocd overdrive through it and it sounded way more natural than running it in front but it lost a ton of treble in the process. we were all really shocked at how good it sounded aside from the lack of treble. It's like it just folded into the amp better. Then I tried the fulldrive and it sound great but with the same dark problem. also with the fulldrive the amp had to be somewhat cranked to get the pedal to even break up at all cause at low volumes it like the pedal wasn't even on. What do ya'll think about this?
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Post by foxx on Jun 25, 2006 13:09:57 GMT -7
Try running that fulldrive on 18v, there's a thread in the effects section on this forum. Tube dampers are also discussed in the tube section, but I would just e-mail the Doc about the tube. Some el84's are prone to rattle.
PS. I was getting a bit of rattle in my el84's in my Mazerati. I have tried to keep the amp away from the walls and such, that intensifies the rattle of the whole amp. After a while the amp will seem to soften as everything breaks in, that also seemed to help. I get no rattle now.
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Post by billyguitar on Jun 25, 2006 13:58:11 GMT -7
I briefly tried a couple of delay pedals thru the loop on my Stang Ray. They both cut the highs a bit. I would imagine that could be made up with the cut control but right now I don't need it anyway. I haven't tried my Holy grail yet in the loop.
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Post by jakelefler on Jun 25, 2006 15:05:30 GMT -7
So foxx should I not worry about the rattle as it shouldn't shorten the life of the tube?
And billy so it's not just me then the highs are lower in the loop. I'l just keep trying pedals till I find one that works for me.
Also, I did try running the pedal at 18v and it made the pedal sound stronger with a little less unnatural breakup but it still kind of sounded cheesy to me. I really want to try an ac boost. I played one in the store when I picked the amp up but need to buy one to really get an honest opinion for myself. I really loved the attack of the ac pedal. Meaning I loved the way I could go from chiming clean to actually pretty surprisingly hot distortion simply by how light or heavy I picked. Thats just such a cool thing to me, when you really can't tell its a pedal.
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Post by billyguitar on Jun 25, 2006 15:56:17 GMT -7
Guitar Center in Overland park, Ks has an Xotic AC for $139, used.
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Post by JASON (aka jgleaton) on Jun 25, 2006 22:40:02 GMT -7
Jake,
I also tried the AC and a BB booster this weekend... I really liked the BB too and it had a little more drive if you needed it.... both seemed pretty transparent...
If I had to choose just one, I liked the BB... more of an OD pedal than the AC really BUT seemed like I could dial in a similar tone/ boost level with the BB that was still close to the AC too... and you might want/ need that little extra drive for the Stang Ray especially at lower volume levels….
Jason
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Post by guitarman1 on Jun 28, 2006 11:04:34 GMT -7
Played a really festive party last night, LOTS O FUN, but man I was missing not having the Z! It's at the docs having some adjustments done, so I dragged out my sons Marshall half stack. I guess the Marshall does it roar thing well, but I need the spank, twang and PUNCH! The other guitarist was all smiles playing through his Maz Jr (was rubbing it in I guess ) So....if you happen to read this, doc....there's NO RUSH ;D Bill, did the Doc say what was wrong with your Stingray yet? You need to buy your son a 6545 to replace his Marshall, so you'll have a better backup when you need one. Christmas is only 6 months away.
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Post by Bill on Jun 28, 2006 17:13:40 GMT -7
Not yet, Steve. Still waiting at this point, and come Sunday I'm outta town for a week. So I kind of expect to see the amp when I return the second week of July. Next gig set for 7-14 so hopefully I'll be able to test her then.
As for my son, I had wanted to get him a Rt66...but the "Marshall logo" became very important to him and the band. Once they progress beyond that point (they're 16), I'm certain it'll be Z all the way...at least if ole DAD has any influence in the decision! ;D
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Post by guitarman1 on Jun 29, 2006 6:45:51 GMT -7
Not yet, Steve. Still waiting at this point, and come Sunday I'm outta town for a week. So I kind of expect to see the amp when I return the second week of July. Next gig set for 7-14 so hopefully I'll be able to test her then. As for my son, I had wanted to get him a Rt66...but the "Marshall logo" became very important to him and the band. Once they progress beyond that point (they're 16), I'm certain it'll be Z all the way...at least if ole DAD has any influence in the decision! ;D 16...that explains it all. I would have killed to have a Marshall when I was that age, but I couldn't afford one. My friends and I were green with envy for the one kid in our community that had a half stack Plexi. The irony was that he couldn't play! Good luck with the amp Bill and enjoy your week out of town. I'll be out of town as well next week. Going to NYC for som R & R.
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Post by guitarman1 on Jul 14, 2006 5:36:51 GMT -7
Bill, did you get your amp back yet? If so, what was the problem?
Steve
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Post by Bill on Jul 14, 2006 7:21:14 GMT -7
Steve, Z had it on his ISO bench for quite awhile and eventually traced it to the EF86. Back at home though, upon firing it up, the amp failed within 10 seconds. Soooooo, it's back in the shop once again...it's just one of those things. Z said if he can't be certain of the "gremlin" this time, he'll just pop another chassis in and be done with it. In the meantime I'm getting a much needed break from loud amplifiers...I like to look at things in a positive light, you see! ;D
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Post by guitarman1 on Jul 14, 2006 7:52:10 GMT -7
Steve, Z had it on his ISO bench for quite awhile and eventually traced it to the EF86. Back at home though, upon firing it up, the amp failed within 10 seconds. Soooooo, it's back in the shop once again...it's just one of those things. Z said if he can't be certain of the "gremlin" this time, he'll just pop another chassis in and be done with it. In the meantime I'm getting a much needed break from loud amplifiers...I like to look at things in a positive light, you see! ;D Man Bill, I'm really sorry to hear that. At least you seem to be taking it well. Good luck & hope it gets straightened out for you. It would be cool if he gave the new chassis the same serial # as the original.
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Post by billyguitar on Jul 14, 2006 8:33:51 GMT -7
That is actually some great service! I don't see Ford, or you name them, doing that!
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Post by Bill on Jul 14, 2006 9:15:58 GMT -7
That is actually some great service! I don't see Ford, or you name them, doing that! Absolutely. I have no worries buying Z amps, cause the doc has always been there to back it up. A couple years ago I had ordered a Vox AC30CC, but backed out because of all the reliabililty issues...took the money, ordered an RxES, and felt an immediate sense of relief!
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Post by billyguitar on Jul 14, 2006 10:32:47 GMT -7
I've got a feeling that the Korg reissue AC/30s are going to start looking pretty good in a few years.
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Post by Bill on Jul 18, 2006 4:23:40 GMT -7
Well, the culprit has been flushed out! Z found a broken wire going to the PI socket. It was intermittently touching the pin, causing the occassional loss of volume. Should be good to go now.
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Post by dock66 on Jul 18, 2006 9:55:38 GMT -7
Madison,
Since Doc had found what the problem with your Ray,it should not be too long for him to fix it,right. BTW,that SRZ 65 limited run is going to be a worthwhile wait.
dock66
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Post by Bill on Jul 18, 2006 11:31:26 GMT -7
Dock, yes it will likely ship out today. I started first dealing with the volume dip a couple months ago, and the diagnosing process started about the time this thread began. Sooooo, I'm very anxious to get the 'ray back where she belongs! And yes, the SRZ 65 anxiety will probably start to surface around December.
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Post by Curt on Jul 18, 2006 20:36:54 GMT -7
I'm trying to ignore the fact that I have one coming............
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Post by guitarman1 on Jul 19, 2006 6:17:13 GMT -7
Bill, I'm really glad the problem with your Ray was resolved! Congrats!
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Post by hdahs143 on Jul 19, 2006 17:33:11 GMT -7
Hey Bill.
Glad to hear a definite problem was found and fixed. I'm sure you can't wait to get her home. ;D. Intermittent electronic problems can be a pain in the arse, and tough to find sometimes.
Have a great weekend!
Harold
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Post by Bill on Jul 20, 2006 12:40:14 GMT -7
Thanks guys! The brown truck just dropped the 'ray off. We'll do a little testing tonight.
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Post by billyguitar on Jul 20, 2006 12:51:33 GMT -7
Every time I play mine I'm more impressed with the beautiful cleans this thing makes.
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Post by Bill on Jul 20, 2006 14:07:18 GMT -7
Everything is good now! Man, this amp sounds & feels awesome...and NO CUTTING OUT or fading. Thanks doc. ;D
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Post by dock66 on Jul 20, 2006 14:18:30 GMT -7
Hey Bill, I am glad you got your amp back from Doc.It is nice to know that she is home safe and sound.Happy playing.
dock66
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