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Post by bloozeman on Jun 3, 2016 10:25:53 GMT -7
Got my new maz 8 in today. first impression, I thought it sounded a little fizzy and flubby/farty on the low end, I use a 1x12 Z cabinet loaded with a weber silver bell, played it for about an hour and was on the fence if I made the right choice between that and the 18, took a break for an hour, came back and played some more, dialed it in a little better and it was tighter. I think Im not used to dialing in a lot of EQ since lately Ive only been playing the carmen ghia, M12 and z28, which all only have 3 knobs compared to the 8's extensive EQ. The second time around playing the maz for about a half hour, I was more impressed than the first time trying it. I think its just going to take me a little bit to dial in how I like it, and Im considering changing the v1 to a 5751 to give just a smidgen more headroom?
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Post by mpa93 on Jun 3, 2016 10:47:32 GMT -7
Congrats! My go-to amp for gigs for the past two years. You will find a nice setting, but it does take a little adjusting compared to the amps you mentioned.Try triode mode as well. I have been using triode mode at rehearsals with my Les Paul...sounds great.
All the best!!
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Post by dergit (Markus) on Jun 3, 2016 10:49:45 GMT -7
As someone partly responsible for your choice, I hope it grows on you. If not, however, I don't think the 18 would have either.
To get rid of fizz, try running treble lower and cut higher. That'll make for glassier, cleaner, more hi-fi sounding high-end. 5751s in v1 and v2 are a good idea for clean and warm preamp drive and a 12AT7 (or another 5751) in the PI slot will drive the power tubes less which will also make the amp a little less aggressive and more vintagey. I did both those things to my 18 but I run my 8 with the stock configuration (it already came with very different tubes than the 18, though).
All that said, in my experience, if I didn't love an amp the way it came with all the knobs at noon, all the fiddling and tweaking in the world couldn't make me love it in the end.
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Post by dergit (Markus) on Jun 3, 2016 10:55:44 GMT -7
Also... make sure you try this amp in a band. It sounds a lot less "mastered" and "record ready" on its own than many other amps but boy does it sit well in a mix.
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Post by bloozeman on Jun 3, 2016 11:09:44 GMT -7
so you suggest a v1 and v2 tube change to 5751 for a bit cleaner headroom?
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Post by doctorice on Jun 3, 2016 11:46:53 GMT -7
Don't be afraid to run the bass knob up fairly high. On my MAZ, JAZ and Z-Lux, I tend to keep bass pretty low, but on the 8 it's set higher than mid and treble. (Got a Cel Blue in mine, so that may a contributing factor.) I also like having the master up around 2 o'clock, using a Brake Lite to keep the output level down.
Above applies to single coils; haven't had a humbucker guitar plugged in to this amp for a while.
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Post by bloozeman on Jun 3, 2016 12:23:17 GMT -7
As someone partly responsible for your choice, I hope it grows on you. If not, however, I don't think the 18 would have either. To get rid of fizz, try running treble lower and cut higher. That'll make for glassier, cleaner, more hi-fi sounding high-end. 5751s in v1 and v2 are a good idea for clean and warm preamp drive and a 12AT7 (or another 5751) in the PI slot will drive the power tubes less which will also make the amp a little less aggressive and more vintagey. I did both those things to my 18 but I run my 8 with the stock configuration (it already came with very different tubes than the 18, though). All that said, in my experience, if I didn't love an amp the way it came with all the knobs at noon, all the fiddling and tweaking in the world couldn't make me love it in the end. ok im going to order 3 5751 preamp tubes and use those in the place of the ax7's, question, i can buy 3 of them at the tubestore.com for $13.95 each for JJ's, or eurotubes have them in matched triodes, balanced, or matched and balanced. whats the difference between all those options?
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Post by dergit (Markus) on Jun 3, 2016 13:08:18 GMT -7
iirc: PI tube should be balanced... matched should just mean the 3 you'll buy will perform similarly (similar gain). Tubes have large variances due to production (especially current production tubes) so matched sets are tested and then grouped together (matched sets). IIRC 12AT7s are usually cleaner in the PI slot than 5751s which can overload quicker resulting in saturation that isn't the EL84s overloading but the PI tube. I haven't tried 5751s as PI but it seems to work well: oh, and my memory wasn't playing tricks on me. Check this out... a quick google search found a thread you started yourself ztalk.proboards.com/thread/70147/5751-12ax7-maz-jr There's a lot of great MAZ tube info here: ztalk.proboards.com/thread/30034
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Post by zpilot on Jun 3, 2016 19:58:58 GMT -7
Do yourself a favor and go with NOS 5751's. The general opinion around this forum is that new manufactured 5751's are just 12AX7's that didn't make the grade.
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Post by Mark (Basement Enthusiast) on Jun 4, 2016 6:34:49 GMT -7
^ I'd go so far to say it's not "general opinion" that newly-manufactured 5751's aren't real 5751's.. but more of a "fact!"
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Post by bloozeman on Jun 4, 2016 7:34:37 GMT -7
Thanks for the info and insight
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Post by bloozeman on Jun 4, 2016 11:13:44 GMT -7
Got it dialed in today and pretty happy with it so far. For more headroom, Im using the low input and its sounding good. Just curious, when switching from pentode to triod, is it best to turn the stanby switch on and then switch the modes or wont it matter? Ive done both so far of using standby when switching and not using it but wonder if the pop I hear when not using standby is bad to do?
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Post by zpilot on Jun 4, 2016 16:48:01 GMT -7
Put it on standby first.
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Post by dergit (Markus) on Jun 5, 2016 2:42:07 GMT -7
Don't be scared of the Lo Input, especially with pedals and humbuckers! Leaves a lot more room to play with. I use it 90% of the time on my 18NR.
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Post by daveyk on Jun 5, 2016 9:00:46 GMT -7
I believe that the JJ 5751 is a real 5751 and not a low gain/re-labeled 12ax7. I've had great results with JJ 5751's from eurotubes. I read on their website a while back that it's not a re-labeled 12ax7.
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Post by zpilot on Jun 5, 2016 11:24:26 GMT -7
I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.
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