Post by nicholas on Nov 23, 2016 15:18:32 GMT -7
Well, for a guy that says he is downsizing I sure have been on a bank account draining binge lol. A few month ago I went from just having the JAZ 20/40 to picking up one of those new 20w Jubilee heads, then a LP custom Silver Burst... Life is short I guess. I use the Marshall exclusively for my 80's arena rock habit. Until Z comes out with something similar, it will stay. It really nails that tone. But for everything else, dynamic tones, I've been using the JAZ. The JAZ is an outstanding amp. It really kept my gas at bay. Every time I'd be jonesing for a new amp I'd just play it and ask myself "what could possibly sound better than this?". I'm still not sure anything does, maybe the ZLux could edge it out... But that's pretty much a push no matter how you look at it. Minor differences between the amps. But we all know how it goes. Eventually GAS wins out.
I kept trying to resist the DB4 in the BST section. Eventually I caved. Gregg was willing to drop the price a bit and keep his brake lite. Couldn't walk away from that deal. For the record Gregg (gwmican) is reputable. Super smooth transaction, amp arrived in original packing, hang tag still on the handle.... it even smells new. Great guy to deal with. So here she be:
I had a Zwreck combo in the past. This seems similar in some regards. (At least the ringing in my ears reminds me of it). This is definitely more suited to my needs. I'm not into country. I'm a Les Paul guy. I play blues, classic rock and hard rock. From my memory of my departed ZWreck combo there are more differences between the Zwreck and the DB4 than similarities.
From my limited time with the DB it seems to go from the Zwreck sound to the Therapy sound, catching the JAZ (Zlux) somewhere in the middle. I've kept the pedals off other than some verb. I left the power switch set to stun (full power) and I'm not using any form of attenuation. A Les Paul with PAF style pups.
After some messing around I started to figure it out. The three knobs are deceptively simple. There is a lot to be had between them. To get dirty and a bit compressed I actually like the EQ set to position #1. Drop the cut to 0-1. That gives up some nice classic rock riffage. I'm using it in my small jam room tilted back. So I'd imagine I'd raise the cut a bit in a larger room / band context. Sounds in ballpark of a Zwreck to me from memories a year or more old. Set up like below:
Then I found the other side of the amp. This is the cleaner more "tweedier" side. The EQ is set to position #5 and cut is maxed. This COMPLETELY changed the character of the amp as well as the tone. I hear sounds similar to the cleaner side of my departed Therapy. Hinting very much at the 6v6 tone I love from my JAZ. Deep, thick, room shaking clean. How an EL84 can sound like this is beyond me. It's impressive. For this type of tone I set it like pictured below:
One thing worth noting is the volume setting. It seems the higher I turn the EQ switch and cut knob the lower the volume needs to be. In both pictures the "in the room" volume is pretty much the same. So I would think after some more time I'll land somewhere in the middle of those two drastically different yet equally cool setting pictured.
I'm actually pretty blown away by this amp. I have off from work for another 4 days. So I'm sure I'll be able to narrow down my thoughts. I'll also try the half power setting and maybe some pedals. But at this point I'm very surprised how this sounds. The cleaner side of the amp at high volume with a Les Paul is impressive. Especially the middle pup position. It's a glorious sound.
More later....
I kept trying to resist the DB4 in the BST section. Eventually I caved. Gregg was willing to drop the price a bit and keep his brake lite. Couldn't walk away from that deal. For the record Gregg (gwmican) is reputable. Super smooth transaction, amp arrived in original packing, hang tag still on the handle.... it even smells new. Great guy to deal with. So here she be:
I had a Zwreck combo in the past. This seems similar in some regards. (At least the ringing in my ears reminds me of it). This is definitely more suited to my needs. I'm not into country. I'm a Les Paul guy. I play blues, classic rock and hard rock. From my memory of my departed ZWreck combo there are more differences between the Zwreck and the DB4 than similarities.
From my limited time with the DB it seems to go from the Zwreck sound to the Therapy sound, catching the JAZ (Zlux) somewhere in the middle. I've kept the pedals off other than some verb. I left the power switch set to stun (full power) and I'm not using any form of attenuation. A Les Paul with PAF style pups.
After some messing around I started to figure it out. The three knobs are deceptively simple. There is a lot to be had between them. To get dirty and a bit compressed I actually like the EQ set to position #1. Drop the cut to 0-1. That gives up some nice classic rock riffage. I'm using it in my small jam room tilted back. So I'd imagine I'd raise the cut a bit in a larger room / band context. Sounds in ballpark of a Zwreck to me from memories a year or more old. Set up like below:
Then I found the other side of the amp. This is the cleaner more "tweedier" side. The EQ is set to position #5 and cut is maxed. This COMPLETELY changed the character of the amp as well as the tone. I hear sounds similar to the cleaner side of my departed Therapy. Hinting very much at the 6v6 tone I love from my JAZ. Deep, thick, room shaking clean. How an EL84 can sound like this is beyond me. It's impressive. For this type of tone I set it like pictured below:
One thing worth noting is the volume setting. It seems the higher I turn the EQ switch and cut knob the lower the volume needs to be. In both pictures the "in the room" volume is pretty much the same. So I would think after some more time I'll land somewhere in the middle of those two drastically different yet equally cool setting pictured.
I'm actually pretty blown away by this amp. I have off from work for another 4 days. So I'm sure I'll be able to narrow down my thoughts. I'll also try the half power setting and maybe some pedals. But at this point I'm very surprised how this sounds. The cleaner side of the amp at high volume with a Les Paul is impressive. Especially the middle pup position. It's a glorious sound.
More later....
