(Edited) Extra Extra! Pinball Wizard and Miracle Cure!
Mar 13, 2017 14:04:20 GMT -7
Jaguarguy (Mike), lowbudget, and 10 more like this
Post by mustachio on Mar 13, 2017 14:04:20 GMT -7
Bought one of these last night online, but got an email this morning saying they were sold out and the listing wasn't taken down yet. So, I found a store an hour away from me and they had one in stock. Called them up, paid over the phone and drove there real quick-like to beat the Noreaster tomorrow. If I'm going to be snowed in, I might as well go to the shed and work on my modal scales.
I played it for nearly two hours straight as soon as I got home. This amp kills it!!! I only have a Gibson Custom Shop 1960 Standard Historic Les Paul Reissue '16 and needed an amp that could do it all. This is the amp I always dreamed about but never thought someone would design it. I've had many Z's in the past that I've loved, including Maz Jrs, CG, a couple of M12s, but always preferred the Tweed Deluxe sound. Not to mention a boat-load of other Z's competitors. So, the Deluxe is a finicky amp as far as finding a sweet spot and get a little out of control. It always seemed to me that spot would be there one day, then gone the next. I'd always have to fiddle with them and play them in a certain way. My favorite Z amp, until today, was the M12 w/ Blue. It reminds me of a Deluxe with EL84s. But, I always wanted a little more tone shaping capability and a bit more volume.
So, as my Les Paul is my only guitar, I wanted choices and different sounds. I like how the Cure can be a straight up plug-n-play, or it can be a great pedal platform. It doesn't flubb out like a Alnico driven Deluxe. If I crank the mids, BOOM, Tweed Deluxe, but I can dial in the right amount of treble and cut the low end. If I want Vox, I can back off the mids and add some treble, turn the volume to 9 o'clock, Master at noon aaaaand, yup, perfect Vox-ish (not exactly, but that's the Dr. Z character). Finally, I can get a Marshall 1974X sound with adding more volume to taste and ease up bass plus add a dirt pedal. I use a Greer Amps Southland or Lightspeed. I prefer the Lightspeed. I also dig the Earthquaker Devices Speaker Cranker. It's definitely a Swiss Army amp, as all Z's are, even more so than the M12. Let me explain that a bit.
M12s are awesome and loud but only with a Blue (or Gold, but the Gold I tried in an M12 was too much speaker). As we know, the Blue adds it's own flavor, which I love, but neutral it ain't. The Greenback sounds great, but then you suffer a volume drop which, for me, isn't really giggable.
That's where the Cure's 15 watt rating splits the difference between th Maz Jr. and M12. I don't really need Maz's headroom, and cranked only really sounded best outside where I could open it up, otherwise, it always felt choked and the Brake Lite helped, but I had all this amp I wasn't using. Louder than the M12, great classic even sounding speaker for pedals, full eq stack.
This my first experience with the new Z Speaker. I gotta say, I haven't used a ceramic speaker for a long time. Some of them can be too strident, or too spikes. The new Z is warm but articulate and not too dark. The driver seems to handle the goods. Not sure what the power rating it has, though? It's not too tight like a 75th Anniversary G12H can be, but not loose either. Reminds me of a broken in Scumback.
And as have many pointed out, the "Level" is the best attenuator I've ever had. It's also like an extra Master as well. It really does keep the fidelity of your settings but lower. The YouTube videos do not do it justice. But, man, I can't wait to record with it. It really is THE perfect all in one amp.
My my hats to ya, Doc. Top shelf. Homerun. Strong work. Thank you.
I played it for nearly two hours straight as soon as I got home. This amp kills it!!! I only have a Gibson Custom Shop 1960 Standard Historic Les Paul Reissue '16 and needed an amp that could do it all. This is the amp I always dreamed about but never thought someone would design it. I've had many Z's in the past that I've loved, including Maz Jrs, CG, a couple of M12s, but always preferred the Tweed Deluxe sound. Not to mention a boat-load of other Z's competitors. So, the Deluxe is a finicky amp as far as finding a sweet spot and get a little out of control. It always seemed to me that spot would be there one day, then gone the next. I'd always have to fiddle with them and play them in a certain way. My favorite Z amp, until today, was the M12 w/ Blue. It reminds me of a Deluxe with EL84s. But, I always wanted a little more tone shaping capability and a bit more volume.
So, as my Les Paul is my only guitar, I wanted choices and different sounds. I like how the Cure can be a straight up plug-n-play, or it can be a great pedal platform. It doesn't flubb out like a Alnico driven Deluxe. If I crank the mids, BOOM, Tweed Deluxe, but I can dial in the right amount of treble and cut the low end. If I want Vox, I can back off the mids and add some treble, turn the volume to 9 o'clock, Master at noon aaaaand, yup, perfect Vox-ish (not exactly, but that's the Dr. Z character). Finally, I can get a Marshall 1974X sound with adding more volume to taste and ease up bass plus add a dirt pedal. I use a Greer Amps Southland or Lightspeed. I prefer the Lightspeed. I also dig the Earthquaker Devices Speaker Cranker. It's definitely a Swiss Army amp, as all Z's are, even more so than the M12. Let me explain that a bit.
M12s are awesome and loud but only with a Blue (or Gold, but the Gold I tried in an M12 was too much speaker). As we know, the Blue adds it's own flavor, which I love, but neutral it ain't. The Greenback sounds great, but then you suffer a volume drop which, for me, isn't really giggable.
That's where the Cure's 15 watt rating splits the difference between th Maz Jr. and M12. I don't really need Maz's headroom, and cranked only really sounded best outside where I could open it up, otherwise, it always felt choked and the Brake Lite helped, but I had all this amp I wasn't using. Louder than the M12, great classic even sounding speaker for pedals, full eq stack.
This my first experience with the new Z Speaker. I gotta say, I haven't used a ceramic speaker for a long time. Some of them can be too strident, or too spikes. The new Z is warm but articulate and not too dark. The driver seems to handle the goods. Not sure what the power rating it has, though? It's not too tight like a 75th Anniversary G12H can be, but not loose either. Reminds me of a broken in Scumback.
And as have many pointed out, the "Level" is the best attenuator I've ever had. It's also like an extra Master as well. It really does keep the fidelity of your settings but lower. The YouTube videos do not do it justice. But, man, I can't wait to record with it. It really is THE perfect all in one amp.
My my hats to ya, Doc. Top shelf. Homerun. Strong work. Thank you.