Gigged the Z-Master last night
May 12, 2019 10:13:57 GMT -7
DRZ, Paul (TRANE), and 10 more like this
Post by LT on May 12, 2019 10:13:57 GMT -7
The setup: old, restored movie theater with a high ceiling and hard surface walls. The good news though was the room was full (about 400-450 folks) so the sound was relatively dead. Everything was mic'ed up, but I didn't use my IEM's so I was hearing the actual amp and not the tone through buds. I'm not sure yet if anyone shot any video, but if so I'll post it later.
A friend was playing guitar in the opening band so I decided to let him play through the ZM for their set. He used an older Carvin guitar with dual humbuckers. He and his keyboardist couldn't stop raving about the tone. His settings were both V's at 9 and the tone stack mostly at 11. It sounded great in the room although he mainly played clean tones (60's era music).
I used my main Strat (89 Am Std) with Amalfitano SP PU's. Always-on pedals were the Cali 76 and the Chase Tone Secret Preamp. The BD-2 and Plexitone were used as needed. I bumped up the volumes to V1-10, V2-1 but kept the tone stack the same.
I've had some requests to compare the Nova to the ZM. Since I didn't have them both at the gig I can't do a direct comparison in the same environment. That being said, here are some thoughts.
They are both firmly in the same "American/Tweed" camp as has been discussed here. The Nova has the fabulous OD circuit which for me means I really don't need the BD-2. Just keep the OD on most of the time and control the dirt from the GV. The ZM stayed clean at the settings above and took both OD pedals well. I kept the BD-2 on for most of the gig, basically replicating the Nova's OD. The ZM preamp is very flexible with the 2 V controls. For example, last night I found the amp a little bright, so instead of rolling back the T or P controls, I just upped V2 a little. The ZM also brings the great 3-10 swirl which pushes a lot of air, more so than the 1-12 I use with the Nova.
Bottom line, I'm glad I have both. If you are on the fence on either or both of these, buy em. They are fantastic amps. Thank you Doc!
A friend was playing guitar in the opening band so I decided to let him play through the ZM for their set. He used an older Carvin guitar with dual humbuckers. He and his keyboardist couldn't stop raving about the tone. His settings were both V's at 9 and the tone stack mostly at 11. It sounded great in the room although he mainly played clean tones (60's era music).
I used my main Strat (89 Am Std) with Amalfitano SP PU's. Always-on pedals were the Cali 76 and the Chase Tone Secret Preamp. The BD-2 and Plexitone were used as needed. I bumped up the volumes to V1-10, V2-1 but kept the tone stack the same.
I've had some requests to compare the Nova to the ZM. Since I didn't have them both at the gig I can't do a direct comparison in the same environment. That being said, here are some thoughts.
They are both firmly in the same "American/Tweed" camp as has been discussed here. The Nova has the fabulous OD circuit which for me means I really don't need the BD-2. Just keep the OD on most of the time and control the dirt from the GV. The ZM stayed clean at the settings above and took both OD pedals well. I kept the BD-2 on for most of the gig, basically replicating the Nova's OD. The ZM preamp is very flexible with the 2 V controls. For example, last night I found the amp a little bright, so instead of rolling back the T or P controls, I just upped V2 a little. The ZM also brings the great 3-10 swirl which pushes a lot of air, more so than the 1-12 I use with the Nova.
Bottom line, I'm glad I have both. If you are on the fence on either or both of these, buy em. They are fantastic amps. Thank you Doc!