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Post by "Z" Steve on Jul 11, 2019 22:57:17 GMT -7
I offered to have our band play at a coffee shop near the universities in the next town. What started as a fun idea took a few turns - not so good, and great. 1st, when we arrived to set up on the patio our drummer/percussionist couldn't make it. 2nd, I borrowed a small PA but told the other guitar player to bring mic's and stands - he did, but no mic cables because I didn't mention those. 3rd, we were going to do an acoustic set then move over to electric if we felt it would fit - it did, and I forgot to pack the power cord for my pedal board. So after an acoustic set it was time to go electric. I was frustrated because I rely on my board for effects and OD. I have to wing it, so I do what I've read so much in the last 40 years - go guitar into amp. I had my Maz 8 set for 3 watts and I had brought my McCarty hollow body with Lollar Imperials and the option to split to single coil. For two sets I had to work the volume control, the 3 way switch, and the push/pull tone knobs for splitting the pups. Bottom line - I had to think! No crutches! Put on the Big Boy Pants! I had the time of my life, and it worked extraordinarily great. Thank God for fruitful mistakes! If you haven't tried it, don't wait 40 years!
Note: this was the real 1st gig with the 8 since Don did the repairs and fine tuning on it a few months ago. A lot of credit goes to him as well!
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Post by heynewguy (Ol’ Bill) on Jul 12, 2019 3:24:40 GMT -7
Maz 8 is the perfect amp at most venues for me. Steve, does your Maz 8 have a half power switch?
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Jul 12, 2019 4:18:00 GMT -7
I'm thinking he went to "Triode" mode for lower power...Steve, did Don do the 'Series II' mods on your 8? Mine is so much better now, the Master Volume is fabulous. Reverb's better too...I love that amp. Such a sweet overdrive!
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Jul 12, 2019 4:45:24 GMT -7
Steve, sounds like that series of errors was quite fortuitous! No pedal can compete with genuine amp overdrive goodness, which is what they all try to emulate anyway.
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Post by "Z" Steve on Jul 12, 2019 8:05:06 GMT -7
Maz 8 is the perfect amp at most venues for me. Steve, does your Maz 8 have a half power switch? Yessir - I had it on Triode and it was perfect!
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Post by "Z" Steve on Jul 12, 2019 8:07:29 GMT -7
I'm thinking he went to "Triode" mode for lower power... Steve, did Don do the 'Series II' mods on your 8? Mine is so much better now, the Master Volume is fabulous. Reverb's better too...I love that amp. Such a sweet overdrive! I chose not to do the update because it sounds great to me now (especially now!), but maybe sometime in the future though.
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Post by GuitarZ on Jul 12, 2019 13:40:13 GMT -7
Good result. So, that's very good! And, you had fun! I laughed at your comment requiring thinking to work the volume, PU selector, etc. I'm a guitar-cable-amp guy. When I plug pedals in, I'm like "Ugh! Why do I have to think when I'm playing to figure out when to hit the pedal or not, adjust the pedal, etc". I guess it is just what you're used to.
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Post by "Z" Steve on Jul 12, 2019 14:27:19 GMT -7
Good result. So, that's very good! And, you had fun! I laughed at your comment requiring thinking to work the volume, PU selector, etc. I'm a guitar-cable-amp guy. When I plug pedals in, I'm like "Ugh! Why do I have to think when I'm playing to figure out when to hit the pedal or not, adjust the pedal, etc". I guess it is just what you're used to. When you have been trained (or self taught) on how to rely on pedals for gain, there must be another part of our brain that functions easier with the foot than it does the hand re making a command to "make a change". Thing is, most all my guitar hero's from the past only had a wah wah (if that) in their signal chain. The playing volume may be different but the application is the same. Again, "self taught".
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Post by justjoshinya on Jul 14, 2019 10:07:55 GMT -7
The Maz 8 and Z-Plus are the only amps I have been able to and really prefer to play with no pedals... they sound great with pedals too but I don’t need them! I set them slightly into overdrive and play lightly for cleans and dig in for OD, these two are perfect for what I need! For the first 20yrs or so I went with too much HP and could never get the sound I heard in my head... low wattage Z’s fits my needs!
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