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Post by runninwiththerevil (Matthew) on Dec 26, 2019 6:48:42 GMT -7
I'm doing some tone chasing on while I'm off. I got a new alnico that sounds very nice, started going through my box of tubes. I had a great day, jamming at moderate volumes because everyone else in the house were rocking head phones. Thinking I had solved a couple of the minor issues I've had with the Maz 18 since I got the MKII done, I turned the volume down a little as people started going to bed. I discovered that at below 11:00 on the Master the tone dives into much darker territory and the bass is really pronounce and the treble goes into hiding. Get about that and everything is sweet and open. This is particularly an issue for me when playing at church. I'm usually set up just below that on the Master. Has anyone else noticed this issue?
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Dec 26, 2019 7:52:39 GMT -7
That's strange...I noticed the opposite, that the amp stayed open and solid as I turned the MV down. Before the mod to MK II, I remember the amp doing what you said, and I often run the amp with the MV set between 9 and 11 o'clock. I'm curious, does this happens with different output tubes? I'm looking across the room right now at my Maz 18NR VII. It's controls are set V-2:00, Treble-noon, Mid-1:30, Bass-10, Cut-noon, and MV-10:30. I just put in a new Celestion G12EVH, which is said to be the same speaker as the UK made Greenback. It sounds fantastic. What speaker and output tubes are you running?
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Post by runninwiththerevil (Matthew) on Dec 26, 2019 9:17:56 GMT -7
That's strange...I noticed the opposite, that the amp stayed open and solid as I turned the MV down. Before the mod to MK II, I remember the amp doing what you said, and I often run the amp with the MV set between 9 and 11 o'clock. I'm curious, does this happens with different output tubes? I'm looking across the room right now at my Maz 18NR VII. It's controls are set V-2:00, Treble-noon, Mid-1:30, Bass-10, Cut-noon, and MV-10:30. I just put in a new Celestion G12EVH, which is said to be the same speaker as the UK made Greenback. It sounds fantastic. What speaker and output tubes are you running? I have that pair of NOS 6N14N that Doc put in there when I had it in for the update earlier this year. I will be switching out the JJ EL84's that came in it in the next couple days to see what that does. Right now I have the back panels off and have been swapping between the G12H that came with it and the new blue bell rebuild that I just got from Hempopotimus. It is supposed to be a part for part copy of the Vox Blues that came in the early 60's AC15. Sounds really nice. The speakers don't seem to impact this issue with the Master. I will also be trying a Greenback, as I have a Mojotone version. That's in my Swart and I have to take the back panel and chassis out to get at it.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Dec 26, 2019 10:10:25 GMT -7
Interesting. I've got the same output tubes in mine. Hope you find out what's going on, do you have the Cut control turned way down? I'm wondering if any of the other Maz 18 MKII owners notice this?
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Post by runninwiththerevil (Matthew) on Dec 26, 2019 17:49:08 GMT -7
Actually, today I started with everything wide open and was working down. Yesterday when I noticed it I had the cut at 2:00.
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Post by purpletele on Dec 26, 2019 18:58:02 GMT -7
Actually, today I started with everything wide open and was working down. Yesterday when I noticed it I had the cut at 2:00. What happened today? Same thing?
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Post by runninwiththerevil (Matthew) on Dec 26, 2019 20:02:10 GMT -7
Actually, today I started with everything wide open and was working down. Yesterday when I noticed it I had the cut at 2:00. What happened today? Same thing? Yes. Before yesterday I was either playing with low volume or had up cranked. This was really the first time I’ve been tweaking stuff and noticed the difference. I just thought the mkii tamed the amp, but above four it sounds as good as it did before.
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Post by StonySparrow on Dec 26, 2019 20:59:41 GMT -7
Do you have a Z Brake?
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Post by runninwiththerevil (Matthew) on Dec 26, 2019 21:15:16 GMT -7
No attenuation. I might have found the issue. V3 had a third ECC83s in it (I hadn’t taken off the tube shields since I got it back. I put a 12AX7 in there and it sounds nice at low volume. Can’t turn it up because the studio is next to my daughters bedroom. Will see in a.m. for sure.
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Post by purpletele on Dec 27, 2019 1:19:57 GMT -7
No attenuation. I might have found the issue. V3 had a third ECC83s in it (I hadn’t taken off the tube shields since I got it back. I put a 12AX7 in there and it sounds nice at low volume. Can’t turn it up because the studio is next to my daughters bedroom. Will see in a.m. for sure. An ECC83 is the same as a 12AX7, so maybe you found a bad tube by accident and not an incorrect tube.
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Post by runninwiththerevil (Matthew) on Dec 27, 2019 8:13:46 GMT -7
The Z support page has the ECC83 listed as the V3 for Maz 18 reverb, but in the NR it lists a Sovek 12AX7 for the V3. There must be some difference because in that position it definitively makes a tonal difference regarding the Master under 11:00. I also had a JJ 12AX7 and that sounded better than the JJ ECC83, but the Sovek was over the top. This Maz is back to being the special tone monster she was prior to the mkii.
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Post by StonySparrow on Dec 27, 2019 8:17:50 GMT -7
The difference is in the manufacturer and the region. Construction-wise, they're the same tube type, but one can notice tonal differences when comparing two 12AX7s or two ECC83's.
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Post by purpletele on Dec 27, 2019 10:09:52 GMT -7
The Z support page has the ECC83 listed as the V3 for Maz 18 reverb, but in the NR it lists a Sovek 12AX7 for the V3. There must be some difference because in that position it definitively makes a tonal difference regarding the Master under 11:00. I also had a JJ 12AX7 and that sounded better than the JJ ECC83, but the Sovek was over the top. This Maz is back to being the special tone monster she was prior to the mkii. What model of the Soviet? 12 ax7WB. OR 12ax7lps?
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Post by runninwiththerevil (Matthew) on Dec 27, 2019 10:21:22 GMT -7
The "lps". I'm pretty sure it was in it when I bought it. I have a box of tubes that I've collected over the years, but I don't remember buying this one.
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Post by Russell B on Dec 27, 2019 10:27:49 GMT -7
I know the Sovtek 12AX7LPS is the standard tube in the PI position of the Maz line.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Dec 27, 2019 10:42:38 GMT -7
The Z support page has the ECC83 listed as the V3 for Maz 18 reverb, but in the NR it lists a Sovek 12AX7 for the V3. There must be some difference because in that position it definitively makes a tonal difference regarding the Master under 11:00. I also had a JJ 12AX7 and that sounded better than the JJ ECC83, but the Sovek was over the top. This Maz is back to being the special tone monster she was prior to the mkii. My first thought was maybe a bad tube, but you had said you 'went through your box of tubes' so I shrugged that off as the answer. Glad you found it! One time I was working on an old TV that didn't have any vertical height to the picture, just a horizontal line. I found a bad capacitor in the vertical oscillator circuit and replaced it but it didn't fix it. About 4 hours of head scratching later, I changed the NEW cap with another NEW cap. Problem solved. A bad brand new capacitor right out of the package!
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Post by runninwiththerevil (Matthew) on Dec 28, 2019 14:06:01 GMT -7
I know the Sovtek 12AX7LPS is the standard tube in the PI position of the Maz line. This is certainly what you find on the Z Support pages and what the tube packs put together. I could be remembering wrong, but I'm pretty sure it came back from the MKii update with the JJECC83s in the V1, V2 and V3. The Sovtek 12AX7LPS fixed the issue.
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