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Post by Abandoned on Apr 26, 2020 20:50:21 GMT -7
I’ve been doing some amp research + hunting and I think a Z Plus might be a good option for me.
If you own or have owned one - can you describe how it’s going for you and where you currently stand with it.
Looking for beautiful cleans, shimmering and smooth with great feel. I’m not so much interested in overdriven tones.
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Post by purpletele on Apr 27, 2020 8:59:20 GMT -7
I’ve been doing some amp research + hunting and I think a Z Plus might be a good option for me. If you own or have owned one - can you describe how it’s going for you and where you currently stand with it. Looking for beautiful cleans, shimmering and smooth with great feel. I’m not so much interested in overdriven tones. The Z-Plus has the almost a stereo sound to the cleans, I have used it with an acoustic guitar. It can be clean like a Princeton and it's easy to put a little grit on the tone. The amp sounds great with Single Coils, and it surprises you with the grinding tone of a guitar with Humbuckers. I like to run the amp with a Celestion Cream over a Ruby extension. I bought one originally and sold it because I thought I had overlap, which I do a bit, but I picked up another one because I couldn't get the clean tone out of my head. The LT cabinet is the more acoustic of cabinets, but the Studio cabinet is my favorite because of the size, it's 3 inches smaller. I like to play the Z-Plus at full power with a clean boost or a Timmy and the amp set for EOBU. I play a Strat and Tele most of the time. The Architecture of the amp is what originally fascinated me, I was curious about the tone of a Parallel Single Ended Amp. That is probably where the 3D cleans come from as well as the pinch harmonic quality. You can find harmonics all over the neck with this amp which is an sneaky added bonus. In summary 15 Watts 6V6 3D Cleans with Harmonic Opportunities Unleashed On Board Lush Reverb Great FX Loop Great EQ and MV Sounds great with Humbuckers! Joe Walsh and Dr. Z dreamed up the design, which is a fun trivia. That's my 2 Cents
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Post by Abandoned on Apr 29, 2020 13:14:11 GMT -7
I’ve been doing some amp research + hunting and I think a Z Plus might be a good option for me. If you own or have owned one - can you describe how it’s going for you and where you currently stand with it. Looking for beautiful cleans, shimmering and smooth with great feel. I’m not so much interested in overdriven tones. The Z-Plus has the almost a stereo sound to the cleans, I have used it with an acoustic guitar. It can be clean like a Princeton and it's easy to put a little grit on the tone. The amp sounds great with Single Coils, and it surprises you with the grinding tone of a guitar with Humbuckers. I like to run the amp with a Celestion Cream over a Ruby extension. I bought one originally and sold it because I thought I had overlap, which I do a bit, but I picked up another one because I couldn't get the clean tone out of my head. The LT cabinet is the more acoustic of cabinets, but the Studio cabinet is my favorite because of the size, it's 3 inches smaller. I like to play the Z-Plus at full power with a clean boost or a Timmy and the amp set for EOBU. I play a Strat and Tele most of the time. The Architecture of the amp is what originally fascinated me, I was curious about the tone of a Parallel Single Ended Amp. That is probably where the 3D cleans come from as well as the pinch harmonic quality. You can find harmonics all over the neck with this amp which is an sneaky added bonus. In summary 15 Watts 6V6 3D Cleans with Harmonic Opportunities Unleashed On Board Lush Reverb Great FX Loop Great EQ and MV Sounds great with Humbuckers! Joe Walsh and Dr. Z dreamed up the design, which is a fun trivia. That's my 2 Cents Thanks so much for the reply.
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Post by ajteleman on Apr 30, 2020 12:16:16 GMT -7
Have a great Z-Plus in my arsenal. I play vintage style teles (and strats). Loved the amp's tone, solid bottom end, right amount of mids, but the highs were a tad strident with the standard Z12 speaker (which sounds great in my Z-Lux). I installed a celestion creamback and found I gave up a smidge of gain, but the top end smoothed out and the balance across the spectrum was perfect. I was actually able to increase the treble and cut values for a great blackface tone. It's a fabulous, responsive amp.
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Post by rickyp on May 2, 2020 19:09:39 GMT -7
Such a great amp. I was playing Sultans of Swing on mine a little while ago...it is so amazing. If you’re looking for pristine clean at higher volume, keep looking. I crank the master to the max on mine with the volume at 1 o’clock. Stays pretty clean, but has a little hair on it when you hit the strings hard. Above 1 o’clock, the amp starts to dirty up a bit. Honestly, it’s one of the best sounding amps I’ve ever owned. I bought the Z-Lux also because I wanted more volume/clean headroom, and it’s great pristine clean, but it doesn’t have that special something/tone that the Plus has. And the Plus goes so well with pedals. Just a solid piece of tonal bliss.
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Post by rickyp on May 2, 2020 19:14:21 GMT -7
And do yourself a favor...get one with the Celestion Blue.
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Post by purpletele on May 2, 2020 20:46:09 GMT -7
And do yourself a favor...get one with the Celestion Blue. He bought a Z-Wreck Jr.
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Post by Abandoned on May 3, 2020 1:21:05 GMT -7
And do yourself a favor...get one with the Celestion Blue. He bought a Z-Wreck Jr. Yeah he’s right, I did. An opportunity came up so I took it. If all else fails, I can always try a Plus if the WRCKJR doesn’t work out for me.
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Post by John on May 3, 2020 4:15:32 GMT -7
You bought a Wreck Jr?....you'll be fine....
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Post by rickyp on May 3, 2020 7:27:17 GMT -7
Yeah he’s right, I did. An opportunity came up so I took it. If all else fails, I can always try a Plus if the WRCKJR doesn’t work out for me. You can’t go wrong there. I seriously tried to talk myself into one too, but the Plus already fills that need for me. Now if Z comes out with regular wreck with a MV, I’m all in.
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Post by Abandoned on May 3, 2020 11:21:19 GMT -7
Yeah he’s right, I did. An opportunity came up so I took it. If all else fails, I can always try a Plus if the WRCKJR doesn’t work out for me. You can’t go wrong there. I seriously tried to talk myself into one too, but the Plus already fills that need for me. Now if Z comes out with regular wreck with a MV, I’m all in. What need is the Z Plus filling that you don’t want/need the Wreck Jr.?
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Post by Abandoned on May 3, 2020 16:06:36 GMT -7
I’m curious of the reason behind the price difference between the Z Plus and Z Wreck Jr.
Boost, middle, and reverb I suppose?
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Post by KeithA on May 3, 2020 16:17:41 GMT -7
I’m curious of the reason behind the price difference between the Z Plus and Z Wreck Jr. Boost, middle, and reverb I suppose? Boost & reverb I suspect. On average, a reverb model of an amp is usually about $200 more than a NR model. Throw the boost (incl. switch in there and you are at the $200-$300 difference). However, i suspect the Wreck Jr has a more expensive chassis and (likely combo cab) so the price difference narrows.
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Post by KeithA on May 3, 2020 17:05:52 GMT -7
Well, today has been a Z-Plus kind of day. Decided to not use the Kemper for a change It's great because I wanted to try out the myriad of delay pedals I'd acquired in recent months. Funny, my fav today is one of my first delay pedals (Tortuga Effects Single Malt). It's a subtle delay and adds a nice little warmth to the Z-Plus. Like purpletele, my Z-Plus has a Celestion AlNiCo Cream and it shines with single coils. I'm sure the Wreck Jr. with a Greenback is in the ballpark, too. Love the smell of dust burning off the tubes.
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Post by rickyp on May 3, 2020 19:10:49 GMT -7
You can’t go wrong there. I seriously tried to talk myself into one too, but the Plus already fills that need for me. Now if Z comes out with regular wreck with a MV, I’m all in. What need is the Z Plus filling that you don’t want/need the Wreck Jr.? Just the “in your face” tone, edge of breakup grittiness, and thickness of the sound coming out of the speaker.
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Post by Abandoned on May 3, 2020 20:34:55 GMT -7
Well, today has been a Z-Plus kind of day. Decided to not use the Kemper for a change It's great because I wanted to try out the myriad of delay pedals I'd acquired in recent months. Funny, my fav today is one of my first delay pedals (Tortuga Effects Single Malt). It's a subtle delay and adds a nice little warmth to the Z-Plus. Like purpletele, my Z-Plus has a Celestion AlNiCo Cream and it shines with single coils. I'm sure the Wreck Jr. with a Greenback is in the ballpark, too. Love the smell of dust burning off the tubes. Your Z Plus looks great
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on May 4, 2020 6:04:56 GMT -7
The tone and harmonics that you get from the single ended design are so huge...I like what Brian (Purpletele) said. It sounds glorious with single coils but when I crank the Vol to 10 and plug in my Heritage H-535 with Seth Lover humbuckers in it, the Z-Plus comes alive and seriously rocks. It's one of my favorite Z amps, because it's at home with a rock band just as much as a jazz group. It can be really sweet or it'll get in your face too.
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Post by KeithA on May 4, 2020 9:03:02 GMT -7
Well, today has been a Z-Plus kind of day. Decided to not use the Kemper for a change It's great because I wanted to try out the myriad of delay pedals I'd acquired in recent months. Funny, my fav today is one of my first delay pedals (Tortuga Effects Single Malt). It's a subtle delay and adds a nice little warmth to the Z-Plus. Like purpletele, my Z-Plus has a Celestion AlNiCo Cream and it shines with single coils. I'm sure the Wreck Jr. with a Greenback is in the ballpark, too. Love the smell of dust burning off the tubes. Your Z Plus looks great Yeah, even though over the years I've favoured the red and silver amps, I always wanted one in this livery after I saw the M12s Doc built for Steve Miller several years back.
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Post by Abandoned on May 8, 2020 23:04:39 GMT -7
I wanna try a Z Plus. Maybe even more than I wanna try a Z Lux.
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Post by westcoast on May 16, 2020 21:13:13 GMT -7
Might not be a help, as I keep the volume dimed for drive on mine, and use master for volume. I find it opens the amp up to all possibilities when using the guitar volume for cleans. It is capable of gorgeous clean tones for sure, but volume higher than noon or so with master set high, you’re getting a bit of breakup. I love this amp.
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Post by j4gitr (John) on May 20, 2020 6:35:13 GMT -7
Just a wonderful amp with all my guitars. There are days I just can’t turn it off, and as I come strolling upstairs from the basement at 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, my wife groggily will ask, “ What we’re you doing down there?” “Playing my guitar.” There are so many ways to play this one. Rich, rich, rich in tone.
If it helps this is Z-Plus on stage with my wife and me in our band. Ignore the Vox it was the other band’s amp.
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Post by purpletele on May 20, 2020 7:37:28 GMT -7
Just a wonderful amp with all my guitars. There are days I just can’t turn it off, and as I come strolling upstairs from the basement at 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, my wife groggily will ask, “ What we’re you doing down there?” “Playing my guitar.” There are so many ways to play this one. Rich, rich, rich in tone. If it helps this is Z-Plus on stage with my wife and I in our band. Ignore the Vox it was the other band’s amp. That was a great tune. Great looking and sounding band!! Nice work with the Z-Plus
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Post by Abandoned on May 24, 2020 15:40:45 GMT -7
Hey guys. I’m back at this subject again. Torn between Z Lux and Z Plus. Honestly - Z Lux is out of my budget but could wait for a good price on a used one. Z plus is in my budget. Primarily this will come down to which tone I like better.
Next, I don’t require 40 watts or reverb or tremolo. So I’m in part paying for things I don’t exactly need in the Z Lux. While they would be a welcomed addition, they aren’t required. I do want sparking, shimmering cleans and a decently full clear low end. I prefer tones that are clear but not harsh. That’s a tricky pair though. Low wattage appeals to me as I can’t be very loud (church music mostly). I don’t want low wattage to get earlier breakup / overdrive, it’s only cuz I don’t wanna be very loud and I wanna be able to hit the sweet spot where the amp comes alive but not at super loud volumes. I also like the feel when tubes hit a bit of compression and it feels slightly softer feel and elasticity beneath your feelings.
Lastly - does the Z Plus have a very similar tone to a Princeton? Cuz I prefer the general tone and feel of a deluxe more than a Princeton. I like dual 6V6 and a 12” speaker.
Next - which can and speaker should I get if I go with Z Plus.
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Post by j4gitr (John) on May 24, 2020 18:15:20 GMT -7
As far as hitting the sweet spot early on; there are a lot of sweet spots with this amp. I’ve been downstairs in the lower level feeling like I’m getting full fidelity, sensitivity etc with my wife sleeping upstairs. (Open staircase to the floor above.) Today I had a full rich sound in church, very modest stage volume. I needed a heavy contemporary drive sound for one tune, so I added a Simble drive and it was right there.
Can’t help with Z-luxe, Princeton or Deluxe never had those amps.
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Post by purpletele on May 24, 2020 18:48:17 GMT -7
Lastly - does the Z Plus have a very similar tone to a Princeton? Cuz I prefer the general tone and feel of a deluxe more than a Princeton. I like dual 6V6 and a 12” speaker. Next - which can and speaker should I get if I go with Z Plus. The Z-Plus feels more similar to My Princeton than my Deluxe.
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Post by purpletele on May 24, 2020 19:22:11 GMT -7
Take a look at the Z-Master as well.
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Post by trojanhov on May 25, 2020 0:08:24 GMT -7
Hey guys. I’m back at this subject again. Torn between Z Lux and Z Plus. Honestly - Z Lux is out of my budget but could wait for a good price on a used one. Z plus is in my budget. Primarily this will come down to which tone I like better. Next, I don’t require 40 watts or reverb or tremolo. So I’m in part paying for things I don’t exactly need in the Z Lux. While they would be a welcomed addition, they aren’t required. I do want sparking, shimmering cleans and a decently full clear low end. I prefer tones that are clear but not harsh. That’s a tricky pair though. Low wattage appeals to me as I can’t be very loud (church music mostly). I don’t want low wattage to get earlier breakup / overdrive, it’s only cuz I don’t wanna be very loud and I wanna be able to hit the sweet spot where the amp comes alive but not at super loud volumes. I also like the feel when tubes hit a bit of compression and it feels slightly softer feel and elasticity beneath your feelings. Lastly - does the Z Plus have a very similar tone to a Princeton? Cuz I prefer the general tone and feel of a deluxe more than a Princeton. I like dual 6V6 and a 12” speaker. Next - which can and speaker should I get if I go with Z Plus. I think it’s important for us to know what you didn’t like about the z wreck jr, cuz you bought it and decided it wasn’t for you. Did it break earlier than what you wanted? The tone?
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on May 25, 2020 5:21:13 GMT -7
From your posts it sounds like you want more cleans than breakup from the amp - maybe just a bit of tube “drive” but not really distortion. Assuming that means pedals for dirt.
I love my ZPlus and it provides great cleans, but it breaks up early (to me) which is what I love. I like having the amp grind when the guitar is at full volume, then cleaning it up by rolling the volume back. The ZPlus is a souped up Champ in most respects - it can be clean, but not ZLux clean.
My guess is you’d find the ZLux to be what you’re after, but it is pricey.
I’ll throw this out - look at the Therapy. It’s a 6L6 amp, 35w beauty. You can swap any octal tube (KT77, EL34) plug-n-play. It has MV, no reverb or trem. The cleans are full, rich, and ballsy - especially if you run KT77’s.
Walter Becker (Steely Dan) said all he needed was his guitar and the Therapy and he could play any gig anywhere.
Several on Reverb from $1,300-$1,800. Humbucker looks like they have one.
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on May 25, 2020 5:47:50 GMT -7
Dang, I forgot about the Therapy with 6L6s. It does have awesome cleans, like tweed cleans. I use mine with EL34s specially for its overdrive which is why I failed to make the association. Good call daddyelmis.
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on May 25, 2020 9:01:36 GMT -7
Yep -- I've got EL34's in my Therapy for a Marshall crunch. But those KT77's were the BOMB for cleans.
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