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Post by dburns255 on Dec 4, 2020 17:54:32 GMT -7
Christmas came early and my new Nova combo arrived from Sweetwater last night. Barely had the chance to do anything with it last night other than a few minutes of extremely low volume playing but it definitely felt good. Was able to get it up to about 9 o'clock on the master today and that was even cooler.
Next band rehearsal is Wednesday so that's when I'll be able to turn up some and get a better feel for it, but I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna be disappointed. Even at very low settings the touch sensitivity is off the charts. I kinda get what some of you guys are saying about leaving it on the OD channel and just riding with that. Pretty good chance I'm going to be selling several OD pedals off, probably just keep my Suhr Koko Boost reloaded and TS mini, with just the Suhr staying on my board and the TS as a backup/alternative. May keep my Gain Changer too, we'll see...but the point is, and as some of you guys have mentioned, I really don't need a pedal with this amp.
As far as effects, haven't even bothered with trying any with the Nova yet. I like to just play an amp straight in for awhile when I first get it...and I can tell this one is gonna be fun. I'll get around to running my Dispatch Master and Phase 95 through it this weekend. Besides that, I'm also really impressed with the looks and quality. I almost went for a black one but glad I decided to go with the original black/brown color. It looks great and matches my main guitar very well. Overall, very happy with my purchase and gotta say this is probably the most excited I've ever been over an amp...at least since I got my Ghia in 2016 ; )
Will definitely be checking back in for discussion as well as sharing pics and/or soundclips.
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Post by Don A on Dec 4, 2020 20:07:29 GMT -7
The Nova is a fun amp! Very touch sensitive. I set the clean volume high enough to get some grit when playing hard and it's clean when I back off. I set the dirty volume to give me more and leave the OD pedals at home.
The master volume control is good, but the amp sounds even better with it turned up. I use an attenuator with mine if I can't get the master up past about 10:30.
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Post by dburns255 on Dec 4, 2020 20:33:22 GMT -7
Thanks Don A. Yea, an attenuator is something I’ll look into. I’ll have a better idea once I play it out a time or two. Can’t wait for that.
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Post by Don A on Dec 5, 2020 6:39:39 GMT -7
Thanks Don A. Yea, an attenuator is something I’ll look into. I’ll have a better idea once I play it out a time or two. Can’t wait for that.
You may not need it. I'm finding that, in this time of pandemic, I'm playing my gear alone rather than in a band (as they were intended) and am micro analyzing my gear. I have yet to find a tube amp that sounds like it should played alone in your basement at 90db.
The amp sounds good with the master at 9:00 but it's incredible with it a 10:30-noon!
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Post by dburns255 on Dec 9, 2020 6:59:17 GMT -7
Played a quick small gig set last night (no drummer) and the Nova sounded great. Mic’d up with the Master set around 10 o’clock and it was just right. Full band rehearsal tonite with drums so I’m really looking forward to that. Will check back in and keep y’all posted.
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Post by pcns on Dec 9, 2020 15:33:36 GMT -7
Its a great sounding amp, glad you are enjoying it. Mine gets a lot of play too
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Post by dburns255 on Feb 7, 2021 8:22:26 GMT -7
Checking in 2 months later for an update...loving this amp.
Coming off back-to-back Friday/Sat night full band gigs and it’s just so much fun to play. Now have 4 gigs and a bunch of rehearsals under my belt with it and it makes me happier each time. Posted on TGP about it also.
It’s really everything I wanted. Not too big, not too small (but sounds huge). It’s simple without any extra bs knobs/switches but still has necessary features for me...even though I don’t use the effects loop. Maybe eventually, but I just honestly can’t tell the difference when the whole band is playing, so it’s easier to just run my small board into the front end. I only use an OD, boost, Dispatch Master...and a Phase 95 that I use very sparingly.
Clean, edge of breakup and plenty of gain all within the amp at gig friendly levels. And a lot of that is dictated by picking dynamics/touch...common with tube amps of course, but as we all know Zs are next level in that regard, and the Nova is crazy good with that.
Headroom is great, not too much, but enough...just the right amount for my taste and the lower master volume levels I’m at on a gig. The channels blend fantastically with each other, to the point where I sometimes have to look back at the amp to check the blue light to see which one I’m on. I keep the OD just a tad lower than the normal volume so there isn’t a huge spike, works well for me doing it that way.
I could go on and on, but going to get some at home jammin in while the family is out for a bit on this Super Bowl Sunday. Will happily answer any questions if anyone has them...can’t imagine a better amp for my needs.
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Post by bubs42 on Feb 21, 2021 9:32:19 GMT -7
The two amps that I have wanted to try since Doc released them have the been the Remedy and the Nova. I haven't owned or played either amp yet to date. The Nova very much interests me because I was using East Amps for a while, they were my main gigging amp and they kind of similarly work in the same way with the second channel being blended into one another. If I know then, what I know now, I would have swapped out the speaker (EV Type) to a 65 Watt Celestion. The amps were great on gigs, but playing them at home were impossible.
So I appreciate your review, this might yet be my next Dr. Z, i'm still sitting on the fence about adding another amp.
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Post by jbrad on Feb 21, 2021 10:37:59 GMT -7
With the master volume on the Nova, I get great tone at very low bedroom levels and it cuts through the mix at gigs. It sounds great on stage but I am always amazed after a gig someone will post a video of our gig and it sets in the mix so well. Then when I take a lead break it cuts through without over powering the rest of the band.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Feb 21, 2021 12:38:07 GMT -7
With the master volume on the Nova, I get great tone at very low bedroom levels and it cuts through the mix at gigs. It sounds great on stage but I am always amazed after a gig someone will post a video of our gig and it sets in the mix so well. Then when I take a lead break it cuts through without over powering the rest of the band. That's one of the things that sold me on the amp immediately. At the 2018 Z-Fest jam I played the Nova with the band and it wasn't that loud (I almost cranked it up, but didn't) but I could still hear it really clearly. It's voiced so well...it's a great, great amp.
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Post by Don A on Feb 21, 2021 15:59:27 GMT -7
I'm still enjoying my Nova. It's tweed and then some! I thought my new Z Wreck Jr might replace the Nova, but it didn't. The Nova is fatter and dirtier (and cleaner) than the Z Wreck Jr. It's also less articulate and can be a hot mess- in a good "tweed amp" kind of way. That raunchy tweed sound is "my sound'. The Z Wreck Jr's gritty British sound is an important "side sound" for me- another color on my palette.
So... I have to keep them both.
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Post by doctorice on Feb 22, 2021 18:51:49 GMT -7
So... I have to keep them both. Yes, you do. And you'll probably need another Z one of these days.
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Post by Don A on Feb 22, 2021 20:14:55 GMT -7
So... I have to keep them both. Yes, you do. And you'll probably need another Z one of these days. I've got three... It took about a year and a half to get there. It's like a disease (if a disease was good).
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