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Post by Russell B on Mar 4, 2021 11:26:02 GMT -7
Yes indeed! After the discovery that I could get the CAZ to sound similar to the Cure, I kept on exploring other American sounding tones. Recently, I heard Rod Stewart's Hot Legs and thought that it has some killer American toned lead. After watching the video of the song, perhaps it's a Flying V though a Fender Blackface Deluxe. At least that's what I think. I decided that start learning that song for fun, but I do hope to bring it to the Rock band I'm in.
I using a Heritage H-535. The settings are as follows: S:10; G:10; T:2; M:11:30; B:10; A:off; P:2; L to taste. The gain structure is a little different, but the base tone is there. I'm going to experiment with reducing the Gain and turning up the Aggression a little to try to get a mix of pre and post gain like what a Deluxe would be turned way up.
What a versatile amp!
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Post by Russell B on Mar 4, 2021 11:46:29 GMT -7
I did a quick knob turn and moved the Gain down to a touch above 9:00 and the Aggression to almost 10:00. That produced a pretty good sound. I'm not sure if it's closer to the tone on the record, but it sounds pretty good playing the lead at the beginning.
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Post by DRZ on Mar 4, 2021 14:37:19 GMT -7
I must say Russell is unlocking the treasures that are inside the CAZ 45. I know not many feel the need for a HI Gain near 50 watt expensive amp with no gigs and no where to air it out. But please don't pigeon hole this amp as it is as original and unique as any new amp that has been released in that last 20 years. The CAZ will cover a variety of music styles, maybe not Country , but I haven't gotten one into Brad's hands just to see if that's true. With its original Gain controls one can adjust a plethora of Classic rock tones as well as Heavy rocking gained up tones. You will be amazed at the levels of output volume at your finger tips and the variety of moderately clean to scream from your guitars volume control. I will try to post the excellent GP review from the April issue. It was written by Dave Hunter a true connoisseur of tube amp design and original composition.
Z
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Post by KeithA on Mar 4, 2021 15:23:50 GMT -7
I must say Russell is unlocking the treasures that are inside the CAZ 45. I know not many feel the need for a HI Gain near 50 watt expensive amp with no gigs and no where to air it out. But please don't pigeon hole this amp as it is as original and unique as any new amp that has been released in that last 20 years. The CAZ will cover a variety of music styles, maybe not Country , but I haven't gotten one into Brad's hands just to see if that's true. With its original Gain controls one can adjust a plethora of Classic rock tones as well as Heavy rocking gained up tones. You will be amazed at the levels of output volume at your finger tips and the variety of moderately clean to scream from your guitars volume control. I will try to post the excellent GP review from the April issue. It was written by Dave Hunter a true connoisseur of tube amp design and original composition. Z I don’t doubt it. I stand by my comments on Adam’s original demo in that while higher gain sounds were ok, the amp really shone with the 335/Steely Dan tunes and even the single coil/Pink Floyd stuff (and seconded by Doctorice), IMHO. Funny, I think if I ever bought a CAZ it would be for those sounds alone and if it excelled at higher gain stuff that would be gravy 😎
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Post by nicholas on Mar 5, 2021 6:45:39 GMT -7
Nice report Russel!
I haven't had a chance to play a CAZ45. But I have owned some of Alan's amps. They had a unique Dumble meets Marshall tone which was unique. I hear some of that DNA in the demos I've listened to.
One thing about the CA amps I've owned, and this isn't meant as a slight, it they seemed to want to stay thick, round, and fat. While certainly a nice tone, it didn't fit super well for a vintage cutting plexi 60's-70's rock tone, or a modern metal tone. They were almost too smooth.
The aggression control added by Z seems to be the magic bullet for that. I'm guessing it could be used when fully gained up to get some cut and slice for nu metal tones, and also when using the amp in more of a classic rock setting to get that old school grind.
Enjoy it! I'm sure it's a dandy of an amp.
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Post by Russell B on Mar 5, 2021 6:53:03 GMT -7
You know when I got the amp, I never thought that I could use it like I use my Cure. I had gotten into a Rock band and needed a modern rock sound. It certainly delivers on that, yet I still needed Classic Rock tones. It didn't take long to figure out that I could get those my simple adjusting the Sensitivity and Gain down. I've since discovered that you really need to play with the three gain controls to get exactly the amount of gain you need AND the right KIND of gain. Now, I just can't believe that I can get a great Blues tone as well. Who knew? Doc knew! Alan knew!
It is really an outstanding amp and it will do most anything you need. For you John Sykes fans, I think you can get close to his sound on the '87 Whitesnake album. Just turn the Aggression down and the set the Sensitivity and Gain to the appropriate levels for the right amount of gain. Bingo!
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Post by notscottagain on Mar 5, 2021 9:36:15 GMT -7
Nice report Russel! I haven't had a chance to play a CAZ45. But I have owned some of Alan's amps. They had a unique Dumble meets Marshall tone which was unique. I hear some of that DNA in the demos I've listened to. One thing about the CA amps I've owned, and this isn't meant as a slight, it they seemed to want to stay thick, round, and fat. While certainly a nice tone, it didn't fit super well for a vintage cutting plexi 60's-70's rock tone, or a modern metal tone. They were almost too smooth. The aggression control added by Z seems to be the magic bullet for that. I'm guessing it could be used when fully gained up to get some cut and slice for nu metal tones, and also when using the amp in more of a classic rock setting to get that old school grind. Enjoy it! I'm sure it's a dandy of an amp. I have had a Trip r and currently have a Tucana 3r. What you say about the Dumble meets Marshall vibe for CAs is true and is attainable with the CAZ with the Aggression control dialed down and judicious use of the Gain and Sensitivity controls. As for CAs not being able to get Plexi or modern metal tones, I never had a problem getting either from my CAs. The CA OD series can be more difficult to achieve a cutting top end and modern metal tones, but the Triptik was designed for just those tones and excelled at it. If you like that fat, smooth CA tone AND your into modern metal, the CAZ will easily do both and anything in between. It really is that good.
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Post by doctorice on Mar 5, 2021 12:50:49 GMT -7
CAZ proves you don't need multiple channels on your amp. You just need a pickup switch and some nicely tapered volume and tone pots on your guitar(s). YMMV, of course.
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Post by adam on Mar 5, 2021 17:42:34 GMT -7
CAZ proves you don't need multiple channels on your amp. You just need a pickup switch and some nicely tapered volume and tone pots on your guitar(s). YMMV, of course. I don't think any of my Z's need or want for multiple channels, but the CAZ is a little different in that it doesn't need or want for pedals either. Just kind of an observation.
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Post by doctorice on Mar 5, 2021 18:22:39 GMT -7
CAZ proves you don't need multiple channels on your amp. You just need a pickup switch and some nicely tapered volume and tone pots on your guitar(s). YMMV, of course. I don't think any of my Z's need or want for multiple channels, but the CAZ is a little different in that it doesn't need or want for pedals either. Just kind of an observation. I agree wholeheartedly, adam. I did just bring a few more dirt boxes up to try in the CAZ, but I will be surprised if my view changes. (Although a boost may be fun to add.)
But I also have a Cure, MAZ 8 and Jetta here. They all sound great on their own and love pedals. The Jetta in particular is a great platform for exploring different flavors of OD and distortion.
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Post by mjm123 on Mar 6, 2021 13:49:51 GMT -7
Yes indeed! After the discovery that I could get the CAZ to sound similar to the Cure, I kept on exploring other American sounding tones. Recently, I heard Rod Stewart's Hot Legs and thought that it has some killer American toned lead. After watching the video of the song, perhaps it's a Flying V though a Fender Blackface Deluxe. At least that's what I think. I decided that start learning that song for fun, but I do hope to bring it to the Rock band I'm in. I using a Heritage H-535. The settings are as follows: S:10; G:10; T:2; M:11:30; B:10; A:off; P:2; L to taste. The gain structure is a little different, but the base tone is there. I'm going to experiment with reducing the Gain and turning up the Aggression a little to try to get a mix of pre and post gain like what a Deluxe would be turned way up. What a versatile amp! I did an A/B comparing my CAZ-45 to my Fender '64 Custom Deluxe Reverb through the same 4x10 cab with Ragin Cajun's to see how close I could get to a Fender tone (while taking Reverb out of the equation). It gets pretty close with your settings (including the one below with the Aggression at about 10 am). My Treble and Presence is a tiny bit higher because the Cajun's are a bit darker sounding and I find lowering the Mids to 9:30 am-10 am gets you even closer to a Fender sound. I had done that before reading your post so we were in the same ballpark settings. Next up was A/B'ing it to my Super Reverb on steroids, the EZG-50 (again with Reverb off). In this fun exercise I was not able to match the bottom end that the EZG-50 delivers but, quite frankly, it can get into the ballpark since speakers make such a huge impact.
Anyone find settings that gets you more into a Plexi tone? (My other cab is a 4x12 with two V30's and 2 Greenbacks which I use for the more Marshally stuff). That's the next area I'm going to experiment with.
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