Post by scottunzicker on May 11, 2021 8:58:46 GMT -7
By popular demand:
Some thoughts on the Z-Lux MKII mods.
After getting back my Lux with the MkII mods (and absolutely gorgeous new blonde/oxblood cabinet), I took her down to The Space rehearsal facility in South Austin to get some quality time at volumes of my choosing without cheesing off the neighbors.
Executive Summary:
Totally worth it for the reverb updates, black/silver switch, and increased touch sensitivity of the amp. In addition, and it might be my imagination, the tremolo seems more “present,” for lack of a better description.
The changes do, however, change the nature of the amp just a bit, but in only good ways, IMO.
My rig for the test included the Z-Lux, a stock 2001 Custom Shop ’51 Nocaster, and Colossal Sweet Fats cable. That’s it. Oh, it should be noted that I use a quad of new production, matched, medium grade Tung Sol 5881s in place of the 6V6s. I also have a Genalex Gold Lion in V1, and another one with matched triodes in V6 (the phase inverter). All other tubes are per the Z recommendations.
Right out of the gate, the reverb is exponentially more potent. If the MkI version of the Z-Lux had anything to gripe about (and it really didn’t), it was that the reverb was on the anemic side. NO MORE. During testing, I rarely turned it up past the first mark (8 o’clock), and was rewarded with pleasantly splashy, 60’s blackface Fender style happiness. Anything past that was getting a bit soaked for my taste, but was absolutely still articulate. Before the mods, one could NOT surf with the Z-Lux. Again, NO MORE. Pipeline? No problem! Wanna be a d*ckhead? Yes, the Z-Lux will DO that now, and THEN some!
Next, I delved into the black/silver switch. From what I understand (and Don has confirmed this), it adds or removes the choke in the power supply. I THINK the original Z-Lux ran in “sliver” mode, and the more I played it, the more I absolutely kept it in the “black” mode. It’s difficult to articulate, but the “black” mode gave it just a bit of sag and “chewiness” to the notes. It absolutely reminded me of the best blackface era amps I’ve played, grew up on, etc., and I anticipate leaving it in “black” mode for the foreseeable future.
I acknowledge that the following may be psychosomatic, but the tremolo sounds a lot… richer, for lack of a better word. It was good before, it’s GREAT now. Deeper swells, but never loses articulation, even when diming the speed. It handled everything from Slim Harpo to Bo Diddley with aplomb.
I also found deep satisfaction with the gain structure of the MkII. Without using the boost, keeping the Volume (V) around 11-12 o’clock and dialing the Master Volume (MV) to taste, I was in cranked blackface Fender heaven, except with more 3D sound, articulation and without any harshness in the top end frequencies. Magic. With the boost*, I could dial in as much growl and crunch as I’ll ever need without losing full use of the EQ. This was actually another thing Don confirmed with me: The more boost one dials in, the less effect the EQ has on the guitar signal. By turning it up, one is shunting more of the EQ to ground allowing more “pure” signal to go through to the power section (please correct me if I’ve got that wrong). I’m not a big gain guy, but even with the Nocaster’s single coils, I was rocking WELL.
*My Lux did NOT come with the boost pedal that had the knob included, so I wired up a 500k pot to a 1 / 4” plug, stick it in to the boost jack, and dial to taste.
Finally, regarding my “changing the character of the amp” comment (and again, I acknowledge the subjective, psychosomatic nature of relative sound, etc.), the Lux in my particular configuration now “feels” like the best amp a Fender/Vox partnership never made, while still being decidedly the brainchild of Mike Zaite. Yeah, I know, that’s really unhelpful, but it’s what I got. *lol* I attribute that comparison to the MAZ front end paired with the 5881 power section (which are basically lower powered 6L6), and the newly reinvigorated reverb section.
Side Note: For those of you who love the Vibroking (and I ABSOLUTELY count myself among the VK’s and Bruce Zinky’s devotees), the MKII Lux with the 5881s is as close as I’ve ever heard to a healthy, cranked VK (notoriously finicky amps)… But the Z-Lux does a LOT more, weighs just over half of what Vibroking weighs, and isn’t so loud as to sterilize cats from 100 yards away.
Lunch time. The End.
Some thoughts on the Z-Lux MKII mods.
After getting back my Lux with the MkII mods (and absolutely gorgeous new blonde/oxblood cabinet), I took her down to The Space rehearsal facility in South Austin to get some quality time at volumes of my choosing without cheesing off the neighbors.
Executive Summary:
Totally worth it for the reverb updates, black/silver switch, and increased touch sensitivity of the amp. In addition, and it might be my imagination, the tremolo seems more “present,” for lack of a better description.
The changes do, however, change the nature of the amp just a bit, but in only good ways, IMO.
My rig for the test included the Z-Lux, a stock 2001 Custom Shop ’51 Nocaster, and Colossal Sweet Fats cable. That’s it. Oh, it should be noted that I use a quad of new production, matched, medium grade Tung Sol 5881s in place of the 6V6s. I also have a Genalex Gold Lion in V1, and another one with matched triodes in V6 (the phase inverter). All other tubes are per the Z recommendations.
Right out of the gate, the reverb is exponentially more potent. If the MkI version of the Z-Lux had anything to gripe about (and it really didn’t), it was that the reverb was on the anemic side. NO MORE. During testing, I rarely turned it up past the first mark (8 o’clock), and was rewarded with pleasantly splashy, 60’s blackface Fender style happiness. Anything past that was getting a bit soaked for my taste, but was absolutely still articulate. Before the mods, one could NOT surf with the Z-Lux. Again, NO MORE. Pipeline? No problem! Wanna be a d*ckhead? Yes, the Z-Lux will DO that now, and THEN some!
Next, I delved into the black/silver switch. From what I understand (and Don has confirmed this), it adds or removes the choke in the power supply. I THINK the original Z-Lux ran in “sliver” mode, and the more I played it, the more I absolutely kept it in the “black” mode. It’s difficult to articulate, but the “black” mode gave it just a bit of sag and “chewiness” to the notes. It absolutely reminded me of the best blackface era amps I’ve played, grew up on, etc., and I anticipate leaving it in “black” mode for the foreseeable future.
I acknowledge that the following may be psychosomatic, but the tremolo sounds a lot… richer, for lack of a better word. It was good before, it’s GREAT now. Deeper swells, but never loses articulation, even when diming the speed. It handled everything from Slim Harpo to Bo Diddley with aplomb.
I also found deep satisfaction with the gain structure of the MkII. Without using the boost, keeping the Volume (V) around 11-12 o’clock and dialing the Master Volume (MV) to taste, I was in cranked blackface Fender heaven, except with more 3D sound, articulation and without any harshness in the top end frequencies. Magic. With the boost*, I could dial in as much growl and crunch as I’ll ever need without losing full use of the EQ. This was actually another thing Don confirmed with me: The more boost one dials in, the less effect the EQ has on the guitar signal. By turning it up, one is shunting more of the EQ to ground allowing more “pure” signal to go through to the power section (please correct me if I’ve got that wrong). I’m not a big gain guy, but even with the Nocaster’s single coils, I was rocking WELL.
*My Lux did NOT come with the boost pedal that had the knob included, so I wired up a 500k pot to a 1 / 4” plug, stick it in to the boost jack, and dial to taste.
Finally, regarding my “changing the character of the amp” comment (and again, I acknowledge the subjective, psychosomatic nature of relative sound, etc.), the Lux in my particular configuration now “feels” like the best amp a Fender/Vox partnership never made, while still being decidedly the brainchild of Mike Zaite. Yeah, I know, that’s really unhelpful, but it’s what I got. *lol* I attribute that comparison to the MAZ front end paired with the 5881 power section (which are basically lower powered 6L6), and the newly reinvigorated reverb section.
Side Note: For those of you who love the Vibroking (and I ABSOLUTELY count myself among the VK’s and Bruce Zinky’s devotees), the MKII Lux with the 5881s is as close as I’ve ever heard to a healthy, cranked VK (notoriously finicky amps)… But the Z-Lux does a LOT more, weighs just over half of what Vibroking weighs, and isn’t so loud as to sterilize cats from 100 yards away.
Lunch time. The End.