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Post by johnnada on Sept 9, 2021 15:02:59 GMT -7
I recently posted on this forum in regards to a Therapy I bought online and happened to have some issues. I've been in the market for a DR. Z head the last couple of months, but have a hard time finding one new.
So far I have been looking at a Z-Wreck Jr, Maz 18 mkII and Therapy. I cannot get the first two anywhere here in Europe at the moment and the Therapy didn't properly work and went back to the store. This week my bandmate texted me that our local store (who aren't a listed dealer) somehow have an EZG head in stock. I think it might be a 2012 model, without the oval front.
Ofcourse I'm going to have a look myself this weekend, but maybe some of you can chime in. Currently I own some Marshalls with 4x12" and 2x12" cabs, mostly M Greenbacks. Next to that I've got a Vox AC15HW1X. I'm looking for a head that can throw some more variety in the mix and can cover some more ground for sessions in studio and live. I play classic rock, southern rock, roots rock and a bit of country and americana. I'd prefer an amp that can go from clean to mean without the need of an external attenuator.
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Post by KeithA on Sept 9, 2021 15:07:13 GMT -7
I recently posted on this forum in regards to a Therapy I bought online and happened to have some issues. I've been in the market for a DR. Z head the last couple of months, but have a hard time finding one new. So far I have been looking at a Z-Wreck Jr, Maz 18 mkII and Therapy. I cannot get the first two anywhere here in Europe at the moment and the Therapy didn't properly work and went back to the store. This week my bandmate texted me that our local store (who aren't a listed dealer) somehow have an EZG head in stock. I think it might be a 2012 model, without the oval front. Ofcourse I'm going to have a look myself this weekend, but maybe some of you can chime in. Currently I own some Marshalls with 4x12" and 2x12" cabs, mostly M Greenbacks. Next to that I've got a Vox AC15HW1X. I'm looking for a head that can throw some more variety in the mix and can cover some more ground for sessions in studio and live. I play classic rock, southern rock, roots rock and a bit of country and americana. I'd prefer an amp that can go from clean to mean without the need of an external attenuator. The EZG is not ‘Clean to Mean’, per se. it’s a fantastic take on the perfect Fender that was never made. It’s a clean machine. It’s a different flavour than what you have but maybe not what you seek. Perhaps a CAZ-45 😉
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Post by johnnada on Sept 9, 2021 15:15:51 GMT -7
I recently posted on this forum in regards to a Therapy I bought online and happened to have some issues. I've been in the market for a DR. Z head the last couple of months, but have a hard time finding one new. So far I have been looking at a Z-Wreck Jr, Maz 18 mkII and Therapy. I cannot get the first two anywhere here in Europe at the moment and the Therapy didn't properly work and went back to the store. This week my bandmate texted me that our local store (who aren't a listed dealer) somehow have an EZG head in stock. I think it might be a 2012 model, without the oval front. Ofcourse I'm going to have a look myself this weekend, but maybe some of you can chime in. Currently I own some Marshalls with 4x12" and 2x12" cabs, mostly M Greenbacks. Next to that I've got a Vox AC15HW1X. I'm looking for a head that can throw some more variety in the mix and can cover some more ground for sessions in studio and live. I play classic rock, southern rock, roots rock and a bit of country and americana. I'd prefer an amp that can go from clean to mean without the need of an external attenuator. The EZG is not ‘Clean to Mean’, per se. it’s a fantastic take on the perfect Fender that was never made. It’s a clean machine. It’s a different flavour than what you have but maybe not what you seek. Perhaps a CAZ-45 😉 A CAZ-45 is too much gain for me. Mean isn't a ton of overdrive for my needs. I run both volumes on my Marshall 1987 on 2 (not o'clock, literally 2) without pedals. There's a video by Peach Guitars where the guy plays Walk Away by James Gang on an EZG without a pedal, which sounds great. Besides that I'm not against using a drive pedal.
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Post by KeithA on Sept 9, 2021 16:05:54 GMT -7
The EZG is not ‘Clean to Mean’, per se. it’s a fantastic take on the perfect Fender that was never made. It’s a clean machine. It’s a different flavour than what you have but maybe not what you seek. Perhaps a CAZ-45 😉 A CAZ-45 is too much gain for me. Mean isn't a ton of overdrive for my needs. I run both volumes on my Marshall 1987 on 2 (not o'clock, literally 2) without pedals. There's a video by Peach Guitars where the guy plays Walk Away by James Gang on an EZG without a pedal, which sounds great. Besides that I'm not against using a drive pedal. Lol, I guess our definitions of ‘clean to mean’ are miles apart! When I think ‘clean to mean’ I think ‘Trainwreck-style’. (Like Glen Kyukendall’s Express demos on YouTube)but you’d need an attenuators with any amp like that. I have a Reinhardt Ampzilla and it will tear your head off in a similar fashion. The EZG can get a good crunch on but you likely need both the pre & post at decent levels to get there and hence need an attenuators to do it right, I would think. I’ve seen the Peach video and that crunch is decent but a bit more post volume would likely fill it out more (but it will get loud). As well, when referencing ‘clean to mean, it usually refers to the amps response on its own. However, if you are open to an overdrive pedal the EZG will do the job. The cleans are absolutely beautiful Fender-style cleans and it’s different from any of the other amps you currently have.
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Post by Ridgeback on Sept 9, 2021 16:08:34 GMT -7
I agree with KeithA that the EZG is basically a clean amp at any reasonable volume levels. You will want a pedal to get any mean out of it but it would be a great amp for the kind of music you mention.
I believe that sometime in 2012 was when they addressed the bass voicing issue with the EZG so if it is a 2012,(W serial number) you might want to pay particular attention to the bass knob functionality when you test it out. If it is an X or later SN, it will have the factory bass modification. I like my pre-mod EZG just fine the way it is but Z changed the circuit and offers the mod for a reason.
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Post by johnnada on Sept 9, 2021 23:43:49 GMT -7
I agree with KeithA that the EZG is basically a clean amp at any reasonable volume levels. You will want a pedal to get any mean out of it but it would be a great amp for the kind of music you mention. I believe that sometime in 2012 was when they addressed the bass voicing issue with the EZG so if it is a 2012,(W serial number) you might want to pay particular attention to the bass knob functionality when you test it out. If it is an X or later SN, it will have the factory bass modification. I like my pre-mod EZG just fine the way it is but Z changed the circuit and offers the mod for a reason. Yeah I read about the bass mod that was done here, but it's good to know how I can check the serial. I'm someone who uses very minimal bass on guitar amps, so for me it would probably make a difference. And I know this particular amp doesn't get as mean as the other Z's I was looking for. Recently I tried a Tone King Gremlin and I really liked it on the rhythm channel, which was also more clean, but 5w wouldn't be enough for me. If this amp could do a similar thing with more balls it might be up my alley as well.
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Post by johnnada on Sept 10, 2021 8:40:55 GMT -7
I just went by my guitar store and tried it out. Really impressed, what a great amp. Also an amazing reverb. With so many amps I usually think that the reverb doesn't sit right in the sound or is not great to dial in. Never played an amp like the EZG where the reverb works so well, however you set it. It was a 2016 model with a Z-serial and it's new. Apperantly they had it for quite a while, but I never saw it. Maybe that's because they stuck it between some Kempers... the only part of the store I always skip.
Ironically I played some blackface Fenders recently and I didn't really care for any of them. The EZG was way better in my opinion. Sounded good on low volume as well. Really, I have nothing bad to say about the amp. But like it was mentioned here earlier: it's a really clean amp that's good with pedals. I'm in the market for a bit more versatile amp, so I think the Maz 18, Z-Wreck Jr of Therapy will fit my needs better. But if the EZG is still there around Christmas... I might just get that one as well! I feel a Z-collection coming up in my future.
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Post by adam on Sept 10, 2021 9:10:04 GMT -7
I used an EZG at a gig this past weekend and it was stellar. I needed to be totally clean 80% of the time for this gig, hence the choice of using that amp. It feels to me like best old clean fender you ever heard. Absolutely none of that ice-pick thing that seems to exist in other fenders. I used an Origin Effects revival drive pedal with it for the distorted parts, and that that sounds particularly fantastic with that amp. Had lots of compliments on the tones.
However, and this seems to be true of all Z amps, but it's not a one trick pony and if you crank them, they sound great and reward you in other ways. This little clip I did for fun... I reamped a recorded part I had and used the EZG cranked up. So, amp cranked, no pedals, no eq, part doubled. Kind of take it as there's this fantastic fender tone in the amp that is sort of a given, but there's more. If you used it like srv would have, you'd be really close to that tone too. Hope it helps a little.
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Post by Ridgeback on Sept 10, 2021 10:01:15 GMT -7
Well the Therapy would probably fit your needs better as it is a very versatile amp and will do the clean to mean American voiced thing. More in the tweed\blonde\brown arena and not BF. On the other hand, EZGs seem to be hard to come by these days. As you seemed to like the EZG, I'd be inclined to jump on the post-mod EZG now and take your time looking for a good deal on a used Therapy down the road. I've never played the Wreck but the Maz 18 (while very flexible and a great design) is kind of in the same el-84 18 watt Marshall\Vox camp as your current lineup. My 2 cents. The EZG seems like a similar story to the Therapy though, being a five year old "new" amp. The difference being that it sounds like the EZG was operating correctly. Maybe you can get an "old floor model" discount.
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Post by johnnada on Sept 10, 2021 14:41:46 GMT -7
I used an EZG at a gig this past weekend and it was stellar. I needed to be totally clean 80% of the time for this gig, hence the choice of using that amp. It feels to me like best old clean fender you ever heard. Absolutely none of that ice-pick thing that seems to exist in other fenders. I used an Origin Effects revival drive pedal with it for the distorted parts, and that that sounds particularly fantastic with that amp. Had lots of compliments on the tones. However, and this seems to be true of all Z amps, but it's not a one trick pony and if you crank them, they sound great and reward you in other ways. This little clip I did for fun... I reamped a recorded part I had and used the EZG cranked up. So, amp cranked, no pedals, no eq, part doubled. Kind of take it as there's this fantastic fender tone in the amp that is sort of a given, but there's more. If you used it like srv would have, you'd be really close to that tone too. Hope it helps a little. Once again a cool video! I have been watching your Maz-video's recently, they gave me a good idea of the amp. Nice to meet you here
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Post by johnnada on Sept 10, 2021 14:52:24 GMT -7
Well the Therapy would probably fit your needs better as it is a very versatile amp and will do the clean to mean American voiced thing. More in the tweed\blonde\brown arena and not BF. On the other hand, EZGs seem to be hard to come by these days. As you seemed to like the EZG, I'd be inclined to jump on the post-mod EZG now and take your time looking for a good deal on a used Therapy down the road. I've never played the Wreck but the Maz 18 (while very flexible and a great design) is kind of in the same el-84 18 watt Marshall\Vox camp as your current lineup. My 2 cents. The EZG seems like a similar story to the Therapy though, being a five year old "new" amp. The difference being that it sounds like the EZG was operating correctly. Maybe you can get an "old floor model" discount. Yeah, it also went through my mind. I might have a chance to get all the other three models I've been looking at as well. The amp would be great to own, but not the thing I've got the biggest need for at the moment. Currently I'm recording about four different projects. The Therapy would be a good addition for clean and drive tones besides the Vox and Marshalls. Starting the end of this year I'll also have to start gigging a lot. The Maz with a nice would be a good workhorse and swiss army knife: I wouldn't have the need of chosing different amps for different shows and in between recording sessions. I wish I could buy all them haha.
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Post by adam on Sept 10, 2021 16:46:26 GMT -7
The Maz with a nice would be a good workhorse and swiss army knife: I wouldn't have the need of chosing different amps for different shows and in between recording sessions. I wish I could buy all them haha. Hello me, meet the other me! Spot on. Maz 18 in particular, depending on how you set it, you could record something and have someone try to guess the amp and they might say "old fender" or "Vox" or "Marshall", but it would all be the same amp. However, the EZG would come across as totally different fender (from maz), EMS totally different Marshall (from MAZ). I know there are a bunch of different sort of Voxy things from Z, but I don't own any of those. I wish I had some of the others, but maybe the real point I'm trying to make is all the amps are fantastic, and very different from one another. I kind of feel like you could throw any Z behind you and play a gig and you would be more than happy with your tone.
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Post by Seńor Verde on Sept 10, 2021 18:58:22 GMT -7
I've had several Maz amps and still own one, so it's obvious that I really like them. They sound generally really good, but they don't have "my sound." The Therapy, to me is unbeatable and since I got my Z-28 I've been really happy with it. I'm also a fan of the Cure for some things. Guess I'm more of a Fender-ish fan. If I were to get another, different model Z at this point I would probably get a post-update EZG-50 because I was a big fan of my original version and think the updates took care of the couple things that didn't nail it for me.
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Post by johnnada on Sept 14, 2021 14:10:16 GMT -7
The Maz with a nice would be a good workhorse and swiss army knife: I wouldn't have the need of chosing different amps for different shows and in between recording sessions. I wish I could buy all them haha. Hello me, meet the other me! Spot on. Maz 18 in particular, depending on how you set it, you could record something and have someone try to guess the amp and they might say "old fender" or "Vox" or "Marshall", but it would all be the same amp. However, the EZG would come across as totally different fender (from maz), EMS totally different Marshall (from MAZ). I know there are a bunch of different sort of Voxy things from Z, but I don't own any of those. I wish I had some of the others, but maybe the real point I'm trying to make is all the amps are fantastic, and very different from one another. I kind of feel like you could throw any Z behind you and play a gig and you would be more than happy with your tone. That has been part of the issue of my Dr. Z journey: they all sounnd great and I think I could be happy with any of the options I picked out. So I've been having a hard time picking one certain model.
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Post by johnnada on Sept 14, 2021 14:14:53 GMT -7
I've had several Maz amps and still own one, so it's obvious that I really like them. They sound generally really good, but they don't have "my sound." The Therapy, to me is unbeatable and since I got my Z-28 I've been really happy with it. I'm also a fan of the Cure for some things. Guess I'm more of a Fender-ish fan. If I were to get another, different model Z at this point I would probably get a post-update EZG-50 because I was a big fan of my original version and think the updates took care of the couple things that didn't nail it for me. Ironically I used to be a Fender player for my entire playing career until I tried a Marshall a few years ago. That was the sound I was always looking, but I always used to be the idiot who didn't think Marshalls were his 'thing'. Same thing with Vox recently. The past years I've been trying different Fenders and I didn't really like any of them. The EZG and Therapy are great and I might end up getting one in the future. For now I go with the Maz 18, just ordered one.
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Post by adam on Sept 14, 2021 18:12:37 GMT -7
I think you just start with one and then add or swap from there. They are all great and fun. We are blessed to have these problems.
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Post by Seńor Verde on Sept 14, 2021 19:53:07 GMT -7
I've had several Maz amps and still own one, so it's obvious that I really like them. They sound generally really good, but they don't have "my sound." The Therapy, to me is unbeatable and since I got my Z-28 I've been really happy with it. I'm also a fan of the Cure for some things. Guess I'm more of a Fender-ish fan. If I were to get another, different model Z at this point I would probably get a post-update EZG-50 because I was a big fan of my original version and think the updates took care of the couple things that didn't nail it for me. Ironically I used to be a Fender player for my entire playing career until I tried a Marshall a few years ago. That was the sound I was always looking, but I always used to be the idiot who didn't think Marshalls were his 'thing'. Same thing with Vox recently. The past years I've been trying different Fenders and I didn't really like any of them. The EZG and Therapy are great and I might end up getting one in the future. For now I go with the Maz 18, just ordered one. I can dig it. I was a Blackface Fender guy and felt the same way. With the Therapy and a couple other amps I own, I learned decades later I'm more of a Tweed guy. There are still times I have a LOT of fun with the Maz Jr.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Sept 15, 2021 6:50:03 GMT -7
I was the same way, I played a Super Reverb in late 70's and 80's. Went through some hard years and came back to Fenders. Never really satisfied and I "discovered" Dr.Z at a store in Michigan in early 2000 but I couldn't afford one. Finally got my Therapy in 2014 and from there got into the Maz series. Now I've got 13 of Z's great creations and they all share the dna of Z but with different flavors and angles to each one. They're just great amplifiers, all of them. I just was playing my EZG with a Strat, inspired by Adam's great tones in the short video above. Mine's got a master volume in it and it sounds great cranked to 3:00 on the Pre and Post volumes. I eased back on my master and had the level around 95dB...It must have been LOUD in your studio, Adam!
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Post by djcakadave on Sept 15, 2021 14:54:09 GMT -7
Adam, could make a cardboard box sound good!
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Post by adam on Sept 15, 2021 15:11:22 GMT -7
Was it loud... I have a master too and don't know if I used it or not. It was in the other room, so hard to know really how loud. I just tried the reamp thing, moved a couple knobs, thought it sounded great, hit record. I've kind of learned to do that with the Z's, they have a whole another set of sounds when cranked, and they never fall apart or collapse or whatever. Honestly though, the way I had the ems set for some of that stuff was incredibly loud. That short Van Halen clip in particular.
And no, the amp has to be good for me to stand a chance of making it sound good.
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