Galaxie in review.
Jan 8, 2022 16:46:56 GMT -7
heynewguy (Ol’ Bill), Joey Beverages, and 7 more like this
Post by bubs42 on Jan 8, 2022 16:46:56 GMT -7
I spent the week with the Galaxie before just shooting off and posted a gushing review. I wanted to give an honest review. I have purchased a fair amount of Z Amps and i'm not a lover of all of them. So i'm always a little hesitant to what I may get myself into and what its going to sound like. This time I even ponied up for a matching cab to be sure that I got the best out of the amp. First I being a Z and have a limited amount of knobs it was pretty quick to find the sweet spot on this amp and come to some gratification that you like what you hear. I loved that it has some low hours on it and the original tube assortment.
I'd compare it to the first Z28 that I had a couple years back, you have plenty of bass on tap, the top end isn't harsh and the gain feels great under the fingers. It sounds big, like a RT66, but not as quick as a Z28, it has a softer attack and a vintage feel. I tried it with the Alnico Creamback and sorry fella's that Creamback just sounds really aggressive or at least more aggressive than my liking and not right for this amp. I swapped a couple of speakers and ended up with a Red Fang and that IMHO was a really great sound. Channel one is a fantastic clean sound and a great base platform for a pedals. You can get that great edge of breakup tone that everyone loves. Channel two just has a great overdrive sound that when you go back to the clean you can match it with a pedal as far as sound goes, but doing that it just sounds like a facsimile of the real thing and it definitely doesn't feel as good under your fingers. You can just crank it pretty hard and work you volume control. It is loud, but like a RT66 where it is never really unpleasant and it feels bigger than it is loud. That being said, I had the bass in that 9 0'clock area and I knock some **** off the table. LOL The two channels really do balance well and I had no issues bouncing back and forth. After a bit I stuck it into 2x10's and for me that is where the magic is with this amp. The low end works the 10's, the presence brings in the sparkle and the smaller cab really allowed me to turn the amp up and attenuate the projection of the amp.
If you love that vintage "tweed" not to clean, not scooped out early dirt the is the amp and it does what it does perfectly.
All in all it is a great sounding amp, but not for me. Not that is didn't do exactly what I wanted it do, but in the end I caught myself not just letting the amp be what it was and the longer I spent with it, I realized my ear was just trying to turn it into something it wasn't, like a Z28, i think that i'm at the point that I just need to learn to be content, because i'm happy with what I have. You just think to yourself, what if I can find X amp but louder, or with this or with that and end the end you just like what you like because you like it.
That being said is it my last Z purchase? Probably not, come on Doc must have yet another amp that I cannot live without. The Z28, the RT66, the SRZ65 just sound like no other. The Ghia, well we sometimes don't get along and sometimes we can't be separated for some reason we have a love/hate for no real reason.
I'd compare it to the first Z28 that I had a couple years back, you have plenty of bass on tap, the top end isn't harsh and the gain feels great under the fingers. It sounds big, like a RT66, but not as quick as a Z28, it has a softer attack and a vintage feel. I tried it with the Alnico Creamback and sorry fella's that Creamback just sounds really aggressive or at least more aggressive than my liking and not right for this amp. I swapped a couple of speakers and ended up with a Red Fang and that IMHO was a really great sound. Channel one is a fantastic clean sound and a great base platform for a pedals. You can get that great edge of breakup tone that everyone loves. Channel two just has a great overdrive sound that when you go back to the clean you can match it with a pedal as far as sound goes, but doing that it just sounds like a facsimile of the real thing and it definitely doesn't feel as good under your fingers. You can just crank it pretty hard and work you volume control. It is loud, but like a RT66 where it is never really unpleasant and it feels bigger than it is loud. That being said, I had the bass in that 9 0'clock area and I knock some **** off the table. LOL The two channels really do balance well and I had no issues bouncing back and forth. After a bit I stuck it into 2x10's and for me that is where the magic is with this amp. The low end works the 10's, the presence brings in the sparkle and the smaller cab really allowed me to turn the amp up and attenuate the projection of the amp.
If you love that vintage "tweed" not to clean, not scooped out early dirt the is the amp and it does what it does perfectly.
All in all it is a great sounding amp, but not for me. Not that is didn't do exactly what I wanted it do, but in the end I caught myself not just letting the amp be what it was and the longer I spent with it, I realized my ear was just trying to turn it into something it wasn't, like a Z28, i think that i'm at the point that I just need to learn to be content, because i'm happy with what I have. You just think to yourself, what if I can find X amp but louder, or with this or with that and end the end you just like what you like because you like it.
That being said is it my last Z purchase? Probably not, come on Doc must have yet another amp that I cannot live without. The Z28, the RT66, the SRZ65 just sound like no other. The Ghia, well we sometimes don't get along and sometimes we can't be separated for some reason we have a love/hate for no real reason.