Z-Plus: Initial Impressions
Apr 8, 2022 21:15:14 GMT -7
daddyelmis (Greg), nmz, and 2 more like this
Post by cpa2guitar on Apr 8, 2022 21:15:14 GMT -7
My new Z-Plus that I ordered from The Guitar Sanctuary arrived late yesterday afternoon. I've only been able to spend a couple of hours with it so far, but thought I would post my initial impressions, based on using the Z-Plus with my Thorn S/S with single-coil pickups and my Grosh Set Neck with humbuckers.
This is a great amp! Reasonably quiet and this amp delivers great tone. The treble, middle, and bass controls, in conjunction with the cut control, work well for dialing in the amp to accommodate different guitars.
I have read some reviews that state the reverb could be stronger - you can't play surf music with the Z-Plus - but I find the reverb in this amp to be one of its strengths. Not sure how to put this into words, but the reverb in the Z-Plus sounds right to me. Is it subtle? Yes, in some ways, but it sounds very, very good.
The master volume works well, and dialing it down to reasonable levels when playing at home does not suck out the tone.
The variable-boost foot switch is a real kick and will be extremely useful for gigging.
If I could change anything about the Z-Plus, I can only think of two things:
1. The variable-boost foot switch allows you to adjust the extent to which the tone controls are bypassed, and that is very useful. It would be even more useful if there was a separate master volume control for when the boost is engaged. I don't know if this is even possible, but it would make this amp even more useful for gigs than it already is. An alternative, and this applies to all amps with master volumes, would be to make the master volume adjustable with a pedal (like a volume pedal, but instead of the volume pedal adjusting the line-in signal, it would adjust the master volume; and
2. Oh I wish this amp was 10 pounds lighter; that would make it just about perfect. I realize that really is likely impossible, but I can dream... lol
But that's it. This amp really is great just as it is, and even though I have only been able to spend a couple of hours with it so far, I already know it is a keeper.
I bought a Z Wreck shortly after that model was released, and it blew me away; however, I traded it after a few months because I could only get clean tones out of the amp without it being extremely loud. [This was before Freyette released the Power Station; if I had a Power Station back when I had the Z Wreck, I never would have traded the Z Wreck.] Now that I have plugged into a Z-Plus, I would love to see Dr. Z add a master volume and variable boost to the Z Wreck. If the Z wreck were offered with those features, I would be selling a couple of my amps to buy one!