Murph Posted April 28, 2009 Posted April 28, 2009 I'm gonna have to take a road trip to check one out, just curious if anybody gigs one in a real life (live) situation, and opinions. Mesa quit building non master volume amps, and the Blue Angel is pushing 10 years old. Thanks. Murph.
BIGBENDS Posted April 28, 2009 Posted April 28, 2009 Dr Z is Guitarjunkie's territory. He should be along any minute.
Murph Posted April 28, 2009 Author Posted April 28, 2009 Dr Z is Guitarjunkie's territory. He should be along any minute. Damn. He's part of the reason I bought the ES-339. This is gonna cost me...... :) Murph.
dem00n Posted April 28, 2009 Posted April 28, 2009 Muprh...every try the fender amps? For some weird reason i think they would fit you.
Thundergod Posted April 28, 2009 Posted April 28, 2009 Damn. He's part of the reason I bought the ES-339. This is gonna cost me...... Murph. :) :D/ Dr. Z Hope Junkie joins soon and gives us a lesson about those awesome amps
Murph Posted April 28, 2009 Author Posted April 28, 2009 Muprh...every try the fender amps? For some weird reason i think they would fit you. dem00n, I own a killer Fender Prosonic (designed by Bruce) all tube (even rectifier GZ34) combo (in my sig) with a cascading gain channel for when I need that kind of thing. I also have a 71 Champ. I've owned a Super Reverb, and a Twin Reverb. Yea, I've tried a few. Best to ya. Murph.
Murph Posted April 28, 2009 Author Posted April 28, 2009 Oh now i see it...gibson amps? lol Actually, the Gibsons are quite good. Really. Murph.
dem00n Posted April 28, 2009 Posted April 28, 2009 Actually' date=' the Gibsons are quite good. Really. Murph.[/quote'] I never got to play one...they are hard to find.
GuitarJunkie Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 Sorry I'm late to the party. I've been a little busy this evening (more on that later). So, a few months ago I bought a used MAZ-38 Sr. This thing was loaded with every possible upgrade you could get except for the attenuator. As far as tone, it's exactly like you would expect a high-end, hand-wired amp to sound. The quote from the Dr. Z site, "This amp allows you to hear everything: pickups, wood, fretboard material, strings, pick attack.", isn't just marketing hype. I'll admit, I haven't played many other boutique amps, but the sound of this is unlike anything else I've heard. It's hard to describe, but after hearing the MAZ, when I play through my Traynor YCV-40 (similar to a Fender Hot Rot DeVille) it sounds great, but you know your sound is going through an amplifier. With the Z, you just hear pure tone. When I switch from an SG to a Les Paul, you can hear the difference of the maple top plain as day. When I go from humbuckers to P90s, you can tell the difference with your eyes closed. The MAZ-38 is powered by four EL-84s and can nail that British tone (it's more Vox than Marshall), but the EQ is so versatile that you can dial in pretty much any sound you want. The chime you get from the clean tones reminds me of that SRV sound. Also, previously I was pretty much a "knobs on ten" kinda' guy, but now I finally get it. Even though it's a single channel amp you just roll the volume down and it cleans up nicely. Here's what it looks like on the outside... And here are the "guts"... Now... a couple weeks ago someone advertised a Mini-Z head on one of the local online classified sites. It's a 5-watt head powered by one EL-84 with one 12AX7 pre-amp tube. The only controls are a Volume and an attenuator. After I bought it, I posted a thread here looking for info on using low-watt tube amps for jamming. The condensed version is that when I tried it out at the guy's place (through a Dr. Z 2x10 cab) it sounded fantastic from clean to "rip-your-face-off" dirty, and the built in attenuator lets you do all this at bedroom levels. He said his favorite setting for living-room playing was volume at three-quarters, and the attenuator at two (zero is full volume, four is bedroom quiet). I bought it and when I got home, I hooked it up to the speakers in my MAZ-38 (two 12" Celestion Alnico Blues - 15 watts each) and that same "living-room" setting was so loud that my daughter was holding her hands over her ears. My post was to find out if a 5-watt head was actually going to be loud enough to rehearse/gig with. I finally got to take it to rehearsal last night and the Mini-Z was TOO EFFIN' LOUD!!! I couldn't play it with the attenuator wide open and still have the volume knob high enough to get my dirty rhythm sound. I had to set it to the first position, and even then I put the volume to about 3 o'clock. It was still louder than I normally play, but we have a new drummer who didn't mind taking it up a notch. I won't even try to describe the range of tones I was able to get using my guitar's controls. Go to the Mini-Z page at the Dr. Z site, and there are about a dozen soundclips at the bottom... http://drzamps.com/miniz_head.html Same goes for the MAZ... http://drzamps.com/maz38.html BTW, here's the Mini inside and out... Now, here's the surprise ending to all of this... I'm currently selling the MAZ-38...
Californiaman Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 I just have to say this about the good Doctor. Having once written him an extensive email about amplifiers in general, he took the time to respond to me personally! It was Mike Zaite himself. His products are world class, just like the man himself. High Praise and Adulation!
GuitarJunkie Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 I called today to ask a quick question about the MAZ, and the guy that answered the phone was the guy who built my Mini-Z.
GuitarJunkie Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 I didn't say anything because I didn't want to be one of "those" guys. Besides, there's only a small number of builders there so, no matter who answers the phone, there's probably a 20 to 25% chance you'll get the guy who built yours (40 to 50% if you own two).
TinFish Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 Sorry I'm late to the party. I've been a little busy this evening (more on that later). So' date=' a few months ago I bought a used MAZ-38 Sr. This thing was loaded with every possible upgrade you could get except for the attenuator. As far as tone, it's exactly like you would expect a high-end, hand-wired amp to sound. The quote from the Dr. Z site, "[i']This amp allows you to hear everything: pickups, wood, fretboard material, strings, pick attack.[/i]", isn't just marketing hype. I'll admit, I haven't played many other boutique amps, but the sound of this is unlike anything else I've heard. It's hard to describe, but after hearing the MAZ, when I play through my Traynor YCV-40 (similar to a Fender Hot Rot DeVille) it sounds great, but you know your sound is going through an amplifier. With the Z, you just hear pure tone. When I switch from an SG to a Les Paul, you can hear the difference of the maple top plain as day. When I go from humbuckers to P90s, you can tell the difference with your eyes closed. High Praise, my Traynor YCV20 absolutely sparkles.
GuitarJunkie Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 High Praise' date=' my Traynor YCV20 absolutely sparkles.[/quote']I love my Traynor too, but when you compare a $700 amp to a $3500 amp (prices in canadian dollars), there damn well better be a difference you can hear with your eyes closed.
TinFish Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 I love my Traynor too' date=' but when you compare a $700 amp to a $3500 amp (prices in canadian dollars), there damn well better be a difference you can hear with your eyes closed.[/quote'] I would not disagree, I'd love to play my 61 RI through an amp of that calibre.
GuitarJunkie Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 I would not disagree' date=' I'd love to play my 61 RI through an amp of that calibre.[/quote']Well, shipping to Edmonton would be about $150...
TinFish Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 Hahaha, I wish I had $3500 to drop on an amp right now. Hell I wish I had $500 of disposable income right now!
GuitarJunkie Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 Hahaha' date=' I wish I had $3500 to drop on an amp right now. Hell I wish I had $500 of disposable income right now![/quote']$3500 (canadian) is the new price. My used one is considerably cheaper.
TinFish Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 $3500 (canadian) is the new price. My used one is considerably cheaper. I highly doubt it's price has diminished enough to be within my range. Maybe if I can get someone to bite on my SG Special I have had for sale for a couple weeks now, I would have some cash to throw around, but until then I am financially handicapped. Go Hawks! :-
Murph Posted April 29, 2009 Author Posted April 29, 2009 Thanks Junkie. I was kind of looking at the Stang Ray, but then realized they don't have a 1;12 combo. I'd like something that'll fit the same road case so I don't fill up the music room/studio/office any more! I'm going to do more research as I really love a single channel non master type amp whereas you get true tube distortion. That's one thing I love about the Mesa, and the different tube options. Murph.
GuitarJunkie Posted April 29, 2009 Posted April 29, 2009 Yeah, the Mini-Z has opened my eyes to the whole "volume only" thing. What are you looking for as far as wattage? Also, what about power tubes (ie. 6L6, EL84, KT66...)? They do have quite a few 1x12 combos in different configurations.
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