Transitioning to my new home in RT: my latest gear story

Draelyc

Member
I had a chance a few short weeks ago to pick up a used Dr. Z Maz 18 Jr. NR head. Now, there was nothing wrong with the amps I had, but this was my first opportunity to "step up" to a "next level" kind of boutique-type amp. Just think of the e-prestige & internet cred, I (er) thought. I listened to clips & watched vids of the amp, especially the demo at Dr. Z's site. The price seemed pretty good. So I went for it.

Well, when last we visited our Intrepid Hero (i.e., me), he had started a half-dozen threads about the experience in HCAF, and many folks were kind enough to talk me through the ups & downs I ran into as I explored the Maz.

As a way of getting started here, and rather than bore y'all with an attempted re-creation of a bunch of old threads, here are the conclusions I came to and the things that I learned from this experience:

1. I am pretty much a preamp-distortion kinda guy. I know that's anathema to the tube-purists out there. But hear me out: I fully and wholeheartedly agree that any decent tube amp is going to sound *better* cranked up than it does at whisper-quiet volumes; however, for my personal tastes, I need to be able to get my basic tone (including gain/saturation) at a lower volume, and then be able to turn it up as desired & have the tone just get "better" from there. As a result, I've realized I do better with amps which get a good bit of their overall sound (gain & tone) from the preamp rather than from really overdriving the power amp.

Now, I still need to have a responsive amp that cleans up well from the guitar's volume, because I ride that volume knob constantly. I rarely change channels during a song on my channel-switching amps. So I need a well-tuned preamp, to be sure. But there it is.

2. I'm a tone freak, but I'm also a control freak! :yes: I need to be able to control my amp's gain, eq, and overall volume equally. The Maz has a volume (preamp) and a master volume control, but I quickly learned that those knobs are really like gain controls for the preamp & power sections, respectively, and they don't work as actual volume controls. Very frustrating for me, since I need an amp to work well in bedroom, practice, recording, low-volume jamming, *and* higher volume gigging environments.

3. Although my favorite guitar tones tend to be what you'd consider "vintage," and though that's the kind of sound & texture I tend to try to create in my own music, I've realized that I actually have an easier time doing that with an amp that's more modern in its sensibilities. I don't need "modern metal" levels of gain by ANY stretch of the imagination, but I have discovered that my tunes use more (preamp) gain than I thought they did, something I learned by trying to play my tunes on the Maz at lower volume levels. Again, if overall volume were not an issue, the Maz would work great for my music, I think. But it's just not working out, with an amp that *must* be cranked to in order to saturate.

It reminds me of the time I bought a Strat a few years back. Some of my all-time favorite players have been Strat guys. Some of my favorite recorded tones have been Strat tones. But as a player, I could not get on with that Strat to save my life. The feel was all wrong, and getting the tones that I wanted would've required completely re-vamping my whole approach to amplification.

That's what the Z was like: it would have required that I start over from Square One and re-design my whole approach to guitar. And at my age (& stage of laziness), I just couldn't bring myself to do that. :no:

So, my last few threads at that other site were basically a record of my attempts to love this amp & make it work for me, because I REALLY wanted to dig it. And it *does* sound awesome -- it's incredible, for what it was designed to do. I should have checked out that design a litte more closely before I purchased, though. For example, I should have noticed that, in the Dr. Z demo vid, the amp doesn't really get that glorious crunch until they crank up the master volume....

So, that's the latest chapter of my gear quest. At this point, old HCAF would chime in with a "Cool story, bro," or a "Riveting tale, chap," etc. It'll be interesting to see what RT folks do. :rock:

Meanwhile, I'll keep rockin' the Speed Twin & the Studiotone, dreaming of the day that I can be a booteek dood, too.... :LOL: :LOL:

Chris
 
AT least you know what you what works for you. Many just play the look at me with my (fill in the blank) even though they dont know how to use it.
 
Vrad":34gvlcjg said:
That's alot of writing there... What's up? It's Vlad.


Hey, Vlad ~ I figured/hoped that was you! :D

Ya, my therapist screwed me over by going to a new format that prevented me from log.. I mean CHECKing in, so, there ya go. :LOL: :LOL:

You still defending The People's Rockski? ;)
 
Draelyc":1x3a25mp said:
I had a chance a few short weeks ago to pick up a used Dr. Z Maz 18 Jr. NR head. Now, there was nothing wrong with the amps I had, but this was my first opportunity to "step up" to a "next level" kind of boutique-type amp. Just think of the e-prestige & internet cred, I (er) thought. I listened to clips & watched vids of the amp, especially the demo at Dr. Z's site. The price seemed pretty good. So I went for it.

Well, when last we visited our Intrepid Hero (i.e., me), he had started a half-dozen threads about the experience in HCAF, and many folks were kind enough to talk me through the ups & downs I ran into as I explored the Maz.

As a way of getting started here, and rather than bore y'all with an attempted re-creation of a bunch of old threads, here are the conclusions I came to and the things that I learned from this experience:

1. I am pretty much a preamp-distortion kinda guy. I know that's anathema to the tube-purists out there. But hear me out: I fully and wholeheartedly agree that any decent tube amp is going to sound *better* cranked up than it does at whisper-quiet volumes; however, for my personal tastes, I need to be able to get my basic tone (including gain/saturation) at a lower volume, and then be able to turn it up as desired & have the tone just get "better" from there. As a result, I've realized I do better with amps which get a good bit of their overall sound (gain & tone) from the preamp rather than from really overdriving the power amp.

Now, I still need to have a responsive amp that cleans up well from the guitar's volume, because I ride that volume knob constantly. I rarely change channels during a song on my channel-switching amps. So I need a well-tuned preamp, to be sure. But there it is.

2. I'm a tone freak, but I'm also a control freak! :yes: I need to be able to control my amp's gain, eq, and overall volume equally. The Maz has a volume (preamp) and a master volume control, but I quickly learned that those knobs are really like gain controls for the preamp & power sections, respectively, and they don't work as actual volume controls. Very frustrating for me, since I need an amp to work well in bedroom, practice, recording, low-volume jamming, *and* higher volume gigging environments.

3. Although my favorite guitar tones tend to be what you'd consider "vintage," and though that's the kind of sound & texture I tend to try to create in my own music, I've realized that I actually have an easier time doing that with an amp that's more modern in its sensibilities. I don't need "modern metal" levels of gain by ANY stretch of the imagination, but I have discovered that my tunes use more (preamp) gain than I thought they did, something I learned by trying to play my tunes on the Maz at lower volume levels. Again, if overall volume were not an issue, the Maz would work great for my music, I think. But it's just not working out, with an amp that *must* be cranked to in order to saturate.

It reminds me of the time I bought a Strat a few years back. Some of my all-time favorite players have been Strat guys. Some of my favorite recorded tones have been Strat tones. But as a player, I could not get on with that Strat to save my life. The feel was all wrong, and getting the tones that I wanted would've required completely re-vamping my whole approach to amplification.

That's what the Z was like: it would have required that I start over from Square One and re-design my whole approach to guitar. And at my age (& stage of laziness), I just couldn't bring myself to do that. :no:

So, my last few threads at that other site were basically a record of my attempts to love this amp & make it work for me, because I REALLY wanted to dig it. And it *does* sound awesome -- it's incredible, for what it was designed to do. I should have checked out that design a litte more closely before I purchased, though. For example, I should have noticed that, in the Dr. Z demo vid, the amp doesn't really get that glorious crunch until they crank up the master volume....

So, that's the latest chapter of my gear quest. At this point, old HCAF would chime in with a "Cool story, bro," or a "Riveting tale, chap," etc. It'll be interesting to see what RT folks do. :rock:

Meanwhile, I'll keep rockin' the Speed Twin & the Studiotone, dreaming of the day that I can be a booteek dood, too.... :LOL: :LOL:

Chris

Thats a great story, and very informative.. What I like about my JCA100H is that it gets it's gain (mostly) from the preamp (5 tubes worth).. It does lower volume saturation very well for a 100 watter.. From what I understand, a lot of 100 watters don't do that well...
 
jerrydyer":3n5ax006 said:
AT least you know what you what works for you. Many just play the look at me with my (fill in the blank) even though they dont know how to use it.

Right on, mang. Yeah, I've got to look at it as a major learning experience, or I'll start to feel horrible about the waste of time/money... :aww:
 
TheEternal":362er6lh said:
Thats a great story, and very informative.. What I like about my JCA100H is that it gets it's gain (mostly) from the preamp (5 tubes worth).. It does lower volume saturation very well for a 100 watter.. From what I understand, a lot of 100 watters don't do that well...

Dig. :thumbsup: Y'know, I didn't realize how good the master volume on my 50 watt Speed Twin is until this....

Edit: I'm hoping to try the Jet City stuff out sometime soon ~ what I've read/heard online looks very interesting...
 
Draelyc":1e5dh01m said:
jerrydyer":1e5dh01m said:
AT least you know what you what works for you. Many just play the look at me with my (fill in the blank) even though they dont know how to use it.

Right on, mang. Yeah, I've got to look at it as a major learning experience, or I'll start to feel horrible about the waste of time/money... :aww:

How long you had it? Can't you take it back?
 
Dr z makes nice amps, I like them.

Sometimes we don't know what we like untill we own a few different types of amp and it sounds like you learned what you need and want in a amp now.
 
TheEternal":w605gxdu said:
Draelyc":w605gxdu said:
jerrydyer":w605gxdu said:
AT least you know what you what works for you. Many just play the look at me with my (fill in the blank) even though they dont know how to use it.

Right on, mang. Yeah, I've got to look at it as a major learning experience, or I'll start to feel horrible about the waste of time/money... :aww:

How long you had it? Can't you take it back?

Naw, I got it used, so I knew what I was getting into as far as that goes. I'm hoping that Z's keep their value well enough that I won't get stung too bad in the resale.
 
ZOMBIELAND":1gs5y8ge said:
Dr z makes nice amps, I like them.

Sometimes we don't know what we like untill we own a few different types of amp and it sounds like you learned what you need and want in a amp now.


That's it, mang. When the next opportunity to "step up" comes around, I think I'll have a much clearer idea of which amps might be for me ... and which ones prolly aren't.
 
It's a comfort-thing. You are used to play with a certain amount of gain that you can get at any volume. You know it works for you. Now it's time to be a man and step out of your comfort-zone and learn your way around the Dr Z and make it work for your stuff. It will take a bit of time and work but the end result will be great. Your tone AND playing will have improved.

Start with a booster in front of the Dr Z, I bet you have some sort of OD so use that and go from there and slowly back off the gain/volume. Then start plugging in directly and dig in.

You can thank me later :LOL: :LOL:
 
Draelyc":68bun9ee said:
Vrad":68bun9ee said:
That's alot of writing there... What's up? It's Vlad.


Hey, Vlad ~ I figured/hoped that was you! :D

Ya, my therapist screwed me over by going to a new format that prevented me from log.. I mean CHECKing in, so, there ya go. :LOL: :LOL:

You still defending The People's Rockski? ;)


LOL! :D
I am... The People's Metal! :LOL: :LOL:
 
lordriffenstein":13jsv7yx said:
It's a comfort-thing. You are used to play with a certain amount of gain that you can get at any volume. You know it works for you. Now it's time to be a man and step out of your comfort-zone and learn your way around the Dr Z and make it work for your stuff. It will take a bit of time and work but the end result will be great. Your tone AND playing will have improved.

Start with a booster in front of the Dr Z, I bet you have some sort of OD so use that and go from there and slowly back off the gain/volume. Then start plugging in directly and dig in.

You can thank me later :LOL: :LOL:


+infinity. this is so true. I play hard rock (Van Halen, Disciple and things of that nature) the last two amps I have owned (AC-15 and Blues Jr. tweed) really really made me watch how I play and how much gain I use. I'm a better player for it to.
 
PurposeToMelody":k5n79xzw said:
lordriffenstein":k5n79xzw said:
It's a comfort-thing. You are used to play with a certain amount of gain that you can get at any volume. You know it works for you. Now it's time to be a man and step out of your comfort-zone and learn your way around the Dr Z and make it work for your stuff. It will take a bit of time and work but the end result will be great. Your tone AND playing will have improved.

Start with a booster in front of the Dr Z, I bet you have some sort of OD so use that and go from there and slowly back off the gain/volume. Then start plugging in directly and dig in.

You can thank me later :LOL: :LOL:


+infinity. this is so true. I play hard rock (Van Halen, Disciple and things of that nature) the last two amps I have owned (AC-15 and Blues Jr. tweed) really really made me watch how I play and how much gain I use. I'm a better player for it to.

I dig what y'all are sayin', I really do. Right now, it's more of a practicality issue than anything else. I'm just not in a situation where I'll be able to get my drive by opening up what amounts to a NMV amp. At least not one that's more powerful than, say, five watts. Gnome sane?

I have what I think are some pretty good od pedals & clean boosts, but even those don't sound quite right with the preamp dimed & the master down so low it's choking the amp's natural sound. I totally believe that an amp like this would make me a better player -- that's why I've tried so hard to gel with it, y'know?
 
Draelyc":2kxv4fsj said:
jerrydyer":2kxv4fsj said:
AT least you know what you what works for you. Many just play the look at me with my (fill in the blank) even though they dont know how to use it.

Right on, mang. Yeah, I've got to look at it as a major learning experience, or I'll start to feel horrible about the waste of time/money... :aww:


You have just gone through an experience we all share at one time or another.
I totally understand you desire to move the tone up a notch.
I know this may sound biased (and why shouldn't it?!), but you need an amp with about 30 watts and the ability to deliver the tones you desire whether they eminate from the preamp section, or the power amp section, or both ( my fave).

Although they are expensive, if you get to a store that happenes to carry a Diezel Schmidt, you need to try that amp out. I have gotten so many compliments on my tone since switching from a higher wattage Diezel to the lower powered Schmidt.

I believe you would simply love what you heard from playing one.
Happy hunting and don't give up the quest for upping the tones a notch... or more. :rock:
 
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