L
Lari
New member
This is my first post on RT and I wanted to take the chance to thank you all for your advice and constructive feedback I read over the past years. This is my favourite board when I'm looking for new equipment or trying to deal with what I have.
I'd like to compare the clean tone of these two amps and hear your opinion, as I have troubles deciding whether it's worth keeping the expensive second amp or not. Maybe you have experience with one of the amps; or both? I have...
1.) an EVH 5150 III with 50 Watts that is played through a Marshall 2x12 with a Celestion Creamback 65 and a Marshall Vintage 30 (selected carefully over time), channel 1.
2.) a Dr. Z Z-Lux Combo with its original speaker.
I own the EVH because I often play heavy metal, then added the Z-Lux because I also enjoy Jazzblues; the idea being that the Z-Lux and the pedalboard are kept fully analog for an unbeatable Fender-like clean tone. I play a range of guitars at different tunings, but I make this comparison playing a PRS Custom 22 with 59/09 pickups.
I made the following observations with the Z-Lux, with the gain at 9 o'clock for a clean tone without breakup:
1.) The Z-Lux has strong treble and when I play the blues and bend it Albert style, the note is ear-pearcing and very dominant compared to the EVH. In order to tame the treble, I had to bring it down to 9 o'clock.
2.) The mids are amazing. I push them slightly to 1 o'clock. The knob affects the perfect mid-frenquency.
3.) The Z-Lux can sound very boomy in some rooms. When I moved into my new music room, I had to turn the bass down from 12 to 10 o'clock.
Overall, the amp sounds mean and is fun to play with this setting, but the low treble knob makes the amp sound like it's encased in a pillow. Sadly, the amp annnoys me with a higher treble setting; as described above. It tires my ears quickly; something that unfortunately didn't happen when I tried the amp for half an hour in a shop in Chicago.
On the EVH I got my preferred clean tone with these settings:
- gain at 9 o'clock
- bass at 01:30
- mids at 12:30
- treble at 12:00
- presence at 11:45
This makes the EVH sound very similar to my favorite tone on the Z-Lux, with these exceptions:
1.) The EHV doesn't have the balls of the Z-Lux ("pushes less", not as "alive" sounding, but the bass stays fully under control)..
2.) The mids are more difficult to dial in because they are affected by the mid and the presence knobs. They make the mids disappear or sound honky very quickly, but I did find a good setting. This is easier on the Z-Lux.
3.) The highs sound "glassier", a bit weaker and also less shrill: the EVH only sounds ear-piercing when it's past 3 o'clock.
Although I'm missing the push and presence of the Z-Lux, the EVH is easier to control and offers a great clean tone. It makes me wonder if the Z-Lux really is "better" sounding and worth keeping. Maybe part of the confusion comes from the impression that the EVH is very metal-focussed and was not hand-built in the USA. But then: there is a good portion of undeniable magic in the Z-Lux and the reviews are very positive ("Dr. Z did it again!").
Now...
What are your experiences with these amps? I wonder if there's hidden potential in the Z-Lux I didn't discover.
What would your decision be? If it's hard for you to make a decision too: How do you deal with these situations?
I'd like to compare the clean tone of these two amps and hear your opinion, as I have troubles deciding whether it's worth keeping the expensive second amp or not. Maybe you have experience with one of the amps; or both? I have...
1.) an EVH 5150 III with 50 Watts that is played through a Marshall 2x12 with a Celestion Creamback 65 and a Marshall Vintage 30 (selected carefully over time), channel 1.
2.) a Dr. Z Z-Lux Combo with its original speaker.
I own the EVH because I often play heavy metal, then added the Z-Lux because I also enjoy Jazzblues; the idea being that the Z-Lux and the pedalboard are kept fully analog for an unbeatable Fender-like clean tone. I play a range of guitars at different tunings, but I make this comparison playing a PRS Custom 22 with 59/09 pickups.
I made the following observations with the Z-Lux, with the gain at 9 o'clock for a clean tone without breakup:
1.) The Z-Lux has strong treble and when I play the blues and bend it Albert style, the note is ear-pearcing and very dominant compared to the EVH. In order to tame the treble, I had to bring it down to 9 o'clock.
2.) The mids are amazing. I push them slightly to 1 o'clock. The knob affects the perfect mid-frenquency.
3.) The Z-Lux can sound very boomy in some rooms. When I moved into my new music room, I had to turn the bass down from 12 to 10 o'clock.
Overall, the amp sounds mean and is fun to play with this setting, but the low treble knob makes the amp sound like it's encased in a pillow. Sadly, the amp annnoys me with a higher treble setting; as described above. It tires my ears quickly; something that unfortunately didn't happen when I tried the amp for half an hour in a shop in Chicago.
On the EVH I got my preferred clean tone with these settings:
- gain at 9 o'clock
- bass at 01:30
- mids at 12:30
- treble at 12:00
- presence at 11:45
This makes the EVH sound very similar to my favorite tone on the Z-Lux, with these exceptions:
1.) The EHV doesn't have the balls of the Z-Lux ("pushes less", not as "alive" sounding, but the bass stays fully under control)..
2.) The mids are more difficult to dial in because they are affected by the mid and the presence knobs. They make the mids disappear or sound honky very quickly, but I did find a good setting. This is easier on the Z-Lux.
3.) The highs sound "glassier", a bit weaker and also less shrill: the EVH only sounds ear-piercing when it's past 3 o'clock.
Although I'm missing the push and presence of the Z-Lux, the EVH is easier to control and offers a great clean tone. It makes me wonder if the Z-Lux really is "better" sounding and worth keeping. Maybe part of the confusion comes from the impression that the EVH is very metal-focussed and was not hand-built in the USA. But then: there is a good portion of undeniable magic in the Z-Lux and the reviews are very positive ("Dr. Z did it again!").
Now...
What are your experiences with these amps? I wonder if there's hidden potential in the Z-Lux I didn't discover.
What would your decision be? If it's hard for you to make a decision too: How do you deal with these situations?