DR. Z amps

[dead mike]

They are one company i have been looking at that has a decent price compared to the other class A amps. Has anyone played one? Input please.

[The Geoff]

Try asking Myles.

 

There's been a bit about Dr. Z amps, but I know the Search function is a pain.

 

G.

[Bluesape]

Myles gives them his highest praise, so one is on my wish list.

[The Geoff]

My Laney VC30 is Class A.

 

G.

[miroslav]

I was looking hard at the Dr. Z amps before I bought the THD Flexi-50.

 

Each of the Dr. Z amps appear to be very fine-tuned for a particular kind of amp flavor/tone...and they probably do THAT tone better then most.

But I wanted a bit more of a "chameleon" amp...and the Flexi has been very impressive so far.

 

I would love to own a Dr. Z rig...one of these days.

 

 

[dead mike]

Very fine tuned is a good way of putting it. Im looking for a tweed style but want something different than a 59 bassman reissue. Victoria amps are to expensive and i was thinking Dr. Zs Z28 amp.

[Gifthorse]

Well even tho I posted it 2 times in the B Bender thread, it was ignored as usual.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-GscqNHEOc&feature=related

 

Dr.Z are good. There are lots of good amps. They are one of them.

[dead mike]

NICE. what would you recommend for a tweed sound? Z28?

[mdrs]

I've played the Dr. Z "Maz 38 Sr" combo....I played a custom shop Thinline Tele thru it, and it was soulfull, fat, and bluesy. Oh, and it also rocked!

 

That amp has tone in places where most amps don't have places!!

 

I don't recall that it really reminded me of a Fender Tweed's Chimey sweetness......The Maz's tone was thicker and creamier, not as chimey or ringing.

 

I'd have it here at home, but for the gaggle of other old amps I already have. I'd love to have one, and an old Hiwatt, and a Rivera, and..... DON'T GET ME STARTED!!

[Dr. Ellwood]

That tone, particularly the one in the YouTube clip, will, I guarantee get swamped in the mix, If you cannot kick up the treble on that amp (I don't know if you can?) I could never use it in the music I do. A keyboard player would make it invisible!

[miroslav]

Well even tho I posted it 2 times in the B Bender thread, it was ignored as usual.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-GscqNHEOc&feature=related

 

Dr.Z are good. There are lots of good amps. They are one of them.

 

Brad Paisley uses Dr. Z amps, and he's generally considered a real good country guitarist.

 

Here's a YT video of him playing live in concert. He has a real nice, well balanced tone that's sitting nicely in the live mix. I like his tone, though I'm not sure exactly which Dr. Z models he's using at this concert...?

 

One of these days I'll have to go for a Dr. Z...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KvHB4zpNX4&feature=user

 

[Soulrock]

The only Z amp I've played is th Maz 38, it is an incredible sounding amp.

 

Here is Michael Burks playing thru a Maz 38.

 

 

actually go to his myspace page and listen to "Little Wing"

 

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=31479128

 

I know that's the Dr. Z rig, cause I asked him, and he was cool enough to send a reply.

[mdrs]

Paisley uses 4 of these in his live rig;

 

http://www.drzamps.com/stangray.html

 

These Stang Ray amps have 4 EL-84 output tubes, which happens to be the same as the Maz 38 Sr that I played.

[dead mike]

little wing just sold me.

[Gifthorse]

That tone, particularly the one in the YouTube clip, will, I guarantee get swamped in the mix, If you cannot kick up the treble on that amp (I don't know if you can?) I could never use it in the music I do. A keyboard player would make it invisible!

 

My buddy who owns the studio Pearl Sound says his Dr.Z Carmen Ghia is the best sounding amp in his studio. This is competing with Matchless, Badcat, Marshall, Fender Vibrolux original, VHT. The recordings he played me with it sounded sick they were so big in the mix.

 

That is one of the cheaper Dr. Z amps too.

[Gifthorse]

There are some good clips of Dean Parks playing Dr. Z. He is a famous session guy who played with Stevie Wonder among other artists. He played on Innervisions.

[Dr. Ellwood]

That tone, particularly the one in the YouTube clip, will, I guarantee get swamped in the mix, If you cannot kick up the treble on that amp (I don't know if you can?)they sound rolled off,muffled with no sparkle. I could never use it in the music I do. A keyboard player would make it invisible!

[revolead]

My neighbor has a Maz Junior and a Stang Ray. He plays blues, rock, country and uses them right now for gigging with his alt-country band, but so far, the amp sounds great, especially for what he does. Later this week I'm heading over there to try my Tele through the Maz Jr. (18-watt, no reverb version of the Maz 38), so I will let you know what I think. But so far, it is a very versatile amp with great clean tone, dirty tone and everything in between.

 

CAUTION: The Stang Ray is very, very loud. Do not purchase one unless you buy the Air Brake with it. The 18-watt Maz Junior is more than enough for my neighbor to play clubs and bars.

[revolead]

That tone, particularly the one in the YouTube clip, will, I guarantee get swamped in the mix, If you cannot kick up the treble on that amp (I don't know if you can?)they sound rolled off,muffled with no sparkle. I could never use it in the music I do. A keyboard player would make it invisible!

 

You can. He just likes his tone a little darker. There is a cut control on the amp that will scoop the mids and the bass and treble are very responsive, so I imagine he has the cut pretty high and the treble somewhat low. I find it to be a very bright amp, and I like my treble a little higher than the other guy (not ear-piercing, just more of a Vox TB30 or Matchless DC30).

[dead mike]

Pls let me know what you think. The Maz SR and JR is the amp im looking at.

[Gifthorse]

My Buddy was going to buy a Dr. Z and had the same question. For live he needed something that he could use a pedal with that would sound good. He said the jr didn't have enough clean headroom in his band. But I guess that depends on what you like.

 

But he said both of them sound great. I played through the Route 66 and another multichannel amp. The Route 66 was one of the best amps I have played through. I cranked it for a sec in the store and it got killer power tubey compression (for 2 notes). But it had massive clean headroom and hugeness.

 

Myles said it is designed with some pentode in the front end so OD pedals still sound big through it. I dunno what that means but I can kind of figure in that the tone doesn't get all compressed like some other amps when you have an OD pedal running. Like I said the tone from this thing is massive and 3d sounding. I heard it through a Z Best 2/12.

 

This amp is one of the best amps I have ever heard or played through. But it is VERY clean at low volume.

 

 

[miroslav]

 

He just likes his tone a little darker.

 

I've always gone for a darker tone too...and I don't have too much trouble getting it to fit into the mix when recording. A lot depends on how the other instrument's levels are set, and the tonal balance between all of them.

For an all-out live stage level, with everyone fighting for the same sonic space, the guitars will often end up resorting to a very bright tone in order to cut throughjust dont be in the audience directly in their line of fire! :grin:

 

One of the 2-guitar bands I was in, the other guitar player use to like to play with the ice-pick-in-the-ear tone.

We made sure he was always on the same side of the stage as the bass player.

 

[revolead]

Okay, I played through the Maz Jr. today. It has a master volume control, so you can get breakup at reasonable volumes. But for a Class A 18-watter, this baby is loud.

 

I would describe it as a versatile, all-around amp that would do wonders for any bedroom player and is even great for small gigs, which is what my neighbor uses his for.

 

The best tone from it though, reminded me of a slightly less ear-piercing Deluxe Reverb, however, its versatility pushes it into gritty, sparkled, and ballsy tones that other amps simply cannot. And while it may have been slightly darker than say a Vox or Fender Twin Reverb, bear in mind it is not supposed to be like these amps and that the speakers were 2x10 G12Hs.

 

The amp offers plenty of treble though, so no one need worry, and the tone controls are the best I've ever seen on an amp period. You can turn all of them all the way to 5 o'clock and it still sounds good, though bright and then all the way down and you still get an okay very dark tone.

[Gifthorse]

Yeah I know those amps rule. I don't think Dr. Z makes any crappy amps.

 

I am sure it is loud as hell. Probably pretty dirty when it gets loud too

[dead mike]

so you liked the amp? im actually thinking of the maz sr.

[Gifthorse]

I never tried one, but my buddy who told me about it knows good tone. I mean if he told me something I would definately take it serious.

 

You know someone could tell you some amp sounded great but turns out they really can't play, so its just harder to take thier opinion as serious as someone who you know can play and knows a good tone.

 

Tone is complex for rock I think. It is so much in the hands, but SOO MANY people just don't understand that.

[mdrs]

As I mentioned in my post on page one of this thread, I've played a Maz Sr, and it is a GREAT AMP. I'd buy it in a second. You can play it out, in small to medium venues. It's soulful, and rocks. It's as good a quality tone as I've heard.

 

Buy it with confidence.

 

BTW....if you will gig it, buy the Sr. If you are not gonna gig, consider the Jr.

[revolead]

I disagree, Don. It depends what gig you are playing. If you want more headroom and a cleaner sound, then go Sr. But if you want a great, lower volume but not too low country sparkle, I would still get a Jr.

 

And yes, I liked the amp very much. I've heard it with several guitars (59 LP Standard RI, MIA Strat, Anderson Tele, 52 Tele Reissue, Anderson Strat, my Aerodyne Tele, and something else in there I'm sure), and it excelled with all of them. You can actually get great southern rock tones with it and an LP, and the Strat seemed to do everything and anything, as did my Tele, which has a P90 in the neck. Everything sounded great.

[Gifthorse]

Does it have a boost on it?