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Anyone in Hamer Land using Dr Z Amps?


bubs_42

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I've had a love/hate with a few of Doc's amps, but when I travel to the 4321 Club I have enjoyed playing through @BruceM 's arsenal. I have a couple of my own now and they are great amp to that complement pedals very well, or if you a purist you can just crank them plug straight in. Myself, its a little boost into the front end and Brake Lite Attenuators to keep them tamed and my hearing intact. 

Z28 with custom Mather Clones of Doc's "Shorty Cabs" but made of pine with convertible backs. 2x10 Loaded with Eminence Red Fang's (One Alnico/One Ceramic), the 1x12 is loaded with a CV65.

Ghia with Stock Dr Z 2x10's and the 1x12 loaded with a V30 (Stock). 

JoRVJsVl.jpg

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I have not had the good fortune to take one for a spin, but the Maz 18 has always appealed to me.  These days I'm playing mostly acoustic and drums and bass, so there is no way I can justify a guitar amp purchase, maybe someday again, we'll see.  

 

I dig the exotic wood faces on those heads.

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I've never quite figured out the appeal of the "less is more" approach of these amps, especially when it came to justifying the price on either a new or used one.  Don't get me wrong, they're great sounding amps, but I've never been motivated enough to buy one as they're a little too pricey for my budget.

I do like the wood paneling on those amps, my 18-watt VHT Standards have a mahogany panel on the front as well.  I wouldn't throw one in the back of a van with the rest of the gear without some kind of protection, though.

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I gigged for years with a Rt. 66. Still one of my all-time faves, with just the right balance of chewy and tight. I also really liked the KT-45, which was more on the tighter end of the spectrum. I recall @ArnieZ's Z28 and 4x10 cab sounding ridiculously great at an HFC jam. Inspired by that I got myself a Z28 1x12 combo that didn't sound nearly as good and ended up moving it along. I also recall Maz 38s sounding too upper midrangey/barky with my old Artist Korina with P-90s, but great with Strats.

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I really did love that amp!! I finally moved it to try other things, but that rig still remains one of my all time favorites. I bought the 4x10 configuration after speaking with Dr Z. He said it was the best sounding configuration to his ears. His 10 " speakers were really quite good sounding. All of his amps with the ef86 front end were great sounding and swallowed pedals to make them sound like they were part of the amp. Though it goes against the grain simple circuits with high end components and design make great sounding amps. If I remember correctly Ben had his Bruno 30 at that HFC event which also sounded incredible as well!

arniez

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Simple is good, this rings true with all of the best amps that I have been fortunate to have pass through here. The Monkeys, Z's, Budda's, East, Marshall Class 5, and the Valvetech. Getting to a real simple amp started with that experience with my first Lovepedal into the front of a Princeton. It was one of those moments for sure that made me change course. 

@crunchee I think that if you get a great amp that makes a pure sound, built in the US, and the quality is being controlled at a high standard is worth the $.  

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Long time owner of a Maz 18 combo with 2x10's

Absolutely my favorite amp for the Daytona's and the T-51.

Still haven't sent it back for the reverb upgrade, has anyone done this and is it worth it?

Thanks in advance

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18 hours ago, burningyen said:

I gigged for years with a Rt. 66. Still one of my all-time faves, with just the right balance of chewy and tight. I also really liked the KT-45, which was more on the tighter end of the spectrum. I recall @ArnieZ's Z28 and 4x10 cab sounding ridiculously great at an HFC jam. Inspired by that I got myself a Z28 1x12 combo that didn't sound nearly as good and ended up moving it along. I also recall Maz 38s sounding too upper midrangey/barky with my old Artist Korina with P-90s, but great with Strats.

The tone of the Z28 and the Ghia can be very influenced, both by the tube and speaker choices. They both do not do what the other one does, but they both sound great. 

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36 minutes ago, rj2858 said:

Long time owner of a Maz 18 combo with 2x10's

Absolutely my favorite amp for the Daytona's and the T-51.

Still haven't sent it back for the reverb upgrade, has anyone done this and is it worth it?

Thanks in advance

I'm not sure about the reverb upgrade, but the video that shows the MKII Upgrade sounds like it really does wonders for the MV. Two of my favorite local guys use the Maz 18, both amps sound a bit different but they sound great. 

 

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I ordered & tried a Wreck Jr head from Humbucker Music during C19. On paper, it was just what I wanted. Seemed like each song needed a tweak, I like to set it & forget it. Sadly, it went back.

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25 minutes ago, atomicwash said:

I ordered & tried a Wreck Jr head from Humbucker Music during C19. On paper, it was just what I wanted. Seemed like each song needed a tweak, I like to set it & forget it. Sadly, it went back.

I wanted to try that one, but somehow I know I wouldn't dig it. I fear that it being a bit upper mid and running a Greenback would just not do it for me. Anyone can go to the Ztalk forum and check out what's coming. The Dr Z/Carol Ann amp will be coming out this year and maybe next year the updated Z28 with MV, 5881's and FX Loop will be out. 

Me, i'm really trying not to get sucked into another amp, but would love to try a Version 1 Mazerati or the M12. The M12 with EL84's and the EF86 Front end would be a interesting amp. The Route 66 isn't very Linear so it goes from on to ROAR, the KT45 kind of the same thing and I have a hard time wrangling in 18 watts. The Mazerati and a Brake would be a great gigging amp with a 1x12 under it. Damn V1's are hard to find. 

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Have had many conversations with Dr. Z. He has always been available and helpful. Several years ago I attended a conference in Cleveland. Called him up and asked to stop.by. No problem , very gracious, showed my BIL and I around and chatted for a bit.He literally has an amp for any genre at this point. I am moving from tubes to modeling and don't foresee buying another tube amp. But Z has several that have my  interest tweaked nonetheless . Customer service second to none! Highly recommend both he and his amps!

arniez

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Glad I could help! 
My Dr. Z purchases, my Carmen Ghia and Z-28, both happened over 20 years ago, and I still couldn't be happier. I purchased the Ghia first and fell in love with the less-is-more approach to tone control. I still won't consider anything with too many knobs. I still keep shopping for a Maz-18 NR head. One of these days the right one will pop up locally.

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3 hours ago, BruceM said:

Glad I could help! 
My Dr. Z purchases, my Carmen Ghia and Z-28, both happened over 20 years ago, and I still couldn't be happier. I purchased the Ghia first and fell in love with the less-is-more approach to tone control. I still won't consider anything with too many knobs. I still keep shopping for a Maz-18 NR head. One of these days the right one will pop up locally.

I think that would be a great addition to the club. When I came up the last time and ran my little board into that Ghia with 2x10's I was pretty much hooked. 

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Gear has not been selling (at least my gear hasn't), so the last few years have seen me go thru a bunch of gear in trades...

I started w/ a nice Ibanez Premium RGA121 (became obsolete when I got my partscaster), swapped that for an EVH III 60w 1x12 (great but way too heavy, and then I ended up quitting the hard rawk band), swapped that for a 65 DRRI (wanted one for the country band, it was heavy and a little underwhelming), swapped that for a Dr Z Maz Jr NR head (sounded real good, but I realized in a band mix that I liked my Quilter 101 head just as much, as my partscaster sounds amazing thru anything). Actually SOLD the Dr Z last month! The Quilter & a Creamback loaded cab works best for my bad back and small car (plus the cab is extra deep and I can fit my whole rig back there for load in at gigs).

GTRS 20-5.jpg

Booger rig.JPG

Booger rig back.JPG

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The last amp I owned was a "Remedy".  I have since gone "Modeling".  If I were to play through an amp again, it would be a Remedy.  Very cool amp.

 

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I owned a MAZ Jr w/Reverb for a couple of years. I could never bond with it so I ended up selling it. I do have a pair of the Z-Best cabinets (1X12 & 2X10) which are wonderful. My Marshall JTM45 OS sounds fantastic thru the 1X12. 

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