Does a Maz 18 Sound Good With a Celestion Blue Speaker

MikeSlub · Dec 16, 2009

Does anyone own one, or have you played one, and what is your impression of this amp? If you own one, do you have the reverb or non-reverb model, head and cab or combo, and 1 x 12 or 2 x 10 configuration? And if you have the 1 x 12, did you get a Celestion Blue or the stock Z Celestion speaker? Thanks. :hank

DrewB

BrownDog and I both have Maz 18 Jr. NR heads; hearing and playing through his sold me on them. We both run through 2x12 open-backed cabinets. His Dr. Z cab (not the Z-Best) has the Alnico Blue that came with the cab and a Hellatone 30. My Avatar G212H has the other Alnico Blue from his cab and a G12H Anniversary. The Alnico Blue and G12H complement each other really well with this amp.

This is probably the loudest 18-watt amp you'll find and doesn't compress as much as most 18 watters, so the punch is more along the lines of a Marshall 50. There is a lot of clarity to the tone throughout the controls' range; it doesn't mush out at extreme settings. Whatever guitar you plug in will sound like itself, and that includes different examples of the same model. BrownDog's Bloomfield sounds different than my G0, though they both have the same pickups (his are hotter and my guitar is more hollow in the mids). The amp cleans up well from the guitar's volume control and translates picking dynamics well. The master volume works well; of course, lower master settings sound thinner, but you already knew that, I'm sure. I'm not at all a pedal guy, so I can't offer much on that subject, other than to say that my RMC Picture Wah works well with it.

Overall, I love the amp. It isn't a Fender, Marshall or Vox sound, but has elements of all of them. There are a lot of tones to explore in this amp and a lot to love about it.

riefil

Drew as far as pedals go. This guy demo a vast majority of his pedals through a 2x10 Maz 18.

http://www.youtube.com/user/gearmanndude

should give everyone a pretty good idea. He's pretty funny too.

Phil

fiestared

I like mine. I wish I had bought the head version but I have the 1x12 combo. I ditched the G12H30 in place of a Scumback H75, which was an improvement. I also run it through a 4x12 with Scumback M75s and it does the trick.

MapleFlame

Does anyone own one, or have you played one, and what is your impression of this amp? If you own one, do you have the reverb or non-reverb model, head and cab or combo, and 1 x 12 or 2 x 10 configuration? And if you have the 1 x 12, did you get a Celestion Blue or the stock Z Celestion speaker? Thanks. :hank

oops wrong amp/

slideboy

I have always like Dr Z amps and I have owned several different models. I think the JR is more of a single coil amp to my ears..but that's just me. They offer a great clean to clean/pushed tone and are great with pedals, too. If you have any questions an expert is Stu Carter at www.fatsoundguitars.com not spam, just the truth. Peace, Brother Bill

bumper_

Had one; a 1x12 (+reverb) with a Weber Blue Dog. I guess that's a common-ish speaker mod for that amp.

It seems like people say the non-reverb model sounds better, but this one was great -and the 'verb is really good too. I got it to play Telecasters through with a hillbilly gig and it's a really nice sound for that. It gives a pleasing distortion with good note separation at a wide range of settings. I quit using it because it wouldn't really do enough stage volume to comfortably keep up with the drummer in that band -I think with a less exuberant drummer it would be fine.

I'd still have it, but a friend of mine really wanted one so I let it go. He's one of those front-man, singer/songwriter types and I think it works great for him. It's light and tough and easy to make sound good.

Here it is with a regular amp for size comparison:

Panama Red

Very good amps. I think of them more for single coils.

DrewB

I really don't feel like the Maz favors single-coils more than humbuckers. Maybe that perception is influenced by the whole Brad Paisley thing. I play a Les Paul and an ES-335 through mine more than anything else. I'm a long-time Marshall guy and am perfectly happy with the Maz. That said, when properly dialed in, the Maz is great with Strats and Teles, too. It's just a matter of adjusting the controls to optimize it to what's plugged in.

89custom

I just tryed one in GC threw a Marshall 4x12 and it just nailed that AC/DC Malcolm Young tone. Put a Fulltone OCD pedal in front and it went to Randy Rhoads. Cool sounding amp, but not loud enough for me.

cjp54

I was going to buy one until I heard the Komet K-19. The Maz 18 was definately a nice sounding amp but when played next to my K-19 it didn't do so well. Also, the Dr. Z 2x10's in the Maz 18 sounded dull and restricted. When we plugged the Maz Combo head into my Komet 1x12 bottom with a Heritage G12H30 (55hz) it sounded much better. More open and chimey. The Komet was much louder and had nicer breakup and harmonic content. No pedals were used with either amp. Both amps, to me, favored my Strat a bit but did well with Les Pauls also. I haven't tried an Alnico Blue with the K-19 but was told they sound incredible together.

1fastdog

I have a friend that owns a little shop and they carry the Z stuff.

They sound good with an LP but you have to do some careful knob twisting.

I love 18 watters, but prefer the one that sound good without fiddly adjustment.

The Z's I have played just love Tele's and probably the Z is a no brainer for in your face Telecasting.

For that sort of investment, it's gotta be better than just good after maximized tinkering.. Great is a better ticket and the Z stuff isn't great for a humbuckered guitar to my ears.

riscado

loud as heck... great tone! Loves strats, and with humbucker you can get some very nice marshally tones when cranked. I used mine with a open back 2x12" Z cab with two celestion alnico gold... I kept the cab with golds and sold the amp. Despite liking it I prefer my JMI ac15.

you can see a video of mine here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ultimatecrow#p/u/14/_jAebbnj0f0

MikeSlub

Thanks for all the feedback! I picked up a 2 x 10 combo version. As many here have mentioned, sounds killer with Tele's (my '52 blackguard sings through it), and also sounds great with Strats. Sounds good (although darker) with a Goldtop with P-90's. But, as many mentioned, haven't been able to dial in a humbucker sound to my satisfaction yet. Ordered some Celestion Alnico Gold's and hope those will improve the sound over the ceramic Dr. Z speakers that are in the amp. Will provide my impressions with a Les Paul after the speaker change, and maybe a tube change (I'm not a JJ fan). :hank

MikeSlub

Mike, Knowing some of the amps you have, I can't imagine you adding an amp like this???:hmm I owned a Maz Jr in a 1x12 with verb and it was a nice amp. I also bought some Mesa amps and a few others. They eventually were all sold to buy vintage. In the end, when it came time to pick an amp to play, I always went back to my vintage amp stash with NOS tubes. JMHO eace2

Mark, you're probably right, and I'll come back to my senses very soon, but at this moment I'm on a slight diversion, and having fun experimenting with different speakers and tubes in this amp. :laugh2: :salude :hank

MikeSlub

Well, I put the Celestion Alnico 10's in the amp today, and it's like taking a blanket off the amp! With humbuckers it sparkles, has great highs, tight lows, etc. And I understand these speakers need hours and hours of break-in time, yet it sounded like night and day as soon as I powered her up after changing the speakers! :dude: :hank

Does a Maz 18 Sound Good With a Celestion Blue Speaker

Any opinions on the Dr. Z Maz 18 Jr.?

0 Response to "Does a Maz 18 Sound Good With a Celestion Blue Speaker"

ارسال یک نظر

Iklan Atas Artikel

Iklan Tengah Artikel 1

Iklan Tengah Artikel 2

Iklan Bawah Artikel