# Dr.Z anyone?



## cale0906 (Apr 15, 2006)

What are you thoughts on Dr.Z amps? In particular the Maz 18 Head, anybody play these amps?

J


----------



## Vally (Aug 18, 2016)

I’m interested in hearing some feedback also


----------



## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

I have had my Maz Jr since 1999. A lot of other amps have come and gone since then. Just a great sounding amp.


----------



## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

These are my two Z’s. I would like a few more of the Dr’s amps.









The Monza is one of first made, and now that model is discontinued. At 20 Watts, it truly has the heart of a Marshall stack, and then some. It needs no pedals. The Maz 18R was built in 2012, and I bought it from my local L&M, very early 2014. I knew from the first jagged strum it had to go home with me. They are nothing alike. Both are impressive in their own ways. I would love to get the PPIMV mods done on both. Both can get very loud, and are very expressive. The Monza has a 10” Alnico Red Fang, the Maz has a Celestion G12H30. Both have Brake Lite units installed, and I often use both speakers, with either amp.

Lots of good amps out there to choose from. These two will be hard to part with.

The amp on top of the Monza, is my 1968 Fender Vibro Champ. So you can get an idea about the size of the amps. They are hefty, and well built.


----------



## Vally (Aug 18, 2016)

Thanks for the write up. I’m keeping my eye out for a Maz 18 head.


----------



## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

Maybe post a WTB on the trade/sell section? If you haven't already that is.


----------



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

That was my first Z, great amp! Good pedal platform, plemty loud.

I setted on a Maz 8 for home use.


----------



## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

I really liked the Maz 18, I had both a head and a combo (both non reverb versions) and I also had the big brother, the Maz 38. 

I preferred the head with a 212 cab-great sound on its own, and a superb pedal platform. Great tone stack, try all the tone knobs maxed for more crunch and a gain boost.


----------



## TimH (Feb 4, 2006)

Yeah I love Z's amps. Tough as nails and toneful. Interesting circuits too so never really a clone of anything but familiar if you're into vintage style amps.

That being said make sure you try before you buy. The Maz18 is a wonderful amp but maybe different than you'd expect. It's more stiff and round than a Vox for instance. It has some Fender blended in there is a unique way. It's louder than you think. So yeah, awesome but you should make sure you spend time with one to make sure it's made for you and you for it.


----------



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

The Dr Z amps I've owned, Carmen Ghia head, Maz 38 head, Stangray head with 2X12 Dr Z open back loaded with celestion Blues, Maz 38 2X12 combo and Mazerati V2 2x12 combo. As well I owned a 2X12 Zbest theil ported cabinet.
I've also owned the Dr Z Zverb and a Z brake.
They were all fabulous amps and were my first journey in to boutique amps. 
I have since sold them off. At the time I used them I was in very loud bands and these are all loud amps. I did try the Z brake to tame them but in my opinion the Z brake isn't a very good attenuator and affected to tone greatly. Its completely inferior to Tone Kings Iron Man.
My favorite Z amp was the Stangray with the 2X12 celestion blues. Fantastic big fat cleans, very voxy as a lot of the Z amps are (the ones I owned). If I were to own any of those amps now it would be the Carmen Ghia. Just a beautiful amp and very simple. For me I'd pair it with either a 1x12 or 2x12 cabinet loaded with celestion blues.
My least favorites are the Maz 18\38 amps. Trying to be versatile do the Fender\Vox\Marshall thing, in my opinion don't really do any of them well. Althought the Maz 18 is one of their most popular amps so this is strictly my opinion. I used these amps up till about 7 or 8 years ago. I used them during a period of heavy gigging probably for about 8-9 years. I never had any problems with them from a reliability standpoint.
For me my favorite speaker to use with the Dr Z amps was the celestion blue. Used it with the v2 Mazerati, Carmen Ghia and Stangray.


----------



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

zdogma said:


> I really liked the Maz 18, I had both a head and a combo (both non reverb versions) and I also had the big brother, the Maz 38.
> 
> I preferred the head with a 212 cab-great sound on its own, and a superb pedal platform. Great tone stack, try all the tone knobs maxed for more crunch and a gain boost.


Not sure if you found this but with the Maz 38 reverb head that I owned, it was very noisy when the reverb was dialed up. The more you turned up the reverb the noisier it got. I was concerned something was wrong. When I talked to Mike Zaite about it he told me its just a side effect of having the reverb tank so close in tight with everything in a head. I took him at his word and lived with it for a bit before unloading it.
I've since owned a couple of heads with reverb, including an Allen Old Flame head with a 3 knob tube reverb. It wasn't noisy at all and the reverb was beautiful. I wonder if the current Maz amp heads are still noisy.


----------



## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

guitarman2 said:


> Not sure if you found this but with the Maz 38 reverb head that I owned, it was very noisy when the reverb was dialed up. The more you turned up the reverb the noisier it got. I was concerned something was wrong. When I talked to Mike Zaite about it he told me its just a side effect of having the reverb tank so close in tight with everything in a head. I took him at his word and lived with it for a bit before unloading it.
> I've since owned a couple of heads with reverb, including an Allen Old Flame head with a 3 knob tube reverb. It wasn't noisy at all and the reverb was beautiful. I wonder if the current Maz amp heads are still noisy.


I had the non reverb version, so I didn't have that issue, but I agree that should be something that can be engineered out. I have heard the same complaint from other builders, but it seems that some are better at fixing that issue than others. My Matchless head has reverb and it is quiet. I do get a little noise if the master is turned down and the gain is very high, but that's about it.


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

How did this thread get no replies for 13.5 years?


----------



## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Yeah I'm not sure how Vally found this one. I guess when it was originally posted people didn't have much experience with them, now that Long and Mac carries them they arent such a rarity.


----------



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

zdogma said:


> Yeah I'm not sure how Vally found this one. I guess when it was originally posted people didn't have much experience with them, now that Long and Mac carries them they arent such a rarity.


When I first started buying Dr Z amps Long and Mcquade was just starting to carry them. A couple of the Z amps I purchased directly from Dr Z.


----------



## markxander (Oct 24, 2009)

I've had the carmen ghia in my profile pic pretty much this entire 13.5 years and it's been the only amp I own for years at a time. I guess I've had a lot of opportunity to answer OP's question...


----------



## Vally (Aug 18, 2016)

Budda said:


> How did this thread get no replies for 13.5 years?


I did a search looking for opinions and sure enough I found something from 13 years ago, no one had responded at that time so I resurfaced it.


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Vally said:


> I did a search looking for opinions and sure enough I found something from 13 years ago, no one had responded at that time so I resurfaced it.


And that makes total sense.

The fact no one answered at time of creation does not haha.


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

I went out on a limb and bought a Dr. Z EMS amp from @bluehugh2. It is a box packed with Essential Marshall Sounds. Build quality is stellar. Tone is awesome. Couldn’t be happier. I am a little confused as to why the amp isn‘t way more popular.


----------



## sillyak (Oct 22, 2016)

I recently got a Carmen Ghia head. I've had the Z-Best for about a year. The Ghia is a great amp. Just simple, sit down and find a great tone in about 30 seconds and just play!


----------



## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

If you can hold out for few more days, NAMM will have the new Z-Wreck Jr.....


----------



## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

SOLD! The Z Wreck is a killer amp, but no master and it gets super fizzy when you use an attenuator, so hard to use.

I also notice an extra knob, maybe PPI master volume?


----------



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

zdogma said:


> SOLD! The Z Wreck is a killer amp, but no master and it gets super fizzy when you use an attenuator, so hard to use.
> 
> I also notice an extra knob, maybe PPI master volume?


If you were using the Z brake on it, I found that was the issue I had on the amps I used it with. A Maz 38 and a Stangray. And overall just didn't do good things with the tone. They all sing the praises of it over at the Z forum but in my opinion it doesn't come any where near what the Tone King Iron Man attenuator does. I use it clicked down very low and it does not mess with the tone at all. Even down to the lowest power setting the only negative is that the speaker isn't working at all.


----------



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Carmen Ghi is one of my favorite Z amps. I'd sure like to own another one. Not so much for the Z best cab though. It was a great sounding cabinet but I could never use it anywhere. Very long throw. I couldn't hear it on stage but it would blow out the back of the room.


----------



## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Yes, I have one and I find the same thing. Closed back cabs in general tend to be that way but its particularly noticeable with the Z. That said it sounds great in bigger venues like a theatre or a church hall and the new one is really light for a closed back 212. I have this and a Friedman 212 closed back and the Friedman is at least 10-15 pounds heavier. I also switched out the V30 for a greenback, which makes it sound a lot less aggressive.


----------



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

The Stang Ray has been one of the best amps I have ever owned, just so very loud. I tried to tame it with a couple of attenuators and it hated me for trying. I also gave the M12 a try and want it back for a little while longer. A few other Z's passed through the door, most were on loan, including a 2x12 Maz. The Maz was nice but their reverb was noisy as already has been mentioned. I tried a few out and the same problem with all of em. I'd like to give the Z28 a try this year, passed on one a few years ago and I still kick myself cuz it was a great deal. a few pics for the thread


----------



## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

I just got my first Dr. Z over the holidays. I ended up getting a Z28 head and absolutely love it. Some people think that it's a bit like a brown Deluxe, but I personally think it has something completely different going on, especially with that EF86 front end. 

It's also the first amp that I've ever owned where I've really enjoyed just plugging straight in. At the moment, I have a couple of different cabs to give me whatever flavour I'm looking for - a 2x12 loaded with a Creamback and UK V30, and a 1x12 with a Gold Alnico.

@vadsy you're always welcome to shoot out the Z28 with your Stang Ray etc.

As for that Z-Wreck 18...WOW!


----------



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Big thanks. @TWRC 

Did you by chance get the 28 off Brian?


----------



## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

vadsy said:


> Big thanks. @TWRC
> 
> Did you by chance get the 28 off Brian?


Not directly. He consigned it at Stang, and I picked it up from them. Was this the same Z you passed on?


----------



## sillyak (Oct 22, 2016)

vadsy said:


> Big thanks. @TWRC
> 
> Did you by chance get the 28 off Brian?


Was that the fellow who had it on kijiji a couple months ago?

I messaged him and it took him 4 or so days to get back to me so I passed it up for the Carmen Ghia.


----------



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

TWRC said:


> Not directly. He consigned it at Stang, and I picked it up from them. Was this the same Z you passed on?


I see. 

I doubt it was that one but you never know. I passed on a used one at L&M several years ago.


----------



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

sillyak said:


> Was that the fellow who had it on kijiji a couple months ago?
> 
> I messaged him and it took him 4 or so days to get back to me so I passed it up for the Carmen Ghia.


That was him, probably. He works some different schedules so maybe that’s why. I’ve done many deals with him and he’s a great dude.


----------



## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

Hmmm, it might not be if it was posted on Kijiji. I just assumed that mine was one of Brian's amps. 

My Z28 was the same one Stang had in their rental area for the last year or so.


----------



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

I’m pretty sure that was still him. He used both avenues to sell, rent, consign, etc. Dude has a ton of nice gear


----------



## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

Yeah, he has incredible gear! I kinda wish I had ponied up the dollars for his Matchless Lightning.


----------



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

I know he’s sold off a lot but I had a spreadsheet from when he was renting fairly regularly and it was a very cool list. He’s a member here so maybe he can chime in


----------



## Festus McCorkindale (Dec 17, 2017)

I bought the Z-Plus last year looking for that pre-blackface Fender Tweed tone, but with a usable Master and an effects loop. It is great! Even the Reverb sounds great on it (not too noisy when turned up). I mostly play at home (not with a drummer) so I can’t discuss how well this thing keeps up with a band, but it certainly has great tone at moderate volume. I don’t think I will ever let it go.


----------



## Crabby (Mar 25, 2017)

I’m a Z nut and have had a bunch of models. Many are just way too loud to enjoy at home but they have some fantastic amps. This is one of my favourites. The Jaz 20/40 is now discontinued but reissued as the Z-Lux. Not an overly loud amp at all and very lush with a gorgeous breakup, and fantastic reverb and trem with no noise. I don’t actually use both cabs at once but just stacked them for the photo as the red ones are always the coolest!


----------

