Dr. Z Maz 18 NR Head

[Fuggle]

I am going to pick up a Maz 18 NR head tonight from a guy who sold it to me on e-bay. Got a great deal. Can't wait to try it out, I hear they are amazing. It will make a great backup to the VM and will work well for smaller gigs open mics etc. where I can bring it along with a 1 x 12. It is 22 lbs and should be a little more portable.

I also want to try running it into one side of my 425a and see what tonal possibilities there are with playing both the VM and the DR. in stereo.

I will report back once I have tried it all out. Any members have experience with the Maz 18?
:rocker

[surfnorthwest]

Any of the Z amps are worthy of any collection. I have played only 4 of them and each one was great. I have the EZG 50. You will love it.

[Spotted Dog]

I believe Faze has or had the Maz Jr. I have the good fortune of owning the Carmen Ghia (a two knob wonder box) and the Galaxie (tweed twin meets JCM 800), both are incredibly articulate and touch sensitive, and respond to guitar pot tweaking. If I remember correctly the Maz Jr. NR is their best selling amp of all time. Congrats, no doubt a love story is in the making.

[slowpokerhino]

BNS has one also. Both have the combo though.

[BNS]

Congrats Fuggle. I have had a Maz 18 NR combo for a couple of years and I am very happy with it. It is my go-to amp when I play out because for some reason it works well with just about every style of music. It sounds like you've done your research so I won't bother telling you all the sounds you can get from it, but I will say that while it is versatile it still sounds like the Maz no matter how you set it. The cut control and the tone controls also work very well to tailor your sound, and they sound great even when you dial them all the way back or all the way up, so you should definitely experiment. Also, don't let the 18 watts fool you, it is extremely loud (my perception is that it is louder than the VM which I know isn't correct but that's what my ears tell me).

Mine has a Celestion Blue in the cabinet which gives it a lot of bite and really cuts through the mix. Because the tone controls work so well, I can use it with a strat or my P90 guitar and by turning back the treble or adjusting the cut control it takes all the harshness out and keeps it smooth. With my LP I usually dime all the tones and dial back the cut, add a touch of OCD and I can get violin (Bonamassa) tones which are great.

There is a page on the Dr Z forum that has the members' favourite settings categorized by style. I've tried them all and there are some that are really good so you should check that out.

[Fuggle]

Thanks guys. I picked it up Thursday night and so far have played my LP and Strat into it directly. The guy also had an airbrake for sale and I picked one up cheap and works great so far and seems to keep the tone in tact up to 3 clicks out of 4 (although I have not run it through its paces).

My first impressions are "simply amazing" . Huge sound - lots of punch, bottom end, more chime than the VM but less gain on tap. With the strat it is a "blues machine" . It seems to have a lot more clean head room than I expected but you can get some really aggressive growl if you need it. It is warm, articulate and really shows off my lack of technique well! With the LP i get to AC/DC territory quickly. I also have quenched my thirst for a Fender Tweed blues sound - it seems to get close but with more gain on tap.

I am away for the weekend and have not tried any pedals with it yet so I will report back later. Also I have a Mesa Boogie 1/12 that has a Black Shadow speaker in it. I may want to replace with a Celestion Blue or Gold (Gold may be better so I can run my VM 2266 through it without frying it). Surf, I know you have exhaustively studied the Gold so I would appreciate insight here.

At 22 lbs it is light and with a 1/12 I can grab and go to open mic sessions and blues jams easily. The VM is great but lugging it around is a chore and not conducive to spontaneous jams.

Anyway, with my VM and the MAZ 18NR I am getting all the tones I need (for now). I am n tonal heaven!