Opinions on the Dr Z Maz 38 Senior

[guitarman2]

I am on my way to pick up the 38 senior from L&M to try out for awhile. I've hears so much about these amps that I really want to give one a try. Currently I have a 2007 Fender Twin. I did try out the Mesa boogie LS special but found it had a hard time cutting through the mix in a medium sized club. I did love the tone though. Just for me I really do need the headroom that the twin gives me. I play a mix of new country and classic rock.
From what I have heard about this Dr Z amp it sounds like it would be the perfect amp for me, with a mix of Vox/fender black face tones as well as being unique unto it self. I sure do like what Brad Paisley gets out of the Dr Z's
My one problem is that I want to make sure that the 38 watts will offer enough clean head room for some of the sparkling cleanness I need on pedal steel type licks. To add to this the band I play with is on the loud side. I would easily find my Fender Twin between 4-6 using all 4 tubes.
However even if it couldn't keep up to the Fender Twin cleanness, it doesn't mean I would not keep this amp if I were to fall in love with the tone. I'd just keep both. I may anyway so I have a backup.
So I'm just wondering what some others think of this amp that have used or currently own it.

[zdogma]

Agreed. Very high quality amp, with lots of versatility. It doesn't have quite as much headroom as the twin, but its impressive for 38 watts. Are you able to try one out first?

[guitarman2]

Agreed. Very high quality amp, with lots of versatility. It doesn't have quite as much headroom as the twin, but its impressive for 38 watts. Are you able to try one out first?

Yes Long&Mcquade let me bring a new one home to try out for a few weeks. I played it last night at home and compared it side by side with my Fender Twin. I cranked both amps very loud and I have to agree. Surprisingly the Dr Z holds its own with the clean head room. I was able to get a very similar tone as the twin and had some great sounds running them in stereo. I actually found that even though I could get the amp to break up it was hard to get a overly saturated overdrive tone. The amp sounded very good with my Keeley compressor but with identical compressor settings from the Twin, it didn't sound like the Keeley was on at all. If I wanted to get more compression sounding with the Keeley I had to dial in more sustain. Basically the Keeley sounded more transparent on the Dr Z compared to the Twin. I am still waiting for Scott to get my Wampler Hotwired overdrive pedal to come in over at axeandyoushallrecieve. I expect that pedal to sound good on the Dr Z. I will most likely decide to keep the Dr Z so the important decision is whether to keep my Twin as well. I'm thinking that the Dr Z will have more than enough head room to satisfy what I need, unlike the Mesa Lonestar Special I tried out a couple of months ago. The only benefit I can see to keeping the Twin is to have a backup and to run in stereo if I so choose.
Playing around last night I found that the sweetest tone I got out of the Maz38 was playing with the middle strat pickup that I had installed in my Tele. Hmm, should I pick up a strat for this amp?

[zdogma]

You're asking if you need a strat? Of course!!

The Eric Johnson strat sounds great with this amp, but just about any strat will be very good.

[guitarman2]

One other observation about this amp. It seems to reveal the sloppy habits in my playing. Like my KZG players irons there is not much forgiveness.

[zdogma]

I did a lot of experimenting with pedals on my Maz38. It takes pedals very well. The best dirt pedals I found for the Maz were a Klon for low overdrive and a Crowther Hotcake for leads. The Klon has a bit of a mid-bump that the Maz likes. I'm not sure what was doing it with the Hotcake, but it just worked. At a lower price point, I also really like a Fulltone Fulldrive with the Maz.

Another lower priced boost that sounds great with the Maz is the TC Jaurnig Luxury Drive. It isn't really an overdrive more of a boost with a bit of fattening and compression. Agree about the Fulldrive, it works well with this amp.