[b-nads]

I recently took possession of a Dr Z Maz18NR - yes, I'm back and camp Z and it's there I'm gonna stay. Anyway, the amp had no speaker in it. It had some very nice glass, but no horn, so I've been trying to decide what to get for it. At that point I remembered having watched Josh Smith's demo of his signature model Eminence not long ago - the JS1250. Being a huge fan of Josh's playing and music - and his tone - I did some more reading up on it, and got some from helpful feedback from the crew at Emi as well as Josh himself. He plays a Princeton clone most of the time, but also runs a Vox (or the Morgan equivalent), and he said he was equally as happy with it through the AC as he was through the PR. It was designed as a combination of his favourite traits from his the favourite Eminence speakers - the bass of a Tone Spotter (but a little tighter), the clarity and power of the Wizard, and the highs and break-up of the Red Fang. I told Him I was putting it in a Maz18, and that I tended to EQ it for edge of break-up cleans in a more Fender camp - he said he doubted it would disappoint...

He wasn't wrong. I've run it for about 4 hours since installing it this afternoon - reasonable volumes since it's brand new. Already, it has a clarity and snap that is very fun to play...great feel. The lows are tight, and the mids seem focused on the lower range with no upper spike - right where I like it. The highs are crisp, with a very cool break up, much like pushing a Gold...only better...and I never thought I'd like a speaker more than the Gold.

I'm gonna put some more break-in time on it and see where things go, but already I'm more than impressed by this excellent sounding offering that Eminence out together with one of my favourite Tele slingers. The price is right, it's not crazy heavy, and it sounds like being bitch-slapped by a grand piano. ;-)

...and I'd remiss not to give another shout out to Jon and Kamil at NextGen for the excellent service and swift shipping..always a pleasure.

 

[b-nads]

Quick update:

One of the things about this speaker that Josh told me was it seems to break in quickly. He figured 2 or 3 gigs with it and it was noticeable. I've got about 4 hours total on it now at low to edge of break-up volume. I haven't noticed much yet, but the tone is still amazing and I'm still loving what I'm hearing thus far.

As far as pedals, the Maz18 is an established pedal platform, and the od's I've been using sound great. The Boiling Point is one of my favorites with a Maz, and I will say this speaker is a different beast - I used to set it in the up/middle position - open, lots of bass, transparent. With this speaker, either of the right toggle settings sound great, but it sounds best with the bass toggle down (cut) - there's plenty of bass there already and you don't need a pedal pushing more.