Low Watt GAS: Aiken*THD*Fulton-Webb*Dr. Z

[velcro-fly]

GASsing for some low wattage goodness...played a new Cobra through a THD Flexi 50 into a Bogner Oversize 2x12 yesterday and just about freaked:eek: Mostly what it did was convince me I need a Cobra....the amp wasn't that big a suprise, but the combo of the two ruled. Still - the amp was a bit much. FWIW - I've got a Bogner Ecstacy 101b that's my "a bit much " gauge, and just sold my Splawn 1987x to fund this GAS attack.

Others I'm strongly considering are :

* Aiken Tomcat or Invader
* Fulton - Webb 17 watt Plexi (two channels!!!)
* Mojave
* Dr. Z Carmen Ghia or Maz 18

Any insight from people who've had experience with these? Comments or recomendations are appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve E

[pluto]

Steve, I've owned the Maz 18 and Flexi. Both are different-the Maz is more of a Vox meets Fender with a little bit of Marshall whereas the Flexi is like a tighter late 70's JMP. I liked the Flexi better because I prefer Marshall type amps. It surprisingly had nice cleans. My only complaint about the Flexi was that it was a little harsh on the distortion side. I had a hard time smoothing it out, but I didn't really try using fx like reverb or delay with it. The Maz was alright-I liked it better with single coil guitars, but generally speaking, I don't really care for those low watt cathode biased EL-84 amps. Too thin sounding for me. The cleans were really nice though-sounded a lot like my old AC-15, but better. The reverb wasn't all that inspiring however. Good luck though-I hear great things about the Aiken stuff. I want to try out the Sabre. Oh yeah-(edit)-I think Leonc on this board has played or owned quite a bit of the amps you listed-if he doesn't respond here, go to the gearpage forum where he usually hangs out.

[sylvanshine]

Steve-

Like you I'm an Ecstasy player. I also own a Route 66 which is great. It takes pedals really well. I hit it with a FDII and it gets into Bogner territory but with a little more compression on the front end of notes. I sat mine on top of a Bogner cube and it fits perfectly. Warning though, just because it's low wattage doesn't mean it's not loud. I had to get an Airbrake just to make the 66 usable.

[LeonC]

I recently got to A/B the Mojave Coyote with my Aiken Tomcat. Here's my attempt at an objective comparisson:

- Tomcat has more sparkly top-end...somewhere between Fender and Matchless C30s...but not exactly like either.
- Tomcat has much more of a midrange-orientation when overdriven
- Tomcat has noticably more gain
- Coyote has more much bigger low-end. Much. It's orientations is more towards lows and mids, but there is definitely some sparkle in the highs...but not nearly as much as the Tomcat
- The Mojave's sound is tighter and bigger. This thing does not sound the least bit like a 12W amp. It sounds like its thundering bigger brothers from Mojave.
- The Tomcat comes with an attenuator built-in. The Mojave Coyote doesn't but worked extremely well at very low volumes with a THD Hotplate. And if low volume is what you have in mind, you'll need the Hotplate.
- Both are about equally responsive and sensitive to picking and guitar dynamics, and both are excellent in this regards.
- To do higher gain stuff with either amp, you'll need a good OD pedal. The Tomcat LOVES pedals and absolutely screams with a good OD or boost pedal in front...long sustain, singing harmonic feed-back, etc. all easily atainable with a good pedal. I didn't get to try any pedals in front of the Coyote, but it would most definitely need a good OD to really get higher gain type sounds out of it. I'd love to get a chance to try that as I've heard that the Coyote performs excellently with pedals.

I came very close to buying the Coyote, and I probably will buy one one day. It's a tremendous amp, IMO. But the Tomcat's cleans and mild breakup sounds just slay me. I'm really into chimey, sparkly cleans...but I do love a big, solid low-end thump for higher gain stuff and the Coyote has really got this going on. I don't think you can go wrong with either one, it's just a question of your personal taste and what's more important to you. I think the Coyote is a few hundres dollars more too, and that is a consideration for most folks.

[LeonC]

BTW, the Aiken Tomcat's attenuator is excellent, a bit improvement over the attenuators that were used in the old Invaders, IMO.

I have no experience with the Fulton Webb. The Dr Z's are nice and are a good value, but don't do that much for me. Seem kind of "plain" sounding. They're also quite loud and will also require attenuation unless you're just looking for a rehearsal or small gig amp.

[pluto]

Originally posted by LeonC
BTW, the Aiken Tomcat's attenuator is excellent, a bit improvement over the attenuators that were used in the old Invaders, IMO.

I have no experience with the Fulton Webb. The Dr Z's are nice and are a good value, but don't do that much for me. Seem kind of "plain" sounding. They're also quite loud and will also require attenuation unless you're just looking for a rehearsal or small gig amp.

Leon-I knew you would come through on this thread! My bud JATO (Dr. Steve) says you're a big gear whore, and that says a lot coming from him! BTW-Agreed on the Z-I've owned the Maz 18 and 6545 and played the Route 66 and Maz 38. To me, they lack a distinct character.

[velcro-fly]

Thanks for all the input you guys!

I actually had a long chat with Randall Aiken today - what a cool character :D I think the Tomcat is going to get the call to duty...furthermore, I'm strongly considering selling my Ecstacy and buying a Sabre :eek: :eek: :D

And in further liquidation news, I'm selling another "*" guitar to fund a Cobra...both the Tomcat and the T.A. Cobra are going to be equipped with the Stealth chip to fly under and avoid detection of the WIFE RADAR, a Defense System that is finely tuned.

Steve E

[LeonC]

Originally posted by velcro-fly
Thanks for all the input you guys!

I actually had a long chat with Randall Aiken today - what a cool character :D I think the Tomcat is going to get the call to duty...furthermore, I'm strongly considering selling my Ecstacy and buying a Sabre :eek: :eek: :D

And in further liquidation news, I'm selling another "*" guitar to fund a Cobra...both the Tomcat and the T.A. Cobra are going to be equipped with the Stealth chip to fly under and avoid detection of the WIFE RADAR, a Defense System that is finely tuned.

Steve E

Pluto - say hi to Dr J for me!! He's a great guy, an excellent player and one of my best online buds!

Steve E - congrats dude!!! You are going to love that guitar and amp. Man, what a killer combo. Love my Cobra!! And my Tomcat. Get a good pedal and a 1x12 with a G12H30 in it and you've got a great low volume solution. Actually, I play my Tomcat through a Bogner Shiva ported 1x12 (with a mesa Black Shadow which can take 80w--that way, I can use the cab with some of my other amps too) and that thing sounds great; excellent low end.

I'd love to try a Sabre. I love Randall's amps. The guy has really great ears and his work is just top notch. And on top of all that, like Tom, he's a great down to earth guy who is quite approachable and always willing to help.

And...good luck gettin in under the radar. You gotta fly real low heheh.

[velcro-fly]

Hey guys -

For the moment it looks like my low watt GAS is going to be taken care of.....found a Fargen Mini Plexi 8/12 watt shooter that should be fun...tone report to follow. Without a doubt there's Aiken stuff in my future though.

Also, Pluto - I discovered the Vox AC30 for the first time yesterday and was pretty blown away...curious as to what you thought about your AC15 as the AC30 was still waaaaay over the top in terms of the volume you had to get it at to sing...my 101b covers that just fine:D

Steve E

[ToneLounge]

Hey Leon - did I read somewhere you had Randall do a "low end" mod/addition to your Tomcat?

If so, what was done and what's the difference between yours and a stock Tomcat?

Thanks,
Brian

[LeonC]

Yup, I asked Randall if he could modify my #10 so that there was a bass boost which could be turned on/off like the treble boost switch. He went off and did just that. Turns out it was more involved than he thought because it meant he had to re-voice the boost function a bit...and this led to one or two other changes.

Ultimately, however, he liked it so much that every subsequent Tomcat has been made with bass boosted, like mine is when the bass switch is on. If you want an early one retro-fitted I think it's quite inexpensive (free?) to have the circuit re-done, but w/o the switch. If you want the switch too, like I have, then I'm pretty sure he charges something because it's a bit more work. But you need to check with him for all the details.

[pluto]

Originally posted by velcro-fly
Hey guys -

For the moment it looks like my low watt GAS is going to be taken care of.....found a Fargen Mini Plexi 8/12 watt shooter that should be fun...tone report to follow. Without a doubt there's Aiken stuff in my future though.

Also, Pluto - I discovered the Vox AC30 for the first time yesterday and was pretty blown away...curious as to what you thought about your AC15 as the AC30 was still waaaaay over the top in terms of the volume you had to get it at to sing...my 101b covers that just fine:D

Steve E

Whoops, sorry braddah Steve, didn't see this post till now. The AC-15 was pretty good. As you know, it has a master volume, but doesn't the AC30HW have a master too? It did the Beatles thing to a T, took pedals somewhat pretty well, and wasn't the heavy back breaking beast the AC30 is. After I sold it, the person who bought it had some problems with it however. I can't remember what happened, but I think it was constantly blowing fuses and it was not because of bad tubes. I felt bad, but it was working 100% properly before I sold it.

[velcro-fly]

Originally posted by pluto
Whoops, sorry braddah Steve, didn't see this post till now. The AC-15 was pretty good. As you know, it has a master volume, but doesn't the AC30HW have a master too? It did the Beatles thing to a T, took pedals somewhat pretty well, and wasn't the heavy back breaking beast the AC30 is. After I sold it, the person who bought it had some problems with it however. I can't remember what happened, but I think it was constantly blowing fuses and it was not because of bad tubes. I felt bad, but it was working 100% properly before I sold it.

Hey Mark -

Yeah, I've heard that about the Vox's....we'll see...

The Fargen showed today - cool little amp...I think it sounds best in the 60's mode with the master running much hotter than the actual volume. Ran my Fulldrive II into it and it was a killer little tone....emphasis on the world 'little'...then again, I'm used to my Bogner 101b, and that still sounds huge even at a low volume.

The bigger issue is that the WIFE RADAR was on hyper alert this afternoon as I was sneaking it into the house - first thing into the room "I thought you sold your Marshall, whats that thing???" After I explained what it was, her reply was "well get that Fargen thing outta here...." pretty classic - gotta admit....never argue with a pregnant woman :D

I'm in sort of an amp funk at the moment - dont know if it's the answer, but I think I'm leaning towards selling the Fargen and the Bogner 101b and getting an Aiken Sabre...if nothing else it will look like I've still only got one amp in the gear room ;)

Steve E

[pluto]

Wife Radar!!!!! Dang, that's too funny, brah. Pregnant wife, huh? Congratulations! One keiki goin' make da ohana biggah! Anyway, yeah, that vox was alright until I sold it. Typical 90's Marshall Milton Keynes reliability! Let us know how the Fargen goes-I've heard great things about that little amp. Just don't sell the Bogner though-I think you'll regret it.

[velcro-fly]

Fargen Update -

Cool little amp with a ton of potential. Needs a pedal to get it up to any real kind of grind, but does exactly what it's advertised to do - sound like a midget Plexi. The 60's setting on the Decade switch sounds best. The biggest suprise for me is how killer it sounds clean - without a doubt the clean tones smoke my Bogner 101b (I know, that aint saying much:p )

The best set up so far has been: Anderson HDTC into Fargen, amp set at 8 watts, running into the low power jack, Decade switch on 60's, master at 3:00, volume at 12:00, treble 11:00, mid 2:00, bass 2:00 - into bogner Oversize 2x12 w/ Greenbacks. The clean tones I'm getting are really suprising - just bouncy dripping cleans, very touch sensitive....

Now - the grind it gets works best on the 12 watt setting, with the master dimed and the volume at no more than 3:00 , same tone settings. Past 3:00 with the volume it farts out a bit.

In the end though - my Bogner at the same volume just destroys this little thing in the crunch tone dept. - big suprise. Thats with my Fulldrive II running into the Fargen as well (which didn't do alot for me BTW) But on the other hand, again I think the cleans on the Fargen smoke the Bogner at any volume....hmmmmmm.

Neat little amp, glad I got to check it out, but it probably aint gonna hang out too long....I smell a Tomacat and possibly a Sabre lurking in the shadows and I've disabled the wifes radar with breakfast in bed and a bunch of yardwork :D

Steve E

[velcro-fly]

Originally posted by LeonC
Steve E - congrats dude!!! You are going to love that guitar and amp. Man, what a killer combo. Love my Cobra!! And my Tomcat. Get a good pedal and a 1x12 with a G12H30 in it and you've got a great low volume solution. Actually, I play my Tomcat through a Bogner Shiva ported 1x12 (with a mesa Black Shadow which can take 80w--that way, I can use the cab with some of my other amps too) and that thing sounds great; excellent low end.


Leon -

Any thoughts on the Tomcat vs. a Vox AC15???

Steve E

[LeonC]

No...it's been too long since I played an AC15 to remember. Sorry.

[velcro-fly]

*Low Watt Update*

Scored a 15 watt Bogner Metropolis head....

First impressions? Wow:D Killer little head, love the reverb, love the schizo switch.

Playing it through a Bogner oversize 2x12, need to try it through something with Vox like speakers....this head loves my Hollow Drop Top Classic, just drips with the neck pickup (stacked single coil).

I cranked it up a bit and ran the Les Paul through it and was just loving it - this is a versatile little amp, and so far a great companion to my Ecstacy...

More to come...

Steve E

[Wbb]

In regard to Dr Z Maz Jr/Sr vs Aiken Invader, here is what Gretchen Wilson's guitarist wrote yesterday:


In search for another amp to add to the arsenal for more tonal colors, I was fortunate enough to try each of these amps over the past week in live situations.
My friend Tony King, who plays guitar with Brooks & Dunn, offered to let me use his Dr. Z MAZ Sr on a show last week, as we have been spending the last couple of months opening for them & Montgomery Gentry.
Tony's MAZ Sr. is a 210 version, and sounded absolutely stellar. I use my amps as a clean platform, and add pedals for whichever sound I need for the song.
The Z gave the perfect balance of clean tone with some edge. But even when pushed, the amp retained excellent clarity for clean Tele tones. The bottom end also remained tight, which I have to admit I was a little surprised at with the 2 10" configuration.
I was also amazed at how much headroom the little beast had. We are working a small arena (about 7,000 capacity) in Nevada, and our front-of-house man actually told me he could hear the amp on stage even during sound check with the full PA on. Definitely had some serious cut, but plenty of warmth as well.
Cleans were great, and lead tones were superb with Tele, Strat, or Les Paul.
Definitely gets an A+ in my book, especially when comparing it with VERy similar designs that I've been able to use over the last few months (including Matchless & Bad Cat)......Amazing that the Z's are 1/2 the price of the aforementioned amps, and suffer virtually NO difference in quality.
So before I decided "I've GOT to have it," I had a friend bring his Aiken 2 X 12 Invader for me to use at a show we did in Greenville, SC.
FAT, FAT, FAT!!!!!
This amp just oozes with bottom end and *power.*
When not using the attenuator and keeping the volume at about 11-12 o'clock, the amp was simply *overpowering*, even on a big, outdoor stage. Ended up turning the amp around and baffling it, since we are on ear monitors. Gave the FOH guy a little more room to crank it in the mains.
Big time vintage Marshall vibe, but with excellent top end clarity as well. Definitely not designed to be a crystal clean amp, it still sounded great on traiditonal country stuff in Gretchen's show....even on ballads. Although, I must say the clean tones had a bit more hair than the Z. Tele & Strat sounded awesome through it, but the amp just went into a frenzy with the Les Paul. Definitely the most *balls-y* tone I've even had on a country gig.....LOL
So the deciding factor on which I would choose went to this...
I've got a '66 Deluxe Reverb that I love. I was mainly looking for something to run along with the BF Deluxe that would compliment it nicely, but give a slightly different color.
We are doing a 15-20 arena tour in Novemeber & December with Big & Rich, and I really wanted to get a cool two-amp rig going in time for the tour. And since I planned on using the amps *together*, as opposed to A/B, I decided on the Dr.Z.
Although, instead of the 210 MAZ Sr, I decided on the 210 MAZ Jr. I e-mailed Dr.Z and told him how I wanted to use the amp, and he agreed that a '66 BF Deluxe and a 210 MAZ Jr. would be a perfect match.
So I ordered it today, and hopefully it will be done by Nov. 1.
Even if not, I'm excited about the tonal range of the old Fender and the Z together. Should be about as versatile rig as one could hope for.
In addition, I also have a Gibson GA-60RV Goldtone that sounds good as well for situations where I need more clean headroom. I'm waiting on a pair of Weber speakers right now for it (Blue Dog & Silver Bell), which will make it a good amp to have in the arsenal as well.
So if you are looking for a Class A boutique amp, you can't go wrong with either the Aiken or the Z. I'd say if you lean more towards gain & humbuckers, go with the Aiken. If Tele & Strat sparkle is what you are after, it's hard to beat Dr.Z

JC