Dr Z amps?

[I Am Odin]

Anyone ever try these? I finally found a shop where I live that is suppose to carry them so Im interested to give them a whirl. I know they are not the high gain set but Im looking for that bluesy thing...

[Cleveland Metal]

They are definitely bluesy. The company originated here and he's done work on both Bill's and my own amps...

They are not my cup of tea, but I feel they are very well made and high quality amps. I need more gain. But, they have tone, no doubt about that. Bill probably played more of them than I did. I'm sure he'll pop in.

[horns666]

I used to live at Mike's shop. I played with everyone of his creations. He does impeccable work. Absoutely quality..made one by one by hand...by one person. OK, maybe two people including Mike.

With that said his amps are NOT for me..He always had a TS-9 for me, and choice of Strat or LP to play. I know alot of blues guys love them and sound amazing with them. They rely on poweramp, compression and various tubes, speakers, cabinets to taste. I'm a "metal" guy that requires more preamp saturation.

There's a few Dr. Z amps fans here such as HippieTim maybe he'll chime in.

I should give him a call and see how he's doin'..it's been a while. Once I walked in and Joe Walsh was in there fuggin' around..what a super cool dude.

[fuel0707]

Dr. Z. sure has a great rep for his amps and a good number of high-profile endorsers. As Bill said, the Dr. Z.'s aren't really metal amps but if you are looking for bluesy tones and maybe something with a strong AC-30 vibe, Dr. Z. should be on the short list of amps to check out. Several guys at the Grosh forum are Z. addicts.

[Spivonious]

I've never played one, but I always hear how great of a blues amp they are.

[Rupe]

For pure tube tone, they are tops...absolutely awesome for "rootsier" styles like blues. They can really sing when you light them up, and they take pedals as well as anything out there.

[hippietim]

Dr. Z amps are flippin' fantastic. I've owned a couple Carmen Ghias - great blues amp. I had a Maz SR combo that was killer - my rig at the time was that amp, a Klon pedal, and a Korina Jackson Explorer - great classic rock rig.

But my favorite Dr. Z amp is the KT-45 - I think it's based on an old Hiwatt amp - great thick crunch tone at band volumes.

Having said that, if I were getting another roots rock/blues amp again I would buy a Germino Lead 55. I prefer the Marshall sound and nobody nails the vintage Marshall tone better than Greg Germino. The attention to detail is incredible - Greg is a monster player and has road tested his own amps for years.