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H-150 and Dr. Z Monza!


DonA

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Is anyone else here a big fan of amps like I am?  I think I might like them more than I like guitars!

Here's my favorite guitar and amp pairing these days.

This is a Dr. Z Monza that was built in 2011.  Dr. Z added a post phase inverter master volume control on the back.  It has a 10" Eminence Red Fang alnico speaker and can get pretty loud!
 
The only modification to my H-150 is that I rewired the tone capacitors to the output side of the tone pots to help retain clarity when I turn the guitar's volume down, and that's important with an amp like the Monza (all my amps, really).
 
This is not the most versatile setup- I have other amps that offer a bigger variety of sound, have as much gain as I need, and clean up better, but the tone!  This does a dry British blues/rock sound that even my Marshall JCM 800 and Avatar 45 can't beat.  Fat and dirty.  It's been called "Billy in a box" for it's ability to get early ZZ Top tones, but it covers more than that.  You can't see the amp's knobs here, but they're all at noon, except the PPIMV which is at about 9:00.
 
 

h-150_monza.jpeg

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7 hours ago, Jaguarguy said:

Some people might think this represents an amp problem - I don't think so.  But when you add the other two rooms maybe, just maybe ...... ?

(For some reason it won't let me upload pic - maybe it's too big?)

I had to reduce the size of my pic in order to upload it.

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I love amps, just am not in a situation to where I need (or can enjoy) a cranked tube amp. Fortunately, some of the newer modeling amps can sound quite respectable at very low volumes. I also have a 1w Marshall head that sounds pretty good at low volumes too.

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On 12/29/2021 at 10:57 AM, DonA said:

Is anyone else here a big fan of amps like I am?  I think I might like them more than I like guitars!

Here's my favorite guitar and amp pairing these days.

This is a Dr. Z Monza that was built in 2011.  Dr. Z added a post phase inverter master volume control on the back.  It has a 10" Eminence Red Fang alnico speaker and can get pretty loud!
 
The only modification to my H-150 is that I rewired the tone capacitors to the output side of the tone pots to help retain clarity when I turn the guitar's volume down, and that's important with an amp like the Monza (all my amps, really).
 
This is not the most versatile setup- I have other amps that offer a bigger variety of sound, have as much gain as I need, and clean up better, but the tone!  This does a dry British blues/rock sound that even my Marshall JCM 800 and Avatar 45 can't beat.  Fat and dirty.  It's been called "Billy in a box" for it's ability to get early ZZ Top tones, but it covers more than that.  You can't see the amp's knobs here, but they're all at noon, except the PPIMV which is at about 9:00.
 
 

h-150_monza.jpeg

I have felt that the amp is as or more important than the guitar. I also have a higher affection towards amps than guitars, though not much higher. 

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7 minutes ago, zguitar71 said:

I have felt that the amp is as or more important than the guitar. I also have a higher affection towards amps than guitars, though not much higher. 

It's the same for me.  I feel like guitars are sexier than amps, but amps are more intriguing.  Also, I'm blessed (cursed?) with the ability to build, repair, and modify amps as well, so that pulls me in even deeper.

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23 hours ago, DonA said:

It's the same for me.  I feel like guitars are sexier than amps, but amps are more intriguing.  Also, I'm blessed (cursed?) with the ability to build, repair, and modify amps as well, so that pulls me in even deeper.

Ah, we share the same abilities it looks like. I also dig into the internals of amps and fix them or change them though I have not fully built one yet. I feel the same in that having a more intimate knowledge of amps has made me very fond of them. 

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