Dr. Z Z-Best: The Morning After Review

[barrymclark]

Alright, the Dr. Z arrived yesterday. After a couple of hours of financial nail biting, I get to keep it! YAY!

 

Anyways, I will start by saying this is easily the finest quality guitar cab I have ever owned with regards to build. I have owned very high end bass gear (Demeter, Bag End, etc) but never high end guitar gear.

 

The cab is exactly as described by the guy I got it from: mint. I got the cab for $450 and the Dr. Z Brake Lite for $100 (also mint).

 

Two 12\" stock speakers are installed. They are a Celestion V30 and a Celestion G12H30. It is important to point out that this cab is specifically designed for those speakers using the Theile Porting method. I have never been a huge fan of Celestion untll now.

 

At a skimpy 60 lbs, this thing is BEEFY.

 

It is designed to be used in the vertical position but can also be laid flat for a pretty drastic change in tone. Since this cab is designed to give a VERY full range of tone from a guitar, with a hollowbody, it was a bit woofy for me. I laid it on its side and BINGO! Nice, nice, nice.

 

I will go further to say this cab is LOUD. HOLY CRAP IS IT LOUD!

 

Another fun aspect about this, and it isn\'t shocking, is the speaker break up. Since I hadn\'t used lower wattage speakers before now, I hadn\'t really known speaker break up before. I plugged my Cube 80x in and had it on my normal JC Clean setting and turned it up about halfway. I REALLY leaned into a beauty of a double stop and it REALLY had a beautiful break up.

 

Once my computer stops being a turd, I will upload some pics!

[golferwave]

Sounds like a great speaker combination - Enjoy!

[GuitArtMan]

I always thought it was designed to be used horizontal, but also had feet on it's side so it could be used vertical as well. Either way it's a killer sounding cabinet, and I will echo it's LOUDNESS! That Thiele port really moves some air. I've owned more than a few 2x12s through the years including:

Jenkins Highway 61 - Great midrangey sounding cabinet that put the guitar where it belonged in the mix.

Mesa Horizontal Recto 2x12 - Kinda boomy sounding as I remember it - HUGE bottom end.

Mesa Vertical Recto 2x12 - Great rock cabinet - big bottom end but not as boomy as the horizontal cab.

THD 2x12 - another great all around 2x12. A bit lighter and easier to handle than the Z-best.

Marshall 1966a - this is Marshall 2x12 slant cabinet that looks like a mini 4x12. It's a great sounding cab that is easy to manage as it's 24" square. Doesn't suffer from the boominess some of the larger 2x12s have.

Mather built Marshall 1966a replica - Better build quality than the Marshall - great sounding cab for rock and roll! I had this build as the used prices on the Marshall 1966a have gotten out of hand.

Z-best - Probably the best all around 2x12 I've tried. Sounds great clean, crunch or scream, loud. great full range sound, LOUD. The only niggle I have is size and weight - I'm getting old!

 

Anyway, enjoy the cabinet.

[barrymclark]

I always thought it was designed to be used horizontal' date=' but also had feet on it\'s side so it could be used vertical as well. Either way it\'s a killer sounding cabinet, and I will echo it\'s LOUDNESS! That Thiele port really moves some air. I\'ve owned more than a few 2x12s through the years including:

Jenkins Highway 61 - Great midrangey sounding cabinet that put the guitar where it belonged in the mix.

Mesa Horizontal Recto 2x12 - Kinda boomy sounding as I remember it - HUGE bottom end.

Mesa Vertical Recto 2x12 - Great rock cabinet - big bottom end but not as boomy as the horizontal cab.

THD 2x12 - another great all around 2x12. A bit lighter and easier to handle than the Z-best.

Marshall 1966a - this is Marshall 2x12 slant cabinet that looks like a mini 4x12. It\'s a great sounding cab that is easy to manage as it\'s 24\" square. Doesn\'t suffer from the boominess some of the larger 2x12s have.

Mather built Marshall 1966a replica - Better build quality than the Marshall - great sounding cab for rock and roll! I had this build as the used prices on the Marshall 1966a have gotten out of hand.

Z-best - Probably the best all around 2x12 I\'ve tried. Sounds great clean, crunch or scream, loud. great full range sound, LOUD. The only niggle I have is size and weight - I\'m getting old!

 

Anyway, enjoy the cabinet.[/quote']

 

That weight is BEASTLY. ...and it is LOUD. It isn\'t so big for me, just heavy...and LOUD. That port does indeed move some air. The bassist I jam with, Todd, felt the air moving his shirt until I got my volume worked out.

 

....LOUD.

[212Mavguy]

Barry!

 

 

YYAAAAAY!

[bolero]

nice, congrats!

[barrymclark]

This cabinet is ridiculous! Love it, love it! You oughta hear What a Wonderful World surfed and R&B\'ed up (OLD school R&B like early 50\'s) with a nice punk pace. Then Sleep Walk with one of the measures wound out. Great, great stuff!

[GuitArtMan]

That weight is BEASTLY. ...and it is LOUD. It isn\'t so big for me, just heavy...and LOUD. That port does indeed move some air. The bassist I jam with, Todd, felt the air moving his shirt until I got my volume worked out.

 

....LOUD.

It definitely moves some air! The V30/G12H30 combo in that cabinet really sounds great. I think it might have been the inspiration for other builders to mix speakers in their 2x12s.

[DetroitBlues]

while I love the volume and tone of larger cabinets, I have yet to find a need for one on stage or at rehersal.

[barrymclark]

while I love the volume and tone of larger cabinets, I have yet to find a need for one on stage or at rehersal.

Cause you are standing on the wrong side of it! haha. Your shirt will MOVE! It's a childish enjoyment, yes. but... SO. haha.

[DetroitBlues]

Cause you are standing on the wrong side of it! haha. Your shirt will MOVE! It's a childish enjoyment, yes. but... SO. haha.

 

Very true, that is a lot of fun...