Dr. Z lists the pros and cons of combo amps and weighs them against a head amp and speaker cab configuration. Announcing the new Z Wreck Jr. and the JETTA head... www.drzamps.com
Hi Doc; You left out my favorite reason why someone might prefer a head over a combo. Anyone who sits, (like me as a pedal steel player), and who hates standing and running back to the speaker line every time they want to change the reverb intensity or eq or volume, loves the ability to sit and do it all from the chair!! :) Thanks for a great amp; can't wait for gigs to return so I can milk those tubes!
Being new to heads, I purchased a H&K 212 that has celestion vintage 30s. Being essentially industry standard i can buy any head and know its going to sound good through the cab. The Jetta is on my list.
Great! Thank you!! I use head/cab, for a different tone, and venue shape/size. Mojotone built my cabs, the 2- 1X12 are solid pine and the 1X12 is poplar ply. Alnico Blue, vintage 30, and alnico cream back respectively. It's 4/22 now, and I will have a Z Wreck JR as soon as they are available again!! I have 9 amps now, most are going away!! I found all I need in the Jr.!!! Thanks much!! --gary
It would be nice for all of us to share Dr z's videos with your friends, we love that Dr z is so knowledgeable and has the kindness to share it with us and takes the time to answer questions. Would be nice to get far more followers to support the channel.
Another advantage of using a head over a combo is less chance of power amp tube rattle, especially in the compact. Combos, I have a Magnatone combo and Dr. Z combo in Magnatone suffers from tube rattle , but when I play it through a different cabinet, no tube rattle. but too expensive EL 84 tubes they sounded like a salt pepper shaker right out of the box tube, sound fine other than the rattle it wouldn’t matter much if it was in a head
With devices like UA OX box and others I think you’re going to see a lot of players steer more towards heads rather than combos in future. REALLY wanting a Z Wreck Jr!!
I enjoyed watching this as it goes a bit deeper in the comparison between the two. One comment I don't believe I heard or read before was the negative on combos with the tubes co-resident within the same speaker cabinet (pressure, vibration). I'm curious to know how significant of an issue this could be in terms of the estimated lifespan of the tubes? I'm in the market for an amp and am considering both options however this data point makes me curious to know how much of an impact it really is. Thanks again for posting the content!
It is a very significant impact and will cause tubes to become microphonic MUCH faster than a head. There's no comparison really. You sacrifice convenience for tube life with a head.
I just bought a new Jetta combo! I returned my Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue because the tube rattle was so bad I couldn't overlook it (and I was not about to spend the money or wait forever on new tubes and repair work for an amp straight out of the box). I really hope that's not an issue with the jetta.
Update - got the amp today and have had a few hours with it so far and it is incredible! Wow. Its simplistic but diverse. It takes pedals better than any other amp I've ever played out of. No tube rattle. Pretty damn light. Strongly recommend for the guy who gigs and wants top of the line pro gear but doesn't want to absolutely break the bank.
@@patmillen9162 Hi Pat, great to hear you are happy with your amplifier. While any combo amplifier provides an environment that is basically a torture chamber for tubes, we take every method possible to screen for bad tubes, and trust us, we throw out a lot. Please take time to register your amp, as we warranty the tubes for 90 days, and the amp for 3 years from purchase date.
What do you think makes a bigger difference in the overall tone of an amp. Speakers or Power tubes? I have an amp head that I would like to smooth out the high end. Currently running a 4x12 cab with greenbacks. Tungsol el34 tubes. The bias adjustment claims to allow any tube that will fit the socket. Suggestions?
The speaker is 50% of the equation. Start there. A Creamback 65s would help smooth out the higj end. Power tubes are maybe 15-20% of the overall picture. Also try swapping your first preamp tube for different brands of 12ax7.
So, I love the sound of the Z Wreck and I'm super stoked about the Jr, but I'm afraid that it just doesn't have the same guts and sonic presence as the 30w model... I guess the general question I'm asking is can you get the same girth, feel, and punch that comes from a quartet of EL84s with just 2 EL84s? (Does that make sense?)
No. You can't. A 15 watt amp is a 15 watt amp, and a 30 watt amp is a 30. Just like a 50 watt amp doesn't feel like a 100 watt amp. There's no cheating physics.
I like you Doc. I like your demeanor and I want to one day buy an amp from you. What head do you recommend? I like playing my rock/punk music. I like nice cleans and dirty distortion/overdrive.
About the Jetta - what can you tell us about the 7591tube and the type of circuit this power section is and why? I'm totally in love with my prescription ES but I also find the Jetta very intriguing. Curious why no impedance switching.
Less output taps on the output transformer means a less expensive transformer to make, which means a lower end price to the customer. 7591 was used in stereo hi-fi's and some Ampeg amps in the 1970s.
@@DrZAmplification Hi thanks for answering. I was curious about the 7591 voice and behaviours, but "hi-fi" and Ampeg suggest to me it would be very uncolored and in the Jetta the preamp decides the tone and overdrive more than a 6l6 or el34? Just guessing. Thanks.
@@deanallen927 Yes, to a degree. This amp is a relatively neutral platform. Most of the overdrive you will hear is from the phase inverter and power tubes. It is relatively low overdrive, on the Hiwatt side of overdrive.The guitar and speaker choice will be the biggest deciding tonal factors in an amp like this.
Hi Dr. Z. I can't decide which one to choose, so just need your opinion on which one do you prefer, Jetta or Z wreck jr? And why? So I can make a decision between the two.
Two very different amps. Do you want a dirtier sound or a cleaner sound? Do you play with a lot of pedals or prefer to sound of straight from guitar to amp?
@@DrZAmplification I'm not a big pedal board guy, only use one overdrive. I like to keep it minimal, light travel. So I prefer straight from guitar to amp. I play mostly clean sound but sometimes need more gain.
@@billn2421 If you are sitting in the clean range more often, you would probably prefer the Jetta, then use your overdrive to push it into gain. The Z Wreck Jr., while you can get a good clean, it's usually from rolling back the volume of your guitar with the volume knob. It rewards that sort of playing. the ZW Jr. has it's distinctive sound, slightly broken up to explosive distortion, whereas a Jetta is more of a blank slate clean with a lot of detail, into lower, chunkier low gain overdrive.
Unfortunately the cost of steel (speakers and transformers), and aluminum (chassis) has tripled in the meantime. Wood (cabinets) has quadrupled. Those are most expensive components of the amp, and unfortunately the price has to reflect that.
