Dr. Z AMA: The History of the EMS 

This is absolutely one of my favourite amps ever! Has great edge of breakup tones to heavier Marshall and a fantastic sounding master volume. Cleans up great rolling off volume on guitar without loosing all it’s tone. Sounds amazing with tele as well as Les Paul. I own original ‘69 50 watt Marshall and this amp stands right with it. Was very sad to hear that they have been discontinued 😢. So f you find one grab it, you will not be disappointed. Best kept amp secret I know. Fantastic!

Just a note on the construction quality of z amps. My other Z amp fell down a flight of concrete stairs and til this day I have had absolutely no issues. That's a testament to the quality craftsmanship of Dr z.

Omg that wylde tone at the end

Ive had my 50 w smallbox 1968 plxi for 40 years ive used and own many marshall amps but this little monster is my fave i put a overdrive in front to push it into more gain'y place but it cleans up fine i really want to try the EMS sounds wonderfull DR Z

Good to see you back Doc :-)

Very informative, Doc. Integrating Adam's great clips was perfect.

Always such a pleasure to listen to you talk about your creations... so much knowledge man, thank you!

That Meanstreet tone is worth the price of admission!

OMG FINALLY! Gosh I’ve missed these!

I'm blessed to have a great local tech who built for me a 67' JTM 50 with a couple pull knobs, one for a 100p bright cap and another that converts the circuit from shared to split cathode as well as a switch, like yours, between tube and SS rectifier. I hunted down some NOS tubes, one a 65' Mullard for V1 and a couple ampirex 12ax7's made for Hammond. We also put in a Heyboer wind of the Drake OT that you mentioned. This head, along with my 78' LP Custom is irreplaceable. Although I will say I heard a demo of one of your combo amps from Peach Guitars and the cleans/slight breakup have a rich character that has more tonal spectrum than even that JTM is capable of achieving with a Tele (like the demo). Very impressive. The next project is turning my 65' bandmaster into a cathode biased bassman, either blonde era or ab165. Haven't decided yet.

THIS AMP IS UNDER-RATED! To everyone at Dr. Z I hope you are well and safe, it's great to hear from you Mike. I have a deep respect and love for Dr. Z amps, construction is absolutely flawless and designed by an actual engineer instills confidence in me (the customer). I dreamt of a MAZ 18 since I was 15 and it felt great to buy one last year.

I've been lusting over this amp since it's debut. I finally pulled the trigger today! I'M SO PUMPED FOR THIS THING!!!

Love my EMS! And my Z-Wreck Jr. Dr. Z makes killer amps!

I have a JCM800 and purchased an EMS brand new from a dealer and everthing DR.Z explained is right on I compared both amps and they sound exactly the same with out the brightness as Dr.Z explained WOW what an amazing amp he sure did it the DR. Z way so many sound renditions in this amp it’s really unbelievable until u plug one in AMAZING AMP

This was a great episode. The amp sounded great, even on the VH!

What an awesome sounding amp. I love it . Thanks for this great video

Great work, Z! Thanks for including the audio.

Dr Z makes the best amps! Love this amp!! Great video!👍👍

I really enjoy these videos with Dr. Z as much as I enjoy playing with my wonderful M-12 head! Greetings from Mexico!

That strat tone boosted was sick

Awesome video and great amp, Doc! Thanks for all of it.

Mike the type of guy who designs amps that satisfy everyone from Brad to the diehard VH fan. An unassuming font of knowledge as well. One day I hope to own a Z.

Nice video Doc, really enjoyed the history lesson too. My EMS is the most played amp in my home.

Love it! Thanks Doc.

I always thought that the amp used on the Beano album had KT 66's which I love. I wish I had been able to buy a Route 66 while they were available. Love your videos.

I am really thrilled that you guys are making amplifiers to cover this sound, as big as it is. I own four Z amps Among a few others by other makers,But if I had to have one it wpuld be my 2009 Carmen Ghia with a green light.I was fortunate enough to play a couple of tunes On two separate occasions with the venerable Buddy Whittington and his Carmen Ghia tone at noon and volume just before noon Just has the tone I am looking for. Thanks Doc, for making these great amps, And the selection and variety is without question the best in the business in my old opinion

Those Drums!

This amp sounds amazing. If I try one, I'm sure I will HAVE to buy this.

So I was happy to find and purchase a second used EMS head and is actually one of the first few made in 2017. Comparing to my later 2019 head there are a couple of differences. At a glance i believe the earlier one did not have a bright cap on the input, and had a different style of taper on the master volume. Not sure why they made the change but they both sound amazing and when at band volume are quite similar but the 2019 has a bit more gain overall. I find the 2017 without the bright cap is perfect with single coils. No harshness at all. Great amp!!! Any information regarding the differences would be great.

Great video. Thanks! Please keep them coming. The tube recitified JCM 800 sounds like it's worth the price of admission alone!

Great sounding amp!

Looks like a great amp Mike, love the functions and design!

Btw, your guitarist is really good.

Oh yeah Dr.Z!!! Sounds awesome!!! and so Versatile!! Would make a nice addition to my SRZ LE!! Keep on Rockin' Doc!!!

Had no idea what JTM stood fir, thanks Doc

Man what a great design!

I’m saving for an EMS head & cab now. Killer amp.

I had a Remedy, first gen, and it was fantastic! Unfortunately, things got a little hard and had to let it go. Hopefully I will find another Z at some point! Keep up the good work!

I really regret not grabbing this ems for 1000 last year dang

The headless guitar player is amazing!!!

Cool - very cool!!

This is very nice and versatile amp. I especially like the cascaded preamp. Really nails that sound. Switched to low gain I find it a little dark but with a great voicing, too...closer to the earlier bass circuits. More JTM/JCM..and less JMP, in my humble opinion.

I’ve been thinking about this amp lately. I’m tempted to trade in my Remedy

God damn, Adam, save some for the rest of us!!! :-)

Another great video. Another great amp. My only complaint is that I never get to work on any of your amps, because they are so damn reliable. If that blessed day ever comes when I get to work on an EMS, which of the three configurations would I bias the 34s to? I’m thinking it would be safest to bias at the JMP settings.

Jesus. That Van Halen towards the end was amazing!

That early Drake output transformer was the first impedance matched to EL34 tubes, Jim having used the "RS Hygrade" (Radio Spares) surplus wound for 5881/6L6.

I was JUST shopping this amp!! It sounds fantastic, and I appreciate the history. Did I miss the talk about the Touch Switch? I'll rewatch. I was most curious about it, as its the one I'm not sure how it works. Thanks!

Thanks for this video. As an EMS owner I really appreciate the level of detail you went into here. It helped me understand the amp at a deeper level. I love the amp, the build quality is fantastic. Question, any idea what a rattling sound might be when initially turning the amp on? It's the same sound a bad tube has when you tap it. I've checked all the tube and they seems fine (took a chopstick and tapped all of them but no rattling). It only rattles at initial startup, after flicking the power switch on (in standby). It's always had this characteristic since I received it.

My next Z is this or a MAZ 38 🥳

Well I really loved this presentation and looking forward to try this amp, thank you ! Oh forgot , any reason you chose the 784-139 over the 784-128 ?

"The Back Breaker!" I love it

I think you should do an in depth video like this one about the EZG 50, it’s one of the best amps out there. A lot of people don’t know about it. And all the videos on it aren’t filmed with good quality.

That Zakk stuff ruled! Does the hat come with the amp? Maybe that will make me play like that!!!

Always wanted one of your amp's! Maybe one day but not the Marshall or fender based ones cause in all my years of music Always hated them. Guess I want to try ur vox based but I already have vox and matchless but. I personally think your an amazing amp designer. Would love to see ur intake on Ampeg. 👌 sorry I do love fender tweeds.

What happens to the EMS???! I just saw it’s discontinued…. It was literally the main amp from Dr Z that I was planning to buy 😢

The EMS is seriously maybe the most underrated amp I've ever played. No bad news out there on it, but not nearly enough praise for how great it is. I have three really great Marshalls and the EMS sounds better.

This is the amp I’ve been looking for. Except the CAZ-45 is the amp I’ve been looking for. Crap.

Loud never appealed to me in the way that vox or hiwatt did in the touch sensitive feel of expressing one's hands. I could never get that from Marshall unless u use pedals & even though it still doesn't produce what ur mind & hands are trying to do. But that's my point of view. Guess I'm a minority obviously cause Marshall and fender are obviously the most popular amp's ever. But art is what it is. & u are a true artist in what you do sir. Thank you for building the art u do. 🤘💯🙏

The EMS is on my amp wish list... I just wonder if you could build a smaller size/power version, like an EMS 20 or 25W

I love these videos. Keep it up. Which Dr Z amp would you say sounds closest to a bassman?

Ben Fargen has been doing this for 20 years

Do you have an all around favorite vintage amp?

How much are they? - no pricing on website

But I like that high end. And I don't like tube rectifiers.

What happened to this amp? No one seems to sell it and I was interested. Hoping it is just being re released with an fx loop and not gone forever

Hey Dr. do you know how some amps sound better as combos and some as heads paired with cabinets. I was looking at the Nova recently (great amp btw), should I get it as a combo or a head paired with Z best cab? Cause I saw your video about how combos sometimes affect the tubes and make them rattle overtime. That’s why I’m a little concerned to get the combo.

Do you guys still make the EZG 50?, and why is it not on Sweetwater’s website?

I build amps and my first instrument is percussion. I’ll always be a better drummer than guitarist. And yes, the EARLY Marshall’s are the fun ones for me too.

Still can't get those Richie Blackmoore clean tones with this amp because he used GT6L6 in marshall amps.

That's funny, I designed and built my own amp following the same ideas (classic preamp or JCM800, Rectifier or solid state etc). These are very versatile, killer amps :)

If you would KINDLY AND THANKFULLY put a stereo fx loop in an amp..............I will (and a million others)def get it. truest statement ever!!

Safe to say that those guys lost a bit of hearing that day. May have been worth it. Ha!

The bankbreaker

But always wanted to know y so many people love Marshall? I call them the listener punisher hurts the listener but don't understand why the player loves that. To me it has no bloom or that round warm feel to ur notes and girth.

Plz n.thanks for your time

What dr z amp... combo or not ,would you recommend for metal???