VH II Sounds With a DR Z EMS Amp 

Yeah, it's in the ballpark. 🙏

I think it's a great amp. It's a little thick, kind of like some of the old amps. It can do a lot of the old Frampton stuff extremely well, just for instance. And straight up clean, it has a wonderful tone too. thanks! 🙏

🙏🙏

"Nailed" might be a bit of a stretch. 😉🤞

Thanks! About the same for me, started at 13 and now 60 and still having fun trying.

@@AdamGotheridge You don’t look 60! Had a gig early this month and with load in and load out, had a backache for weeks!! Was thinking modeling/clean stage route but I dunno! Tried a Maz 18 amp last Sunday and think I can’t do it!!! Hahahahaa! Get stock in Tylenol I guess!!

@@billydelacruz1500 I hear you loud and clear! 😂I'd say go with an amp or might as well stay home, but I hear you. Something like a tonex to cart to rehearsals could be useful. Maybe...

We are all in that boat. ;) The clean up part, particularly when the amp is set like this, the clean sound is basically as loud as the dirt sound. I'd never experienced that before. I had a bit of a hard time actually getting the clean sound to be as quiet as I wanted to for the mix. Almost like it works maybe too well. ;) Good luck, and thank you!

Also, if you haven't seen it, Z did a nice video explaining the amp and there are some more sound examples in that video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-01jaP4d33H4.html

@@AdamGotheridge Thank you I will check it out.

Well, not exactly taking it like a man. ;) The cab I recorded was in the next room (part of the basement), and I ran another 4x12 through an attenuator to cab that was facing me. The guitar probably would have been more alive in the same room, but I was trying to be a little practical. Next time I should do it in the same room for fun. And his playing, good lord it is scarily accurate, incredibly fierce, but yet really delicate and graceful at the same time. It is REALLY hard to play that stuff accurately and makes me wonder how the recording process actually went. To get those songs perfect top to bottom in one take I think would really be superhuman. I have to think they were comping or punching parts... I just don't think it's physically and mentally possible. Even where his volume knob on the guitar is at, it's in the perfect spot for every little thing. Regardless of all that, those performances are still as stunning today as they were 42 years ago or whatever it was. Also might add that it's really fun to try and learn stuff like this. It opens your mind to a place the artist was coming from. That quiet part of Light Up The Sky, all I could picture was this amazing dancer while trying to cop it. Beautiful Girls, good lord that swing feel is just scary good. That one invokes a vibe of fat Albert walking down the street to me... just happy and bouncy. Sometimes I'm introduced to the sheer muscle behind the playing, like Beck or SRV, but this time with VH, it was the lightness and incredible subtlety. Also his feel, it is just so musical... it's on another level.

@@AdamGotheridge I'm actually really glad to hear the cab you were playing next to was attenuated as I was starting to question my own ability and dedication............ I've a 1987x that to me is painful at times, I'm relieved to see its not just me. I'm no stranger to volume as I purchased my first real amplifier back in 1976, a then brand new Twin Reverb. I was only 15 years old back then and I am very sure my Mother and especially Father never knew what hit them when they helped me roll that amplifier into my bedroom! As for EVH's playing, yeah, not sure how he could do the things he did for so long. Many times greatness like that has an expiration date of sorts. Like the world record Olympians, they are at the top of their games when they compete and win only to never compete again in another Olympic Games. With EVH and many of the others they just keep growing with their skill and the emotions they can impart into their music. I've learned many, many songs and have always tried to be as exacting as possible when playing them. And I believe the reason I push so hard to be so accurate is that there are moments I like to think I've possibly shared a small part of feeling the Artist had when creating and/or performing that passage or song. Anymore that is pretty much the only reason I keep playing, to take myself somewhere new I've not been before. I almost purchased one of those Dr.Z EMS (a fantastically over built amplifier) but instead chose the Marshall mostly because I've wanted one ever since 1976 when I brought that Twin Reverb home! I bought the Twin because I didn't have enough money saved up to buy the Marshall head and a cabinet, so the cheaper Twin came home with me ($400 brand new). LOL, I still have that very same Twin Reverb and play through it often. I play that old Twin when I want to travel back to places I've been. Great Channel Adam, I'm Sub 577

@@hkguitar1984 I'm sure the 1987x sounds fantastic, but particularly how it can bite in a recorded mix. The Z stuff in general has a lot more of what I'd say "finesse" or "polish", like there are always ample highs, but there's never anything pokey or obnoxious about them. Glad you still have the twin... my experience with them is that they have some great tones. Great analogy with EVH and Olympians. Really interesting and thoughtful. Ditto on learning tunes. It takes you to another place, inside the head of that artist. On buying the 1987x over say the EMS, I get it. My thought on the EMS was "I want a good Marshall", and based on my experiences with the other Z amps, I just kind of knew this amp would be great. It far exceeded my expectations too. Like I didn't expect that VH stuff to be in there, and that's just kind of icing on the cake. There are a ton more tones in this amp, and not to be lost are the clean tones that you can get at any volume you might want. The other thing with this amp that really hit me hard was how well it takes pedals. This amp and a couple pedals can kind of morph wherever you might want to go in the Marshall sound. My 2 cents would be if you don't like the 1987, try this. If you don't like that, move on again. For a handwired amp, the value is really ridiculous. Cheaper than the 1987, jtm, or 800, and you are in the ballpark of all those sounds with one amp which is cheaper than any of the current mentioned models.

@@AdamGotheridge oh, I certainly agree with you thoughts concerning the 1987x as compared to the EMS. My friend is a certified tone-expert and the EMS was his first suggestion. My Marshall was more of a personal want because I’d never owned one before. I had this 1987x modified to Plexi specs, the change in OT TX dropped the output a bit, it’s now my “go-to” for vintage vibe, limitations and all. As for the Dr. Z amp, back in 2006 that same friend and I spent the better part of a day with Mike Zaite, we were there to tour his shop, talk amplifiers and try out some of his new creations. Gosh that was a fantastic day, my friend ended up purchasing almost every amp Dr. Z made at that time. I did take some photos of the visit. We were even fortunate enough to look through Mike’s storage room of vintage amplifiers he uses for references. I ended up leaving the Dr. Z Factory with a mid 1950s Gibson GA-20 Chassis and enclosure! LOL.

@@hkguitar1984 What a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing that.

I was wondering if anyone would notice! My small way of supporting them. :)

@@AdamGotheridge They are so much fun to watch. Both of them have their strong points and they complement each other so we'll. They epitomize the guitar friendship that brings us all together. Great playing by the way!

@@williamwagnon2809 They are fun for sure. Thumbing through the vcq as I type. They do a great job, been watching them forever it seems. And thanks!

Thank you very much! I think if you put Ed in front of it, well, it would sound just like him. ;)

@@AdamGotheridge no doubt. But you sound great!

@@ajlsrv5490 Thanks. I thought close enough to get the point across.

@@AdamGotheridge Oh absolutely. Somewhat unrelated, thoughts on how close the Maz 18 could come to copping these tones? I’ve had a few but never when I had a guitar capable of making those sounds. The MKII can get pretty crunchy as I recall.

@@ajlsrv5490 I don't think the MAZ really goes there. I guess that's why they make different models. ;)

It can sound like a lot of old Marshall sounds. If you really turn it up like in this video, you get a bit of that VH vibe.

Not really, but thank you!

Thanks. I practiced the tunes for a little while because I thought the amp sort of went in the direction of that sound and wanted to share that part. I'd really need to practice these tunes a lot more to get them closer. My timing on some of the stuff was pretty lousy.

Thanks buddy!

Thanks Mark! I saw them on the VH II tour, probably April of '79. One of those where you couldn't really hear anything, and we were about row 10 too.

Thank you! Hope you are enjoying your Z-Wreck. :)

Not too short? ;)

@@AdamGotheridge It's perfect! and I'll share this video with my guitar connoisseurs.😉

Thank you! They are really fantastic amps.

Thanks, glad you liked it. Your Remedy vid is great!

@@AdamGotheridge Thank you much appreciated!

Yes, tough tune to say the least. With the amp cranked, there's really no volume loss going to clean with the guitar volume. Board is an Allen Heath GL2400, IEM's Shure 3-way (not sure of the model#). Board sounds good, a little simpler compared to the big one. And yes, the amp is awesome. Everything I could hope for in an amp.

I wonder about that. I do have a variac and forgot to try that to see what it would do. I can at least try that for next time. Thank you!

@@AdamGotheridge It's important to have the output tubes biased for 90 volts. And re-bias when you go back to 120 volts. I'm sure Eddie once had set there. It had to stay there.

@@kennethday9747 I understand what you are saying, but I don't have the technical know-how to do it. Maybe high time I learned. What's the sonic difference supposed to be?

@@AdamGotheridge The true brown sound. I have a 73' superlead. My tech biased it and 90 volt and run it into 4x12 heritage greenback cab and it nailed it !

@@kennethday9747 Thanks Ken. I'll work towards figuring out how to do it. Those are some magic amps.

ok, send it over!

Thanks!

Thanks Dejan! It has some mojo. :)

My 2 cents is not only is it a great amp, it's really quite a value when compared to the like current batch of PCB offerings.

Anytime! I need a Remedy, so we are in the same boat.

@@AdamGotheridge hahaha I am still trying to figure out the major differences other than the Output sections and the Remedy probabaly being a bit less versatile. But I can kind of get a sense of the difference from your video, which is excellent BTW. A song is worth 10000 words

@@MintStiles I've been wondering what the differences are forever too. My last video with the thin Lizzy thing might be worth checking out of another angle on the tones of this amp. I "think", the Remedy is more Plexi with the 6V6's, and the EMS is more JTM50 and 800. Looks like we both need both. ;)

@@AdamGotheridge now it's only a matter of how to convince my wife why I need 12 guitar amps... "Honey, if I bought these two, I wouldn't need to buy 5 Marshalls!"

@@MintStiles My wife gave up trying to provide rational to this music thing a long time ago. I've been chasing this stuff forever, the wife thinks the Z's are the "it". I think the only way to really figure this stuff out is to get a bunch of this stuff and use it for a year. Then if you wanted to, you could narrow it down to 3 or whatever and dump the rest.

Thank you!

I've run it with all kind of speakers/cabs with good results. A single g12h30 when playing on the cleaner side is really nice to me too. It's not too fussy about speakers.

What kind of music do you like to play, and what hole are you trying to fill with the EMS or CAZ?

@@AdamGotheridge Zeppelin is what started it all. I was a kid of the 80's though and the CAZ amp sounds like the radio from a decade of my life. I guess its the hot rodded Marshall sound (gain wise) on up I think I want most and this thing sounds great. It does all the Hair you could hope for thats obvious. Does the CAZ clean up off the volume pot well? Considering what it is of course... The EMS is a dream M-Type I guess and most of the music I love was made on some mix of Marshall/Fender meets a Gibson/Fender... so hell man LOL :) I dont even know how to answer. I think the truth is I need something like the EMS (Jimmy Page, Joe Walsh, Billy Gibbons, Clapton etc) but dam those killer 80's hair tones of the CAZ. :) Peace. YOU ARE KILLER by the way! I dig it! PS I am running the Monza wet/dry 'ish with a Z Wreck Jr. at the moment

@@crazyforbeingsane611 Really cool, I can relate. The EMS and CAZ really couldn't be more different. EMS is kind of a more raw, balls to the walls amp that is more than capable of all those Zep sounds. It's more true to those tones. Clean up with the guitar volume - the EMS I think does it more, but it's really different. The CAZ is kind of really perceptive to changes in playing in dynamics or volume control, but it's kind of a compressed amp and maybe doesn't go "clean" like you might be used to. It's not going to have the "crang" clean that a Marshall has sort of inherent to it. It's hard to explain... It's like the CAZ input stage is super sensitive, but it's different from the sound of lowering the input which reduces the gain and power amp is doing a lot of the work. A couple things to consider: EMS - it can be an incredibly loud amp. That thing has more oomph per watt than anything I've ever played. It can be a totally clean and wonderful sounding amp. CAZ - you can play at a lot of gain and sound great at any volume. It will miss some of the "chime" that is sort of built into the Marshall type sounds. BUT, it sounds fantastic and really is completely different from any other amp I've tried. Super easy to get a great gain sound at any volume. Records super easy. Hope that helps a little. I think you kind of have to try them each to figure out what works for you. They are extremely different amps. EMS is a lot harder to tame, but it's probably more versatile. Good luck to you! If you want big and open, EMS is cool. If you want a great, original amp that works at any volume with any guitar, CAZ kills. It's not like one is better than the other, they are both great in their own way.

@@AdamGotheridge I think you just made me need both :) I have a serious decision to make...a tough one but your input really does help. I think EMS is where I will land but its a tough call. A very tough call. You dont help by making them both sound so dam good! Thank you SERIOUSLY thank you for taking the time for me. I really appreciate it, sir. Peace

@@crazyforbeingsane611 Well, nobody buys 2 of these amps at the same time, and you have some killer stuff already. Most welcome! Peace!✌️