The Dr. Z Maz 18 is definitely a favorite here at Humbucker Music. There are several of us that use this amp as our main go to amp when playing live or in the studio (and actually, two others here use the Maz 38). Thus, it's highly unlikely you'll find a place that will brag on any amp like we do the Dr. Z Maz series. If you have questions, please let us know. We seriously know these like the back of our hands...
First, if you are worried about the Maz 18 being only 18 watts, don't be. We're talking about 18 watts of all tube driven, class A, point to point hand-wired watts of Dr. Z tone! One of the features of the Maz 18 is it's ability to hang with a typical drummer when cranked yet because of it's lower wattage rating, it can still produce that full plate voltage tone in lower volume situations where it needs to be mic'ed. A perfect amp for studio or live use.
So how about the tone? Well, we like to place this amp as 80% modded Vox AC, and 20% Marshall Plexi. We love old Vox amps, but have often felt they are a little too "brilliant". The Maz addresses this by being a touch warmer at the top, but don't get us wrong. The top end is still there, but just not as much as the "ice picky" Vox amps of the 60's. The Maz still retains that wonderful mid range growl and punch you get from EL84s, so I wouldn't say there's a lot of tube compression going on. The Maz is a responsive amp, so you'll find you get back what you put into it. It's also important to note the Maz 18 plays very well with pedals. This isn't always so easy for an amp builder to accomplish on an old school hand-wired guitar amp, but Dr. Z must have it figured out since essentially all his amps are know for being very pedal friendly. For more tone info, feel free to call us. Like we mentioned earlier, we really know these amps!
The front panel features Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Master, and the ever versatile Cut control. Think of the Cut as a tone knob for the output tubes. That may or may not make much sense, but take our word for it. It's quite a powerful control!
The back panel features 4, 8 and 16 ohm speaker outs. An effects loop is standard, as is the EQ Tone Bypass (previously a popular factory mod).
Specs:
Construction: All Tube, All Hand-Wired, ALL USA MADE!
Power Output: 18 LOUD Watts
Output Tubes: 2 x EL84
Preamp Tubes: 3 x 12AX7
Rectifier: Tube - GZ34
Controls: Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, Cut, and Master Volume
Dimensions: 22.25" Wide x 19.5" High x 10" Depth
Weight: 39 lbs
Speaker: 12" Celestion G12H-30 (many options available)
