| Author |
Topic: Dr. Z Surgical Steel Tube Amplifier |
Dan Kelly
From:
Boston, MA
|
Posted 29 Dec 2016 8:41 am |
|
Does anyone have any "feedback" on the Dr. Z Surgical Steel Tube Amplifier? It was designed specifically for the PSG and is supposed to be the "perfect"  amp.
Also, it has a solid state rectifier. What is the advantages of that feature?
_________________
blah, blah, blah.
Hey You Kids! Get Off My Lawn!
blah, blah, blah. |
|
|
 |
George Seymour
From:
Notown, Vermont, USA
|
Posted 29 Dec 2016 9:26 am
|
|
Tremendous clarity and head room, excellent amp. You are welcome to try mine if you are ever near the Burlington Vermont area. Perfect is a matter of opinion, one size doesn't fit all, and good thing, be awful boring if we liked the same thing...
_________________
Old Emmons D-10's & Wrap Resound 65, Standel amps!
Old Gibson Mastertones |
|
|
|
Dan Kelly
From:
Boston, MA
|
Posted 29 Dec 2016 6:03 pm
|
|
Thanks for the input! Its not a low priced amp, but others I have heard from say it is a special amp for PSG and worth it.
_________________
blah, blah, blah.
Hey You Kids! Get Off My Lawn!
blah, blah, blah. |
|
|
|
George Seymour
From:
Notown, Vermont, USA
|
Posted 29 Dec 2016 6:18 pm
|
|
Dan,
The trouble with any of the current hand built boutique steel amps is that it's awful hard to try one out before buying, if we all lived a little closer to each other would make decision making easier and more informed as in try before you buy...
_________________
Old Emmons D-10's & Wrap Resound 65, Standel amps!
Old Gibson Mastertones |
|
|
|
John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
|
Posted 30 Dec 2016 4:35 pm
|
|
Abdo-lutely love mine! Ultra-linear transformers, Doc's amazing EF86 pre-amp? Awesome! KT88s? Wow!
Oh! and a tube=buffered effects loop!
http://drzamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Surgical-Steel-manual_full.pdf
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps |
|
|
|
Dan Robinson
From:
Colorado, USA
|
Posted 31 Dec 2016 10:21 am
|
|
| Kudos to Doc Z for providing access to three output transformer taps on the back panel for 16, 8 and 4 ohm load! |
|
|
|
James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
|
Posted 1 Jan 2017 11:12 am
|
|
| I've owned a few of Mike Zaites (Dr Z ) amps ....I have to say that he is one builder that I KNOW can build a great sounding amp ....His guitar amps are fablulous , so his attempt at a pedal steel amp should be every bit as good as his guitar amps .... KUDO's for the components that he used for this amp , and how he put everything together .... There are some professionals out there that are using this amp for guitar because of how big the clean tone is !!....That alone says something about this amp ..Nice that you can have an amp that works for both guitar and pedal steel ....Jim |
|
|
|
Dan Kelly
From:
Boston, MA
|
Posted 7 Jan 2017 5:26 am
|
|
Thanks for the testimonials everyone. I am planning my next bank heist to finance this purchase!
Thanks again!
_________________
blah, blah, blah.
Hey You Kids! Get Off My Lawn!
blah, blah, blah. |
|
|
|
Jerry Meek
From:
Colorado, USA
|
Posted 30 Jan 2017 3:50 pm Dr Z
|
|
| nobody mentioned the price of this Amp must be pretty high. |
|
|
|
Dan Kelly
From:
Boston, MA
|
Posted 30 Jan 2017 5:47 pm
|
|
Yes. List pricing for the Surgical Steel head is $1999. The recommended "Z-Best" cabinet lists for $849.
I have been in contact with a few owners and all have said the set up is very well worth the money.
_________________
blah, blah, blah.
Hey You Kids! Get Off My Lawn!
blah, blah, blah. |
|
|
|
John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
|
Posted 30 Jan 2017 5:55 pm
|
|
Yes. You pay for the quality! Of design. Of construction. Of parts, etc.. Wonderful preamp and power amp. Ultra-linear transformers, etc.. Worth every penny!
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps |
|
|
|
John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
|
Posted 7 Feb 2017 1:30 pm
|
|
Doc is sending three Surgical Steels to The Chicago Music Exchange. If you're in the area, check it out. Here's a pic;
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps
Last edited by John Billings on 7 Feb 2017 5:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Carl Mesrobian
From:
Salem, Massachusetts, USA
|
Posted 7 Feb 2017 3:43 pm
|
|
FWIW, solid state rectifiers are in Fender Twin and Showman amps, as an example. Not a bad thing at all
As far as financing do like in the movies..
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2568862/
_________________
--carl
"The better it gets, the fewer of us know it." Ray Brown |
|
|
|
John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
|
Posted 9 Feb 2017 11:42 am
|
|
From Dr. Z Amplification;
"Solid state rectification increases clean headroom, makes attack and response more immediate, and bass response tightens and also becomes more immediate. The Surgical Steel uses a solid state plug in, so in the case you want to experiment with a tube rectifier, you can just plug in a 5AR4 (a little voltage sag) or 5U4 (a lot of sag), to experiment with the response."
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps |
|
|
|
John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
|
Posted 12 Feb 2017 2:40 pm
|
|
Here's a pic of the big "iron" in a Surgical Steel. Ultra-Linear transformers;
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps |
|
|
|
Quentin Hickey
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
|
Posted 12 Feb 2017 3:13 pm
|
|
| How much are the Dr Z heads? |
|
|
|
John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
|
Posted 12 Feb 2017 3:15 pm
|
|
Quentin,
See Dan Kelly's post above.
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps |
|
|
|
Gerry Simon
From:
Ohio, USA
|
Posted 17 Feb 2017 3:59 pm
|
|
As far as sound goes, I recently joined a band of seasoned old musicians (I'm still older), and on the first day of practice, I brought my Kemper profiler/amp, which I like a lot and has a great sound. Everyone seemed to like it just fine but I decided to bring the Surgical Steel on the next rehearsal date, just for comparison ...it was unanimous: use the Dr. Z amp!!
I sold my EZG-50 to get the S.S. which is 10 lbs lighter and 2X the power and sounds, for my steel, MUCH better!!
Like others have said , it's a matter of what you are looking for, but I can suggest that you should at least, give it a try! |
|
|
|
Quentin Hickey
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
|
Posted 18 Feb 2017 3:45 pm
|
|
| Carl Mesrobian wrote: |
FWIW, solid state rectifiers are in Fender Twin and Showman amps, as an example. Not a bad thing at all
As far as financing do like in the movies..
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2568862/ |
I wish I could do a lot of things like in the movies  |
|
|
|
Len Amaral
From:
Rehoboth,MA 02769
|
Posted 2 Mar 2017 8:10 am
|
|
| I recently sold off a bunch of gear that I had no use for and have enough to buy a Surgical Steel amp. Have one on the way in Blond Tolex. Can't get anything in my studio without getting something out of the studio. Real estate is a premium not to mention the falling hazards.😬 |
|
|
|
Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
|
Posted 3 Mar 2017 12:50 pm
|
|
| Len - The limit on the number of amps you own is simple - all you can buy plus one. |
|
|
|
Len Amaral
From:
Rehoboth,MA 02769
|
Posted 3 Mar 2017 1:23 pm
|
|
Hi Lee,
I really am trying to downsize and making an attempt to do so😬 Just picked up the Surgical Steel head at the music store and tried it out there with a Tele. Such a clean high headroom vibe. Won't get a chance to play steel through it until early next week. |
|
|
|
John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
|
Posted 4 Mar 2017 12:30 pm
|
|
Look for a review of the Surgical Steel in Guitar Player Magazine in a month or so.
Here's a pic of the back;
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps |
|
|
|
Len Amaral
From:
Rehoboth,MA 02769
|
Posted 4 Mar 2017 3:40 pm
|
|
Here is the Dr. Z Surgical Steel head. I have an EPS 12 in this Epiphone cab. This Epi cab is unique as it has a 1-1/2 inch baffle board and semi-closed back. Will test drive this setup tomorrow.
 |
|
|
|
Len Amaral
From:
Rehoboth,MA 02769
|
Posted 6 Mar 2017 4:25 pm
|
|
| Have to admit that this amp is very nice. Couldn't be easier to dial in a tone. Bass, treble, mid and volume control. Cool👠|
|
|
|
